Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween

       It’s that time of year where people in my age group get totally wasted, eat way too much sugar and turn the most innocent of things into slutty costumes.  You can see why it’s one of my favorite holidays.  Sadly I will not be participating the debauchery this year.  This is because I’ve moved to a new town and have no friends (hahaha just kidding.. well kinda).  For those of you who don’t know me as well as you should, costuming is one of my favorite hobbies in the world!  So this is kind of a big deal (*Ron Burgundy voice).  But that’s all right, I’m sure I’ll have something planned for next year.  I’m still getting used to Sedona.  So I’ll leave you with two photos from my families Halloween party in 2009. 


I'm sure you can guess who yours truly is. ;)




       Shout out to my beautiful cousin Lani and her talented husband David!  They always have incredible costumes!





Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Sterling Pass (Trail 46) and Vultee Arch



            A few of my co-workers from Sedona Rouge invited me to go on a hike with them on Tuesday.  When this morning rolled around I got a text from the organizer stating that our hike was canceled due to a chance of rain.  This is what it looked like outside:



            Having been cheated out of my hike I decided to lone-wolf it and go on my own Adventure.  But where would I go?  Well, I remembered a conversation that I had with one of our regular guests at the resort.  This gentleman was an avid hiker and knew the area extremely well despite not being a local.  He told me about this trail called Sterling Pass, which was just north of Manzanita Campground.  I really wish I could tell you his name, because it’s a very fun German name that I thoroughly enjoy saying with an accent.  But for the sake of privacy we shall refer to him as Herr Zimmerman (why? Because it too is a cool German name!). 

            So I head out!  Driving east on the 89A from the Resort I passed the two main round-a-bouts and passed through uptown (the tourist trap).  From uptown the drive is about 15 minutes north along the 89A as it becomes a small two lane highway the weaves through trees and boulders the size of buses.  My trail is on the side of the highway and “you could drive past it a hundred times and miss it” in the words of Herr Zimmerman.  There is a small area for about two or three cars to park in front of the trail or you could park at Manzanita Campground.  I suggest you pull over on the side of the road so you don’t have to walk along the highway and so you don’t have to pay the ridiculous $18. 





            Here is the beginning of the trail.

            It was only about thirty minutes into the hike and I was already breathing heavy and sweating profusely.  There is a quick elevation gain on the street side of Sterling Pass.  Les Stroud would have been very disappointed in me; I waited too long to take off my jacket.  In the wilderness and especially survivor situations you must do whatever you can avoid sweating.  Even if that means taking off your shirt and showing off your amazingly sculpted abs.  Think I’m joking; well think about this, why do we sweat?  It’s so our body can use that liquid to better transfer heat out of us.  Liquid is a great transferor of heat.  So when you sweat up your shirt and a cold gust of wind comes along get ready to suffer.  How do you suppose you’ll dry your shirt?  You certainly don’t have a dryer machine.  Anyway, the point is, don’t sweat if you can help it.  Where was I?

            Do not be discouraged fellow Adventurers; though there is a quick elevation gain it is plenty worth it.  The trail switchbacks along the mountainside and there are some very interesting rock formations along the way.  At one point I came across this formation that jutted out from the side of the mountain and had a sheer drop on the other side.  It’s a little difficult to explain so here are some pictures (which don’t really do it justice either):




            About forty minutes into the hike I reach the top of the pass where it begins to go down the other side of the mountain.  I found myself a little disappointed.  Traditionally I have always been a fan of hiking to the top, conquering that mountain and then coming back down.  I guess I just like having goals (i.e. the top of the mountain).  So I keep going down the other side since I certainly wasn’t going to stop after a mere 40 minutes.

            This side had a different feel to it.  There seemed to be a much thicker canopy of trees.  Many of the trees were changing colors into reds, yellows and oranges so I took some pictures (perhaps my three least favorite colors):






            There were also a lot of trees that looked like they had survived a fire and many had also fallen over.  I’m not sure what the story is here. 



