This week I will be sharing a few of our experiences from the recent trip to Sedona that my wife and I took late in November of 2012. The first trip my wife and I took together was to see the Grand Canyon because it was a place that was on both of our “to see” lists. Our base camp for the trip was Sedona Arizona, and we knew we wanted to return someday.
We flew into Phoenix from Philadelphia and made the final two hour drive in a rental car. When traveling to Sedona from the south your ears get a workout. Elevation changes are extreme. Phoenix is about 1100 feet above sea level while Sedona is about 4500. Arriving from Philadelphia in Sedona we were 4465 feet higher than when we left the airport.
The first time we visited Sedona we arrived in the black of night, this time we meandered our way up Rt 179 with clear blue skies and eyes wide open, anxious to glimpse the giant red rocks we remembered.
From a turnout off the highway we stretched our legs and ogled at the reality of these giant wonders staring back at us. It was late November, just after Thanksgiving, so the leaves were just about finished their annual fall, but some of the yellow ones clung like they were waiting for us to get there. They provided a nice contrast to the deep blue sky, vivid evergreens and red rocks chiseled from the Earth.
These were the first we saw just south of the little town of Oak Creek. In the picture below, and in the ones to follow the scale of the vista is not as apparent as I would like, so I will call that to your attention now. The plateau of the mountains is roughly 1800 feet above where the picture is taken.
View from the Village of Oak Creek
Nikon D800 Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 85mm f/5 ISO 100 1/2000 sec
The whole gallery will be posted on Friday