9.02 Between the Devil and the deep…red rocks.

“Can we feel what?” We asked our charming editor to repeat her question. Even for a wife, we thought it a little blunt while negotiating with the devil (Devil’s Bridge) as we hiked upwards. “The vortex, silly,” came her reply. Apparently, we heard correctly the first time. Sedona is one of the few places on earth…or maybe, one of many where people go around looking and feeling for vortexes. And that’s what led us to feel somewhat embarrassed: hearing of all the groping and carrying on that seems to be prevalent in this region. Sometimes we are afraid to walk the streets alone.

Editor succumbs to the devil

Bear Mountain background—a favorite hike

Scaling the mushroom above Devil's Bridge

Apparently, people come from all over the world to Sedona and another of our favorites, Mount Shasta to feel…Actually, we are not sure. In an area where a vortex exists, some say they get a tingling sensation, others feel happy, some uplifted and every now and again, a man gets slapped across the face by a woman who does not understand his interpretation of a vortex. Most of the time, the only chill we feel is when the sweat runs down our backs.

We’ll leave the idea of vortexes for now as we intend to be in the area for quite a while. We will keep you updated on the various feelings we expect to get from time to time. That sounded a little odd. Perhaps, it’s a vortex.

Jenni below mushroom, above the bridge

A bridge to nowhere, nature emulating government

We notice nature, too is not without its devils. Many trails and sights are named for this nasty bit of ‘work’. However, we have a soft spot for the crusty Devil’s Bridge. It is a double hike because the road to the trailhead is in very poor condition; we hike to the latter then up to the bridge. It really is a special place. Today, we continued higher off the trail to reach a mushroom shaped rock that we attempted to scale—it added to the experience.

Unfortunately, the tension developed to such a peak between us for reasons that make sense to both parties. Some years ago, we witnessed a hiker doing something both courageous and foolish. Unfortunately, we mentioned this to our editor. Today, we planned to emulate the fellow. The challenge is to jump across the chasm at the end of the bridge which can be seen in a photograph or two. Our dear editor demanded that we give her the car keys and phone before the attempt. At the time, we were impressed that she did not ask, as she once did, for the wallet. We believe that would have been below her dignity.

Preparing leg for chasm jump before editor's tears made rocks too slick

Editor has enough, decides to separate

Facing chasm at the bridge end

She was most upset which we did not quite understand. However, the moment we asked her to take a photograph of the jump across the chasm, she became 'ballistic'. We would like to have a memento to look at two decades hence, we explained. So, there we were standing on the precipice trying to arrive at a solution. It did not help matters when one ‘wise guy’, sitting in the comfort of the shade off the bridge, shouted: ‘Jump’. Long story short; we acceded to our editor's wishes (demands). Now we don’t know whether we are courageous. Our editor has given us permission, however, to say: ‘We are foolish’. Does that mean we achieved partial success?

Cheers,

Jenni and Jeffrey

Editor throws tantrum;calls for helicopter

Water under the bridge—looking up from down under