John McCain, Stop Sniffing Around Our Red Rocks!
By Marv Lincoln | May 20, 2008
Those of us lucky enough to actually live in the high desert paradise called Sedona are, for the most part, a fairly blasé group. Look, we are virtually surrounded by incredible red rock formations. Vortex energy swirls through and around our beings, suffusing us with wisdom and intuitive skills.
Celebrities? Not many have lived here — they would probably be ignored — and many have passed through here, barely noticed amidst a stunning supply of endorphin-triggering beauty.
All of which means that we don’t need ol’ John McCain sniffing around our red rocks — and that includes his super-rich wife and his Secret Service detail.
See, the mainstream media, as lame and careless as ever, have created the fantasy that the addled senator lives in Sedona or somewhere near here. 
The reality is that McCain’s wife Cindy (heiress to a huge beer distribution fortune) and her family own a remote ranch compound in the tiny, bump-in-the-road burg called Page Springs.
Cindy and her kin let John and his buddies pretend that he owns the four-house compound, and even let him invite members of the press for off-the-cuff barbeques and straight-talkin’ conversations.
This compound is about 10 miles from the Western boundary of tiny Sedona. It can be reached only by negotiating one of the worst, most deeply-rutted gravel roads you can imagine. A Hummer would be the vehicle of choice. Or a Humvee. Or, preferably, a Sherman tank. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Rants & Raves, Politics | Comments Off
What Happens in Vegas…Is a Bad Sign for the Economy
By Marv Lincoln | May 11, 2008
What happens in Vegas…is happening all over America! And I don’t mean gambling. I’m talking about an economic downturn, a monetary meltdown, a crisis of confidence on the part of America’s debt-ridden consumers.
It’s the dreaded “R” word: Recession. Yes, even in Sin City the pinch is being felt. Big time.
Recently the wife and I went to Las Vegas for a short getaway. I went kicking and screaming; I haven’t been too fond of the place since the town’s marketing geniuses decided to turn the decadent desert playground into a “family” destination in the early 1990s.
This had to be among the stupidest marketing ploys in history, and it nearly drove the gambling mecca to ruin. Only when the big resort owners got smart and decided to return Vegas to its former glory as a paradise for hipsters, losers, drunks and would-be sinners did it bounce back economically.
We went to Vegas in early April this year because the wife wanted to see the fabulous Cirque du Soleil show “Love,” based on the music of the Beatles. And fabulous it was, the stunts of its gymnasts defying gravity and forcing one’s own eyes to suspend belief.
Topics: Business Wire, Travel | Comments Off
Wilson Mtn. North: Where Have All the Fairies Gone?
By Liberty Lincoln | April 6, 2008
Ms. Liberty
For years it was one of my favorite Sedona hikes, and I called it the Fairy Forest trail. Towering ponderosa pines, dense underbrush, a variety of grasses, wildflowers, juniper…all accompanied by a chorus of songbirds and the sounds of scampering wildlife.
Officially called the Wilson Mountain North Trail #123, it is accessed from a charming little pocket park called the Encinoso Picnic Area. This sunny rest spot and fantastic photo op is located about five miles from Uptown Sedona off Oak Creek Canyon aka Highway 89A.
Marv and I hadn’t done this hike for about four years. I have a strong heart connection with this place, and had been yearning to visit it again. And so we set off on a beautiful April morning — but with some trepidation.
For one thing, we knew the trail had been closed for more than a year due to the terrible Brins Mesa-Wilson Mountain fire of June 2006. The Forest Service closed this trail and several others nearby so the wounded forest could repair itself without human interference.
The beginning of the trail is rocky and rather steep, which might discourage the unwitting and unsuspecting tourist…especially those who did not bring water, hat or proper footware. We huffed and puffed our way upwards for about 15 minutes to the first plateau, a spot I really like.
It feels like Austria there, a Sound of Music landscape with sweeping views and fresh mountain air. But there were warning signs of what was to come: burned out trees and vegetation along the way, evidence of spot fires from the ’06 conflagration.
