Sister and Mother Earth Love – two days in Sedona

A couple weekends ago I got two days in Sedona, filled with my sisters and exuberant Mother Earth. I don’t kid about that exuberant part! And I’m telling you, we hiked every nook and cranny we could squish into those two days. It was in true Eyre fashion, packing it all in. And we felt alive!

First of all, let’s talk about sisters. Because I was spoiled by seeing them at the tail end of January too, then this. Us three older sisters and I had been to Sedona together before, and we knew we would be coming again with Charity some day. I mean it is too beautiful to not share, and she had been living in London last time we came together.

And other sister things? In LESS THAN A WEEK another band of four sisters get to jubilantly reunite because CLAIRE IS ALMOST HERE!!

That is a story, of course, for another day very soon. It’s filling up my mind and my heart with not much room for anything else these days!

But for today I’m trying to focus on these sisters:

The ones I grew up with. The ones with my same crazy-adventure-hiking-can’t-get-enough-of-God’s-grandeur ones.

There are lots of different parts to this post. It could be like five posts with all the things I want to remember. The words to our meditation at Bell Rock. Worshipping in the Chapel of the Holy Cross. The power of God and “How Great Thou Art.”

But hopefully it will all make sense here, together. Because that’s how I experienced all these thoughts. Here we go.

Sedona Vortexes

Sedona is apparently filled up with vortexes. Places where you can actually feel the vibrations of the earth’s energy.

I didn’t sit in any one spot and feel the pulsating Sedona vortexes. Instead, I felt them everywhere. Vibrating from our sister-talks filled up with goodness up and down those red rocks. The sync of sister hearts and souls cradled in those red rocks. The scramble in true Eyre form trying to squish in every hike we could, every minute we has for those two days in Sedona.

Soldier’s Pass

I did this one with Dave when we went back for my birthday years ago. But of course, I needed to share with those sisters of mine.

Seven Sacred Pools

We hiked up past the Seven Sacred Pools:

Through glorious grandeur:

And found the tiny marker for the cave turn-off…can you even see it on this sign?

Yeah, tiny, but we made it!

And basked in it’s wonder. I mean, how does the earth do this? It’s so incredible.

And a tad bit scary…

Can you see those heights below?

Two of us were brave enough to climb up to that little overlook that you can’t see how high it is in this pic:

But you can in the pic above. And one of those “two of us” wasn’t me.

Shuttles in Sedona

Since there are now shuttles in Sedona and you can’t drive to most of the trailheads, it was a little bit tricky to get around.

We decided rather than going all the way back to catch the shuttle to our car, we’d just hike all the way through to Devil’s Bridge.

And we did.

It was long and flat, and I loved all the mixture of colors in the terrain:

After miles of walking and talking, we finally caught the Devil’s Bridge trail.

Up, up and more up.

Devil’s Bridge

Dave and I had been here too, and it was so fun to share it’s glory with these sisters of mine.

You can’t see the height as well in that pic, so let’s get a better one:

There we go.

Yes, glory.

We were, in true Eyre fashion, scrambling to get back down and catch the shuttle back to our car so we could make it to our sunset hike.

When we finally made it to the bus, the driver looked at us like we were crazy when we told him where we were coming from. “Oh, you have the wrong shuttle!” he said. And when we explained we had taken the whole loop to do Soldier’s Pass AND Devil’s bridge his eyes flew open. Hmmm. He claimed there had only been two other hikers to do that ever. Ha!

We made it swiftly to our car only to find that it was locked and my phone, which is the key, was dead. That was a tad bit of a fiasco, all the time our clock running trying to figure out how to eat and get to our next destination, but somehow we MADE IT. Greedily eating our beloved salads we picked up on-the-go and miraculously getting a little mercy from the parking guard who let us into parking fifteen minutes early (sweetest) we hiked up one of my favorite hikes in all the land.

Cathedral Hike

Oh I love this beauty.

I had done it both with sisters AND with David, and can’t get enough. We were all excited to show it to Charity.

I loved seeing these two sisters ahead of us, back-lit glowing from the top. Is that how Heaven will be? Filled with gorgeous red rock and loved ones to welcome you in?

The top IS kind of Heaven I have to say.

Yow. I loved hiking up a little further to the “vortex” area and taking it all in:

Then hiking down to the “sunset view spot”…

…where we sat in complete awe of God’s beauty stretching as far as we could see.

Saydi had brought a “treat” for us in her backpack. It was a small little watercolor kit and we basked in watching and painting, our hearts beating in sync with Mother Earth.

We couldn’t pull ourselves away and it was dark by the time we got down.

My camera made a “painting” like photo of that mountain behind us with the stars peeking out.

We were thankful for the full moon to guide the way. I thought this moon shadow was so beautiful:

What a day. It was such a good one and we fell asleep talking and so satisfied with a day well spent.

Bell Rock

The next day we were up and at ’em to hit Bell Rock first. Oh man I ADORE this hike as well. I really, really feel the earth energy there. I mean, how can you not with this view?

The sun lighting up the crevices of the red rock and, as Saydi said, Father Sky meeting Mother Earth.

We hiked up to a relatively flat “landing” and stretched out to take it all in.

We did yoga, and this beautiful mediation, and felt the power of the whole earth surround us with strength and goodness.