            When you spend enough time alone and have an imagination like I do you begin to think up strange things.  On my way down the switchbacks I heard a noise that I did not recognize.  It sounded like a rapid succession of loud taps on a tree.  Almost like a clicking sound up in the canopy.  Perhaps you’re thinking the same thing as me?  Predators in the trees! 



            It wasn’t long after this that I came across another human.  When I first spotted him farther down the switchbacks it would have been too difficult to communicate.  So instead of awkwardly shouting down the mountain I picked up the pace a little.  I eventually came up on him and asked if he had done this trail before.  He said no and told me he was not from around here.  I asked him where was he was from and he told me Germany (I now know where I get my spirit of Adventure, it must reside in my German blood).  He also informed me that he was attempting to reach Vultee Arch.  I’m glad he told me this because now I had a goal too!  I walked on ahead of him and was determined to find this Vultee Arch landmark. 

            At the foot of the mountain it hit me.  I realized what that clicking noise must have been.  After see so many burnt and fallen trees I realized it must have been the sound of trees squeaking in the wind.  Anyways, I soon came up behind a sign.  It was facing away from me.   Upon inspection the sign read <- Vultee Arch, -> Sterling Pass (which was where I had come from).  So I took the trail to Vultee Arch.



            Although the trail was a little difficult to spot at times it was wasn’t too much farther to reach the Arch.  And what a magnificent sight it was!   







            I’m so glad that my German friend had told me about the Arch.  This gave me a goal and it was a really cool landmark.  There was a fifty-fifty chance that I would have gone straight at the fork and missed it altogether.  I waited around a little bit to catch my breath and let him catch up with me.  I knew he wasn’t far behind. 




            He eventually did, and we sat next to the Arch and talked a little more about other hikes in the area and introduced ourselves.  I didn’t quite understand his name but he just told me to call him Ralph.  After a few minutes I told him to be safe and I departed once again.  I was now on my way back up Sterling Pass to get back to my car.  On my way back I ran into a few more people.  I was glad to see people pushing themselves. 

            This was a great hike and in total took me about three hours.  Thank you Herr Zimmerman for the suggestion.  I’m glad that it didn’t rain because Sterling Pass crosses over what looks like a dried up river bed numerous times and that would have made the hike a little more challenging.  I would give this a 5 out of 10 on the Adventure scale, since it was difficult but was still a trail.  

Weiter Abenteuer meine Freunde!






Tuesday, October 22, 2013

What I've noticed about Sedona


           My move to Sedona has been one of the biggest changes (or Adventures) in my entire life.  Consequently, I had some serious reservations about making the move.  I mean, come on, I went from San Diego, the eighth largest city in America, to a town of 10,000.  It hasn’t been perfect, but I’ve surprised myself with how seamlessly I have adjusted so far.  Already I can tell this move has grown me tremendously and I’m happy with my decisions. 

            For those of you who don’t know, Sedona is a very different place.  I’m not just referring to the glaringly obvious fact that it’s a small town; it has a very distinct culture of its own.  Some describe it as a spiritual Mecca for one.  It’s difficult to put into words everything I’ve noticed so far but I thought it would be interesting to share with you some of what I’ve noticed so far.  So here’s the list:

1.  Demographic

This town consists of primarily two types of people; rich, old, retired people and the new age hippy types.  These are not exclusive demographics either, many fall into both categories.  As a result, there are any number of healing facilities, psychics, gem stone shops, spiritual hikes, alien sightings, overpriced teahouses, vortex’s, spa’s, peace parks and other strange establishments.  Most of this is very much outside the context of who I am, but I simply share with you what I've noticed. 




    

     


2.  Teal Arches

Our new age retro hippies, mentioned above, put up a stink when McDonalds wanted to come in and put their famous golden arches up.  The town told them that they would have to choose another color.  My understanding is that this has to do with maintaining aesthetic unity.  So McDonalds decided to pick Teal Green and the locals approved the decision.  I don’t know of any other place where this is the case. 


3.  The “Y”

When locals refer to the “Y”, they’re not talking about a fun place for young men to stay, they’re referring to a major intersection where the 89A hits the 179.  Coming from the west (my neck of the woods), you can either continue north on the 89A to uptown and eventually Flagstaff or go south on the 179 and hit up all the shops and restaurants you wallet can afford. 



