Consolidated "Sedona AZ - questions, advice, recommendations" thread
#16
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: LA, after growing up in London and living all over Europe
Programs: Ex-BD, ex-NW, ex-AA, BA Gold
Posts: 1,457
I recommend visting the Chapel of the Holy Cross, on the outskirts of the town. Whatever your personal beliefs, the building and setting are remarkable. Image
#17
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 240
Originally Posted by AZ_MISMAN
...BUT NOT RIGHT NOW.
The Brins Fire is burning in Oak Creek Canyon, which is in the Sedona area. Last map I saw put it quite close to Slide Rock.
As a survivor of the Rodeo-Chedeski fire, I can tell you that, regardless of what the Sedona CofC tells you, you don't want to be in the area. Though the fire will probably not spread into the red rock area, the smoke is very thick; the air quality is considered unhealthful according to reports. Please visit after the fire is out; though Sedona is not my favorite place in Arizona, it is beautiful.
The Brins Fire is burning in Oak Creek Canyon, which is in the Sedona area. Last map I saw put it quite close to Slide Rock.
As a survivor of the Rodeo-Chedeski fire, I can tell you that, regardless of what the Sedona CofC tells you, you don't want to be in the area. Though the fire will probably not spread into the red rock area, the smoke is very thick; the air quality is considered unhealthful according to reports. Please visit after the fire is out; though Sedona is not my favorite place in Arizona, it is beautiful.
Guess I need to call the hotel to find out for sure, although I'm sure that
they would tell me otherwise.
#18
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 518
Originally Posted by ExtrAAordinaire
The surroundings are beautiful, but the town itself is very touristy.
#19
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Wenatchee, WA
Programs: Lifetime AA Gold-1MM
Posts: 4,909
Originally Posted by faithng
Thanks for the update. We are planning to visit mid July, staying at the Hilton resort, but are now quite concerned about the fire, smoke, heat, etc .
Guess I need to call the hotel to find out for sure, although I'm sure that
they would tell me otherwise.
Guess I need to call the hotel to find out for sure, although I'm sure that
they would tell me otherwise.
http://www.inciweb.org/incident/258/
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/fir...06/index.shtml
Judging from the following comment in today's incident report, I might look carefully at my vacation plans if I were going to Sedona in the next week.
"Residents and visitors in the Sedona and Verde Valley areas may continue to see large quantities of smoke over the next few days resulting from additional burnout operations. Emergency measures are in place to notify the public should there be any concerns for residents. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality continues to monitor air quality on a daily basis. Smoke-related inversions should lift around 9:00 am each day."
#21
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Portland OR Double Emerald (QF and AA), DL PM/MM, Starwood Plat
Posts: 19,589
Originally Posted by faithng
...It was the late 80's when I last visited Jerome. Is it touristy and isit worth it for kids, and how far from Sedona?
If you decide to cancel staying in Sedona, you could still stay in Jerome (or at the bottom of the hill). Another nice alternative is Canyon De Chelly though its over by the NM border.
#22
Join Date: Nov 1999
Programs: SPEBSQSA
Posts: 3,489
Originally Posted by faithng
Thanks BLI_Flyer for your info and help. I'm thinking that we will have to cancel the trip. Unfortunately that means we will have to quickly come up with alternative plans to replace the Sedona trip.
Living in the White Mountains in eastern Arizona, we had a larger than normal influx of visitors over the past weekend as folks are avoiding the "easy" destinations due to the fire. You'd be welcome to head our way. Heck, if you're around on 7/15, you can enjoy our Barbershop Harmony show
#23
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Portland OR Double Emerald (QF and AA), DL PM/MM, Starwood Plat
Posts: 19,589
Saw a story on the web that Sedona is back to normal now but they are worried that the normally jammed July 4 weekend will not be so busy this year. Hwy 89A is open but restricted.
#26
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Portland OR Double Emerald (QF and AA), DL PM/MM, Starwood Plat
Posts: 19,589
It is impossible to predict the smoke situation even a day ahead. The fire risk is still very high and new fires will start every week ... whether they will affect Sedona is unpredictable. The current fire will not be producing smoke that affects Sedona.
When smoke is present it varies from smoke visible in the distance with no degradation of air quality, to something worse than that. This is a risk every year, and this year is not particularly worse than the past decade (despite an extended drought). Los Angeles has had worse fires than Sedona, to put it into perspective. Remember the Oakland fire of a decade ago? That almost reached SF Bay, despite having an urban fire force fighting it and lots of high-tech assistance. Fires are just part of life west of the Mississippi and if you need to avoid smoke then that is a problem.
When smoke is present it varies from smoke visible in the distance with no degradation of air quality, to something worse than that. This is a risk every year, and this year is not particularly worse than the past decade (despite an extended drought). Los Angeles has had worse fires than Sedona, to put it into perspective. Remember the Oakland fire of a decade ago? That almost reached SF Bay, despite having an urban fire force fighting it and lots of high-tech assistance. Fires are just part of life west of the Mississippi and if you need to avoid smoke then that is a problem.
#28
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Programs: AA
Posts: 58
My kids, ages 3 and 5 at the time, enjoyed the heck out of Sedona last year (and so did the grownups). www.travelerstogo.com featured Northern Arizona as their Destination of the Month recently, with lots of links, pictures, and first hand info: http://p104.ezboard.com/feuropetogof...icID=270.topic
#30
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: OOL Australia
Programs: QFF (Gold), Skywards, Rapid Rewards,United, Velocity, Hilton Silver
Posts: 2,440