Good morning, everyone.
I finally made it back to Sedona
and we're starting to dig in.
Today I'm here exploring one of the more
popular sites here known as Bell Rock.
Right there behind me. It's pretty obvious what it is.
I'm gonna go climb up
that thing a little bit, get some
beautiful views of Sedona and also
explore some mystical energy stuff.
If you want to find out what
I'm talking about, stick around.
Now normally if you
want to park in these parking lots you
have to buy a Red Rocks Pass.
Daily is $5. Weekly is 15.
When I went to pick mine up here
you're gonna see it is a fee free day.
No pass required so this is my proof
in case I get a ticket later.
Okay, so this is highly annoying.
Luckily it's just a warning
but I found this on the windshield when I came back.
It's a warning that I didn't pay for a park pass.
You guys saw that I went to the machine
with the full intention to buy a park pass.
What the heck, dudes.
[Music]
We have a ton to talk about today.
I've primarily come here to seek out
just the beauty and the landscape
of Sedona
but others really come here
for much much more.
Much more than meets the eye.
Bell Rock as well as other key locations
in Sedona are thought to be mystical
locations where an immeasurable energy
kind of flows out of the earth or into the earth.
These things are called vortexes.
Alright, so what in the heck then is a vortex?
Well, the way I understand it
from my internet-based research
is there are these imaginary
lines of energy that circumnavigate the
earth and sometimes they crisscross and
sometimes where they intersect you get
these up flows of this invisible energy
or down flows of energy into the earth
or combinations thereof
which is what is a vortex.
Normally you think of a vortex as, like, a swirling energy
like a tornado or a whirlpool or something like that.
I'm not quite sure
if the swirling part is relevant to this.
It's more of, like I said, where these ley
lines on the earth intersect you've got
this energy flowing in and out of the earth.
One little disclaimer I want to
give you right off the bat here is I
have an open mind in life.
I do tend to lean, however, more towards
measurable scientific observations
and that is not what vortexes are all about.
If you look around here too you'll notice that
this area is covered in juniper trees.
One of the signs of a vortex, according
to some, are twisted limbs of trees that
are influenced by this invisible energy.
I haven't seen any of those yet.
I'm kind of keeping an eye out but I have seen
videos of people that have posted that.
Apparently if we see twisted junipers
that's a sign of vortex energy.
There's a up close view of Bell Rock
not far from the base of it at this point.
Some people can tone it down a little bit.
They're loud.
Alright I'm kind of making my way up the hill here.
I don't know if there's, like, really a
specific entry point
to get up there.
You can see I'm kind of right at the base right now.
I'm assuming you can just walk
wherever the heck you want.
I don't see any signs prohibiting me from kind of
climbing and scrambling up some of these rocks here.
Yeah I just climbed up these rocks
here and look at the view
that I already get.
There's Bell Rock.
You can see people about halfway up.
They're pretty small from this vantage point
but they're up there.
Actually wow. Yeah, some get quite high.
I don't know how brave I'm gonna be today
but I'm gonna try to get up as high as I can.
I can tell you that right off the bat though
the views from this area looking
north are spectacular.
Okay, so in this general area
is supposed to be a vortex.
It's an up flow vortex is my understanding.
The energy supposed to be flowing
from the earth up into the air.
I believe the term they use for that
is called masculine or electric.
I don't believe a masculine vortex
has anything, really, to do with being a guy or gal.
It's just the term I think they use for it.
I don't think a male would benefit
any more from this than a female
is what I believe is true.
My understanding is also, as for the vortex,
the energy is supposed to be stronger on
the northern slope and I do believe this
is the north facing side so I think
we're off to a good start.
Some other things that I've seen people on the
internet do to try to measure and observe
the existence of a vortex is to use a compass.
I saw a video with a guy.
He had, like, this analog compass on the end
of a stick and was up there and kind of
showed how when he was facing north
his compass was pointing in the correct
direction of north and then he kind of
moved around a little bit, pointed his
compass towards Bell Rock and then the
compass was stuck
in a north-facing direction but it was
actually not facing north anymore.
I do have a compass on my phone.
I'm gonna do a little experiment to see if I
can see any anomalous behavior like that
but that's another example of how people
claim there's a vortex.
