American Cities: Sedona

The further we get from summer, the harder time I have differentiating between the parks we visited. Was this the park with the stunning vistas? Did this one have the long hike? Was it this one that had the revolting bathrooms?

Luckily, I took copious notes throughout the summer and have my photos to fall back on. I had worried that our move to Dakar would cause a delay in writing these posts – and it did!

But Sedona is not a place that I could possibly get mixed up with anywhere else on our trip. That’s because I’ve been looking forward to visiting the town for the last five years.

In 2019, I picked a new chapter book to read aloud to my class – Geronimo Stilton: Flight of the Red Bandit. The setting of the book is Sedona, Arizona, and while the fictional main character is a mouse who is trying to track down a hat maker and bandit to replace his grandfather’s old hat, the backdrop is the stunning landscapes that have long made Sedona a tourist destination.

The biggest adventure of the book is when Geronimo climbs up Cathedral Rock and looks out over the valley to discover the Red Bandit.

I couldn’t tell you why, but ever since, I’ve wanted to hike that rock myself. Cathedral Rock is located in Coconino National Forest and a National Parks Pass gets you free parking (which is very limited!).

Our first surprise of Sedona – we didn’t actually want to stay in Sedona! Because the hiking around the area is so well known, the hotel rates in the area are pretty out of control. We found a company renting tiny houses – Tiny Camp – and saw that they had more affordable options in nearby Cottonwood, which is how we ended up in the adorable tiny house below.

Other than the limited space in the tiny house for everything we were lugging with us on this road trip (though it was considerably larger than the B&B outside of Zion), Cottonwood was a dream. It was quiet, charming, and easy to get in and out of. And honestly, after about a month of hotels, we appreciated the privacy!

Cathedral Rock was the big hike we had planned in Sedona, but I saved a number of other options for us in the area – all of which were immediately taken off the table when we realized we had entered yet another heat dome (this one would follow us to our next stop, Phoenix, as well).

After a relaxing night, we were up bright and early for our hike at Cathedral Rock. I’d read that parking was quite limited and while it was, that ended up not being the issue…

I might have “undersold” the hike to Chandler knowing he’s not a fan of anything outdoors that’s too strenuous. The Coconino National Forest website describes the hike as, “more of a rock climb than a hike, this trail is unshaded and steep and difficult in places.” I thought perhaps they were exaggerating – it turns out they were not!

But just look at that view!

If you look really closely, you can see the itty-bitty people hiking up the rock. In parts, you could walk, albeit with bent knees, but there were other spots where you had to wedge yourself into a shallow cleft and climb with the toeholds notched into the rock. Chandler had a tote bag on one shoulder and I had my camera on one of mine, which made balancing a bit more precarious.

About halfway up there was an easy ledge, which would have been a perfect place to take a break – but as foretold, there was absolutely no escape from the sun, so while the scenery was gorgeous, we continued upward and onward.

We had seen a number of families turn back before the first real climb, but this was the point where everyone with a child younger than 13 called it quits. Unlike before, there was no shallow cleft to wedge yourself into – we were grappling for boulders to grab hold of, but mostly scrambling on our hands and knees.

It was only near the top that they added a few ropes to grab onto, and I have to admit, arriving at the top of Cathedral Rock felt glorious. It was nowhere near the longest hike we’d take all summer, but it was likely the most strenuous. Would a backpack have made things easier? Of course – but I loathe backpacks : )

At the top you can take short strolls to the left and right to gain different views of the vista beyond. While it was lovely, I preferred the view of the rock itself from closer to the bottom!

The scramble back down took a fraction of the time and there was only one area where we really had to scoot down on our butts – I’m sure someone can do it more gracefully, but we didn’t see any examples!

Back at the bottom we had a decision to make – we had crossed off all our other hikes, but I really wanted to see Cathedral Rock from the other side. I had read about the Secret Slickrock Trail and all the reviews said to go at sunset. But the temp was currently in the mid-80s and at sunset would likely be near 100 degrees. We decided it was now or never.

We drove for 25 minutes to get around to the other parking lot and then Chandler opted to stay in the car while I went on this short downhill stroll. Unfortunately, I’m a little directionally challenged! It was easy to head toward Cathedral Rock, but there were dozens of paths weaving and overlapping and I wasn’t always sure which one I was supposed to be on and how far I was supposed to go.

My “short” stroll probably took 30 minutes, but my biggest surprise was the greenery! I know that we were visiting in spring (albeit at the very end!) but the red rock that we had seen on the front side was almost completely covered in greenery on the back side. It was a lovely contrast, but I can definitely say wait until sunset if you at all can.

That said, we were more than happy to call it quits for hiking that day as the temps rose into the 90s.

We made it back to our tiny home, showered, made some smoothies, and decided to pick a winery to spend the afternoon at. Neither Chandler nor I drink much wine these days, but it seemed like the thing to do to fully appreciate the area and so many of the outdoor activities (even strolling through small nearby towns) felt off limits.

We looked at a number of brochures our hosts had left us, scrolled through numerous online reviews, and decided to try our luck at Page Spring Cellars in Cornville (having seen photos of both the vineyards and the food – as well as reading about their sustainability efforts).

We arrived around four in the afternoon to find ourselves the only customers amongst half a dozen workers. We opted to sit indoors and share a wine tasting, though our server, Colton, had rather large pours. Glasses weren’t cleaned out between tastings, and the wines started to blend together – especially for the Vino del Barrio Blanca, which is 30% Roussane, 23% Malvasia Bianca, and 47% other grape varietals. Turns out they don’t like to waste any of the grapes – sustainability! – so this is the wine that gets all of the leftovers.

I can’t say we were wowed by any of the flavors, but I did enjoy two of their aromatic whites, La Serrana and Colibri Counoise Blanc de Noir. The real star of the show was their sparkling apple wine (which I luckily ordered a full glass of!). Midway through the wine flight, I also had to order one of their brick-fired pizzas.

We spent a few hours relaxing and talking until it was time for the vineyard to close for the evening – and honestly, it was so nice to have a relaxing evening out. So much of this trip had been early mornings, hot hikes, resting in hotel rooms. Chilling at a vineyard ended up being just what we needed.