EXPLORING SEDONA

As always, you can view the photographic narrative for this story below. What is a photographic narrative?

On the first day of our series of adventures to Moab and back, I started with a drive from Tucson to Phoenix. My parents had taken an early morning flight from Ohio, and I would be picking them up at the airport. Luckily there were no flight delays to ruin our plans on this first day, and as soon as I pulled up to the arrivals area, my parents were waiting on the curb. The rest of the day was spent driving the remaining couple of hours to Sedona and exploring the hub of shops and restaurants along State Route 89A once we got there. 

After a good night of sleep in a local hotel, we were up before the Sun the next morning hoping to get out on the trails exploring before the trailhead parking lots were full. The plan for the day was to hike up to and around Bell Rock, see the Chapel of the Holy Cross, and then head about forty five minutes north to Flagstaff for the night. However, as we sat in the hotel eating a continental breakfast, cold rain falling on the windows around us, one of the hotel employees said “You’re not going to make it.” While there may have been more tactful ways of starting that conversation, his cause for concern was justified. On the television across the room the early morning new meteorologist was showing a map of the area between Sedona and Flagstaff, calling for heavy snow at least until the afternoon. In fact, State Route 89A (the easiest route between the two cities) was already closed, as was the significantly larger four lane highway I-17. Our only hope was that while we were out exploring the surrounding area, the snowfall would stop and the snowplows would make the roads at least marginally passable. So, with nothing to gain by sitting around and watching the weather channel, we set off towards Bell Rock. 

We spent a little over an hour exploring this iconic natural landmark and then went in search of a man-made one in the form of the Chapel of the Holy Cross. By the time we were done here, the AZ511 website said that I-17 was again open. So, we climbed in the Chevy Cruze (or, Chevy Land Cruiser as I like to call it in treacherous driving conditions) and drove north toward flagstaff. The roads were barely visible at times, completely covered by snow. A heavy Tesla Model S careened off the road ahead of us, a few overly-aggressive drivers of lifted trucks found themselves in ditches, and the Chevy Cruze effortlessly chugged along without issue, delivering us safely to Flagstaff.