It sounds materialistic for a spiritual hot spot, but when Sedona’s road rehab wraps up in a few weeks, it will be easier to get around. That means more time to behold its otherworldly beauty.
In Arizona’s high desert, Sedona enchants with massive red rock formations, some a mile high. Hematite, the mineral form of iron oxide, accounts for the red in the rocks’ sedimentary layers built up over 80 million years. The New Age mecca has age-old roots, having inspired mystics and artists for centuries.
Many flock here to meditate and heal at Sedona’s fabled vortexes — “enhanced energy locations … neither electric nor magnetic,” according to Pete Sanders Jr. The Sedona scientist and eco-tour guide believes vortex energy flows in the deeper dimensions referenced by string theory. “Even though we cannot measure those dimensions yet, you can still experience them … and tap that energy.”
Beyond the metaphysical, this is a place to gaze — at the mesmerizing formations by day and the stars at night. You can explore mesas, buttes and red rock hills along dozens of hiking trails (some easy, others involving challenges such as fording streams). Or take a Jeep tour up dizzying, dusty mountain roads.
“The spectacular natural beauty [attracts] art and nature lovers,” said Potomac, Md., artist/art critic F. Lennox Campello. “The night sky is so breathtaking that it makes you feel sorry to have to return to a cosmopolitan area.”
Stargazing is nightlife here. “Over 300 clear nights a year, no light pollution and the 4,500-foot elevation result in spectacular star-filled skies,” said Cliff Ochser, whose Lowell Observatory experience, expert guides and high-powered telescopes fill the astro-preneur’s Evening Sky Tours year-round. “In March and April, Mars will be in the sky [and] the rings of Saturn will be sensational.”
At L’Auberge de Sedona, stargazing with the newly expanded resort’s astronomer is a Friday night ritual. And coming up: Sedona Parks and Recreation’s free astronomy and Earth Day programs.
Stars and vortexes aren’t the only ways to energize in Sedona. Best Western Arroyo Roble staffers disclosed their favorite getaway 15 minutes north: Oak Creek Canyon’s West Fork in Coconino National Forest.
Campello recommends the 20,000-square-foot Exposures Gallery. “There’s no gallery in the world that compares. … This is 21st-century, salon-style presentation married to the joy of colors.” So fitting for the land of red rocks.
Reach Robin Tierney at [email protected]
