Day 31 - Soldier Pass - Devil's Kitchen, the Seven Sacred Pools
The Devil's Kitchen is just one more place Americans like to visit in order to practice surrendering to the Russians. The Russians over there puzzling over the trail map are oblivious to having conquered and occupied Arizona.
The Kitchen itself is a giant sinkhole, which just got much bigger a few years ago. There are houses just a few hundred yards away. They are proving hard to sell.
The weather's turned a little chilly, but a few leaves are still hanging on and catching the mid afternoon sunshine.
Wendy and EBS at the bottom of the increasingly misnamed Seven Sacred Pools. By my count, this is actually Pool Eight. Pool Nine is just beyond.
Things get shadowy once the trail passes the seven sacred pools - vortex forces are in play.
When the vortexes get really angry they strip the bark off these unsuspecting trees. Bad vortexes.
This is a dark, scary part of the Dark Forest, replete with vortexes and peccaries. Really.
The dark, dark turnpath to Nowhere.
According to local lore, the bark of trees become twisted in the presence of the Almighty Vortex. Most of the trees in this part of the Dark Forest are twisted like this.
En route back we pass the pools once more.
The vortexes have followed but the sacred pools are powerful too and fight back.
The flora near the pools is resilient against the vortexes. They've seen this before.
The Agave Cactus isn't really a cactus at all, but rather an Asparagus. I wouldn't make this stuff up. They live to bloom, and then, they die.
The clouds really do crazy things over Sedona.
This is what it's like to arrive in Sedona at sunset.
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copyright 2014
Russel Kwan and Wendy Kwan
Vancouver BC Canada