For the past two weekends, I've been out galavanting on the trails of Arizona with my trusty bike. Last weekend it was trails around Bell Rock in Sedona. It was supposed to be a relatively easy 3.5 miles out and back (7mi round trip). It ended up being 12 miles total, uphill in all directions, but with some really awesome singletrack technical(ish) stuff that I loved. I also met some really cool folks, with whom I also rode yesterday. More about that in a moment. Let's look at some photographic evidence of the Bell Rock Ride:
Really godawful facial expression here, but I like it! This was a rocky, nasty climb that many people hike-a-biked (I cleaned it on the first try with much grunting and an amazingly loud cry of triumph at the top). The guy that took the photo had perched at the base of the climb and I very nearly ran him over.
I like this one much better. I don't look completely ridiculous, and besides, you get lovely Cathedral Rock in the background!
After the ride, we drove down to Oak Creek and played in the water for a while, and happened to bear witness to a rather unique wedding. There was a pathway of rocks across part of the creek where we were, and at one point we saw a gentleman with a Native American Flute and an amplifier stepping carefully across. When we asked him what he was doing way out here with an amp, he simply replied "A Wedding" and geststured across the creek. Up on a little hill above the creek was a gazebo, and we all assumed it would be there; but shortly after crossing the creek, he set up his stuff in the middle of a flat slick-rock type area and began to play.
Shortly thereafter, we saw an American Indian (no idea what tribe) coming down the hill--he was a shaman or priest or spiritual leader of some sort--in full regalia. Feathers, full buckskin, a huge drum, and a half-gourd with sage and feathers. Closely behind him were the bride and groom--in traditional white gown and tux. She took off her high heels to walk across the creek rocks, and her groom was good enough to carry both her shoes and her flowers so that she could keep better balance. Unable to stand there speechless, one of our group members mentioned something about her pedicure, to which she responded "All the way from England!". So it turns out that this couple had traveled to this tiny little creek in the middle of nowhere Arizona to be married in a Vortex area by an Indian (I'll call him) Shaman. They did the blanket transfer, and held the feathers and the shaman cleansed the area with the sage. We watched from a distance, and several people egged me to take photos, but I refused. It just didn't seem right.
Trust me when I tell you, though...it was pretty damn cool to bear witness to such a thing. Oh, and the bike ride...it was awesome too.
And tomorrow, since I'm off work (hooray!), I'll tell you the story of Flagstaff to Sedona. Here's a preview:
1 comment:
yea! stories, with photos!! woo, my lucky day. :)
looks like (and sounds like) you had a great time.
i like biking and i like hiking, but mountain biking has never had the draw for me...although you are making it hard to not want to get out there!
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