Sedona Workation

In the fall of 2021 we took a workation to the Sedona area via a flight in and out of Phoenix. We used the weekend before a work conference to explore the Page, AZ. area and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in a way we weren’t able to during previous trips. Arizona is a special snowflake this time of year, because they don’t observe daylight savings time, so it gets late very early there. There’s also tribal land to consider in some areas, which still observe daylight savings, so be mindful of those, as well as neighboring states when planning a trip. We listened to someone bargaining with another tour company over the phone while waiting for our first tour because they were staying in Utah and forgot to take the time difference into account.

northern arizona

Arriving in Phoenix, we grabbed a car and headed out. This was the necessary evil of our trip because to get a full day in on Saturday, we needed to make it all the way to Page before we slept. Four and a half hours later we arrived out our hotel and called it a night.

For our only day in Page, we had a packed schedule. Getting up early, we went over to the Glen Canyon Dam Overlook to get some pictures and kill a little time before our tour began. Our favorite part about this area was the apparent suggestive nature of walls. Even though they had a nice walled off viewing area, everyone there either climbed over it or around it to get the pictures they wanted.

We found a tour online that looked less crowded and a little more intimate than the traditional Antelope Canyon cattle car tours. Owned by members of the Navajo Nation, Horseshoe Bend Slot Canyon Tours is family owned and run and does tours through the nearby Slot Canyon. The tour is conducted on 3 row flatbeds with nice cushioned seats, and all facing forward, unlike some of the Antelope Canyon ones we saw.

To finish up the trip, our driver took us to a private Horseshoe Bend lookout on the Navajo Nation that was just a few hundred feet from the crowded public viewing area.

Horseshoe Bend

The New Wave

Back on our own after lunch, we started our trip to Kanab, UT. for the night but first stopped at the New Wave. The Wave is a pretty famous rock formation in Arizona, so famous in fact that the only way you can visit it is if you win a lottery, a literal visitor lottery. Since we weren’t going to be bothering with that, we found the New Wave, which is a very similar rock formation without the lottery. The hike was only a couple of miles, but there were some very interesting rock formations to see.

Kanab Utah

Our night in Kanab, UT. was a product of geography more than anything else. Northern Arizona can be mapped by the highway or as the crow flies, and unless you’re a crow, you’ll see why it takes a long time to get to areas that seem close. Southern Utah was the best jumping off point for getting to the North Rim unless we were willing to spend big bucks to stay onsite. We stayed at a convenient road side motel with an onsite restaurant called Peekaboo Canyon Wood Fired Kitchen. Strangely enough, it ended up being a vegan place, so now we can cross that achievement off the list as well. They had a good selection of beer and wine so that helped with anything that might have tasted a little strange.

The North rim of the grand canyon

Leaving Kanab we headed south for an hour and a half and made it to Grand Canyon National Park. The north side at this point in the canyon doesn’t have many hiking trails but there are a number of overlooks. We weren’t looking to make a whole day of it, so there were really only two options for us so that we could be in and out in a few hours. We first drove all the way down to Cape Royal and did the short paved hike to the overlook. We backtracked to the overlook on top of Angels Window, and then back to get a few pictures of the window from a distance.

The second path we took was to the visitors center and the short hike to Bright Angel Point. This path wasn’t as cool as the other one, but maybe there would have been more to do and see if not for COVID restrictions. We did come across one interesting little path hiding in plain sight halfway down the walk. It gave us the same overlook as Bright Angel Point, without having to negotiate the crowds.

sedona

We made our way to Sedona via Flagstaff, with the last 10 miles looking like a scene out of Avatar with the fog and rain in the area. We stayed at an Airbnb called Sedona Suite hosted by Viviane, which was an attached but private studio to the main house. This location was perfect for us since it offered a great location, decent price, and a private work area.

Monday after work we did some quick site seeing to Chapel of the Holy Cross, and then some hiking on Broken Arrow trail to Chicken Point with a quick stop in at the Devil’s Dining Room.

Wednesday took us to one of the more famous stops in town, the Devil’s Bridge trail. There are two routes out, one by dirt road that you can drive if you’ve got a 4x4 (you can walk it too but why?), or the other is a pretty flat hike across a wide open stretch until the two routes converge at the trailhead, from there it’s all uphill. We took our time to get up to the top because of the steepness, but once we got up, it was an amazing view. The distance from the cliff side and the bridge is too far for most camera remotes, but luckily, everyone seemed too be willing to take pictures for us.

Thursday brought us to one of the most interesting hiking destinations of our trip, the Boynton Pass trail to Subway Cave. The hike itself felt long because there wasn’t really much to see along the way, but definitely look up detailed directions and get offline maps, because it’s very easy to make a wrong turn on this one. Once we got to the base of the cave we needed to climb, it was no more than about a 45 degree slope, but the rocks are smooth and we had to find hand and foot holds along the way. We even helped two groups of hikers up that were ready to turn around without going up to the cave, which would have been a mistake for them.

Our last day of hiking took us to Cathedral Rock, which is a stop not to be missed in Sedona. It’s a very short hike but it’s all uphill, very well marked, and totally worth it. Parking is at a premium, so get there early or take your chances. At the top of the ridge we took several pictures (including the one at the top of the page), talked to a few hikers while we rested, and then began our descent. This hike and the Boynton Pass to Subway Cave were our favorites.

Our final night was spent in Cottonwood for a nice little wine walk and an Airbnb right off the main drag for the night. You’ve got to drive a ways off the highway, and through some areas that look at bit rundown, but once we arrived in Cottonwood, it was exactly what we were hoping for. One stop along the way that we were glad we didn’t miss was Alcantara Winery, a beautiful Tuscan looking estate with some excellent wine and a nice outdoor seating area. We really enjoyed the Syrah, Merlot, and Confluence. Once back on the road, we made our way to the Airbnb and began to explore Main St.

Merkin Vineyard - Large place with a very nice food menu. The wines were so-so but we did really like the Caduceus le Cortigiane Oneste red blend.
Provisioner - A small winery with a small selection but apparently some pretty popular grapes, since they sell to wineries all over the region. All three options on their tastings were good red table wines, so nothing spectacular, but we’d drink them all again.
Tantrum - Very reasonably priced tastings with heavy pours. The Cab Sav has a nice berry taste on the front end and the Petite Sirah was light but dry, we really liked them both.
Burning Tree Cellars - This was a pretty cool place, think old cigar and whisky bar, but without the cigars or whiskey. The wines were excellent and we really enjoyed the the Archer, which was a nice dry red blend, and The Peasant, a mostly Grenache red blend. Miranda really liked The Matador, a mostly Tempranillo blend, and Scott liked the Xibalba, a very smooth and dry Petite Sirah.
Stronghold - The Stronghold tasting room was an interesting one, they provided a cool meat and cheese plate, we had a whole little room to ourselves, and the wines were pretty darn good. We both really liked the Pick 2, Nachasi, and Dala Merlot, but the best of them all was the Dala Cabernet, which might have been the best Cab of our trip.
Carlson Creek Vineyard - Our last wine stop of the trip didn’t disappoint. We tried the Mourvedre, which was spicy and smooth, we also both like the Rule of Three with its berry finish. We got to try both the 2018 and 2019 Malbec, which were both really smooth and dry. The Cab Sav was good with some berry on this finish, and the Odyssey was our favorite, but it sounds like it’s a limited production.