It was good to feel my fragmented thoughts focus and let earth and sisters heal them.

Mother Earth and Father Sky looming as far as our eyes could see. “They are big” according to our beautiful meditation. So big they can wrap their arms around four sisters doing yoga on the level spot of that mountain. Sending down roots into the earth with our energy during our meditation, and feeling the power of ancestors from those roots.

I loved it and that is now one of my “thin places” for sure.

I know this may sound silly. But as we sat there in that expanse of beauty we talked about Moana.

Yes, the Disney cartoon.

Charity brought up the whole underlying theme of that show, how Moana learns that the power is in her to do good, to be good, to seek her inner self and a higher being to live life.

We know the way because we are children of a King. Inside, if we dig deep, we’ll know that. We will hear the “call,” and we will carry it in our hearts as we journey trying to forge goodness any way we can.

Now I need to find someone to watch that show with me again. Lucy is an absolute no to any animated shows…maybe Murphy?

Chapel of the Holy Cross

We, of course, had to get to the Chapel of the Holy Cross, one of our favorite places in Sedona.

I want to explain every bit of why I love it so much, but I am too short on time, and it really deserves a post of it’s own.

For today I’ll just say that there are people of all walks of life in there seeking Jesus.

Praying to Jesus.

I loved feeling the swell of the love. And that we are all in this together. All worshiping in the way we feel will let us come closer to God.

Three specific things made my eyes well up:

• A mother kneeling with her son, his palms outstretched on the bench in front of where they were kneeling. Both looking up at Jesus with so much love in their eyes.
• A woman sitting on one of the benches with arms outstretched upward, deep in prayer. I want to pray more like that, welcoming God in with that welcoming response that was so beautiful. Oh we want Him in our stories!
• A couple both intertwined, arms around each other in prayer kneeling together at one of those altars made for one at the front, right under Jesus. It was so beautiful.

We had our own private prayers and left, filled up with the goodness of God and the goodness of Humanity and headed to Boynton Canyon.

Boynton Canyon Trail

None of us had done this one before and it was beautiful. No surprise. We went to see the cave off-shoot and I was glad for this sign to show us the way:

And OH! It was glorious up there!

And also scary! Yikes. You climb up to that cave above, and then you go around this bend on the left below:

Can you see that drop off below that slanting shale shelf? What in heaven’s name is there to keep you from slipping off that edge? It had me a little nervous I have to say.

But a little fear makes you feel alive, right?

We met up with some interesting characters on that adventure and loved and talked and let our hearts pump.

When we came back down we followed along the trail to the “end” of the canyon. It was a heavily wooded trail which was beautiful.

I was so in love with the different kinds of bark. I love the symbol of bark for such protection. Isn’t it just so very beautiful creating it’s scales protecting the tree?

Airport Loop Trail

I loved that there is a mass of humanity that gathers at beautiful spots to watch the sunset.

And this spot is no exception.

We parked amidst the masses, and separated out to make the loop trail, watching that sun set and cast the most beautiful shadows on the expanse below.

A grand way to end a grand two days in Sedona.

Home to Wellesley

After a pretty delicious dinner sitting in the cold drinking in the best food at a Mexican food truck, we headed home.

Elle was in town for 24 hours for work, and I was so happy we got to catch the tail end of her being here.

And Lucy, of course. These girls are cradled in my sisters’ love and I’m so grateful.

Cards…not sure where Dave was, but of course cards must be played…

How Great Thou Art

At church the next morning I thought it was so appropriate that we sang “How Great Thou Art” with the organ and my favorite pianist banging out that amazing tune. I sang along through tears. Because yes, HOW GREAT THOU ART!

“I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy pow’r throughout, the universe displayed…
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur, And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze…
How Great thou art!”

Such a perfect wrap-up of our adventure in God’s grandeur, marveling at the goodness of the whole wide world.

Treasure Loop Trail

We, being hikers at heart, couldn’t stop there. We did shift plans from Flat Iron to Treasure Loop Trail which was a little more do-able. And also let us get back in time to hang with Dave, Lu and the Super Bowl before these sisters had to leave.

Treasure Loop is so different from Sedona in color, but those rock formations are so similar!

I love these “praying hands” rising up out of the desert.

Let’s get a better look at those.

Pretty appropriate for all the thoughts and conversations we had been having up and down all those mountains.

Loving all the beauty of my desert.

“How Great Thou Art!”

A reminder to stay away from the “jumping cactus” for Charity!

A Small Rewind

I can’t leave this post without backing up to the beginning for just a second. Because these girls arrived at the same time Dave and I did, and we headed right to the temple for my niece to receive her endowment. Which was beautiful by the way, and a whole other story. But so good to be there with sisters for a minute…

Then later to be joined by our brother Josh.

For a speedy late dinner, and catching up.

Love all these siblings forever and ever. And the others we thought of and sent love to, too.

It was grand, that togetherness.

SO much love to Mother Earth, Father Sky, Sisterhood, and togetherness. And trying to make sense of it all in this big, wide, beautiful world.

Amen.

Other Visits to Sedona

• A Birthday Trip to Sedona with Dave
• Sedona With Sisters
• A Guide to Some Good Hikes in the Desert – including Sedona