Adjusting from the abuse of attempting half-marathons in remote places, we dialed our expectations down to the 10K distance. After an unsuccessful attempt at this in Seattle (run cancelled by … rain? Seriously …) – we took advantage of a long weekend to revisit and further explore the great Southwest. New turf for one of us, historical relevance for another – we took advantage of a week of work to simplify travel, and had the benefit of a long weekend for wandering around Arizona. Sedona became the focus after one of us spotted a link for the Sedona Red Rock Rumble – with a 5-mile option, it fit in our goals and looked like a nice base for the weekend.

Having spent a day or two in Phoenix, one of the party was more adjusted to the local climate (somewhere between a slow bake and broiling hot depending on whether skin was exposed to the sun). The other was reminded of climate change and what 0% humidity feels like when exiting the air-conditioned terminal and greeting the suffocatingly hot Arizona air. Normal humans would proceed to guaranteed climate control in a vehicle and AirBNB, but … there were drinks to be consumed in Phoenix. Thirst took precedence over comfort. Angels Trumpet Ale House was the first stop, with a nice looking selection of malted and mixed beverages.

A great little bar, patio, and casual dining experience, blocked off from the world by the cathedral door of bar entrances. Angels Trumpet had some appropriately powerful pours. Mother Bunch Brewing (sadly closed now) was next and then it was time for coffee at the lovingly named Jobot! A confusing bathroom sign after beer and coffee combined to make our brains think “employees of food?” “Employees made of food?” Whatever combination, they must wash their hands.

Caffeine consumed to offset alcohol, we headed north towards Sedona and bed …

Wandering around late at night in strange places generally introduces us to interesting things. A mermaid dancing with koi on the hood of a ragged mid-80’s Mercury Topaz is just our speed, spotted as we wandered into the local Safeway for weekend groceries. Flashbacks of the Tom Green show where he surprised his parents with an offensive painting on the hood of their vehicle – had to wonder if the mermaid image had a similar provenance.

We found our Airbnb tucked into the hills of Sedona, a little guest house carved out of a larger set of attached houses. As always, we arrived well after normal humans would be settled in and sleeping. As often seemed to happen, the housekeeper or owner felt the need to greet us and try to engage our semi-coherent brains in conversation about our trip, the house, the time of night, the weekend …

Sunrise let us check out the property, with an interestingly abandoned back yard and porch outside the bedroom, and traditional Arizona / New Mexico yard maintenance out front (read: rocks, native weeds, cactus, and the like). Having missed the beauty of the canyon that Sedona occupies with our late arrival, we had to get out in the daylight for coffee, food, and gorgeous blue skies. Driving through central Sedona, we couldn’t take our eyes off the towering red rocks and eye-watering blue skies.

Breakfast and caffeine at Creekside provided enough energy to face the race organizers and pick up our packets. The local running shop, Run Sedona, was staffed by a friendly, typically Arizona-bronzed and weathered crew who gave us some tips, sold us whatever we forgot for the run (generally sunglasses, socks, and sunscreen), handed us our race packets and complimentary visors and memorabilia and sent us on our way:

Running gear acquired, and with one of us having never been in northern Arizona, it was time to start exploring. Sedona itself, while a nice town, looked like it could get really crowded on a Saturday in early summer, so we pointed the car towards Flagstaff and points north. Not entirely traffic-free, but the route out of town and through the upper reaches of the plateau that overlooks the Phoenix basin were impressive.

Part of our challenge when traveling is to get periodic steps accrued for hourly exercise, at least one large continuous block during the day, and a total of 10,000 or more each 24-hour period. Good news is that forces us to stop, although that turns into really, really long days at times. In Flagstaff, we found Thorpe Park, which sits next to Lowell Observatory (known to one of us due to a long ago interest in astronomy – thanks, Carl!). Google showed hiking trails (sometimes questionably accurate) and determined we’d try to jog at 7000 feet above sea level … The trail starts off at a casual slope but rapidly tilts upwards through gorgeous alpine forests, unfortunately less oxygenated than our flatlander home base. Jogging turned into a strenuous hike, and a “short” loop on the map turned out to be a solid 7 mile round-trip. About halfway up the hill, we passed an older Flagstaff-ian hiker, walking stick in hand and Camelbak on, purportedly on round 2 or 3 of zooming up the hill. Judging by the sweat and breathing going on, he was earning whatever beverage he was headed for.

