Not only cactus - Short Hiking trip to Sedona

When your pilot husband, C, gets a long block off, what is the first thing you do? Book a trip! Since we are stuck in the US at the moment, we are taking the opportunity to visit as many states as possible. Well, it is going to take me a lifetime, but we'll get there. For now, this is my number 6, so not bad so far.

We chose Arizona because some family friends live there (whom I got to know over this trip) and because we wanted to hike in Sedona before the weather won't allow it until the end of summer—spoiler, it was already way too hot for us.

As always, booked last minute, used our rewards points to book the hotel (Sky Rock Sedona) and booked tickets with Southwest, got couple of days off from work and off we go to Arizona.

The first couple of nights, we spent them in Scottsdale, near Phoenix. The moment we landed, it felt somehow like home, like Dubai, my beloved desert. The air, hot, the sky not so clear, the overall dryness—this is what the desert feels like.

After picking up the car we booked from Enterprise, we made the first stop to In-N-Out burgers - yes, cliché but had to be done. I didn't expect it to be so cheap, and I have to say, not bad at all. Something to have once every couple of months, maybe, like all fast food, in my opinion.

We spent the rest of our time in Scottsdale with our friends relaxing, having good food and good drinks in amazing company. I finally experienced a sense of family here in the US, which was likely the highlight of this short trip, even more so than the hiking itself. Had few meals together, took a stroll in the main centre that is very cute, and also visited the Desert Botanical Garden. It was a great surprise, never I would have thought to see so many and so different types of cacti, 50,000 desert plants throughout 5 thematic trails. Impressive.

On day three, we said goodbye to our friends and drove to Sedona. It is a short drive, less than 2 hours, but the more you drive towards the mountains, the more the skyline changes and the temperatures become more bearable. Our first day in Sedona was a Sunday, not really ideal for hiking as it was still full of tourists, so we decided to take it slowly and just stroll around town, waiting for check-in time. We had a drink watching the sunset and a quick dinner at Cowboy Club Grille & Spirits. The drinks were not the best, and the food was just a gigantic portion, but the cactus fries were nice and it was a good spot for people-watching.

Monday was definitely our day. We woke up early to try to beat the crowd. We had a generous breakfast at The Coffee Pot Restaurant, somewhere where I can confidently eat, knowing I am about to burn all of that food—yes, it was a lot, the picture below says it all.

I did a lot of research on trails, but with all the choices and only one actual day of hiking, we just tried to do our best to see a little bit of the best ones, knowing we will come back to do more. I think to do proper hiking and not rush through (like we did), you need at least 3 full days there, excluding the travel time back and forth.

So here is what we decided to go for:

1. Chapel of the Holy Cross: a 1.3-mile out-and-back trail near Sedona. It can get very busy, so we decided to go there first thing in the morning (it opens at 9). We were just hiking around the area, waiting for it to open.

2. West Fork Trail: 6.9 miles. You need to be ready to get wet, as there are many creek crossings—nothing too deep, but still. Of course, we didn't have shoes to change into, so we ended up jumping on the rocks. We made it halfway before deciding to turn back. You can spend the whole day there; we just did not have the time. Parking is 10 USD, and you need to consider that there are not that many spots available.

After these first 2 trails, we took a break at Slide Rock State Park. It was way too busy to enjoy it; the only good part was putting our feet in the freezing cold water. We needed that.

3. Birthing Cave. We chose this trail because it was shorter and was going to give us enough time for one last, longer trail. It is a very quiet trail, about 2 miles long, so doable in less than 2 hours. It is not very shaded, so it was hot, but worth it. It does get steep towards the end.

4. Soldier Pass Trail and the seven sacred pools. This 4.5-mile out-and-back trail is quite easy at the beginning, but I didn't make it to the end (the actual cave). C did, and the pic is his (like all the other pictures). It was way too steep for me. The part we did is the shorter one; we took a right turn 30 minutes into the trail to go to the cave. The actual trail continues on the left side. I would go back to continue on the traditional route of the Soldier Pass Trail. But yes, beautiful views all around.

A total of 22 km in a day and 4 trails later, we made our way back to the hotel. It is something very unique. Being an Italian that grew up very close to the mountains, I had no idea that mountains could look the way they do in Sedona. It made me realize how unique each state in the US is and how incredibly diverse they are.

We will be back, Sedona!