Author – Grant
Based In – Sedona, Arizona
Day 141 Photos – http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157615912246172/
Day 142 Photos – http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157615912330574/
What a blissful couple of days. A bazillion trails to roam; no internet or phone reception and a BBQ pit to play with. If this is how ancient civilisations lived then I’m all in favour...although the in-room DVD player did help.
I’ve lumped days 141 and 142 together because they had an identical pattern. The daylight hours were for exploring and exercising and the evenings were for playing with various forms of fire and eating meat. Add 5 minutes a day to worship the sun and we’d be practically Mayan.
So in typical over-confident fashion, the hike f
or day 141 was chosen because it contained the largest digits in both the ‘distance’ and ‘elevation’ columns in the trail guide. Given that I’m a good 50lbs overweight and have difficulty brushing my teeth without panting like a dog in a microwave, I have no idea exactly where this over-confidence in my athletic ability comes from. Either I love a challenge or my brain likes to play practical jokes on my body but either way I had 11 miles to walk and 2300 feet to climb (from 4800 ft to 7100 ft) up an arid, rocky mountain. What the trail guide didn’t mention was that my path would be sporadically crossed by two foot long snakes. Don’t believe me? Check the photos. One just happened to slither across my path whilst I was trying to take a photo of the incredible orange landscape. Someone manlier than me would now sport snake-skin boots but I just have a depleted boxer short collection.
I did, however, make it to the snow-capped summit where I knew my reward for this 2 ½ hour uphill slog would be a unique and enviable view of the Sedona Valley. What I didn’t expect was that I would have the company of 25 members of Surprise (it’s a town in Arizon
a) 55+ Senior Citizens Walking Club which kind of took the shine off my achievement. Admittedly they had come up the other side of the mountain which wasn’t as big an ascent but then some of them were a clear 40 years older than me. When I am their age, I’ll only be “conquering” mountains served by roads or gondolas. Kudos to the lot of them and their zest for life was admirable and infectious. After chatting with them for 20 minutes, they agreed I could become an honorary overseas (and underage) member of their club and apparently the group photo I joined them for will be on their web-site when they get back from this trip. I’m happy about this but if their blog is also better than mine then I’m going to have to virally infect it. I don’t actually know how to do that but there’s a 79 year old staying in the room next to us so I’ll ask him for help.
Now I have time to sit back and reflect on our time in Sedona, I realise that not informing me about the abundant serpents on the Mt Wilson hike wasn’t the only piece o
f misinformation in the Trail Guide. In addition to the previous day’s walks that ended abruptly thanks to a raging river and a 500 foot fall off a cliff, they also lied to us about the “easy and smooth” 7 mile bike ride around Bell Rock and the “flat, 2 mile” Baldwin Walk. Firstly, if the boulder, rock and gravel covered undulating bike ride we endured is considered “smooth” then so is my bottom and if that path is easy then I want to know which sneaky bugger threw water on my t-shirt in all the places that men stereotypically sweat. Secondly, admittedly we aren’t the fittest people alive but why did the walk force my ears to pop and un-pop about a dozen times and take us well over an hour to complete? In keeping with the rectum comparison…2 miles my arse. Luckily they were both incredibly enjoyable but when the guide warns “take more water than you think you will need”, it’s probably because the actual trail distances are twice those published.
On the food front – well I had a blast. Despite their only being two mouths to feed over two meals; we managed to grill up a grand total of 6 different cuts of meat a
nd 7 different vegetables…you know, something for the ladies. The chap in front of me in the supermarket made me laugh when we turned up with a very full cart and just happened to unload the meat, charcoal and wine first; at which point he correctly pointed out that was all we needed. Still, over the two nights the grill took a serious hammering as pork chops (obviously), rib-eyes, fillets mignons, chicken and two types of sausages were all grilled to smoky, juicy perfection (if I do say so myself) and washed down with some local plonk. Once full food coma was induced, it was time to escape the bitterly chilly evening by retiring to the log-fire lit room and try to stay conscious during that evening’s DVD selection. I could get used to that life-style…of course I don’t speak on behalf of my liver. Turns out life without a kitchen isn’t too restricting after all.