In five minutes we reached the “Wilderness” sign, the portal into my dense green enchanted Fairy Forest. We looked around as we trudged on, and were in shock. Burned-out ponderosa pines everywhere you looked. It was a wasteland. More than half the giant trees were dead, never to grow back.
I asked Marv, “Where have all the Fairies gone?” He said, “The birds are gone too. Listen.” Silence in the forest.
Topics: Outdoors | Comments Off
Sedona Author Marv Lincoln Releases New Sci-fi Novel
By Marv Lincoln | January 28, 2008
Marv Lincoln, Sedona author and photojournalist, has released a new novel, “I Married a Psychic.” It is the author’s first novel in more than 30 years, and is described as a science-fiction thriller, a metaphysical romance, and a satire on the New Age.
The first work in a proposed trilogy, 
the book is subtitled “The Vortex Conspiracy.” Set against a backdrop of international intrigue, political corruption and domestic tensions, the story moves from the psychic hotbed of Sedona to the teeming streets of India to the mysterious energies of Glastonbury to the top of a mystical mountain in Tibet.
“I Married a Psychic” is filled with ideas that have rarely — probably never — been explored in print, even in the wild world of science fiction. For example: Can the untapped power of the world’s energy vortexes be harnessed to produce an electromagnetic pulse strong enough to take down an entire country?
[Spoiler alert]: The novel’s ongoing subtext asks the question, If a husband is married to a psychic, and is having a clandestine affair with her best friend…is the wife aware of the illicit goings-on? The answer is revealed in “I Married a Psychic” — plus insights into the secret life of real psychics and how they use their gifts.
In real life, author Lincoln is married to a practicing psychic who still plies her trade in Sedona. Lincoln claims that the book is only loosely based on their life together. “The similarities end when Leela, the heroine of the story, enters a trans-dimensional portal and suddenly has access to ancient wisdom and great psychic powers,” he says. “My wife and I, for example, have never teleported or moved objects with our minds. At least not yet.”
“I Married a Psychic” is available through the website http://www.vortex23.com, at independent bookstores and at Amazon.com. Book signings and readings are also planned at local venues.
Topics: Metaphysical | Comments Off
Seven Things I Love About Sedona
By Liberty Lincoln | June 24, 2007
1. You can keep your doors unlocked. There is virtually no crime here, except for spousal abuse and drink driving. These are vile crimes, true, but as long as you drive with your eyes open at all times, and pick the right husband or boyfriend…nothing to worry about.
2. Locals love the nature. Taking hikes in the red rocks never gets old. Bathing in Oak Creek is still a thrill. Living with the vortex energy is normal.
3. Probably fifty percent of the residents are working on their higher consciousness. Jeep tour guides may be shamen. Your bank teller is studying Angel Therapy and yoga. Classes in Reiki and massage are popular among the servers in the fine dining restaurants.
4. Sedona has turned into a Wellness Center. Famous healers and mystics come to Sedona all the time, including Deepak Chopra, Doreen Virtue, David Hawkins and JZ Knight (”What the Bleep Do We Know?”).
5. Sedona is a lightning rod for creativity. More and more, the town attracts artists, writers, poets and musicians who choose to live here and produce their various works. Maybe it’s the vortex energy.
6. If you have an emergency, there is an excellent 911 response team. They get to your house fast and know exactly what to do. This is very important in a community where half the community is 50 and over, and health crises do come up.
7. I love that within three miles I can bank, pay bills, pick up a prescription at Walgreen’s, get gas for the car, shop at the two local groceries…plus there are 10 places to get pizza!
And that’s why I love Sedona. It’s also one of the most beautiful places on the whole planet.
Topics: Rants & Raves | No Comments »
Seven Things I Hate About Sedona
By Marv Lincoln | June 20, 2007
For more than 12 glorious years we have lived in this wondrous place, basking in the glow of the red rocks, exploring, living, giving, working, meditating. We love being strands in the fabric of the metaphysical matrix that is Sedona.
