Wrapping it up with a 4-mile hike...

The Secret Mountain area is famed for its steep canyons. Boynton and Fay Canyons are two that are accessible--if you like a four-mile hike. I can't feel my legs.


Unfortunately, Sedona has the best government money can buy, so a huge development was built in the mouth of Boynton. The trail goes around it, and you get a good look at a lot of houses in Nuevo Navajo architecture, built by people with plenty of money and guilt who want you to know they are so green they'll live in a giant house inspired by a hogan. Don't say I didn't warn you.

After a mile or so you get past the houses. Then, to get pictures, you have to climb above the treetops. No problem; as I say, I can't feel my legs anyway.

The canyon walls rise on both sides, slowly closing in as I near the end of the canyon.

I climbed well up the wall to get this shot of the canyon's end.

It's easier with the helicopter. When I get home, I have a nice video clip I need to edit showing what it's like to fly through the canyons.

Oh, and did I forget to mention...?

,,,that today was the day for my Red Baron impression? It was a great day for flying around Sedona, so I did a helicopter tour of the entire perimeter of the huge valley.

I shot thirty clips of video, which I'll edit when I have time at home. Video catches the experience better than stills, but these will do for now.

We flew near some ancient Indian dwellings, several hundred years old, preserved in the shadows of that dark ledge in the center. The Indians chose safe, defensible sites like that one; they could see any threat approaching from their high vantage point.

Then we flew up and down several of the immense canyons on the northwestern side of town. Fay, Boynton and other canyons are favorite venues for the hikers.

Wherever we flew, the scenery was awesome in scale and breathtaking in its rich color.

Oh--and I mustn't forget sunset last evening, when I photographed Cathedral Rocks from a little place where the water catches the reflection. For scale, my guardian angels thoughtfully provided a photographer and his model in the center of the picture--who blessedly stood still in most of my HDR sets. Nice props to show how big the scene really is...

All things come to him who waits...

Even good weather! The airport is on top of a mountain between Route 179 (seen here as it passes the Chapel--it's on the right side of the nearest mountain-- and Bell Rock) and Route 89 behind me to the North. This took a hike of a mile or so around the side of the airport mountain with the planes landing over me, but it is a heckuva view and worth every agonized step!

Cathedral Rock (below) has o be the most photographed piece of stone in the valley. You see it from everywhere, and it is nicely photogenic. This is the morning side, seen from Back of Beyond.


Then there is the graceful Bell rock, seen below in the distance from the Chapel. It's the little cone in the distance..

But, of course, when you are standing on its flanks, it doesn't look as small!! There are great views from up here--I'm going to try it again at sunset if the parking lot isn't too full!

Refuge at last in Sedona...

I heard as I drove over here from Chinle on I-40 between Winslow and Flagstaff that this section of the major superhighway across Arizona was closed yesterday due to the dangerous winds. Good thing I wasn't coming over here--I wouldn't have made it.

Needless to say, it was better this morning. I arrived mid-morning and went up on the overlook by the airport (above) looking over the part of town where I'm staying and the surrounding hills. Nice. After yesterday, comforting.

Then, back to the spectacular Chapel, this time with a tack-sharp lens. Oh, joy!


The chapel reminded me that I heard Glenn Beck say this morning that once God is dead, people with troubles turn to the only remaining god--government, which is only too happy to have them as wards of the state. Funny--that idea doesn't seem to be working out too well in Europe.

Nouriel Roubini said yesterday that if one thing goes wrong, Europe's economy will go down in a heap. I think I'll stop listening to the news and take pictures. These two are from up on the platform on either side of the chapel. The first is toward Bell rock in the distance and the second toward cathedral Rocks.

Sedona on video, alas...

Home again after but half a day in Sedona. The lens disaster (described in my earlier post) was, thank goodness, limited only to that lens.

The taste of Sedona I did manage (see Cathedral Rock via telephoto above and videos below) have me so eager that I'm already booked for another adventure May 21-29.

The Chapel of the Holy Cross is a gem in a spectacular setting. I look forward to being there for a morning view from its balcony--you can see for miles!

The disaster at Sedona...

Some good things come to an end, and others never get started.

A couple of weeks ago, my main wide-angle lens fell on the ground while I was using the big telephoto lens to shoot skydivers. Today, I shot a lot of images all over Sedona--and they are all out of focus because the focus on that lens that fell is jammed. Can't even force it to infinity, the setting I use to shoot all these landscapes.

The conditions were perfect, too. !#!$!%!^!&! I've canceled and will go home tomorrow, get another lens and come back May 24.

I'm trying to be philosophical. I've had so much good luck on these trips, I can't complain--and who would listen, anyway? I can come back next month knowing all I do now after running to all the sites today.

Driving home in the morning. Sigh...