Cool morning, 0 degrees Celsius at 6am, but clear blue skies and no wind. All good for hiking.
However, the morning started with a Big Bang, Bang.
When we sat down for breakfast in the lobby 4 Mexican middle class young men turned up for their brekkie. The Views Inn Motel had hard boiled eggs on offer, and one of those blokes decided to heat it up in the microwave oven. You can figure out the rest... It was not pretty.
Today's hike was recommended by the lady at the Ranger Station as a great morning walk, called Munds Wagon Trail, 11.3 km according to Runkeeper.
The trail markers were a pile of rocks in wire as per below...
Early morning shot at the beginning of the hike... Great light with the shadows.
A couple of shots to show how dorky we looked at the beginning of the hike, even more than normal... It was not yet 9am and about 3 degrees...
We found this digging on the trail, which we think may come from a desert animal called javelina, a sort of wild pig.
We found this interesting, snow on cacti. They are tough these plants, having to cope with some extreme temperatures.
Suddenly, we saw this sign. Guess which way Hans chose? We went our separate ways for about 100 metres . Hans survived the slide rocks but from the safety of the road Di could hear some comments of "hmmm" and "aahhh". Too easy!
OK, it was certainly slippery for a little while... There was ice and snow on the path too from time to time.
Hans needed to take a leak and Di expressed a classic line of that there is a tree over there... Hmm, Hans looked around and could see bush and trees all around him. He chose one direction to go - the one with the best view.
Munds Wagon Trail finishes up half way up this peak at a rock feature called the Merry-Go-Round and it kind of looked like one too.
Self-portrait from the Merry-Go-Round.
Top of the world... Well, it kinda felt that way, but not quite. This walk was a fantastic gradual climb up the valley.
This is Sedona from a distance.
This is very spiritual... man...
A side comment on this topic - there are psychics and spiritual healers everywhere in this town because of 3 or 4 "vortex" which are believed to occur around Sedona. The vortex is supposed to be a hot spot where you can feel the earth's energy and get a heightened sense of awareness and balance. These people should get out more and hike! All hikes make you feel connected to nature not just 3 or 4 spots you can easily reach! You can guess we think its all hooey.
This hike created a new expression for us, Pink Jeeper. A Pink Jeeper is somebody who is too lazy to hike and sees and photographs the attractions from the comfort of a... Jeep. There were many businesses like this one, with Jeeps and Quad-bikes and who knows what, but these guys stood out with their... Pink Jeeps.
The 11.3 km hike took us almost 5 hours so not a great speed, but it was very pretty all around and parts of the hike back was quite muddy and slippery as the ice had then melt and the trail follow creek beds for some of its duration. Plus we took heaps of photos.
Back to the motel for shower, change of clothes and lunch and then out for some touristing. First off nearby was Chapel of the Holy Cross, a Catholic Church built on a rock cliff and backed by a rock wall.
Here is Di outside the church, with nature reflected in the glass.
And this is how Chapel of the Holy Cross looked from the road. Interesting and if you were going to get spiritual this might be a better place than a vortex. Really lovely.
We then went to the Wells Fargo branch in West Sedona to sort out our fantastic plastic that were sent to Australia rather than to Vineet's place. Barbie took great care of us and told us that the cards will be sent to Vineet's place within 7 days. We hope that she is right...
After that, we drove to Cottonwood, the small town west of Sedona. We found signs to Old Cottonwood so we drove there to see if we could get a cup of coffee (which we got at Orion Cafe and Bakery, since 2007).
Espresso machine was kaput, but coffee from the thermos was available. However, these guys baked sourdough bread and the place smelled fantastic. We didn't buy anything, but geez, really good bread has been hard to get in the US so far.
Here is the strip of Old Cottonwood.
We liked the name of this place, Kactus Kate's. They were advertising a Super Bowl party for this Sunday 3 Feb, but we will be gone by then. Oh well....
Even in a quaint little place like Old Cottonwood, there is a weapons store. Note the sign about price hikes on ammo...
At 4.30pm, we decided to drive back to VOC, Village of Oak Creek. We went another way directly east passing through a "pedestrian friendly" (their words) town called Cornville (great name by the way, no corn in sight). Pedestrian friendly was just a slight exaggeration in our view... No footpaths and no way to cross the local bridge without walking in a traffic lane.
Back to the motel for a Mexican pre dinner snack consisting of margarita, Corona, corn chips and salsa before tonight's fine dining, Sludge in our room.
Sludge is the popular term for instant microwave one pot risotto. Starts with a microwaveable packet of rice and add stuff. The recipe was invented in Madrid one desperate Sunday night when every shop was shut but has been perpetuated because it is fast, tasty, cheap and filling. It can be varied with extra ingredients like chicken, peas, tuna, canned soup, canned champignons. It works and made for a relaxing night.
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