Arizona Day 4: Hiking through Adversity in the Red Rocks of Sedona
Keeping to our plan of a day of travel, then a day close to home, we decided that on our 4th day in Arizona we would explore the Red Rocks of Sedona. This proved more challenging as we got a late morning start as we recovered from our long day at the Grand Canyon the day before. We headed out about 11 a.m. which was prime hiking time for families so parking was difficult to find. We debated driving into Sedona to grab a shuttle, but I feared the wait time. We drove up and down the road seeking out parking at one of the trailheads. On our second loop of the trailheads along the highway, we finally we found a spot at Little Horse Trail head, but when we saw the warning sign for bees and multiple people getting stung at the opening of the trail head, we decided to move on. We found a spot at Yavapai Trail Head. Another benefit for the National Park Pass, it can be used to cover the $5 parking pass at the Red Rock trail heads. We planned to hike over to Bell Rock which my daughter wanted to hike. The red dirt of the Slim Shady trail was a wonderful hike and had fabulous views. It was challenging, but very doable. I used my Trail Buddy trekking pole to steady my balance and there were only a few areas that I needed to strategically think about my foot placement so that I didn't end up leading with my weaker leg. After hiking about 2 miles, we decided to try our luck at finding parking at the Bell Rock Trail head, determining by the time we hiked to the Bell Rock Trailhead from Yavapi Trail head, to Bell Rock and back we would be exhausted.
Energy conservation and the best use of my energy is always a thought in my daily life with MS. It was almost 2 o'clock and the morning hikers were off the trail and the afternoon hikers were just beginning to shuffle in. We found a parking spot and began our 3 mile hike to and around Bell Rock. The trail began flat but as we approached the Bell Rock formation the terrain became more challenging. I gave my daughter permission to forge ahead and upward without me. I planned on sitting back and watching. As for me climbing up is always considerably easier than climbing down, but after sitting and watching other's feet placement, I gained the confidence to climb this trail gauntlet area by myself. I have learned this about myself, my anxiety is greatly decreased when I can assess a situation on my own rather than having someone else tell me "You can do it!!" My climbing wasn't always pretty, but with the help of my trekking pole, I traversed my way up to the plateau at the base of Bell Rock where I sat and took in the view as my daughter climbed higher up the formation.
As previously stated, coming down is my biggest challenge with my balance and strength. My weak leg that I call "Peggy", doesn't always to show up to the game and often provides me no support. Just imagine one leg being a cooked spaghetti noodle. This is one reason I need to be very strategic in my lead leg, especially when moving in a downward trajectory. This is always more pronounced when Peggy decides she is done moving and I have to physically lift her up and put her in place on a rock to continue my journey. This tends to be when my anxiety flares. "I am slowing everyone down." "Everyone is looking at me, what if I fall." I am gaining confidence and can quell those voices in my head better with each experience. People on the trail were very patient and offered me words of encouragement and accolades when they witnessed my determination and mindfulness after I complete that area of trail. I really appreciated the kind words and was grateful that they did not come midway through my traversing a challenging area.
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