Sedona-A Mysterious Experience

My most memorable event is hiking the Boynton Canyon Vortex(read my additional journal). I also enjoyed hanging out in the funky town of Sedona, visiting the famous Chapel of the Holy Cross, and exploring the Oak Creek Canyon, including the Slide Rock State Park.

Quick Tips:

It can get very hot in Arizona,especially in August. To hike into a canyon, leave early in the morning to beat the heat...take plenty of water since there are no facilities in most places. I tend to appreciate exploring alone to avoid having to negotiate or compromise my intuitive plans, feelings, thoughts, decisions. Exploring Sedona was definitely a place to explore alone...and then to share experiences with others later. There are some obvious dangers to hiking alone and you need to weigh the tradeoffs.

Best Way To Get Around:

I rented a car in Phoenix so I had wheels when arriving in Sedona. A car is pretty essential if you plan on hiking the canyons...too far to walk. However, by staying in the Sedona hostel or hanging out in a popular restaurtant, you might be able to hitch a ride to a canyon or take an organized tour...which I would strongly discourage unless it was absolutely necessary.

This is an unassuming,unpretentious motel located right on the highway. I chose it because it was reasonable-$50 a night and I needed a decent sleep after days of camping.

My room was pleasant and clean with a modern bathroom and a comfortable bed. My only complaint was that this motel is located right on the highway and was somewhat noisy during the night hours.

After spending one night in the Sedona Motel, I moved to a National Forest Service Campground...Bootlegger. I prefer to camp, to be outdoors, to experience the sounds and smells of nature.

This is a very basic campground with only cold water and bathrooms without showers. The cost was $8 a night and the campsites are small and very crowded. There are fireplace grills for cooking.

This restaurant may not be easy to find...it is located in back of the shopping plaza. I stumbled on this place when I was walking around town and decided to check it out...a good move.

This casual family restaurant is a popular place for locals as well as tourists who hear about its fine reputation. They serve pizza, subs, spaghetti, and other Italian foods. The food is just ok but the views are good from their outside deck. Also, this is the place where I met the woman who had experienced her mysterious 'happening' at Boynton Canyon so its easy to remember and have positive feelings about this place.

This unique, and very popular tourist site, is built right into the red rock on a hill overlooking a valley and situated between two large sandstone peaks. The exterior chapel blends in so well with the surrounding glory of nature that I was surprised at how basic the interior was...almost disappointed until I spent more time sitting in a pew and taking in its simplicity. After a period of time, the 90 foot cross touched some spiritual nerves within me.

I parked my car on the road below and walked up the steep hill to the chapel.I was fortunate in visiting this place in late afternoon and apparently avoided the tour buses.

This is a very popular park for tourists. On the very hot day I was there, hundreds of people of all ages were having fun sliding down a natural water slide.

Over millions of years, the forces and power of nature has worn a 30 foot water slide between very slippery red rock walls along Oak Creek Canyon. This gift from nature is appreciated by hundreds every day.

The water is cold. Also,its helpful,almost necessary to wear a pair of old sneakers to save your feet from the sometimes rocky bottom. Also, its best to wear heavy shorts/bathing suit due to the abrasions of sliding down the chute.

Getting to the slide is easy...park your car along the highway and walk through the apple orchard, that dates to 1912. According to the Park Ranger, there are 13 varieties of apples, including red delicious and Arkansas Black. Apple cider is sold at the refreshment stand. Every Saturday there is a ranger-narrated history program at this park.

As mentioned in my description of this journal, I met this young women in a restaurant in Sedona who shared with me her 'mysterious' experience in the Boynton Canyon the previous day. She was still in a trance-like state, and my initial thoughts were that she was high on some drug. She explained in detail that she had hiked into Boynton Canyon and had experienced the intense energy of the power vortex which left her feeling euphoric and deeply spiritual.She was heading back to California that day but claimed that the experience changed her life.

After lunch, I found a bookstore in town and asked about this Vortex energy. Here I learned, through conversations and books, that Sedona is one of THE places on earth to experience and feel 'vibrations' of the vortex...which is a site where the earth's unseen lines of power intersect to form a powerful energy field. Page Bryant, an adherent of New Age beliefs, determined through a form of channeling that there were four vortexes around Sedona...one of them in BOYNTON CANYON.

Now, you need to know that I am not an obsessed 'New Ager' who is into vortex belief, angelic healing, past-life regressions, etc. I tend to be a skeptic, believing only those things that I have actually experienced. But I was curious enough to decide to hike into Boynton Canyon to see for myself. What happened was almost beyond belief.

Before hiking into Boynton Canyon, I read that Indians once came to this place to worship and that some people have seen visions of these Indians, long since gone. I also read that the Boynton Canyon Vortex is considered an electromagnetic energy site which has a balance of both masculine and feminine energy.

I decided to begin hiking early in the morning to avoid the intense heat of the day. From the parking lot, I hiked through forest and then into the Canyon. Along the way, there was obvious signs of tourist/hikers who had discarded trash, and there were camping spots along the way. I was fortunate in that I was alone in my journey into this canyon. Three hours later, I reached the end of the canyon and decided to climb up to a very high peak. This took another hour.

Resting on a ledge for a rest stop, I noticed that it was 11 am. What happened next is my mystery, my own unique experience of this special place on earth. I was hungry after hiking almost five hours and decided to open my backpack for food and water. At this point, I had a strange sensation, and could see visions of Indians climbing the canyon walls below...then I apparently fell into a trance...and during this trance I felt like a whole human being for the first time in my life, with a perfect balance of feminine and masculine characteristics. When I came out of it, I noticed that my watch indicated that it was 4 pm in the afternoon. Now, skeptics would suggest that I fell asleep for five hours...my response is that it would almost be impossible for this to happen. First of all, I was sitting on rock, close to the edge of a cliff. There is no way that I have ever slept for five hours on a rock in broad daylight with intense heat. Also, I noticed that I did not touch my food and was not hungry.

Reluctantly, I decided to leave the canyon for my emotional feelings were intense, with joy, happiness, and contentment that I had never experienced before. As I hiked back to my car, I checked with other hikers to confirm the time. My watch was accurate...something had happened to me during that five hours in the Boynton Canyon that left an idelible lasting impression in my heart and soul.