The curiosity that I have around that is that
apparently vortexes have nothing to do
with electromagnetism so the fact that
it interferes with magnets seems a
little weird to me but who knows.
We'll see what I find out.
Yeah, there's some really out there stuff
around this place.
One thing in particular
has to do with this thing called
the harmonic convergence.
It was kind of a festival or
gathering of New Age enthusiasts in 1987.
What I read was that during the
harmonic convergence people gathered
together, I think thousands of people,
and meditated or whatever they did
and the expectation was that the top of Bell Rock
was going to open and a spaceship
would emerge and fly away.
I don't think that ever happened.
Now with with this type of vortex, another thing that
this is supposed to do is help with
meditation, healing, perception and things like that.
Now I am a believer in meditation.
I do believe that that's a
scientifically valid thing.
I've tried it and clearing your mind,
breathing and relaxing does help reduce stress.
That's something I can totally get behind.
I don't know if this will enhance that
but I think that's kind of the idea.
[Music]
[Music]
That's pretty cool.
I stumbled upon that guy
facing that rock while playing the flute.
Really good at it, actually.
Yeah, definitely adding to the vibe of
everything here that I've been talking about, huh?
Alright, I'm just trying to make some observations here.
Looking for spirally looking bark or tree trunks
and this one appears to be kind of spirally.
Are any of those spirally or abnormal to you guys?
I was doing a little bit of research to try to figure out
are there any other things that could cause
spirally bark or limbs and trees
and did find a little bit of information that
high winds or exposed surfaces...
if trees live on them can cause that.
Didn't really do extensive research but just
trying to find alternate explanations
for some of the observations folks have had.
I will make another observation for you too.
I've smelled some new-age
stuff if you know what I mean.
Quite often here.
Either they have a lot of skunks in the area
or it's something else. [laughter]
You got a lot of clear rock here
heading up onto the slopes.
It's not too bad actually.
This is pretty easy so far.
[Music]
You're also gonna hear people talk about
how they they believe that these
rock structures are not natural.
They couldn't be formed by nature
and that they are temples from a different dimension
that manifests themselves here in our world
in our dimension as these weird rock formations.
I guess that's probably
the case for Zion National Park,
Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon...
Anytime you see a butte or
something like that, is it a temple?
I mean, I don't know.
That one might be a little bit far-fetched
for me to believe in.
Folks will tell you...
I'm sure I will get some heat for some of my
opinions and thoughts and that's okay.
I think I respect everybody's opinion.
Some will say that if you're a skeptic,
if you don't let in the belief,
if you don't open your mind to it
you won't be able to see it.
You won't be able to experience it.
One thing I think virtually anybody will agree with
is that this is an absolutely beautiful landscape.
One of the finest in the American Southwest.
[Music]
Another quick check-in point.
Kind of getting closer to the higher points.
Heart rate is starting to get a little elevated
but this has been a really easy hike.
I've been taking my time too.
Just enjoying the views the whole time.
I wouldn't say this is a hike
you're gonna do to get exercise.
You can get a little bit but
this is more about the beauty in the area.
Is this an example of twisted juniper?
The bark seems to swirl around.
Oh there's some twisted juniper right there.
Look at that.
That's probably the best specimen I've seen
today of, like, a twisted juniper.
Very spirally.
I think that's what people are talking about
when they say there's evidence of a
vortex and you see twisted junipers.
One thing I can tell you for sure though
is that twisted juniper that would be an
awesome name for a band, wouldn't it?
Twisted Juniper.
So what I need to do now on future
adventures is always keep an eye out for
twisted juniper because if I see them
in other locations that are not thought to
be vortexes then either I've discovered
a new vortex or it's bogus.
I love how you can see the moon also right now.
A little bit of moon in your shot always
adds to that mystical flavoring.
[Music]
Who knows? Maybe I can get to the very top.
I see, like, passages that go around.
That is quite a long ways down though.
I would not want to take a tumble down there.
Okay, so I'm doing a quick
orientation check here using my compass
and you can see north is this direction here.
Okay, so once again the north-facing
slope of this rock is supposed to be
where the strongest concentration of energy is.
