Previously on Aussie Ninja goes to places and maybe or maybe not gets on top of some things...
This hearty tale of rocks and woo woo directly follows on from this guy and was training for this dude. Previous training sessions where we never got to the top of things are Table Mountain, Kings Mountain and Dog Mountain.
Do we make it to the top of something? The answer may not surprise you.
Where are you?
Thanks for asking, we're in the town of Sedona, in the state of Arizona in the country called USA.. (pronounced OOOSAH!, I believe).
What's in Sedona?
Rocks..!
Heaps of them... and they're amazing!!
We drove up from Phoenix which took about an hour and a half. An hour of that journey had no scenery except for AMAZING and AKWARD CACTI on hills! We honestly never got sick of those guys just waving at us all trip long.
Sedona is a small tourist town.
The locals look super weathered (I imagine summer is pretty brutal) and the tourists look calm. It's takes approximately zero seconds to determine if someone is a local or tourist.
Not only is it famous for rocks...
There is so much of this going on too.
Image produced by Google
I asked around about all of this... the words 'leylines' and 'vortexes' are everywhere you look. It's basically described as the lines of power within the world that make people feel good/at peace/powerful.
Obviously lots of people have their own opinion about it all... but it seems to be totally a business decision by the town... which seems to be working really well... every second shop sells jewelry or yoga classes. One guy I spoke to mentioned that the local Native Americans say that it's not reflective of the history of the area at all... and that they themselves call the guys making bank of the tourists 'White Indians' - basically charlatans pretending to play a character.
It was a pretty intense conversation, I kinda regretted asking, but it was totally interesting nonetheless.
Whether you believe in the natural energy of the place or not... it is spectacular and absolutely worth the visit.
We stayed at the Marriott Courtyard in Sedona which was super nice. The two photos above were just taken from their rooftop bar area, and the whirlpool was so super hot and the gym was one of the newest and best hotel gyms I've ever been to... and I've been to a trillion (like, 30).
The hotel is a little out of town, so you'll probs need a car. There are buses... but y'know, that seems hard.
My partner was looking for some gifts for friends and family for various birthdays and was hoping to get something cool made out of local rocks... everywhere she looked, the merchandise was really daggy AND she was the youngest customer by at least 30 years, maybe 50, possibly 100 and it wasn't until we were leaving town to go to Flagstaff that we saw where the cool indie hipster shops were hangin'... but we couldn't stop because it started to snow for the first time ever this winter.
Brazen words and circles are mine, everything else is from Google Maps
Are there any interesting sunrises that you may have captured in GIF format?
None.
What's there to do in Sedona?
Walking! So many walks!
Our first hike in Sedona was the Tea Cup hike, and it was super lovely. It wasn't difficult at all, and while it was long, the scenery was just stunning.
This hike was unofficially called Tea Cup to CoffePot for no reason.
My partner has been using an app called AllTrails which has been awesome at keeping us on track on all our various hikes. Not this time on the TeaCup trail... the blue is the trail... but the confusing all-over-the-shop red is us walking on the actual trail. The previous blue one was closed for regrowth... but we didn't know that until we pretty much had to retrace our steps once we got to an eventual deadend we weren't expecting.
The app said we'd link up with another trail and get straight back to the start. SO MUCH LIE.
It wasn't a problem... but I did get over it with a half-hour to the finish line... my big ol heavy camera was not my friend by the end.
Did you get to the top?
No, of course not... look at that Coffee Pot... that's not a beginner hike... you'd need a jetpack car to get up there.
We did get to the top of the rooftop bar of our hotel to take this sweet sunrise GIF though:
| Category | landscapephotography |
|---|---|
| Settings | ISO 100 300mm f/5.6 1/100sec |
| Camera | Canon 6D |
| Lens | Canon 75mm-300mm |
| Location | Tea Cup Trail, Sedona, Arizona USA |
Thanks so much for reading!
All the photos in this post were taken by me except obviously the Googly bits and the AllHike app screen shot.
What's next?
In our next instalment of Did you get on top of something? we tackle our hardest hike yet to try to reach the Vortex at the top of Cathedral Rock... do we make it? Is there a guy up there playing flute while yoga-ing like a boss? Find out next time! Or just ask me in the comments, I can't keep secrets from you guys.
steemaroo divider and ninja upgoats drawn by the incredible @ryivhnn
Ahhh it's so crazy that you were just there! I went to college in Flagstaff, so you were likely near all my old haunts! I miss it up there! Isn't it so crazy how you go from vast nothingness, to some cacti to beautiful red rocks to green trees to pine trees, all in two hours or so? AZ is a crazy place!
Flagstaff seemed way more our style in terms of a cool little city... it totally snowed on us the whole way up there as well. I really liked it, we stayed downtown on like Humphries Rd or something.
AZ is super cool, I really loved seeing the change from Phi-Phi to Sedona, and then again to Flagstaff was totally different again. Love it!
I really liked Flagstaff when I was there. Pretty much stopped in Sedona for an hour. Your map cracked me up. Actually, the whole post. And this part:
Dying. lol! Also, some good info in here. This is a great series of articles!
Oh my God, this is hilarious. I love it! Very well written and your map pointing out where stuff is so handy for future travellers.
Thank you young lady! Just trying to be helpful to young people and old people. My blog posts are multi-generational!
Epic post dude! Other than the obvious lack of sunrise gifs of course!
I know right.... next time maybe!
Actually no, I remember I didn't take any others.... next holiday maybe!
Thanks man!
Awesome post, looks like an amazing place to go for a hike! I love the "did you make it to the top?" no of course not" bit haha, one of these times you need to make it to the top!
Hahahaha, but if I made it to the top... what would happen to this series? But you're right... it's so weird not to get to the top of things, it hurts my soul a little bit.
This is true, keep them coming!
Awesome post my friend @aussieninja! how are you?
Alexandra! My friend!
I've been great... very busy with all my steem projects, but having an absolute ball. I see you've been holding your own competitions... that's so exciting. I'm going to have to participate myself!
looks like an amazing time! Sedona is on my list of places to visit, I love the fiery red of the rocks there! Glad you got to go on some hikes and looks like a nice resort :) Theres a flute playing yogi on the next epsiode??? Can't wait! hope he was upside down playing the flute too
Sedona is so pretty... we were just constantly blown away by it all. It makes you think so much about yourself and your world... suddenly things don't seem like such a big deal when you're staring at 260 million year old rocks.
hahaha, uh oh, you might be in for disappointment... but you'll just have to see!
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Heya, just swinging by to let you know you're being featured in our Daily Travel Digest!
Never ever stop writing in your witty style, you had me laughing out loud a couple of times here, haha!
@martibis! This is so rad of you! Thank you so much!! I loved the bit about "as we've come to expect from AussieNinja..." it made me laugh. So good! I can't believe I made the top bit... especially given how amazing everyone's photos were. This is the best!!
haha great read. This place looks amazing!
Thanks man! It was freakin' awesome! I wanted to climb everything. It's so different to Australia, it all blows my mind.
Fuck yeah i bet!! Would be amazing to see it
Ninnnja!!! You just made me laugh...so many times. I feel a lil sheepish that I really had no idea you were such a comedian. ;) Sedona is gorgeous, and I love hearing of your experience there. Backtracks and all – I'd say it was all worth it for that damn fine rooftop gif.
What a beautiful area.. It's sad, as an AZ native, I still have yet to go to Sedona.