Sedona Sinkhole

With all the recent talk of sinkholes swallowing people in Florida, I thought I'd share one of our discoveries during our last Arizona visit. At the end of Soldier's Pass in western Sedona, beneath what appears to be a red rock Sphinx, there is a giant sinkhole sometimes referred to as the Devil's Kitchen.  It has an opening of approximately 150 x 90 feet and is about 70 feet deep. The hole itself has been around for awhile, but the chunk of rock broken off in this photo is called the "piano" since it has a similar shape to a baby grand. Apparently shortly after the 1989 earthquake in San Francisco, Sedona residents heard a rumbling and saw a giant cloud of red smoke and dust rising into the air in the horizon and this was the result!  Below is a view of the deep chasm in front of the piano shelf.

You can learn more about Sedona sinkholes and their causes here.

Sunrise: On the Rocks

This was the view out our patio door at our hotel on the morning we left. Do the lucky residents of Sedona ever grow tired of waking up to those surroundings everyday? Behind Bill Mr. Pewaukee Daily Photo you can see we had a great view of Brins Mesa and Coffee Pot Rock (which we both agreed, at a certain angle, looks more like a rooster.) As always, vacation went much too quickly, but we are already planning our next visit back there - over New Years! The Packers are slated to play the AZ Cardinals and we're scheming to get tickets. :-)

Red Rock Country

I would be remiss if I didn't post at least a few photos of the gorgeous red-rock scenery we encountered in Sedona. The top shot includes a view of what appears to be private water reservoirs back in Boynton Canyon in West Sedona. Not sure if they belong to the Enchantment Resort located along the canyon, or if they are part of the very posh collection of houses in the area.

Boynton Canyon parallels the above mentioned resort for a short distance of the trail. They have no doubt seen their share of errant hikers and so have responded by erecting an adobe retaining wall with an iron-gate fence. Also posted are "keep out" signs boasting of security cameras and armed guards. So much for hospitality...

At the end of the trail we found a plateau covered with dozens of small piles of methodically stacked rocks. Not sure what the meaning of this is - but we found it quite amusing, and naturally had to add our own contributions.