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...

A dust storm with 55 mph winds...

It's a good thing I worked so hard yesterday and this morning, because by 2:00 P.M. today the sky was filled with blown sand, the sky turned dust-colored, and the scenic sites began to fade out in a haze of blowing sand. It got worse with each hour, and I had to retreat to the hotel. If one turned into the wind as I did for these, one got a mouth full of sand and eyes that needed a cleaning. Arrrgh. Supposed to be windy tomorrow as well. Sigh.

You can see by the video hy there are only scrubby bushes here--tall trees wouldn't last long up here atop the mesa where the wind howls.