Cathedral Rock Trail

While I was on my rural FM rotation in Arizona, aside from going to Las Vegas, we also decided to trek out to Sedona! It was about 3 hours away, and basically everyone who’d been there had told me it was a place I needed to visit at some point in my life. One of my patients told me to go find a vortex, so after reading up on some descriptions, I decided on Cathedral Rock Trail!

Cathedral Rock Trail in Sedona, AZ

Distance: 1.5 miles
Elevation: 744 ft
Trailhead Address: Back O’ Beyond Road, Sedona, AZ
Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult(?)–depends on your fitness level–experimental rock climbing rock scrambles involved!)
Parking: There honestly aren’t a lot of parking spaces in the lot by the trailhead, so a lot of people drive a tiny bit farther down and park on the side of the road right next to the “No Parking” signs. If you manage to snag a spot in the lot, it’s $5 (cash) through a self-service machine. There’s a pretty steep fine if they catch you for not paying, so don’t risk it! (Since the lot was full, we found a spot further on down the road on the right that [thankfully] worked out fine!)

We opted for Cathedral Rock Trail. :D

The trail starts off easy enough with a pretty straight-forward path that starts ascending:

Hello, sun rays!

If you look behind you when you get to the broad ledge, you get a gorgeous view!

There were red rocks encased in wire–cairns (pictured below)–to serve as trail markers. If you follow em’, you’re less likely to go off course (off-roading on this trail can be pretty darn difficult) and will also prevent potential extensive damage to the area.

We came here in mid-December. It had snowed the day before and most of it had cleared up, but there were some iced-over portions left, making the rocks even more slippery. My friend slipped and fell, and got a cactus thorn stuck in her hand. :[ (She’s okay though!!)

She didn’t like the looks of how steep it got, so she told me to go on without her and found a piece of ledge to meditate on while I trekked onward.

This was the steepest part of the climb, but it didn’t end up being too terribly difficult! As one of the others on the trail said, if you can get through this part of the climb, the rest is a piece of cake!

I don’t often take selfies, but I felt like an “I survived!” one was in order.

Juniper trees apparently respond to the vortex energy and end up twisting like this! They say Sedona is known as a spiritual power center, and has a ginormous New Age community. I don’t know if I felt that energy they were talking about, but I did feel pretty awesome and at peace with the world! Whether or not this was because I’d made it all the way to the top, I’m not really sure, but I’ll take it! (My cramps went away too, so there’s that.)

Fun fact: I came across the sad realization that my workout clothes weren’t anywhere to be found in my belongings (…), but a quick trip to Ross the week before yielded me a t-shirt ($6) which I layered with a black long-sleeved top I had, a pink jacket ($7), black yoga pants ($11), and yes, even those shoes, obtained from the kids’ section ($20)! Yay for randomly color-coordinating and being able to wear these again later!

I came across two ER physicians and an ophthalmologist along the trail! We helped take each other’s pictures and they told me to save this one to show to my next couple interviewers. :P

I made it to the top! #cathedralrock #sedona #sedonaaz

A photo posted by Farrah @ fairyburger (@fairyburger) on Dec 13, 2015 at 12:54pm PST

…and this is the way down! I usually put my phone onto airplane mode when I’m hiking so that the battery doesn’t get completely drained, but I turned it on again because I couldn’t find Martha, just in time to receive a call from her!

There she is!!!

All done! Short but absolutely beautiful #hike with some creative #rockclimbing involved! ? #cathedralrock #sedona #sedonaaz A photo posted by Farrah @ fairyburger (@fairyburger) on Dec 13, 2015 at 2:08pm PST

Eyeball shadows! (…I’m so glad she humors me.)

Afterward, we went to get a late lunch/early dinner! Martha got pasta at the Wildflower Bread Company, and this was the view outside!

I opted for an acai bowl from Berry Divine Acai Bowls. Twas the perfect “victory meal!” :]

Maui Wowie Bowl with raspberries!

All in all, I’d call this an awesome day! The weather was perfect, and the views were absolutely stunning! I’m super glad that I got the chance to come visit, and really happy that I got to hike the Cathedral Rock Trail!

Hooray for the equivalent of 49 floors climbed!

Someday, I’d love to come back to talk to the people over at The Hike House and check out some of the other hikes (e.g. the rest of the vortex hikes, Devil’s Bridge, Red Rock State Park), and a little shop called Red Rose Thriftique that donates some of its proceeds to benefit animal rescues! <3

• Have you ever been to Sedona, Arizona?
• What other place(s) should I add to my list of places to travel to?
• I’m thinking that aside from my hopeful Hawai’i getaway, that cross-country food + fitness class tour I want to do someday should also include outdoor explorations of awesome places. *-* Who’s with me?!

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