And yet, and yet…There are several things I absolutely hate, loathe and detest about this small town in the high desert. Let me explain:
1) It is a tourist town, yes, and our millions of visitors each year provide the income stream that makes this place economically viable and vibrant. But the locals are often forgotten when it comes to such things as infrastructure, public services and recreational facilities.
Our pro-development politicians have turned Sedona into a hodgepodge of overpriced, red-hued McMansions. Lavish, expensive resorts are allowed in the most inappropriate places (on the one major street; in the middle of National Forest land). Which means….
2) The idea of small town character, one of the Chamber of Commerce’s main talking points, is a joke. Our one major street is choked with traffic. This is one of the worst driving towns in America. I have seen better and more respectful driving in Bombay.
3) Sedona is one of the worst-managed towns in America, especially when you consider its worldwide fame and number of visitors. Our politicians are incompetent amateurs and make terrible decisions. Most city council members have vested business interests in the community, and are blatantly self-serving. There is widespread waste and duplication of effort (e.g., trash pickup done by five different companies!).
4) Sedona is timeshare paradise. Many say the timeshare “owners” contribute greatly to our economy, but this is far from true. Most of these deluded victims of high-pressure sales techniques are cheap, rude, aggressive and overweight. They contribute nothing except more traffic on the streets, more litter in the forest, and more money in the pockets of timeshare salespeople — and the big corporations that own the timeshare operations.
5) Many old-time residents as well as dwellers-come-lately have the Sedona Attitude: “Oh, I’m from Sedona!”, said with a snooty tone that once suggested the Hamptons or Cape Cod or Beverly Hills. As if living in this overpriced, traffic-clogged, sweltering-summer, draught-plagued hick town makes you something special.
6) We love our immigrants here, legal or illegal, it doesn’t matter. Unfortunately, too many of them have a really stinking attitude. They think, because this is supposedly the Land of the Free (!), that you can do whatever the hell you want: Drive around drunk, beat your wife, litter our streets, play loud, offensive music, misbehave in myriad ways. The authorities often look the other way because we need these people. Oh, really….?
7) Sedona is an economic nightmare. Prices of everything from clothing to furniture to restaurant food are pegged to tap the tourist wallet, so most locals have to shop or dine out in nearby towns. Jobs are plentiful, but wages suck big-time. Most people who work in Sedona can’t afford to live in the place. “Affordable housing,” an oxymoron on a par with “military intelligence,” is a concept still being spun by local politicians. Public transportation is another popular oxymoron.
There you have it: Seven good, solid reasons why I hate this town. But don’t get me wrong….I love Sedona.
Topics: Rants & Raves | No Comments »
Into the Mystic: A Journey to the Unknown Vortex
By Marv Lincoln | March 31, 2007
[NOTE: This entry was originally posted on 2/24/07.]
Mystery and wonder pervade the tiny community of Sedona and the high desert and riparian areas that surround it. Questions abound: Why are the red rocks red? Is the vortex real? Do UFO’s really land here? What happened to the Sinagua Indians who abruptly disappeared in the 14th century?
Let us address the vortex question, since that is the one that perplexes everyone from the average tourist to the reporter from the New York Times. A vortex is a whirling mass of energy, or a power spot on the earth, or a sound bite in the mythology of Sedona. It all depends on whom you ask.
Topics: Outdoors | Comments Off
Sedona Psychic Speaks: Most People Are Mystics
By Liberty Lincoln | March 26, 2007
[Note: This entry was originally posted on 2/13/07.]
As a psychic advisor in Sedona for the past five years I have had the chance to see people change before my eyes.
Most are first-timers: a bit excited and scared, no color in the aura and eyes dull. They are in a box and afraid to step out of it. Within 15 minutes of the card, crystal and
pendulum readings, we tune in to another frequency…to see the soul energy and to tweak and fix some old patterns. A light comes on, a refocus and uplift of energy. Clients relax and release tensions. They laugh and feel good again.
