Map, Trail, Green mojave rattlesnake...

We were intending to camp in Greer this weekend, to get a break from the hot local temperatures. The reason we chose Greer for this camping trip was that Karen and Reddin would be there doing extended family stuff, but they were going to take a break so Karen could run with me and Reddin could bike with Noah. Intended departure, thursday. But Karen called me wednesday night and said it was too rainy there for fun camping.

Thursday we were celebrating my daughter's birthday lunch at Joe's BBQ. Noah suggested we take off for one night in Sedona. I will never turn down an opportunity to get away somewhere fun with the family, and to run in a fun new location. So we went home and packed the van. On the way to Sedona Missy watched a Dora movie over and over. Bridge, door, tall mountain....Dora always picks a sequence and the kids use a map to help them follow through the sequence.

Noah got me a map, and pointed out some trails I might run the next morning. All of them close to Bell Rock. It looked fabulous. Bring on the 16 miler!

I got up semi-early and snuck out of our hotel room leaving everyone else to sleep in. I took my little map and 2 bottles of water and a couple of gu's.

The trail was nice and not too difficult. There was a fair amount of climbing, and it was humid. My pace wasnt very fast. It was fun to look around at all the big red rock formations. Sedona is a magical place. Some even say it is literally magic! Some people practice yoga in Sedona in special vortex areas. Maybe I did run through a magical vortex because my ankle seemed to be healed. Last Saturday in Las Sendas my ankle hurt like crazy- but not at all yesterday.

There was a mountain biker playing leap frog with me out on the trail. He was from the local village and seemed to know the area well. He seemed really capable and nice and I was glad to have him close by. At one point I saw his bike sitting on the ground, in the trail in front of me. I worried he might be hurt. But then I saw that he was taking a picture of a HUGE snake. It was rattling at him and he told me "Stand back, this is a Green Majave Rattlesnake, one of the most deadly snakes out there!" After that I really kept my eyes and ears open and was easily startled by every beetle and rabbit out there!

Do you see the snake? It doesnt look like much in this picture, but I promise it was Huge!

The rest of my run passed uneventfully. I was sad for it to end. Sedona is definitely a new favorite running location for me. It seems to me that the best way to experience a new place is to run through it. Something about passing through a place, not so fast as in a car, but not so slow as a walk. On foot so you are a part of it.

So if you yearn for adventure like Dora does, I highly recommend the sequence in Sedona- Map, trail, Green Mojave Rattlesnake!