Red Rocks and More

Sedona is a town built around the view.  Pretty much stunning from wherever you are.  It is populated by chic restaurants, tour operators, art stores and other boutiques.  We spent some time walking around town yesterday but you really don't come for Sedona the city, you come for what surrounds it.  Today we headed out to explore.

Our first stop about 30 minutes West was Tuzigoot.  This is a pretty cool dig where they have unearthed the ruins of a Southern Sinagua village.  In the 20's it was a dirt covered hill but a bit of digging exposed its rich history.  It encompasses about 90 rooms.  Interestingly most did not have doors, you climbed a ladder to the roof and then descended another into the room.  I don't think it would be considered ADA compliant housing these days but it likely kept out predators.

We arrived early as we were still on Eastern time.  Other than the rangers and staff, we had the place to ourselves.  It was rather nice and peaceful and so much for the crowds prediction.  This park is an easy hike, the trail is less than a mile and flat.

CC and I poked around a bit and enjoyed the scenery before heading to our next destination, Jerome AZ.  Jerome is a mining town built around copper.  It once had a population of over 15,000 but during the 1950 dipped as low as 50 people.  It is making a comeback as a tourist destination and it appears they have started some mining again.

It was about a 20 minute drive from Tuzigoot to Jerome.  You ascend most of the way.  The town was built on the side of a hill near the mine. Apparently it is not the most stable land and when you combine that with the blasting from the mine you get the great sliding.  Over time many of the original building just slid down the hill.

The downtown is not big, three blocks wide by one deep.  Our first stop was the famous sliding jail.  This structure had slid over its life but unlike many others that were ruined by sliding, they just kept using it.  Eventually it was pulled further down to its current location where it has seen better days.

We walked the whole town, bought some fudge and candy and took in some history.  They have a historical museum that captures artifacts and pictures from the town's boom through bust and rebirth.  It was a very nice collection and well worth the $2 entry fee.  The displays focused on different aspects of life or time periods and has a personal touch. For example one area had letters written home from soldiers fighting WWII, another area was devoted to  mining and there was even a history of the oldest profession complete with court records of women charged with prostitution.

Finishing the museum we headed to the Jerome State Park about a half mile down the road.  It is built around an early 1916 Douglas Mansion. They were a family of mining  entrepreneurs.   The museum covered more history and focused on the mining.

At the entrance to the park is the Audrey Headframe.  Headframes are the structure that sits above a mine shaft to support the movement of things in and out of the mine.  This one is above an abandoned 1900 foot shaft.  They have thick glass above the shaft now so you can stand above it and look way down.  We had a good bit of fun standing on the glass and looking way down.

We stopped by the town again for lunch and then headed South for our next stop.  One thing we learned for sure is that the old West may look romantic but times were tough and living was hard.  These days the fudge is sweet and tasty.

Montezuma Castle National Monument is another cliff dwelling site.  We figured the crowds would catch up to us since Jerome had started to get busy.  When we arrived there was plenty of parking and while it had a steady stream of visitors, it was not crowded.

We came to see native housing but as we walked in I saw a man holding a rattle snake.  We stopped to inquire.  The snake had crawled onto the people path and was captured to be relocated about a half mile away.  The ranger had caught it and called in the snake expert.

He had chipped it, banded it and then contained it in the snake bucket so he could transport it safely.  A snake bucket is a 5 gallon bucket with a locking lid.   We got some close and personal views and learned a bit about the snakes.  The snake was a bit ornery in the bucket and let us know with his rattle.  Look closely below.

The paths all have signs saying to stay on them with a snake picture.  This drove the point home.

The real reason we came was to see the cliff dwellings.  These were more impressive than the one's we had seen before. but no ladders to visit in person.

Next stop was down the road to Montezuma's Well National Monument.  This was a cool water source, technically a sinkhole.  It is fed by underground rivers and even in droughts has water, as it gets about 1,500,000 gallons a day of inflow.  It all comes from below so it looks static but a lot is happening down there.  It is teaming with life unique to this spot including leeches.  We decided that we would not take a dip.

 We did the hike and saw some 1800s grafitti.  Funny it is now a historical artifact.

On the way back we stopped at a highway scenic view and then dropped by the plane as I had forgotten to jot down the landing tach time.

