About NATRA Blog

This page is meant for folks to post their thoughts on the Saturday group run. I (Neil) will post a blurb about who showed up and where it was held. From there, I hope that other runners will share their thoughts since we often have different experiences on the same run. Enjoy!

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Long Canyon - In Search of Sedona UFOs

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12 NATRA runners, newbie Garrett and Bob the dog headed to Sedona to run Long Canyon in search of alleged UFO landing pads. As we drove out Dry Creek Road we saw dozens of runners pounding the pavement and a sign that read "Sedona Marathon Event Ahead!" No worries though, it was just a training run for next month's big race. While it was 2 degress when we left Fort Tuthill, the 22 degree reading in David's Subaru at the trail head felt balmy.

Once we got to the end of the trail we bushwacked to the pancake flat slickrock where Charlie found a piece of a flexi-capacitor that could only have come from an alien spaceship. After marveling at the silver o-ring we scrambled down to the sandstone tinaja filled with icy cold water. Susan looked as though she would take plunge but Bob the Dog tested the waters and immediately jumped out. If it was too cold for Bob, it was certainly not plunge-worthy! Somewhere along the way Sabrina the desert scrub impressively bloodied Sabrina's leg.


(Thanks to David Blanchard for the photos below!)


Returning to our favorite Sedona patio we noticed an owl statue above the bagel shop meant to scare off the pigeons that now had it completely surrounded in force. We expected if we zoomed in on Google Earth we would also see a big white spot on top of the owl's head. Next week's run, the Mountainaire 100 pot luck ski, snowshoe, and run. Meet at Mountainaire Tavern at 8:45 AM! Visit http://www.natra.org and click on next run for more details!