{"id":15845,"date":"2022-01-04T05:35:50","date_gmt":"2022-01-04T12:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mywalkabout.net\/?p=15845"},"modified":"2022-01-05T05:59:32","modified_gmt":"2022-01-05T12:59:32","slug":"a-labor-day-hiking-loop-around-sedona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mywalkabout.net\/?p=15845","title":{"rendered":"A Labor Day hiking loop around Sedona"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The unexplainable pull to walk<\/strong> returns. It’s Labor Day weekend, but up in Sedona the temperatures will still reach 100 degrees by noon, if not sooner. Best to start early, and so I arrive at the trailhead just after five A.M.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

I only had a vague idea of the hike I wanted to do<\/strong>, and so I just started walking and thinking about the distance I would like to cover, ten miles is the goal. Soon I find myself in the wilderness at the sacred seven pools, although only a couple still have water remaining. I keep going, climbing higher, feeling I am running from a force that I can never fully outrun. Death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These days movement seems<\/strong> to be the only thing that helps ease the pain my body is in. The further I go, the better I feel. Yet when I stop, the pain returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A crossroads of intersecting trails<\/strong> are to be found at the top of the mountain. I’ve been here before. I head down the backside into West Sedona. I occasionally see trail maps which keep me focused on a path that will eventually loop me back to my original starting point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few miles in, and the day is getting much warmer earlier than I anticipated. Water levels are getting lower than I would like. Luckily, I’m closer to neighborhoods and streets full of people this Holiday weekend, so help would be much more accessible if needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The final few miles<\/strong> have me crisscrossing through neighborhoods. My water is gone, but I seem to like to torture myself. It helps to subside the pain. I focus on completing this task, and eventually complete my ten mile journey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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