Also we dropped off more used clothe.  As we travel, we tend to leave the dirty clothe in the plane, this means that we have less luggage and weight to take to the hotel.  Packing was sort of tough this trip as the temperatures were both hot and cold and the mix was not clear when we were packing.

On the way we stopped again at the airport scenic view and did part of the airport loop trail.  Great views but there were some narrow spots with sheer drop offs.  We were careful and avoided going over the edge.  We ended the day sitting on the observation deck watching the sunset.

Sedona (#30)

Santa Fe was an add on, our real destination was always Sedona.  Today the weather was mostly cooperating.  I say mostly because the computer promised me no more than 12 knot headwinds but the reality was closer to 25.  Not too big a deal for a 284 nm hop.

I usually file IFR even in good weather but in the Mountains I prefer to fly VFR.  This allows me more flexibility in choosing altitudes and our exact route, I can stay over flatter safer terrain and deviate to take in the scenery.

Taking off from Santa Fe is different because of the altitude.  The higher we go the less engine power we have due to thinning air.  Our takeoff run was about 50% longer which matched our performance tables.  Even though we  had only 75% power we still had pretty good performance with initial climb rates better than 800 fpm.  Everything happens in slow motion though, you just need to be patient and let the speed build.

We flew South to Albuquerque.  This was for two reasons, first was that the direct route would have taken us through high mountains.  The second was that this week was Balloon Fest.  There are flight restrictions to keep planes away from balloons but they end at 8000 feet.  We had climbed to 10,500 so with the blessing of the controller we headed over the balloons for a quick look.

After this we followed the highways across the dessert to our next sight.  Highways mean people and help if you have any issues.  There is a huge meteor crater just East of Flagstaff,  we really enjoyed the birds eye view of this big hole and were glad that it happened long ago.

Bob, you'll meet Bob in a minute, told of flying people over the crater.  Upon returning, he asked what they thought, they said it was lucky that the meteor had missed the parking lot.  Go figure, these people walk among us...

After the Crater we were just 17 minutes from Sedona.  Landing in Sedona is challenging.  The airport resides on a butte with steep drop offs at both ends.  This makes judging the approach angle challenging and the terrain creates some interesting wind currents.

I brought my "A" game and we made a stable approach to a smooth landing.  It turns out sorting out where to park, was the hardest part, they had had an airport day the day before and there were cones in confusing places but eventually after wandering the ramp a bit we found a spot..

We were met by Bob.  Bob does many things but one of them is acting as a buyers agent for aircraft purchases.  I was in Singapore when I was looking for this plane and had engaged Bob to help me find and purchase the plane.  He did a great job helping me seal the deal.  When I picked up the plane in California I flew by Sedona (33 miles away) but had no time to stop and meet him in person.  So after knowing each other for three plus years we finally met.  Bob helped us tie down and check in.  Then we headed over to see his impressive hangar to hear some stories and get some local advice.

Sedona has no air carrier operations.  This means no big car rental companies, luckily they have a local outfit and we soon were headed out in a old (125,497 mile) but serviceable Hyundai.  Our first stop was the airport overlook.  From this vantage point you can get some incredible views of the Red Rock formations.

Our next stop was downtown where we stopped at the chamber of commerce tourist info.  It is staffed by local volunteers who in my experience at other locations are usually very good.  In this case we got the not so good person that gave us marginally bad advice. Let's just say that she made sure we got lots of exercise.    Also she basically told us everything would be too crowded to do and to expect long delays.  Luckily this was also wrong and while busy, crowds were nothing like the summer peak.

We walked down to an arts market area where we stopped for lunch and ate too much.  Then it was a bit of shopping until I was shopped out.  To be fair I just walked, CC shopped.  We should have moved our car because we walked quite a bit and quite far down but due to the above advice we had not. So we got to hiked back up to it.  We were hot and tired so we decided to head for our hotel.  Another Courtyard, in all we stayed at 4.  I had requested early check in and we had good timing.  As we were driving there I got the message that our room was ready.

The Courtyard Sedona is quite nice.  The rooms are fresh and the best feature is a third floor observation deck.  The hotel has some nice views.  We headed up to relax in the warm 86 degrees.  It was very pleasant in the shade, Arizona 86 is much nicer than Florida 86, must be the dry heat.  After chilling for an hour we decided to go for a short hike.

