Solo Hiking in Flip Flops

Today I went vortex-visiting, to two of Sedona’s famous vortexes (note: not vortices, as my Lonely Planet helpfully informed me. Just in case I might accidentally be grammatically correct.) I figured I wouldn’t end up hiking far, and those who know me will know I hate socks and the shoes that require them… so I just stayed in the flip flops I was wearing for my after-breakfast nap in the sun. I went to Boynton Canyon and to Airport “Table Mesa” (uh hello, redundant). I didn’t feel much in the way of electromagnetic energy – and none of the pull-over-on-the-side-of-the-road awe I’d felt yesterday on Upper Red Rock Loop Road, where I took pictures of the cloud-covered rocks and texted J + E, “God exists.” But I did feel peace, and sunshined serenity, and that’s maybe better than inspiration or magnetic jolts or whatever it is you’re supposed to feel.

The flip flops though were a little treacherous. “Nice shoes,” said one of twenty-five middle-aged ladies in Lululemon and hiking sneakers I passed along the trail. I laughed, embarrassed, said something about not going far, thought haughtily to myself, “I hiked a mountain in Ethiopia in flip flops”… and then nearly stepped on a snake, which hissed snakelily as it slithered under a dry bush. Lesson learned, I thought.

vortex selfie

Sedona is a strange place, not my “scene,” really. But I’ve come across all kinds of people, including the taxi man who prepped me on the town’s history and told me his grandfather was a prominent movie-man, who’d come to Sedona when it was founded, less than half a century ago. He told me his grandfather’s name, helpfully, in case I want to look him up. Now I’m sitting by the fire pit across from a friendly lesbian couple in jeans, sharing a bag of chips and a mimosa in a water bottle. The chattier one complimented my suede purple oxfords. :) It smells good here, the air is cold and clean, the food is decent, and there’s plenty of booze.  

For more on Sedona's vortexes, see "John and Micki's Metaphysical Site." This is not a joke.