Another thing I want to do as I get up here
is use my compass,
face north and then turn and face
Bell Rock to see if I can replicate what
I've seen others claim to be able to do
which is to get their compass to point north
facing this direction
as opposed to off that way.
One note about my compass because I'm sure someone
will have a reason why my methodology is not sound.
My understanding is that
in an iPhone, which is what I have,
there are magnetic components
so the compass isn't some purely digital thing.
It actually operates off of the
laws of magnetism I believe.
Maybe I'm wrong but I did look that up
and I'm pretty sure that's correct.
I'm seeing if I can get this to point north
when I'm not facing north
and so far no luck.
Still no sign
of electromagnetic anomalies here.
So far science one, mystical energy zero.
[Music]
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I keep catching whiffs
of this elusive skunk
every so often.
It's like I'm following Pepe LePew up the mountain here.
Maybe it's the smell of the vortex.
[Music]
Alright, I found a cool place in the shade here
with an amazing view facing north.
Still playing with my compass too.
You know, north still points north.
I haven't been able to get north to point
any other direction yet.
In the videos that I've seen people they're
using probably a more analog
classic kind of magnet.
One of those globes in water kind of floating around.
Maybe technology is too good.
You can see my little place in the shade here.
A little indentation.
Nice place to eat some lunch,
drink some water,
ponder the vortex.
[Music]
As far as I know I am the only person
way up here on Bell Rock.
Not quite at the top but I think pretty close.
I've just been sitting here being quiet.
Just trying to lower my breathing, relax,
just clear my mind
and I feel good. I do.
Do I feel good because I
scrambled up, got some exercise,
got the endorphins going,
kind of cleared my mind and meditated a bit?
Or is it more to it?
I don't know.
Alright, one last check.
North is still north.
I'm not done yet.
See what those folks are?
That's where I was sitting.
Something called to me
and just said "dude,  you gotta go higher."
So consider this the bonus feature.
Look at that.
Holy crap.
Oh my god.
I don't know what
compelled me to come up here but I did
and it wasn't bad.
I'm glad I did.
It's a drone.
Coming right over here.
[laughter]
I'm waiting for it to face me.
I think he's facing off this way.
That's funny.
I didn't know that birds would attack a drone.
Wow. You can actually hear it.
Those birds do not like the drone.
I had no interest in going up there.
I mean I was starting to go down
and I just kind of went in auto mode
and was like what the heck
and just went up there.
It's really not that bad.
Just have to climb up a little ways.
That was not the very top by, the way, but
the very top isn't far.
Yeah, so one thing I'm gonna tell you
on the way back down is, yeah,
you definitely smell the skunks.
I think people are having a good time
up here at Bell Rock.
Alright, so as I'm meander my way back down
you might be curious have I changed my mind
about the vortex, the mystical energies
and all that kind of stuff that are supposed to be here.
I would say no. For the most part, no.
You saw I tried some really simple experiments.
Tried to emulate things that I've seen other people do
without success like with the compass.
I did see evidence of the twisted junipers
but I haven't seeked out locations yet
that are non vortex sites on exposed
cliff sides to find them and I
suspect I would if I looked hard enough.
Umm...
What I can tell you is after sitting up on that cliff,
I did linger longer than I normally would
in that kind of a situation
and I do feel better than usual.
It's odd because I feel like I have a runner's high.
The weird thing is I didn't exert myself too much
to warrant that.
I think.
So there's that.
Now I have felt in similar states before
by just kind of meditating lightly.
Just breathing, relaxing and I think that's
kind of what I did up there
but it seemed to come easier.
But it could be in my head.
So take that how you want it.
I'm not fully sold on it.
I just think that being here in this moment
in this beautiful scenery,
taking a moment away from
the busy daily life, the job, the stress...
it just unwound me.
It's Saturday morning.
Life is good at the moment
and that's all I can tell you.
If you're interested in hiking Bell Rock
and want more information,
head on over to cactusatlas.com.
We'll put a link in the description
down below to the exact page.
We've got information there for you
including the weather forecast.
Is it more twisted juniper?
Twisted. Juniper. Oh yeah.
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Man, does juniper smell like weed
or is there something else going on here?
[Click]
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