Steps acquired and bodies dehydrated, it was time for food and beverages. Fortunately the old downtown in Flagstaff had no shortage of either, with an entertaining population of locals and high-desert historic buildings to wander past. Root Public House (now closed), Rendezvous and the Monte Vista hotel bar, and Tourist All Day Café were on the agenda as we explored, trying to dodge the crowds.

7000 feet of elevation puts a lot less atmosphere between your skin, your beer, and the sun – soaking all that in from a rooftop bar had us leaning back and snapping pictures of hyper-blue skies and sunshine while the ice melted in our Old Fashioneds:

Thirst quenched and with plenty of high country daylight remaining, we headed out for more hiking. North of Flagstaff is a wide area of very distinctive geology, looking like giant trucks full of asphalt wandered across the countryside making piles as they went. Much like the northeast corner of New Mexico, the area was a very active volcanic region for several million years, with the last activity as recently as a 1000 years ago – fascinating stuff and a great opportunity to explore. After some wandering on back roads, we wound up deciding on the Lava Flow Trail in the Sunset Crater National Monument, northeast of Flagstaff. The elevation kept the sunshine from raising the temperature too much, but it was easy to imagine baking in late July or August here.

Even after thousands of years, some of the lava fields were still a jagged jumble of frozen lava flows, surfaces that you wouldn’t want to try to walk across even wearing heavy boots and protective pants and gloves. Some bands of trees had taken root, but it looks like another couple of millenia will be needed before this is picnic country.

You get an idea of how hard the ground here has to be to make giant pine trees unable to do anything other than pile roots on top of it before they give up and fall over:

Recent wildfires left an interestingly desolate landscape in place of a wooded hillside.

Having run out of sunshine, we figured Flagstaff was somewhere around halfway (or a quarter of the way, or at least between here and there …) to Sedona, so it was time for beverages. The funky hole in the wall Thai place at the edge of downtown looked as good as other options. If nothing else, it proved that you can make something that doesn’t suck out of a Mountain Dew can …

Heading down the valley to Sedona, it was time to call it a day and get a few hours sleep before our morning trail run.

Somebody let the sun come up too early on Sunday morning, but having arranged to be in Sedona specifically to run, it was time to get out of bed and go for it. Caffeine, Safeway-sourced snacks, and half awake, we headed over to Red Rock State Park for the race. Having spent a lot of time in Texas, where “state parks” are often out in the middle of nowhere, and are huge, the compact canyon holding Red Rock was a bit of a surprise. It appears to be nestled right in the middle of a housing development for the wealthy, with oversized, over-priced houses perched on what used to be scenic canyon slopes. That said, it’s a gorgeous piece of land nestled in the hills and a great place for a run. For those who’ve never done a trail run, the crowds alone are worth the visit – everybody from newbies with fresh shoes and over-priced shorts to the weather-beaten pros for whom the 5 miles we were about to roll through wasn’t even a warm-up lap. A few words of guidance and we were off:

Given a complete lack of competitive expectation, we found ourselves running along at an easy pace, wrapping up the last tenth of a mile with a sprint that wasn’t entirely “all-out”. Crossing the finish line without feeling like death, and glad to have wrapped up with a decent pace and memorable map, we were satisfied with results and ready for a drink, food, and more exploration.

We headed back town in search of brunch, with the Creekside Plaza area and surrounding shopping starting to get busy. Winding up at the Pump House Station, we made our way to the bar and enjoyed omelets with mimosas and coffee, and soaked up the relaxed Arizona vibes.

With a whole day and no travel obligations staring us down, we decided to venture west in search of steps, beverages, geology, and history. As we often do, we just pointed the rental car down the highway and figured we’d stop when we felt like it. Historic (questionably) Prescott was in striking distance if we timed the trip properly. After a change of clothes, snagging some water and snacks at the guest house, we took 89 out of Sedona toward Cottonwood, enjoying the scenery along the way.

We were ready for caffeine by the time we got to Cottonwood, so a quick visit to the Crema Craft Kitchen was needed. A short drive around town, and then we headed out of Cottonwood. A sign for the Tuzigoot National Monument grabbed our attention – what is a Tuzigoot? Curious, we followed the signs. Tuzigoot is a historical site where the remains of dwellings of the Sinagua Indians are preserved. They had a nice little village out here in the Arizona desert. We found some additional history here. Wandering through the remains, we wondered about living in Arizona pre-air conditioning. Not only living, but somehow finding the motivation to build 2-story structures out of rocks and dirt.