There is a trail that starts a 5 minute walk from the hotel.  It runs along a small hill and was and easy.  It also had great views.  We walked for a more than an hour and then returned to the observation deck to watch the sun set on the rocks.

We headed out for some Pizza which was just dinner but we got lucky here.  When we arrived the wait was 40 minutes.  I asked about the bar and he said it was open seating but currently full.  Then he suggested 2 seats at a counter in front of the pizza maker and wood fired oven.

We took them up on the offer and enjoyed watching the pizzas being made.  The place was hopping and they had a skilled crew making about a pie a minute.  We could see into the oven and watched the pizzas quickly cook.  The food was quite good and the bartender covering us did a great job.

Also for those doing the countdown.  Arizona is #30, 29 states to go.

Santa Fe (#31)

Today we headed to Santa Fe. We woke early and my first check of the weather showed all clear.  We Ubered back to the airport and prepped the plane.  A last check of the weather showed Santa Fe had gone to 200 overcast.  This was low and combined with being in the mountains would normally be a no go.

But, there was a good alternative 13 minutes South that was clear and many more backups just in case.  My gut was that the layer would clear once it warmed a bit so we launched at risk.  It was a supposed to be about 1:20 flight and with the time change a 20 minute time difference.

Well our tailwind was totally gone and we took off and climbed to 8000.  The headwind was supposed to be <20 but for a while we had 40 knots on the nose.  This actually worked out well.  The clouds were not lifting as quickly as I hoped.  As we got close the controller told us to expect the ILS and that some people had been getting in.  I was not going to mess with a mountain approach starting at 10,400 with a potential miss at 6500 feet and a missed hold at 11,000.  Luckily, right as we were crossing our diversion decision point, we got an updated forecast, the layer had broken and we only had scattered clouds.

We headed in and then could not see the airport because although it was clear over the airport, there were still clouds between our location and the airport.  We maneuvered a bit and the airport appeared  and soon were on the ground at Santa Fe Jet Center.

One great thing about private travel is the ground part.  I was directed to a space right out front.  I shut down, they greeted us, and before I could get out, our rental car from Avis was brought next to the plane.  CC went inside as it was still cool out leaving me to clean up.  They offered to load the bags for us but I declined, we were only taking an overnight pack with us.  I quickly had the limited bags I needed in the car.  I did stop to chat with some nice folks heading out about the plane but otherwise zero hassle.

I stepped inside to get CC and check in.  The staff had made CC a hot chocolate so after giving my fuel order and providing a contact number, I got one too.  Then they offered us some sodas for the road and we were off.

Our first stop was the farmers market.  It was quaint and filled with stalls selling veggies at high markups.  I chuckled when I saw Vidalia Onions for sale.  I was tempted to ask if they really came from Georgia but I behaved.  They also had an arts market which we browsed and got our first souvenir.

After the market we headed to Bandelier National Monument.  Bandelier showcases the cave dwellings from around 1100-1600.  What is very cool about this park is that in addition to walking by and looking at the dwellings, there are select caves where you can climb ladders and enter the caves.  You can see the soot stained roofs and imagine how terrible it must have been back then.  Yes I like indoor plumbing, air conditioning and all the modern conveniences.

In addition to the loop trail, they had an additional one that terminated in a 140 foot vertical climb.  Climbing was a combination of ladders and steps in the rocks.  We were at about 6500 feet elevation so by the time we reached the top we were a bit winded.  Overall it was a nice view and a cool climb.

Here we are after catching our breath, safe in our mountain cave.

After the National Park we headed for downtown Santa Fe.  Santa Fe Plaza is mostly tourist shops built around a square.  This day there was an art show and Motorcycle gathering in addition to the normal vendors.  We strolled a bit and then found The Burito Company where we had some Southwestern food.

Santa Fe had some strict building codes, everything had a certain look that included fake wood beams sticking out of the sides.  It was getting late and we were tired so we headed to the Courtyard.  This too had the fake wood.  It was nice enough but the room seemed dated as in out of the 70s.

It has been almost a year since a new state but Santa Fe New Mexico is #31 in the countdown.