The Conquistadors of The Cathedral Rock of Sedona

It was 5 AM in the morning. My alarm bell rang off "ting ting ting" in the characteristic ring tone that I am not yet used to. I woke up and then said I will sleep for another five minutes and dozed off sitting. The door then went Knock Knock Knock. I wake up again and see the time is five thirty. I knew by intution that it was our Team Leader, beloved Uppi Sir. I open the door and there he was smiling.

The first thing he told me was "I slept till now today!" I was happy for him as he was not yet out of his Jet Lag and was finding it difficult to catch sleep. We had strategized the previous night that if he ate something at nine in the night just before going to sleep, he might catch some sleep and Voila!! It had worked. Then he reminded me that I have to go to Jeanette's place for the hiking trip. I knew! And I was looking forward for it. Had he not come to wake me up, I would have probably missed it!!

Jeanette and the girls were waiting for me when I reached their home. Umesh was also ready and we all set out for our trekking trip. Jeanette led the group. She drove us to the spot where the trail for trekking begins and we began the hike. Given below is the photograph that gives you a hint or two about the heights we were set to scale.

We began the hike. Initially the trail was easy and we set off at an easy pace. The approach to the rock was well laid out and the trail was clearly set off. We saw a lot of other people also coming along the trail. In Sedona, this is a great way to begin the day. Hike the rocks, take a shower and go to office and get your work done. Know what! If you get stuck you can call for a helicoptor to take you down and rescue you! Of course, that would be a very expensive hike. Jeanette, host to Namratha and Sushma was very encouraging and cheerful. We were super bowled by her enthusiasm. Here is how she was on the hiking trip. Can you believe she has a teenage daughter??!!??

After a few initial paces, we all felt that it was going to be easy and alright. We felt strong, confident, energetic and ready for the challenge. After all, GSE is about facing challenges. After all, Cathedral Rock was just another rock. If a thousand million humans have hiked along, we could do so too. After all, we were human beings. After filling our hearts with all these emotions, we decided to conquer the heights in front of us. This is how we felt at that time.

Easier said than done. As we went further, things changed. The plain trail began to give way to a rocky one and the slope began increasing. The challenge now was different and it was serious. If we dont take it, we have to go back and going back is not the GSE way. At this point of time, the team work kicked in. We not only pulled ourselves to get the job done, but were also on the constant look out for team members. We took care that no one was left behind because they were slow. Jeanette was the fastest. She knew the trail of the hike and was agile. She was our path maker and we were her pace breakers. She was really sweet and understanding. She kept on encouraging us. We began running short of breath. Sushma showed us how to breathe as we went up. Jeanette showed us how to use our toes and get foot holds. Umesh learned quickly and was ready to hold hands if needed. I was at the tail end looking out for people who might slip. This was not planned. It just happened. We were able to intuitively understand the needs of the team and occupied respective positions. Take a look at this photograph and you will understand it all. We had lost some of our strength and the rocks loomed high. We had lots of energy left still, but were now aware that we had to conserve it to face the challenges of going up hill. It was then that Umesh pointed out, that more energy is needed when getting down the hill, as we wont be able to hold on to anything and might have to control our pace using our legs and hands. We listened and as it sunk into our heads, we knew we had to perform. Mentally, we all made a note of the point and began to conserve energy. Well! What does this really mean, in a practical sense. First, we began looking around before we had a new height to scale. We figured out where the footholds were and the easiest way of getting on top of the height. Second, we communicated down the line as to how we need to climb. Jeanette was usually the leader who would show us the easiest path as she was an experienced climber. Umesh and Sushma followed suit and were quickly on top. They communicated to Namratha who would then configure her climb and finally I would follow suit behind Namratha in such a way that if she slips I was right behind to stop the fall. Cool! Huh! Jeanette waited till all of us were on top and then would point out the next challenge. Sometimes the rocks were steep and sometimes they were slopy and sometimes there were narrow crevices that acted as foot holds. We scaled the entire rock till the end of the trail this way. The adjacent picture shows the trail that we took up the rocks.

Did I say, the end of the trail! Sorry!! The trail did not end, but it took a different form. Now the trail was vertical. It had only changed its direction. What do I mean? Take a look at the two pictures below and you will understand. The one on the left is the one that shows the trail and the one on the right shows how much we need to achieve. We thought it was too dangerous for us to take the vertical climb as none of us were professionally trained for the same. So! Here we were at the end of the trail, at the top of the peak of a rock formation in Sedona. What are we supposed to do now? Write a blog?

















We enjoyed ourselves. This is how we did it. We cheered and did some exciting things. Below are photographs of our fun and descent from the red rock formation called Cathedral Rock. It might be of interest to know that there is a theory about the rocks that is going on in Sedona. It is believed that Sedona has four "vortexes" which are "cosmic or spiritual energy hubs" which increase the spiritual understanding of a person. Cathedral rock is one of such vortexes. It is also interesting to note that about 4% of the visitors to Sedona area come for this reason. For a town that attracts about four million tourists in a year, 4% is a very huge number. Sedona's Chamber of commerce must give this fact a second thought.


The following points are our learnings and for you to ponder.

1. Plan ahead and see what resources you need to get your goals achieved.
2. Always have an experienced leader to show you the path.
3. Play in the team and figure out how to get your tasks achieved.
4. Stick to the team, always and for ever.
5. Give space for the each member to understand and configure how to get to the next level.
6. Know when to stop.
7. Take time to enjoy and celebrate your achievements.
8. Have a back up plan ready.

That's about the size of the fun we had two days ago. If you are thinking that all we are doing is doing presentations and having fun alone, you are utterly wrong. Wait till my next post. I will tell you how a GSE Team can touch the lives of people. Oh yeah! Some of you will think that I am bragging. You bet I am!!