The uniqueness of Sedona is not limited to its landscapes. Yes, there are crazy red rocks everywhere and breathtaking sunsets, but the people that you meet when you’re hiking down the street, or the trail, also add to the fun.

First thing Bob and I did was the Discover Sedona tour (an overview done via mini-bus), our tour guide told us about vortexes. He also showed us highlights of the town that we could return to and filled us in on interesting Sedona facts. For instance, there were many spaghetti westerns filmed there, including Angel and the Badman with John Wayne (1947) and Broken Arrow with Jimmy Stewart (1950). More recently, The Karate Kid (1984) was filmed in Sedona.

His emphasis on vortexes (or vortices, if you love grammar) struck me as most unusual. If you’re asking yourself what is a vortex, join my club. It was explained to us that a vortex is a swirling center of energy. Many people come to Sedona to experience the heightened energy and well-being emitted from them. Our guide told us that sometimes the energy in Sedona gets too much for him, and he has to leave town for a few days to escape it. My first thought was, this is the place I have been searching for all my life.

I’ve never considered myself a high-energy person – quite the opposite. My low energy doesn’t usually inhibit me from doing what I need to do, but I have to resist the temptation to give in to it. So, Bob and I sought out a vortex where I could absorb all that energy. I wondered if there were vortex storage containers. Wouldn’t that be a great souvenir!

Our first encounter with a vortex was a little nebulous. We hiked out to an area in Crescent Moon Ranch, part of Coconino National Forest. We were armed with a map to the vortex, which was at one of many viewing areas of Cathedral Rock. (If you’re a regular reader, you will rightly assume that Bob, my map-reading engineer, directed us.) Still, even for Bob, the area was vaguely marked. The map didn’t exactly use the never-failing X-marks-the-spot.

Along the way, we found a lot of cairns, which are stacks of stones. Traditionally they were used as memorials, but now everybody is getting in on the action. If you want to mark something significant with a cairn, something that will tell a story, you may want to rethink it. They are akin to the locks over the Paris bridges, except I think they’re cooler looking.

Here a cairn; there a cairn; everywhere a cairn, cairn.

There must have been some people close to us, because we saw their trusty guard dog watching over their belongings.

We came to an area of slick rock (smooth, wind or water polished rock). We knew this was the place. I stood still gazing at stunning Cathedral Rock and waiting for an influx of energy while Bob re-checked our bearings. We had arrived.

Cathedral Rock

Not wanting to miss whatever was in store for me, I tarried. There weren’t a lot of people there, so we were on our own. Finally, Bob told me to summon my inner vortex and experience the energy.

Trying to encounter the correct twirl to join in the vortex energy fun

I felt nothing but silly as a hiker passed by, and then I felt the calm quiet that always fills me while in nature. Just being in the forest and taking in all the beauty that God created was enough for me. The rocks, the streams, the trees, the quiet. It doesn’t get much better than that. The only thing that was missing was the energy.

I didn’t care. When my doctor gives me a B-12 shot, which is supposed to give energy, I typically get very tired for a couple of days. Thinking about this, I realized that the energy of the vortex must have been quite strong, because I don’t remember when I have been as tired as I was while in Sedona. Yes, I am the anti-energizer. I’m okay with that.

Even More Sedona coming tomorrow!