Sedona

We trekked north until the canyons turned red. We made it to Sedona. The weather was warm and the sky was cloudless. We went to the visitor center to pick up some maps. Sedona has hundreds of hiking, off road driving, and mountain biking routes also the not as popular climbing routes that we wanted to eventually check out. We decided to first mountain bike a single track, dusty, gravel trail with insane views of the red rocks that engulfs this area. The 5.8 mile trail was rated moderate/advanced, which I totally am not capable of doing, but I go slow and after Zack rips through he stops and waits.

Feeling confident, I was flying through the downhill but cautious since breaking meant that you would skid out since the gravel was so loose. At about 3.5 miles in I hit a rock, my right hand flew off as my left hand grasped the left break way too hard. I was falling and I knew it. It happened in slow motion and I’ve been replaying the scene over and over in my head since. Anyway, half of my body launched off the handlebars, I put my right hand out to stop my fall and my left hand stayed on the bike. By the time I stopped sliding, I realized one of my legs was stuck in the bike. Somehow the tire spun 90 degrees locking me in. I yelled for Zack. I saw an older couple walking my way, I quickly unjammed myself and pulled my bike to the side trying to act normal. My hand had dirt and rocks under my skin, my elbows were all cut up and I could feel my thumb and wrist starting to swell. Great, we are in the middle of the desert, with limited water and I can’t ride my bike. My hand was absolutely useless. The main issue was that I couldn’t grasp the handlebars. Walking with the bike was tricky with one hand, riding it went by faster but it meant I had to use my thumb to stabilize myself. We had to bike/hike out more than 2 miles. By the time we got back to the car all the blood on my cuts and scraps had dried. I applied hydrogen peroxide, screamed a little, dug out all the rocks and sand and bandaged myself up. Torn between the pain of being injured but excited I could practice some emergency medicine skills.

Although in pain, we still had to figure out how to finish out our day. This meant finding a place to shower, sleep, refill our 7 gallon water jug and eat dinner. I couldn’t just grab ice from my freezer at home, or lay down on my couch with my arm elevated, there was no option but to keep going.

After driving 30 mins, we snuck into a campsite to use their showers and fill up our water. Next was eating, I finally decided to take up my Dad’s offer and eat somewhere nice, we sat down at a Thai restaurant where I asked for some ice. After our food we were lazy, and unbothered, we slept on a residential side street just hoping we wouldn’t get a knock on the door. Remaining undetected through the night, we woke up , grabbed breakfast and decided to hike West Fork which crosses a stream 13 times for a total of 6 miles. I had my hand wrapped in an ace bandage to keep it stabilized and the swelling down. The trail was beautiful but we were hoping to gain some elevation and take some pictures. Although the plan was to climb, we both knew I had to take a break.

Sedona is extremely expensive, especially for food but since we didn’t want to drive out of the downtown area to a Walmart we opted to suck it up and get lunch at a restaurant. We tried to find different combinations of meals that were fulfilling yet not too expensive. We got a 12″ pizza that is supposed to serve 2 but Zack and I could have ate 2 individually and a dish of bolognase. We ate each pasta shell one by one hoping it would make us feel more full by the end. At this point we knew we had to go to the grocery store. We walked around and met some familiar friends that we saw last year. My family thought we were insane.

We stopped in and out of stores looking for cowboy boots for Zack. Why? I don’t know but he was on a mission until we passed by a fudge factory. He stopped in his tracks and went in. Which is weird because Zack doesn’t like sweets. But I guess when you’re on the road you start craving different things. We got a quarter pound of rocky road fudge and inhaled it in a few seconds. Eventually we made our way to the grocery store where we bought some much needed food to refill our pantry for when we go to the Grand Canyon.

We slept in national forest land on a dirt road, were we could see the lights of the city at a distance and the roar of the crowds and people were at an all time low. A few other vans found the same solitude and we all slept cozy and safe together in a pull out.

The next morning I opened the van doors and quickly shouted, “Zack quick get up hot air balloons” He shot up and we went on a mission to get a picture. Still in our pajamas we drove down a residential street making it to the top of a hill. We parked in front of a guys house where he was mowing his lawn. In our pajamas we climbed to the roof of the van and were able to capture this perfect moment of symmetry. The guy watched us the whole time. Probably rolling his eyes thinking “kids these days.” It was 7:30 and we were jumping and dancing because of the beautiful simplicity. I guess when you live somewhere for too long you can lose the true uniqueness of the place.

It was time to head north to the Grand Canyon.