One of the best things about Sedona is its multitude of hiking trails. There are miles and miles of walking trails for all different types of hikers. You can meet other people, sit and rest by a cool stream, breath deeply the thin air, have a picnic lunch, all while keeping your eyes open for wildlife that may in fact kill you. Attacks are rare and shouldn’t dissuade anyone from walking the glorious valleys or climbing the breathtaking ridges that make up Sedona, but sightings of bears, mountain lions, rattlesnakes, and scorpions occur often. The great thing is, every trail I have ventured onto was clearly marked, well maintained, mildly strenuous and worth every penny. Plenty of trails are free of course, but there are some in places where there is a minimal charge for admission or parking. Not that these are the best trails or come with cocktail service, but if a small fee is what’s needed to keep the trails in the condition they are, then it’s well worth it. Splendid views arise every few minutes, as a reminder of how small we all are in the world. The picture below was taken after climbing about 75 feet up a cliff at the end of the Fay Canyon Trail. It’s a six photo panorama. To give you some sort of scale, if you look directly in the center of the picture and see the rock structures in the distance, they are taller than the rocks on the right and left. This is the view looking through the canyon and my 75 foot climb was merely to get above the tree line. The mountain behind me is much bigger.
Nikon D800 Nikkor 28-300mm @ 32mm f/6.3 ISO 100 1/60sec 5 image panorama