Canyon Suite

By LISA MARLOWE and Marlowe is a Malibu-based freelance writer.

Feb. 1, 1998 12 AM PT

SEDONA, Ariz. —

In the 1940s, when famed surrealist painter Max Ernst emphatically stated, “There are only two places in the world I want to live--Paris and Sedona,” the latter had yet to see an army of New Agers hang out shingles for everything from crystal reading to aural photography. No UFO hunters had arrived in search of signs from above. Aging yippie-yi-yo yuppies did not strut down the main drag in $800 cowboy boots and designer black denim. Ernst and his artsy ilk more likely were lured by Sedona’s mysterious red rocks, intriguing light and an inspiring sense of being one step closer to heaven . . . or something.

I did have a Ouija Board when I was 9, and I enjoy a little palm reading now and then. So when my mom suggested a weekend visit in November to see my younger sister, Maggie, who attends school in Phoenix, I countered with Sedona--a place I’d always longed to visit--and we had a deal.

Armed with ultra-cheap $29-each-way tickets purchased in advance from Southwest Airlines, we caught a 9 a.m. flight to Phoenix, picked up a rental car and collected my sibling. Sedona is a 2 1/4-hour drive north on Interstate 17, and by the time we dropped over Mingus Mountain and got our first glimpse of red rocks, the brilliant winter sun had all but vanished.

The town is really three separate villages: West Sedona, where Boynton Canyon is located; uptown Sedona, with its touristy Main Street; and the village of Oak Creek to the South. While Boynton is a hiker’s favorite, Oak Creek Canyon with its giant cottonwoods, and next-door Slide Rock State Park are shady, classic picnic areas.

Though we saw several pretty inns (Garland’s Oak Creek Lodge, and the Lodge at Sedona), my only knowledge of lodging in the area had come from a guidebook reference to Sedona’s “big four”: Enchantment Resort, Los Abrigados Resort & Spa, L’Auberge de Sedona and Poco Diablo. Prompted by Enchantment’s four-diamond AAA rating, I reserved a room only the night before our trip.

This sprawling hideaway with 56 pueblo-style casitas, has 12 tennis courts (it was built by professional tennis coach John Gardiner) and four full-time tennis pros who offer three one-hour workshops daily at $25 per person, beginner through experienced. There are four pools and a health spa, and the whole thing is nestled on 70 acres in the red rocks of Boynton Canyon, a five-mile drive northwest of Sedona’s town center. Bordered by Coconino National Forest, the setting is a sort of mini-Grand Canyon filled with ruins of prehistoric cliff dwellings. To the Yavapai/Apache it is “the center of the world, where everything began.”

Guided by a sweeping ceiling of celestial lights (stargazing is a major activity here), we found our canyon-side casita, equipped with two queen beds, private balcony and a huge dressing room. Furnished with pale woods and Native American accents, including a huge hide-covered Indian drum, our room looked out on some of the world’s most unusual topography.

One of Sedona’s more hippy-trippy draws is the idea that the area contains at least a dozen vortexes, invisible but powerful “whirlpools” of energy. A short spell near a vortex is supposed to leave the pilgrim feeling cleansed and spiritually invigorated. Of course, a good aromatherapy massage can have precisely the same effect, which is why I opted for one at Enchantment’s intimate spa. (Their new, “world-class” spa is being built across the canyon.) After 50 minutes under the touch of an earth-motherly therapist, I was loose as a goose.

At dinner time, we skipped the resort’s formal, award-winning Yavapai Restaurant for the casual Tii Gavo (“the gathering place” in Havasupai) Bar & Grill. My butternut squash soup and Aztec salad--field greens, herb croutons and blackberry vinaigrette; my mom’s lean sirloin burger; and my sister’s healthy turkey club (“Hold the mayo, cheese, and bacon, please”) were delicious.

A curious occurrence on our walk back to the room left the hair on my arms standing at attention. As we strolled along in the pin~on-scented semi-darkness, naming stars and constellations overhead, the air temperature around us, at a dip in the path, suddenly dropped at least 10 or 15 degrees. Two more paces, and it was at least 20 degrees warmer. This went on for a few yards. At one “warm spot,” the flashlight we’d brought from the room suddenly went black. I returned to the front desk and got another one from the concierge. Back at the same “warm spot,” the new flashlight also went out. Was it dead batteries or--gasp!--the magnetic pull of a canyon vortex?

Back at the casita, my sister and I shared one of the big beds. The night was so still and black, it felt like we were suspended, floating, in an isolation tank. (Oh yeah, Sedona’s still got ‘em.)

Sunday morning brought plans for an early hike, then shopping. A room service breakfast of bagels and oat bran griddle cakes (they taste better than they sound) helped fortify us for the day ahead.

With the sharp morning air clearing our heads, Maggie I struck out on the easy Boynton Canyon walk. Described in guidebooks as one of the prettiest trails in the world, Boynton Canyon is four miles round trip, past stunning sandstone formations housing Indian ruins, and present-day ceremonial sites complete with medicine wheels. The landscape is still, but seems ever in motion, the cliffs, buttes and mesas changing shades on an almost hourly basis. You turn and look for a landmark, and it has vanished with the light.

Shopping proved almost as intriguing. Skipping the factory outlets in Oak Creek Village, we drove 15 minutes to Tlaqupaque Arts & Crafts Village (pronounced ‘t-LOCKay-POCKay), a sycamore-shaded oasis of vine-covered archways, cool courtyards with more than 40 boutiques and galleries. I misplaced my mom and sister somewhere around Buffalo Feathers Western Wear. When we reunited, they’d done serious charge-card damage in La Fuente Gallery, where my mother picked the best of two local potters’ wares.

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Budget for Two

Air fare, LA-Phoenix: $122.00

Car rental, 2 days: 105.00

Enchantment Resort, 1 night: 279.99

Aromatherapy massage, tip: 90.00

Lunch, Preston: 15.50

Dinner, Tii Gavo: 35.16

Room service breakfast: 11.40

Lunch, Shugrue’s Grill: 19.00

LAX parking: 11.55

FINAL TAB: $689.60