Sedona, AZ: Sedona Adventure Outfitter and Guides provide river tubing and kayak trips and is the only Sedona-based tour company to offer both land and water journeys. Al Comello describes a fall tour with Sedona Adventure Tours taken on the Verde River just as the autumn colors were in full transition that concluded with wine tasting at Alcantara Vineyard before returning to Sedona.
In mid-November of 2008, my wife Pam and I had the good fortune to enjoy an outdoor outing and adventure that rivals anything we have done since moving to the wonderful world of Sedona. We joined a dozen other local Sedona and Verde Valley residents to take a river kayaking trip on the majestic Verde River. This river is a scenic, cool water Arizona secret that merits poetry and song as it meanders through canyons and valleys on its downhill trip toward Phoenix.
Sedona Adventure Outfitters and Guides, also known as Sedona Adventure Tours, hosted this trip and provided talented, informed guides and all the necessary boats, gear, and transportation. Anyone who lives in or is visiting Sedona and northern Arizona should consider this adventure, especially if they want to get a true feel of the “land” and appreciate what makes Arizona a paradise for so many.
We met at the outfitters headquarters in the heart of Sedona at nine in the morning, climbed into waiting vans and headed for the Verde River. The vans were pulling a trailer loaded with funyaks (rubber, easy to use kayak-styled boats) ready to float. The trip was about 40 minutes since the put-in point is five miles downstream on the river at Camp Verde, a town approximately 25 miles from Sedona.
We all donned life preservers and climbed into our one and two person funyaks. It took only a few minutes to learn how to maneuver and everyone, even the kids, were top-notch sailors in no time. The Verde River offers lots of fun, with its twisting waterways full of chutes and drops interspersed with calm floating pools. The fast water we encountered was not dangerous, but was exciting and, by the sound of the screams and hollering, a real crowd pleaser.
