Canyonlands Adventure Day Two: Spirits, Snow, and Surprises

I started out today a bit anxious and nervous. Not exactly the way to feel on vacation, right? But I have my reasons. I'll tackle one at a time.

As some of you may know from a recent blog post, I've been through the emotional ringer in the last year. I came through it in one piece, and a better person for it. But the healing process that has to take place doesn't happen overnight. I'd like to think I'm a fairly self-aware and introspective person, but I never turn down the opportunity to bring in an outside perspective or explore an alternative method for self-discovery and healing. So, I decided to do a one-hour energy realignment session (and a massage afterwards) at my hotel spa before checking out.

I was anxious going into it because (a) I had never done it before and didn't know what to expect, and (b) I had no idea what condition I was going to be in when I finished. My therapist/healer was a native Apache with Mexican heritage, and she was AMAZING; it was honestly one of the most profound experiences of my life. I won't go into what she did or how it went because, well...I really don't want to. But I will say that I think it's important for people to open their minds to things that explore the spirit. She was Catholic just like I am, and religion and spirituality are not mutually exclusive. This was one of the reasons I came back to Sedona, and I'll never forget this visit.

One of my last views of Sedona

So now comes the nervousness. It's snowy and windy today--which I totally expected and was prepared for, but now I have to drive for five hours in it through very remote parts of northern Arizona. After my massage, I checked out, loaded up the car, and...the sun came out!! So of course I had to take advantage and take a few more pictures in Sedona before heading north ;).

Oak Creek Canyon

After that, I had to make the decision of playing it safe by taking the interstate, or hoping the snow would stay light and fluffy (i.e. not slippery/icy) and take scenic route 89A through Oak Creek Canyon. I took a chance and decided on the latter; and BOY, and I ever glad I did. That was frankly the most awe-inspiring 20 miles I've ever driven. Oak Creek is a long, windy, and narrow canyon with a river at the bottom, a pine forest in the middle, and towering red rock cliffs climbing to the top. Because of the snow and fog, the cliffs were partly shrouded and I felt like I was being watched by gargantuan ghosts the whole way. Fall just came to Sedona, so at least half of the trees were a very bright golden yellow, forming a canopy over my car. I wish I had taken the picture you see to the left, but I had to steal it to give you an idea of what I saw, since there was no safe place to stop and take a picture.

Painted Desert

Northern Arizona badlands (Mars)

By the time I topped out at the end of the canyon, the snow was falling more heavily and the roads were very wet. Fortunately, I made it to Flagstaff without incident, where...the sun came out. Again. Yay!!! The first hour north was pretty boring, but soon the surprises began. It was one of those situations where every 15 minutes I would crest a large hill and see a completely different landscape than the one I just left...along with a different form of precipitation. First I was reintroduced to the Painted Desert, which I first visited during my solo Grand Canyon trip in 2000. The colors are pastels and much more subdued than the bright, deep reds and greens of Sedona, but gorgeous and inspiring nonetheless. Again, I stole this photo because I couldn't stop anywhere. After that, I crested a hill and saw the place where they had to have filmed 'The Martian,' I kid you not. For a solid 20 minutes you would have had to work VERY hard to convince me I wasn't on Mars. It was completely surreal, and I deeply regret not being able to stop and photograph it.

Entrance to Monument Valley

Entrance to Monument Valley

But at last, after sun, snow, rain, snow, sun, snow, and rain came...Monument Valley. And as luck would have it, I was arriving about half an hour before sunset. I promise you there are a LOT of people cursing the woman in the silver Nissan Altima because I pulled over at least every ten minutes to take another photo. #sorrynotsorry. There were a few puffy clouds in the sky and the angle of the setting sun made the scattered spires before the entrance to the actual Navajo Park look exactly like they do in the movies...but better. Then add the fine layer of snow and...well, here are some pictures :).

Entrance to Monument Valley

Tomorrow my plan is to hire a Navajo guide with a 4x4 vehicle and let him educate me while driving me around the park to get some great photos. Technically, anyone can drive the 17-mile loop through the park, but it's packed dirt and tends to get nasty when it's wet. We picked up a couple of inches of snow tonight, and that crap is going to be melting all morning--yuck :(. My Altima will be toast in that mess, and my guide will be pleased that I won't even want to get out of the car. I'm also excited to be woken up by the sun. I'm staying at the View Inn--the only hotel inside the park (Navajo run, of course) and aptly named because every single room has its sliding doors and patio facing the park...with three huge spires only a few hundred yards away. Yeah...it's going to be an epic sunrise :).