Based In – Sedona, Arizona
Day 141 Photos – http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157615912246172/
Day 142 Photos – http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157615912330574/
What a blissful couple of days. A bazillion trails to roam; no internet or phone reception and a BBQ pit to play with. If this is how ancient civilisations lived then I’m all in favour...although the in-room DVD player did help.
I’ve lumped days 141 and 142 together because they had an identical pattern. The daylight hours were for exploring and exercising and the evenings were for playing with various forms of fire and eating meat. Add 5 minutes a day to worship the sun and we’d be practically Mayan.
So in typical over-confident fashion, the hike f
or day 141 was chosen because it contained the largest digits in both the ‘distance’ and ‘elevation’ columns in the trail guide. Given that I’m a good 50lbs overweight and have difficulty brushing my teeth without panting like a dog in a microwave, I have no idea exactly where this over-confidence in my athletic ability comes from. Either I love a challenge or my brain likes to play practical jokes on my body but either way I had 11 miles to walk and 2300 feet to climb (from 4800 ft to 7100 ft) up an arid, rocky mountain. What the trail guide didn’t mention was that my path would be sporadically crossed by two foot long snakes. Don’t believe me? Check the photos. One just happened to slither across my path whilst I was trying to take a photo of the incredible orange landscape. Someone manlier than me would now sport snake-skin boots but I just have a depleted boxer short collection.I did, however, make it to the snow-capped summit where I knew my reward for this 2 ½ hour uphill slog would be a unique and enviable view of the Sedona Valley. What I didn’t expect was that I would have the company of 25 members of Surprise (it’s a town in Arizon
a) 55+ Senior Citizens Walking Club which kind of took the shine off my achievement. Admittedly they had come up the other side of the mountain which wasn’t as big an ascent but then some of them were a clear 40 years older than me. When I am their age, I’ll only be “conquering” mountains served by roads or gondolas. Kudos to the lot of them and their zest for life was admirable and infectious. After chatting with them for 20 minutes, they agreed I could become an honorary overseas (and underage) member of their club and apparently the group photo I joined them for will be on their web-site when they get back from this trip. I’m happy about this but if their blog is also better than mine then I’m going to have to virally infect it. I don’t actually know how to do that but there’s a 79 year old staying in the room next to us so I’ll ask him for help.Now I have time to sit back and reflect on our time in Sedona, I realise that not informing me about the abundant serpents on the Mt Wilson hike wasn’t the only piece o
f misinformation in the Trail Guide. In addition to the previous day’s walks that ended abruptly thanks to a raging river and a 500 foot fall off a cliff, they also lied to us about the “easy and smooth” 7 mile bike ride around Bell Rock and the “flat, 2 mile” Baldwin Walk. Firstly, if the boulder, rock and gravel covered undulating bike ride we endured is considered “smooth” then so is my bottom and if that path is easy then I want to know which sneaky bugger threw water on my t-shirt in all the places that men stereotypically sweat. Secondly, admittedly we aren’t the fittest people alive but why did the walk force my ears to pop and un-pop about a dozen times and take us well over an hour to complete? In keeping with the rectum comparison…2 miles my arse. Luckily they were both incredibly enjoyable but when the guide warns “take more water than you think you will need”, it’s probably because the actual trail distances are twice those published.On the food front – well I had a blast. Despite their only being two mouths to feed over two meals; we managed to grill up a grand total of 6 different cuts of meat a
nd 7 different vegetables…you know, something for the ladies. The chap in front of me in the supermarket made me laugh when we turned up with a very full cart and just happened to unload the meat, charcoal and wine first; at which point he correctly pointed out that was all we needed. Still, over the two nights the grill took a serious hammering as pork chops (obviously), rib-eyes, fillets mignons, chicken and two types of sausages were all grilled to smoky, juicy perfection (if I do say so myself) and washed down with some local plonk. Once full food coma was induced, it was time to escape the bitterly chilly evening by retiring to the log-fire lit room and try to stay conscious during that evening’s DVD selection. I could get used to that life-style…of course I don’t speak on behalf of my liver. Turns out life without a kitchen isn’t too restricting after all.Southbound to Tucson tomorrow which is just 60 miles from the Mexican border. You know, where all the trouble is. We just can’t resist a good barney…
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