Sedona, AZ - 8/23/2016

This morning we headed off on a day trip to Sedona.  Sedona is a small city located about 30 miles south of Flagstaff and is famous for its red rock scenery and energy vortexes.  As we headed south we had to descend from the 7,000 ft elevation of Flagstaff to Sedona's 4,300 ft. elevation and most of this was accomplished by a steep descent into Oak Creek Canyon.  Here is a photo of that canyon.

The cliffs you can see on the right (west) side of the canyon are made up of a top layer of limestone over five layers of sandstone.  The fourth layer from the top is known as the Schnebly Hill Formation.  It is about 700 ft thick and red in color from iron oxide coating on the sand grains.  This is the layer that gives the Sedona rock formations their red color.  The east side of the canyon is 1,000 ft. lower then the west side as there is a vertical fault line running down the center of the canyon.  Here is the twisty road that descends into the canyon

Here is a photo I took at Slide Rock State Park in the canyon.  You can see the red color of the Schnebly Hill sandstone in the cliffs.  This is also the location where the first white settler built a house in 1876.  They raised peaches and apples and some of the orchards still exist and there were signs advertising apples for sale.

 Here is a photo I took looking back up the canyon as we are about to leave it.

As you leave the canyon you cross this neat looking bridge that crosses a side canyon.

And here are a couple of photos from the exit of the canyon looking down into Sedona.  As you can see it was kind of rainy and dreary and things weren't looking too good for sight seeing.

Here is a photo I took from the restaurant where we had lunch looking up the main street in a very soggy town.

However, after lunch the weather cleared and I started getting some decent photos.  To get the very best and most colorful photos you need to take your photos close to sunrise or sunset.  Unfortunately, we will not be here at that time so we had to take what nature gave us.  Still looked pretty good.  These are a sample of some to the photos I took that show some of the interesting rock formations.

Here you can see some of the rain clouds that were still in the area.

I thought this was an interesting rock formation.

Some of the formation reminded us of Bryce Canyon.

This photo was taken from an overlook next to the Sedona Airport.  This is the location of one of the major energy vortexes that Sedona is famous for.  These are, supposedly, swirling centers of subtle energy coming out from the center of the earth.  The subtle energy that exists at these locations interacts with who a person is inside. The energy resonates with and strengthens the Inner Being of each person that comes within about a quarter to a half mile of it. This resonance happens because the vortex energy is very similar to the subtle energy operating in the energy centers inside each person. If you are at all a sensitive person, it is easy to feel the energy at these vortexes.

I guess I'm not a sensitive person as I never felt anything either that or my "Inner Being" was totally oblivious.

One of the sights you need to see if you visit Sedona is the Chapel of the Holy Cross that was completed in 1956, long before anyone had heard of Sedona.  Here is the view you get of the chapel as you approach it.

And here is the entrance on the other side.

And a photo taken inside the chapel looking out the front window.

Looking down from the chapel I got this shot of a pretty regal house.  According to Zillow it has 10,713 sq. ft. and estimated to sell for $2.6 million.  Even had a little waterfall and pond on the side.

I thought this was an interesting rock formation.  Looks to me like a bird's head.

With that we headed back to Flagstaff.  The area around Sedona was spectacular but the town itself was pure tourist trap.