Day 19

My last blog post ended with me leaving Bryce around 11 PM and headed to my next destination in Page, Arizona. The drive to Page was several hours long and I was short on sleep to begin with so mid way into the journey I had to grab a five hour energy to ensure a safe drive. After a several hour drive I hit Page about 2:30 AM and pulled into the first hotel parking lot available. I didn't have a hotel reservation for that night since the plan would only allow for about 3 hours of sleep before getting up at dawn for another day of photography. I tried to get comfortable in my rental Chevy HHR and make the best of the limited time available to sleep.

Quickly I learned that sleeping in a car at my age is a REALLY bad idea and after a very restless night started my car and headed to Wal-Mart. After picking up a couple of items at Wal-Mart and getting directions to my next destination I was off to Horseshoe Bend. Horseshoe Bend is point in the Colorado River where it takes a complete 180 degree bend around a giant cliff and there is a really nice viewpoint about a mile off the main highway.

The directions I found online indicated that Horseshoe Bend was past a specific mile marker on the right and down a dirt road... I found that road and started cruising down it in my Chevy HHR and things were going smoothly until the road went from compacted dirt to very soft and very not compacted sand. In case a certain rental car company is reading this, I can't say exactly what happened when I hit the soft sand but it was an interesting morning...

Turns out the road I went down was NOT the right road for Horseshoe Bend but after getting better directions from someone, I arrived mid morning. Unfortunately, the sun had risen too high by then and a nasty shadow was cast across the middle of the canyon so photography was out. So I decided to alter my schedule slightly and check out Antelope Canyon! This was the main reason I came to Page and is something of a Mecca for photographers for good reason.

Antelope Canyon is one of many slot canyons on Navajo tribal land in this part of the country. The canyon is made out of sandstone and has been formed through erosion primarily due to water from flash floods. When it rains, the water carries sand into canyons and as it rushes downhill it expands the canyon and creates these very cool flowing shapes in the canyon walls. It's incredibly difficult to describe how beautiful this place is but it was one of the coolest places I have ever seen... I'll let a few pictures from Antelope and Rattlesnake Canyon do the talking:

Our group of photographers that day:

These are just a handful of the nearly 1000 pictures I took of Antelope Canyon and I would highly encourage anyone reading this to check out these slot canyons if you happen to be in Arizona. After leaving the slot canyons, I grabbed a quick dinner at McDonalds and then went back to Horseshoe Bend for sunset. After going down the right road and arriving at the trailhead, grabbed my camera gear and began the ¾ mile hike down a sand trail to the viewpoint. Once arriving at the view, I realized that a small piece of my tripod was back in my car which means taking sunset pictures is very difficult if not impossible...

Having not slept well and already been out all day, I didn't feel like trekking back to my car and back again to the viewpoint so I decided to make the best of a bad situation. Here are a couple views of Horseshoe Bend taken before giving up with no tripod available...

After the hike back to my car I began yet another late night drive this time to Hurricane, Utah which is nearby Zion National Park. On the plus side, this time I got to my destination by 10 PM and wisely booked a hotel with a comfortable bed to sleep in! This proved to be very important on Day 20 as you will hear about shortly. Thanks for reading my blog and as always any questions / comments please post below or email me at chris@pricelessperspectives.com