It has been a few days. Todd and I have been very busy since our return to Sedona. We have fell into a daily rhythm of Hiking and exploring. Every morning has started out with an early morning hike, and off the trails by 11:00AM. The heat is crazy, and it really makes the hiking a bit difficult, but very fulfilling.
The 24th was a day of travel, Page to Sedona. We got back to our beautiful resort and settled in. We spent the day tooling around in Sedona and scouting out our hikes for the next few days. We had a wonderful dinner at The Barking Frog. The food was awesome and not bogged down with heavy creams and cheese. We actually tried the fried cactus as an appetizer. It was served with a prickly pear dipping sauce and was yummy. We spent the evening watching the sunset from the pool, and shared a wonderful bottle of wine.
On the 25th we hit the, West Fork Trail. This trail is a must do, just simply amazing. Todd and I managed to get 9 miles out of it. Beautiful hike with 13 creek crossings, and plentiful butterflies. It is a greener hike than what we have grown accustomed to, so it made it cooler and reminiscent of our hikes back home. I have learned to drink water, lots of water. We each average a gallon of cool water per hike. The water adds some weight to my pack, which makes the hike even more of a challenge. Check out these pics of West Fork.
After our hike, Todd and I had breakfast at the Mesa Grill, not as impressive as their dinner, and then ventured off to Jerome. Jerome is one of Arizona’s ghost towns, but has been revived. The town was resurrected by artists and hippies. Todd and I were lucky enough to stumble upon an amazing artist and his studio. Tracy Weisel, glass blower and potterer. While venturing through the streets of Jerome, a town of only 450 residents, Todd and I took a turn down a steep hill. From a distance, we caught a glimpse of what appeared to be an old ghost town building. The facade was in tact, but the guts were exposed. A small plaque on the building identified this skeleton building as, La Victoria Studio. we wandered inside, what was left of this building, and saw a sign that read, ” Hours 12ish to 5ish”, and then appeared Tracy Weisel!
I can’t provide much information on Tracy, as he explained he does not need the publicity, and is not in need of selling his art any longer. Tracy flies under the radar, and is an amazing human being. He corralled us into his studio, where Todd and I sat on two rusted, dirty bar stools. He jumped right in, and began his demonstration on the wheel. It was too hot a day for him to blow glass, but he wanted to share the experience with us. Tracy pulled out a piece of pottery he had been working on the day before. It was wrapped in a plastic bag to keep it moist. Tracy sat at his wheel and began working on his piece. Part of his demonstration was educating Todd and I about what his art involves, the kiln, the recycled clay, the glass blowing process, the expense, and the uniqueness of his pieces. Most informative, and all while creating a beautiful piece of pottery. I was lucky enough to purchase a beautiful coffee mug that he made, a one of a kind!
As a bonus, Tracy was a founding father of the resurrected town of Jerome. Tracy was most instrumental in the towns resurrection. Tracy showed up on the scene in a VW bus, no cash and a dream. Tracy was one of the first artist who built his studio in Jerome, later to become the well known studio, Raku Gallery.
What a pleasure it was to meet him, then to walk into the various galleries and see his work displayed, now I own a piece of his art, and I will cherish it, for the story and memory it was created from. I did not take pics of this encounter, as it did not seem cool. It would have tainted this unique time spent with such a special man artist.
Here is Tracy’s studio:
We tooled around Jerome a bit more and visited the various galleries and unique stores. Nothing was too tourist in this town. Really and extraordinary place, with some very artsy locals. We had dinner at the Haunted Hamburger and then headed back to Sedona!
Somewhere in America 