Mississippi River Trip: Kidding around Slide Rock

We didn’t notice how dirty the camp was when we arrived the night before (it was dark when we arrived) but a night of freaky cow sounds and the state of the forest convinced us that it was time to move on.  So move on we did, descending from Flagstaff to Oak Creek Canyon, home of Slide Rock.  Oak Creek Canyon is a masterpiece of nature.  The road takes you right down into the canyon, which is laced with rocky outcroppings, pine trees and, of course oaks.  Through the center of the canyon flows Oak Creek, a spring fed (and cold) stream that trickles its way down toward Sedona.  Halfway down the canyon is Slide Rock State Park

 
 I remember the park from my childhood.  The water has worn down the large rocks into slickrock which, when covered with a little bit of moss, becomes an excellent slide for young an old.  We parked outside of the lot along the road to save the $20 parking fee and walked in, figuring that the hot day would give us all the more reason to take a swim.  A bridge spans the creek before the entrance to the park, and as we walked across it we saw several teens and adults jumping from a cliff into the icy water.  Being photography types, we had to stop for a few pictures.  After a few snaps we decided the angle was wrong and crossed the bridge, then climbed down to the cliff ourselves for several more.  We ended up spending about an hour watching the kids jump and snapping pictures.  The kids (and a few adults) kept calling it the “50-foot cliff” but in reality is was only about 30 feet to the water.  I wanted to take a leap myself, but Larisa put the kibosh on that immediately.  She has a fear of heights that manifests itself by freaking out anytime I go anywhere near something higher than a curb. 

After we tired of picture taking we hit the sliding rocks ourselves for a little bit of fun.  We had a blast!  For me, it was a brief return to childhood, slipping and sliding down the rocks and into the cold pools at the end.  For Larisa it wasn’t a return to childhood, but she certainly acted like a big kid the whole time, whooping and screaming and smiling so brightly it amazed me.  After some coaxing I convinced her to take a leap from one of the smaller cliffs (not much higher than a diving board) and took one myself for the fun of it.  Then we swam, snapped pictures of other jumpers, and decided to move on to Sedona and our new campsite.  All in all Slide Rock was a huge amount of fun for both of us.  I guess we’re both kids at heart.