Romancing Sedona

"Come enjoy the view," the friendly woman calls from her perch atop the terracotta-hued boulders of Cathedral Rock. She's far from the peak, but as high as the trail allows hikers to go legally, about 15 feet above where I stand with my husband. We eye the spot where she's relaxing with her male companion, but rather than intruding, we offer a smile and turn back to the trail—until she beckons us back. "The view is amazing from up here. Come see."

Convinced, we negotiate the slickrock and immediately discover why she wants to share the scene. Six hundred feet below our perch, a crystal-water creek snakes its way through a green valley as the late afternoon sunlight illuminates the surrounding sheer rock faces like raging bonfires. Standing there with my arms wrapped around my husband, I feel transported from some long-lost, romanticized world, setting my eyes on a brave, new frontier, falling in love with the land before me, and with the companion at my side.

That's just how Sedona is.