Best Sedona Hiking Guide

Jim Reich is your man! I first found him on Trip Advisor where he received rave reviews. As I continued my online research, his site sedonahikingadventures.com kept coming up. His hikes are not ‘cookie cutter’ hikes for large groups of tourists, they are customized to your skill level, taste and interest.

I emailed him the week before I arrived to see what his availability might be. We spoke on the phone and based on our rapport, I booked two hikes with him. I explained that I was in decent shape but wanted an ‘easy’ hike and wanted his dog, Summit to join us.

Jim picked me up at my hotel and he gave me a brief driving tour of several hikes near my condo that I could conquer on my own later in the week. We stopped at Euro Deli (Omg delicious sandwiches!) to get our lunch to eat on the trail.

We began our hike around 10:30. We started up the Wilson trail, a nice, comfortable but challenging incline. My new Merrell hiking shoes handled the trail and the red rocks nicely….no blisters! All along the way Jim narrated what peaks we could see, the history of the name, how to hike to the top etc. He was patient when I needed to stop for a drink of water and to catch my breath. My eyes were so focused on the trail, looking down to make sure I didn’t miss step, I had to purposely choose to stop, to breathe, take in the view and to appreciate the beauty. Parts of the trail were narrow and on the edge of a steep drop if I slipped or lost my concentration. Jim carried his own camera so he could help document my hike. I should have counted how many times I said “WOW”! Breathtaking, stunning, amazing, awesome are some of the words that come to mind that still don’t do the red rocks justice!

We ended the first trail back at the parking lot and continued down towards a creek for lunch and swimming. At this point I was already fatigued and hungry…and anyone who knows me, knows that I only get crabby when I’m tired or hungry and now I’m both!

We took a simple trail down to the creek area then Jim explained we needed to hike a little further up the flood plan over these big river rocks to get to our secluded spot he had named “Dave’s Rock”. As we are walking, climbing and jumping from rock to rock, I wonder out loud, “Jim do you consider this an easy hike?!” It was a fantastic work-out and challenge to my balance skills but I was fatigued and hungry for lunch! And secretly in my head I was thinking “are you effing kidding me? I’m paying this guy to effing torture me!”

Then we get to a point where we have to cross the creek to get to Dave’s rock. I was not prepared with water shoes so Jim carried my shoes and backpack. I was close to losing it at this point. I joke that I am a delicate flower. I’m not an out-doorsy girl who hikes all the time. I had a spa pedicure a few days before the trip. And now I’m crossing a creek barefoot with my OPI Pink Flamenco toes! Are you kidding me?!

Jim was extremely patient and supportive the whole way. He kept reassuring me I was going great and it was going to be worth it. I’m sure I cursed outloud the whole way but I arrived safely across the creek and climbed up on Dave’s rock for lunch.

And yes, Jim was right, it was totally worth it! The view again was stunning. It was only 70 degrees and very windy, so sitting on this giant sandstone red rock in the middle of the creek was perfect! (photo above shows the creek I crossed and the height we hiked down to get to the creek) My ‘italiano’ sandwich from Euro Deli was satisfying and delicious…hard baguette, salami, prosciutto, provolone, mozzarella, roasted red peppers…mmm mmmmm! Jim also brought Cactus Juice to drink, a unique blend of cactus, apple and lime juice.

After we ate, Jim moved to another rock and took his meditation pose. I simply laid back flat on the rock to stretch my back, relax and meditate. The sound of the water, birds chirping, ducks quacking, the warmth of the sun on my face and the strength and heat of the rock supporting me made for a relaxing mediation. I shut my eyes and tried to clear my mind. I lay there for what I thought was maybe 10 or 15 minutes. I opened my eyes and checked the time…it had been 40 minutes! I don’t think I fell asleep. I do feel the energy took me to a relaxing, meditative state. So perfect for my first hike in Sedona!

Vacation Planning Technology

So here I am in a Sedona coffee shop filled with locals, Java Love Café, I highly recommend. I booked this trip about a month and a half ago on an impulse. Now Sedona has been on my list for a long time but the actual decision was made one day in a half hour at lunch in my office.

As a time share owner, I have access to other properties at random times called “Getaways.” So every-once-in-awhile I search availability just for fun, to day dream and possibly plan a trip. Well, April 11, 2011, Sedona finally showed up with availability! And not just an odd date in a week’s time, Memorial Day week! (9 day vacation for only 4 vacation days :))I quickly checked flights on Southwest, they were still affordable so I booked the trip. And the research began…

I read reviews of the Sedona Summit on Trip Advisor. As I said, I’m a time share owner so I’m used to the hard sell when you check in. This place got hammered with bad reviews because of the aggressive sales people. It also had super positive reviews for the rooms, amenities and location. The picture above is one of the breath-taking views from the property. Perfect!

I love the pre-vacation anticipation and exploring the activities the destination has to offer. And as a marketer, Wow! I love SEO for this! Found this coffee shop where I’ve met the most interesting local fellas! Found the Cowboy Club restaurant where I ate snake, buffalo and cactus for the first time ever. (Touristy and crowded but fun to try the funky, weird food) Found my private hiking guide Jim from sedonahikingadventures.com online. He’s become my own personal Sedona concierge and you’ll hear more about him in my next entry. I also booked a body wrap and sunrise balloon ride thanks to the handy, dandy SEO.

And my brother-in-law’s very polite GPS lady guided me to Sedona with zero wrong turns and no stress.

Now that I’m here, I’m not completely detaching from technology. Got a phone call and a few texts on my Blackberry during my hike yesterday! So weird that I got service way out there but not in my room! That’s fine, I need time to quiet my mind, breathe deeply, feel the energy and shut this laptop down!

24K: Behind the name

24K, Reliv’s healthy energy shot, was officially launched 2.3.11 to rave reviews from the field. Sponsoring and sales are up. We can feel the momentum building. In my 20 year marketing career, I have never worked for a company with a tangible, consumer packaged good so this was a very exciting project for me personally. Name, label, pre-launch teaser campaign, launch and post-launch campaign etc. Pretty Cool!

The process began for marketing back in July of 2010 with writing a document that described the overall strategy for the product so we could begin trying to choose a name. The document detailed the target audiences, the key benefits, why our product would be different and better, and the general ‘personality’ of the product.

We began a series of brainstorming sessions around the key benefits of energy and mental clarity/focus. We cranked out hundreds of ideas. We looked at Greek mythology, we translated the words energy or focus into other languages, created acronyms, tried single letters to the nth degree and made up new words. Every time we narrowed it down to our favorites and these were submitted to legal, they were all taken. This happened over and over. Any obvious word or phrase was trademarked.

Carpe Drink’em was a team favorite that never made it to legal. It is now our trademarked name for our happy hour events!

I searched websites on Harry Potter charms, spells, characters etc for nonsense words for inspiration. I found online name generating tools that combined prefixes and random groups of letters to form nonsense words. I even found an English to Klingon translator tool. Did you know that hoSDo means ‘energy beings’ in Klingon?

Finally in October we had real samples of the product in near final formulation! We could taste it and see it. Our SVP of sales started thinking about the color of the product and thought to himself that this stuff is pure gold! This turned into 24K. Then he asked his dad (aka our Chief Science Officer who also formulated the product) how many active ingredients were in the product…thank you Dr. Carl! 24 active ingredients and four months later we had a name!