Little Ellie, chilling out by the water in the Kid Comfort.
It was about 16 years ago and yet I can still clearly remember my reaction when my dad told me we were moving out to “Arizona.” A brief stereotypical image of Death Valley crossed my mind … something along the lines of a scrawny roadrunner pattering across the dry, cracked earth with heat waves visible in the air and a tumble weed rolling across the barren wasteland. I was devastated.
Little did I know, we were moving to a mountain town oasis known as Flagstaff. It’s a town where you get to experience all four seasons and breathe in the crisp mountain air at 7,000 feet elevation. One of the best kept “secrets” of Flagstaff is the neighboring city of Sedona.
On a snowy day in Flagstaff, you can drop 2,500 feet as you drive 30 miles south to Sedona and find yourself in a tank top and shorts while running along the red rock trails and breath taking scenery. In the summer, you can take a swim in Oak Creek as you bask in the sun or chase shade under the cottonwood trees while picking wild blackberries.
Sedona is a vacation near home where our family often finds adventures, relaxation and local wildlife. From climbing to running or splashing in the creek on a rest day, it is a one of our favorite places to spend time together as a family.
Zak Farmer lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, along with his wife Rachael and their toddler, Ellie. Zak is an outdoor industry veteran and avid climber. Rachael Farmer is a Neonatal ICU nurse at the local hospital and a competition rock climber. She and her husband have traveled the world to top climbing destinations and also enjoy taking frequent road trips to bouldering destinations such as the Buttermilks in Bishop, California. Climbing is a family lifestyle for the Farmer family and they already have their little one on the rock and climbing at an early age. Whether it’s running around at the crag while her parents climb, hiking out for a swim at the creek in Sedona or crushing the monkey bars at the park, you can almost always find her proudly wearing her favorite backpack, the little “Kikki.”