The view on the way up is pretty incredible.

After filling our brains with history, we got back in the car and headed to the next town – Jerome. We had planned to drive through quickly, but Jerome isn’t that sort of place. Once you’re there, the town sucks you in. Built at an elevation of 5,066 feet and pasted on the side of a steep bluff, the buildings have been creatively constructed to fit. Jerome was originally a copper mining camp, and at one point was the fourth largest city in Arizona. When the mines started closing, the population declined as well. It was designated as a ghost town in the 1960s. Now, the city has some life of sorts. A thriving tourist economy and a popular spot for artists, Jerome has survived and is now a destination point for travelers.

Narrow roads wind up to the top of the mountain, with a historic hotel perched at the top.

We drove through, taking notes on restaurants and bars for potential drink and food locations for the way back. It was too early to eat and drink now, and we wanted to get to Prescott before sunset.

On the way out of Jerome, we stopped for the views and managed to catch this – from the tip of Jerome all the way back to Sedona in one photo.

The drive down the mountain to Prescott was pretty scenic as well as we crossed over and through the sandstone and pines that make up the terrain out here.

Evidently, the drive to Prescott after the mountains was either not memorable enough to photograph, or we were zoned out after the morning’s efforts. No photos exist from our time leaving Jerome, looping around Prescott, and heading back up to Jerome. It’s like we weren’t even there.

We do have memories of arriving in Prescott and wandering around looking for food. There are some very interesting rock formations around the city, where huge outcroppings of rounded boulders appear to have been dumped by giants on their way through. You’ll have to trust us, visit Prescott yourself, or open up Wikipedia and read about the Granite Dells. The half-existent plan was to eat dinner in the city around walks and exploration, or at least acquire some snacks and a beverage. Out last meal had been in Sedona after the run, and coffee from Cottonwood was long gone. That plan was shortly derailed – we didn’t realize Prescott was a popular tourist destination. The square was jammed with tourists in varying states of intoxication or obnoxiousness, or both. Not ideal.

Attempting to escape the worst of the crowds, we headed downhill to what sounded like a quiet location – Murphy’s Restaurant. Located in a dimly lit historic building that might have been a mob meeting place, the unattended bar should have been a clue. We managed to get a single beverage out of a grumpy bartender, but gave up on food after being ignored for the next 20 minutes. Traipsing back up the hill, the “oldest bar in Prescott” sounded interesting, until we passed through the wooden saloon doors and were assaulted by the noise of a packed and largely wrecked crowd of tourists doing shots while yelling at each other. Backing out of this place, we finally found a fried appetizer and another beverage at the Gurley Street Grill. Heads aching from crowds and noise, we decided that Prescott had been checked off the list, permanently.

After the largely wasted visit to Prescott, it was getting late and time to start back east. Priority one – we wanted to get to Jerome before the bars closed. Back up the mountain, much less scenic in the dark. Jerome was nice at night – the ghost town vibe that it advertised was largely absent – although the verbiage on historic markers could use some tweaking.

Like Prescott, it was busy. Flashing back to The Shining, we squeezed into a goth-decorated bar in the back of the Jerome Hotel, then headed over to Haunted Hamburger because, well, the Haunted Hamburger. Both were good, but we were now staring down a long, dark drive back to Sedona on a straight highway.

We were out later than we intended – no surprises there. Arrival at the guest house happened at some point in the early morning hours and probably raised flags of concern for the next-door host we’d met on arrival. Well-past exhausted, we called it a long, long, long day.

Monday morning arrived about 12 hours too early, but as always, we forced ourselves out for early exercise. A light drizzle and cooler temperatures helped flush Arizona beverages out of our systems, and we enjoyed our last views of the area.

We packed up, grabbing a quick photo of our quiet wing of the guest house before getting in the car. We could have used another 8 hours of sleep, but the real world was demanding our return.

While it is interstate highway, the drive back down to Phoenix does offer some dramatic vistas and more scenery than large swathes of Texas. A surprise rainstorm presented us with a farewell rainbow before we hit the urban sprawl and overcrowded insanity that is SkyHarbor International Airport.

Mission accomplished.