The West Sedona valley from Airport Mesa, near the Airport Vortex

Skip spent a bit of money here

This one was a too big to carry back on the plane.

The view from our motel courtyard.  The little bump in the middle is Airport Vortex.

The view from Airport Vortex

The last time Skip did this, she didn't have her clothes on

That's Oak Creek canyon across on the very left

A close-up of Oak Creek Canyon and the spires guarding the entrance

Us on top of the Airport Vortex

A cairn by the side of the trail

I believe this is cathedral rock, our next destination.  We are at Church in the Rock.

Some see an eagle in this rock formation, others a frog

Starting the climb to the cathedral rock vortex

Up, up, up!  The goal is the base of the big spire on the right. 

Skip climbing.  Note her guns and gams.

Another view of the goal,the base of those buttes.

About as far as we got.  We later learned that after getting to the top of what we can see here, which would have been a struggle, it was relatively flat.  However, we knew we still had to get back down.

Speaking of which, there's more than one way to get back down.

Looking back up to where we had been.

Where we just were.  We got almost to the top of the middle smudge, where it says "very steep slickrock".

Locals told us of a way to drive to the back (really the front) of cathedral rock to see the classic view.  This is it!  We had been climbing the other side.  This picture and the next two were taken within a few feet of each other.

A couple of cairns by the riverside -- Oak Creek, of course.

A very tranquil view of Oak Creek.

In a shopping center next to our motel, Skip misses Mouton and Petit.