Sedona, Jerome, Flagstaff

Is it possible to take a bad picture in Sedona? These photos are from a hike in Fay Canyon. Sedona is famous for its 'vortexes' which are supposed concentrations of energy or something. You can take vortex tours and even get hippy trippy new age guides to help you experience the vortexes to the fullest extent just in case you're not feeling the love all on your lonesome. I'm not sure if Fay Canyon is a vortex but Boynton Canyon, which is the next canyon over and the hike we've done for the past 2 years, is a vortex and I think it had enough energy to spill over because both Strummer and Cody went completely loopy. I remember that Cody went all freaky last year as well. I think it had more to do with the nuts there were all over the trail rather than the vortex though. He has a nut obsession, I can barely get him past an oak tree at home esp. during the fall when the acorns are everywhere. Strummy was a vortex of energy in his own right and tore up and down the trail full speed ahead.
You can see an arch at the middle/bottom of the picture below.


Mmm, tasty. Vultures give me the creeps but Jonny loves them so we stopped for a photo. He eventually took flight with the roadkill in his talons when a raven or crow came over to challenge him for his lunch. I just missed the shot so you don't get to see the gore but I have a lovely memory of it.
Welcome to Jerome.
We stayed here last night and we're here for one more night. It's, uh, interesting. The town is built on the side of a hill, which I knew, but I had no idea how incredibly steep the hill was and how steep all the streets in town would be. The only grass we've been able to find is a small 'park' across the street from the hotel which sounded convenient when I booked the room but it turns out you have to go up a long steep concrete staircase to get to the 'park' which likely will have loud scary drunk people in it if it's after dark. And there is an old, worn 'No Dogs' sign which we ignored because there was nowhere else. Except when the loud scary drunk people were way too loud for even us to risk it so the dogs had to make do with a tiny patch of weeds at the edge of a parking lot. Though the hotel is very dog friendly the town is not a great place for dogs.

Walking about it almost dizzying. All the streets are steep and there are incredible views. Here's a view from one of the sidewalks in town.

It's a weird, freaky little town with lots of weird freaky people. Back in the day it was a huge mining town and was called the 'Wickedest Town in the West'. The Connor Hotel where we're staying used to be a brothel. Now it's just a funky old hotel. Much better than staying at the skeezy motel chains that we normally have to go to with the dogs. The woman who checked us in was a bit eccentric and a busy body. The check-in area was in a gift store and we had to haul our bags through the store to get into the hotel. There was a separate night entrance/hallway right next door and I asked if we could haul our stuff up that way and she said 'no' and gave me a terrible suspicious look, like I was smuggling in who knows what. I'd told them I had 3 dogs when I booked the room and it was all o.k. but still I didn't want to drag them through the fancy gift shop if I didn't have to. Thankfully the woman was busy with another customer when I took the trouble twins up and though she snagged Jonny and Cody dear sweet Cody went into a nice sit and behaved perfectly while she asked questions about him.

Here's a photo of the Connor Hotel (est. 1898).
Here's a view from the San Francisco mountains just outside of Flagstaff.
We went on 2 short hikes, the first was a new trail called 'Aspen Meadow Loop' where the picture above was taken. Unfortunately the grasses on either side of the singletrack trail were jaggy and had terrible foxtails so I spent most of the hike pulling them out and worrying about them. It was only 2 miles so we went to the Kachina Trail which was just across the road. It was a beautiful trail through woods with the occasional view. We walked for about an hour total, didn't want to wear the dogs out too much, especially Cody. Here's a picture of me with my special boy in a nice Aspen grove just off the Kachina trail.