Why does feeling bad, depressed or “the victim” feel normal to most women? The people who come to see me are mostly women.
Maybe men are too shy to ask a psychic. It is something to let your deepest secrets out of the bag, to speak of your dreams and hopes to a stranger.
Most people are mystics. They nod their heads when I let them know they also have intuitive gifts.
The Number One issue is the Soulmate. We all need love, whether giving or receiving it. To find the special one is a big quest. I give practical advice and try not to give false hope to a wrong situation. We all want the puzzle pieces to come together.
The Sedona vortex areas are magic. Many people come here and sit on Bell Rock or Airport Mesa and get recharged, tuning in to see who they really are.
Many sites are sacred to our local Native American culture. The four vortex areas are well known for this.
Here in Sedona we have a mix of the New Age, ancient wisdom and Yavapai Indian lore, all coming together to help people to remember their true selves.
Come join us for the adventure.
Topics: Metaphysical | Comments Off
Sedona Hikes 4: Exploring the Brins Mesa Burn
By Marv Lincoln | March 26, 2007
[Note: This entry was originally posted on 12/13/06.]
During the Summer of 2006 a fearful fire raged through a section of the forests that ring Sedona, taking out more than 4300 acres before the hotshot fire crews got the beast under control. The fire began on June18 and was officially out by June 29. One area particularly hard hit was Brins Mesa, which provides some of the best hiking and exploring in the Southwest. Several hiking trails in the Brins area were closed by the Forest Service so the forest could heal. All three trails leading to Brins Mesa were reopened on September 24.
Our return to Brins Mesa on a crisp December day was a double-edged mission. First, we hadn’t visited this remarkable plateau for nearly a year, and second, we wanted to check out the extent of fire damage.
There are two major trails that lead to the mesa: Brin’s Mesa East, which begins in Uptown Sedona and really kicks your butt with its ascent the last half-mile, and Brins Mesa West, which starts off FR (Forest Road) 152 in the Dry Creek area and is a much more leisurely stroll (or so we thought) to the top. (Soldier’s Pass Trail offers an alternative way to reach the mesa, but it’s not our first choice.)
We chose the West trail because we hadn’t taken it for several years. Unfortunately, the access road is a real mess, worse than ever. FR 152 is in the same class now as Schnebly Hill Road, which means sharp jagged rocks and deep, dangerous ruts. A decent enough adventure for Jeeps and big, bad American-built pickup trucks, but not for the likes of our sensitive Chevy sedan. From Dry Creek Road, it’s about 2-1/2 unpleasant miles down FR 152 to the trailhead.
One wonders what our Forest Service is doing with all the money they get from the despised Red Rock Pass — they certainly aren’t taking care of the roads that lead to some of Sedona’s most prized hiking trails.
It turns out that the West trail is a bit of a slog. Oh, beautiful scenery, to be sure — your usual assortment of juniper and pine and oak, cottonwoods, prickly pear, etc. — but there is a sameness after awhile. At least once or twice the wife stopped, looked around and asked, “Have we gotten anywhere? It all looks the same!”
That was so true, until we hit a rocky stretch of trail just at the lip of the mesa. This quarter mile of sharp rocks tortured our feet and tested our balance until, finally . . . Brins Mesa.
It is shocking, the first glimpse of the fire’s devastation. All of those beautiful trees, reduced to charred and withered twigs. Prickly pear cactus fried and shriveled. 
The tall grasses, once a banquet for the cattle that grazed here — just gone. It is an eerie scene, and analogies like Post-Nuclear Wasteland and Moonscape come to mind.
Still, it isn’t as bad as we thought it would be. The fire jumped around up here, as fires are wont to do, and some patches of vegetation escaped the blaze. And in many places, the flora is making a comeback. We saw lots of purple verbena in bloom, some wildflowers bravely returning, manzanita coming back to life, and in some areas the grasses were also returning.
Some people are saying the fire might have been a good thing, as non-native invasive plants were destroyed and won’t be seen again. And because Mother Nature works in mysterious ways, she often stages her own natural burns to clean up the forest.
