Tales from the Aisles

Hiking at Sedona, Arizona

While my daughter, Sue Moulton, was visiting her mother, Betty Thomas, an opportunity arose for me to go hiking at Sedona, Arizona.  It had been over 30 years since I had visited Sedona.  What was then a small mountain village is now a popular vacation area with many resorts and fine homes.  

Despite a large seasonal population, the vast canyon areas with colorful red rock formations, remains wildly beautiful and unspoiled.  This unique mountainous area was formed from ancient deposits of limestone, mudstone, and sandstone that lined the ocean floors that once covered this area many millions of years ago. When the ocean waters retreated, there were earth quaking upheavals and volcanic eruptions, followed by millions of years of erosion that created these colorful mountainous remains that are a part of the vast Colorado plateau which extends into five other states.

The rock formations are classified as a mesa if the formation is wider than tall, a butte if the formation is taller than wide, and pinnacles if jagged.  Many of the red colored formations have names like Cathedral Mountain, Chimney Rock, Devils Bridge, Teacup, and Bell Rock.  The national forests of this area contain at least 100 marked trails, most are easy with slight elevation.  The hike I will describe was with my Canadian hiking friends, Dave and Pat Orr, and Pat’s sister, Carol Wiese.  The day seemed ideal for hiking, long sleeve weather, with temperatures in the 50’s.  From the trail head parking area we hiked toward the Cathedral Mountain rock formation.  The trail was wide and smooth and gradually wound upward on red clay and flat red rock. 

The trail wound through stunted Ponderosa Pine, Arizona Cyprus, and Fremont Cottonwood trees.  The path was lined with desert bushes such as the Prickly Pear, which has thorny leaves that look like ping pong paddles, and the Crucifixion Thorn, named after the thorns Christ wore on the cross.  These plants could hurt you if you were you to make contact. 

There are Agave Century plants that supported the food, drink, and medical needs of the Native Americans who once occupied the area.  After 25 years this plant grows a floral center stalk, several inches in diameter, 15 feet in height.  Then, the entire plant dies, never to grow again.  We can see the diggings of wild pigs that feed on the roots of the Agave plant.  Also growing in abundance is the Banana Yucca plant, which has a center flower and long knife shaped leaves with needle like points.  When the needle point is removed there is an attached fiber thread that the natives used as needle and thread for sewing their animal skin clothing.  Frequently, we see the Common Manzanita with its red edible berries.