The vortex summit was a half-mile hike down a rocky, bumpy down-slope. On more than one occasion I lost my footing and I’m not a clumsy person. The trope about hikers carrying sticks wasn’t just something in Lion King à la Rafiki or Reese Witherspoon in the movie Wild. They’re actually helpful in keeping you from falling down (yes, I didn’t know that and neither did you). Climbing up to the summit isn’t as hard as it looked on the way down. They’re a number of rope assists and makeshift stairs to help the thoroughly uninitiated and winded. As I reached the center of the summit, I once again tried to see if my ki had done anything. My arms were kind of tingling, but as I joked with the girl doing insta-yoga about her insta-yoga, the tingling I was feeling might just be a stroke.

A photo from the vortex summit. 

Compared with the overlook up the trail, the view from the vortex summit is arguably better as it is flatter and provides views of Bell Rock in addition to the others. Furthermore, if you prefer a low work to reward ratio, the view from the vortex gives you the sense of accomplishment of climbing something, you know, if you’ve never climbed anything. I felt accomplished at least. As the sun began to set, I wanted to get a look at the most notable of the Sedona red rocks, Cathedral Rock.