4.  Round-a-bouts

While we’re on the subject, the “Y” is actually a round-a-bout.  I was first introduced to round-a-bouts when I visited Australia and since then San Diego has implemented a few.  It seems like Arizona’s high desert towns are a fan and so am I. 



5.  Hours of Operation

In San Diego if you wanted to get a drink at one in the morning it wouldn’t be that difficult to find a place.  If you wanted something at ten or eleven it would be even easier.  Here in Sedona, fat chance.  This town basically closes at 9 pm.  From what I’m told there are maybe two or three places that close well after the nine-o-clock bedtime but I have yet to see them for myself. 



I’m sure I’ll have more observations about Sedona in the future.  But until then, don’t take your own city for granted.  Go on an Adventure!








Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Pink Jeeps?




Yes… Pink Jeeps.

            Yesterday I had the opportunity to take a Pink Jeep Tour in my current hometown of Sedona, Arizona.  Two entrepreneurs Henry Kaiser and Don Pratt established pink Jeep Tours in 1960.  That’s 53 years of touring!  They currently tour Sedona, Las Vegas, The Grand Canyon and Scottsdale.  Learn more about them on their site.  The tour that I went on was the “Broken Arrow Tour”, which was highly recommended by the concierge at Sedona Rouge. 

            Since my tour was at 9 a.m. I had to get up and get ready right away.  It was convenient that Pink Jeep Tours sends a shuttle from their office to Sedona Rouge, which is where I got picked up.  Their office is a quick 6 minutes up the 89A from the Rouge.  A coworker of mine decided to go with me when I was booking my tour.  So we headed out together to Pink Jeep Tours on Monday Morning (be jealous all you 9 to 5ers). 


            Upon arrival we checked in and then waited to be directed to our Pink Jeep.  Here’s a look at their waiting area / parking lot: 


            I had never seen this many Pink Jeeps at one time (actually, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a Pink Jeep).  Eventually, our tour guide calls my name along with five other people and we ship out.  We had a slightly smaller group, as the Jeeps can hold a total of nine people (or at least that’s how many seat-belts they have).  That many people on one of these jeeps would have made me uncomfortable.
           
            Broken Arrow got its name from the 1950 film “Broken Arrow”, which used this area as their set.  This has also been the site of several other films, photo shoots and commercials throughout the decades.  Because Pink Jeep Tours has been doing this for so long, they have the exclusive rights to tour on this trail.  Private four-wheel drivers are allowed on this trail but no other commercial tours.  This was one more reason why my concierge suggested this tour over the others. 

            The Tour took us through some fantastic Arizona wilderness.  There was no shortage of strange red rock formations, deadly-sharp plants and sheer falls.  There were a couple of times that the driver would let us get out, take some pictures and have a few minutes to explore.  One thing to keep in mind is if you have a weak stomach, either sit in the front or consider not eating much in the morning because it’s no Sunday morning drive.  I was shocked at what our driver was able to traverse.  Hopefully the picture gives you an idea of how intense some of the maneuvers are. 























            Altogether, this Adventure was about two hours.  I would really recommend this tour to anyone visiting Sedona.  It would be great for the family, a nice thing to do on a date or if you want to go with a friend.  It was not strenuous and was very safe.  In fact, the most dangerous parts were the round-abouts on the highway.  I give it two thumbs up. 

            Hopefully dear readers you are beginning to get a sense of the kind of Adventure my soul craves.  If you are, then you’ll realize that this was barely an appetizer.  Don’t get me wrong, this tour was fun and I would recommend it, but it is low on my Adventure scale.  (Maybe I should actually have a scale).  I’ll try to keep my prejudice at bay when blogging about lower Scaled Adventures, as I want to suggest things for everyone (but it may be difficult).  So on the Adventure Scale I suppose this would probably get a level 3 out of 10 due to the safe and controlled environment.  Hopefully next time I’ll have something a little more extreme. 

            Seek out something new today!