Close Encounters with the Spiritual Kind

 by Ellen Heyn, Communications Associate

When a hankering for redrock strikes (as it often does), I look to Flagstaff’s southern neighbor for a quick fix. My heart soars with every foot of elevation I lose on the 89A switchbacks, and, by the time I reach the bottom of Oak Creek Canyon, I’m in a bliss of sandstone monoliths and towering canyon walls.

Winding down to Sedona, I hightail it right past the crystal shops and mystical bazaars, opting to forego aura readings and vortex information stands until I reach a trailhead—any trailhead will do, so long as it gets me to a nice piece of slickrock.

This past week, it happened to be Boynton Canyon. And had I stopped at one of the vortex information stands, I might have had an idea of what lay ahead.

A flutist, two spirt seekers, and crystal ritualists

At the trailhead, music reverberated against the canyon walls. My ear led me up the trail, until I spotted the source—a flutist perched cross-legged on top of a knoll.

Farther up the trail, I snuck past two women filming self-empowerment and spirituality videos.

Then on my way back, I spotted a man lying horizontal on a rock who did not look like he was taking a nap. He was at the side of the trail; a woman stood over him. As a Wilderness First Responder, my mind immediately went to dehydration, heat stroke, anaphylactic shock. But the closer I got, the more confused I became. Why would she simply stare at a sleeping (or dying) man?

I was about to ask if everything was OK when I finally got close enough to see what was going on—the woman’s arm was outstretched, her hand clutching a crystal dangling from a silver chain.

Coincidence? I think not

In six miles of hiking, I had three encounters with Sedona spirit seekers—something I dismissed as coincidence until I learned that Boynton Canyon is one of Sedona’s most popular vortex sites. I don’t know much about vortexes, but who am I to discount them? I didn’t feel a pulse of earth’s energies, but I encountered a surge of people searching for them, and as a hiker, I was out there seeking something too: solitude and slickrock. Turns out Sedona’s redrocks draw New Agers and hikers alike.

Ready for a redrock encounter of your own? Hit the trails to see what Sedona fans are raving about!