I had hiked to the Vortex the year before, one of those hikes that I love because I didn’t see another person the whole time. That’s my kind of hike! But… apparently the first time I was there I missed the actual Vortex!
The hike begins down an uneven lava rock path to a dry riverbed, then up onto beautiful Navajo Sandstone petrified dunes. After meandering along the trail across easy-to-navigate sandstone, following cairns in some places, we had to do a bit of exploring to figure out where the actual Vortex is. It’s an easy short climb up onto a petrified sand dune and across the top of that to the Vortex.
There are several bowls carved out of the sandstone, some shallow, but one much deeper than the rest. My first time there I came across the first 2 bowls, but didn’t realize the deepest one was just a few dozen yards away. Unfortunately when the winter sun is so low in the sky, it casts deep shadows into the Vortex even at mid-day, so photos don’t do it justice. Regardless of whether or not you like the Vortex, the hike itself is lovely and beautiful. The far off views are stunning, well worth a cup of tea or coffee and a rest.