Still…it was a big shock to see one of our favorite landmarks, an ancient juniper near the East Trailhead, burned to a cinder. We took some nourishment and a much-needed rest on a jutting rock formation we call The Ship, but we didn’t have time to go to one of our favorite spots on the mesa, a kind of rock peninsula that stops just short of a deep chasm that separates Brins from giant Wilson Mountain.
We had heard that the fire devastation was quite extensive in this red rock gap and on top of Wilson, but it was too late in the day to hike over there. The sun disappeared behind red rocks on our way down, and it was a long, cold journey to the trailhead parking lot.
We will be back to Brin’s Mesa some day soon. And hopefully the forest will have healed itself by then. We are grateful that the fire was not worse; it was a grim reminder of how vulnerable we are here in Red Rock Country.
Topics: Outdoors | No Comments »
Sedona Hikes 3: And the Rock Came Tumbling Down
By Marv Lincoln | March 26, 2007
[Note: This entry was originally posted on 12/6/06]
Sedona’s hiking trails don’t change much over the years. Mother Nature pretty much leaves them as they have always been — glorious, splendidly beautiful, luminous outdoor adventures. Oh, the Forest Service might tidy up here and there, and occasionally do some rerouting, or add the odd cairn to show hikers the way.
But every few millennia or so, Ma Nature seems to make some kind of dramatic statement around here. As she did about three years ago on the Fay Canyon Trail, a lovely little walk on a wide path set in a narrow canyon lined with ancient oak trees and decorated with wildflowers.
My wife and I decided to do Fay, late in November, to celebrate the splendor of Sedona Autumn. If you are lucky enough to live here, as we have for the last 12 years, and you love hiking adventures, as we do, you could spend lifetimes exploring all of Sedona’s nearly 150 trails. And do each one only once. But it’s also fun to revisit old favorites occasionally.
So we set out on the Fay Canyon Trail on a crisp sunny day. At least five or six years had passed since we last did Fay. We knew a dramatic change in the trail awaited us. We couldn’t have imagined the scope of the change.
The trail is in the Boynton Canyon area, with Bear Mountain a looming, brooding presence nearby. The sky was impossibly blue on this quiet day; the trail carpeted with golden leaves.
About half a mile down the trail is an unofficial side path, usually marked with un-Forest Service cairns, that leads to the Fay Canyon Arch — an Indian ruin with incredible views. It’s a rugged, energetic scramble up the steep canyon that we weren’t into this day. Been there, done that. This was intended to be a relaxing walk with an exertion factor near zero.
But at the one mile point, around a friendly bend in the trail, there it was: The result of Mother Nature’s tirade. Huge boulders blocked the trail, with giant rocks strewn everywhere. The once-mighty Fin, a huge hunk of redrock resembling a ship’s prow, once stood here. But a massive rock slide in 2003 had reduced the Fin to about one-half its former mass.
I had hiked up the Fin years ago, with a former drinking-hiking buddy, and he led me to a slickrock shelf on the Fin’s outer edges that offered breathtaking views and sheer drops of about 500 feet on three sides. As the wife and I struggled around the massive boulders on this lazy day, we saw that you could still hike up the beast, but it was a shadow of its former self.
Besides, this was to be a low-exertion day. And so we continued on the trail, up and up through the enchanted forest. Fay is a box canyon, and officially ends after about a mile and a half. But we learned that you can wiggle your way to the top through a semi-secret vent that you won’t find in any hiking guide.
Another day for that adventure, I told my wife. Fine, she said. This was to be a low-exertion day. We met few other humans on this adventure: A family from Poland…and our neighbors from the next block, out walking their new puppy!
You never know who you’ll meet on your next Sedona hiking adventure. Or what kind of challenge you will encounter, or what kind of experience will bring you closer to your own Inner Nature. It’s all available on the hiking trails of Sedona, Arizona.
Topics: Outdoors | No Comments »
