So in addition to all the working I was doing in Arizona, I did manage to have some fun! Zack was able to come out and join me for his first trip to Arizona in about 5 years and then we drove up to the Utah border to Page Arizona. That might sound weird to anyone who isn’t really familiar with the area. Page is a pretty small town with not much to offer in the areas of establishments. Unless you are looking for churches, there is literally a street with basically every kind imaginable. I tried to take a photo of the sign with all the churches but it was too far from the road. Just take my word for it, or you can probably google it. I digress.
Page has some pretty spectacular stuff. Antelope Canyon, which I had been to before but Zack hadn’t and I wanted to take him. Horseshoe Bend, which neither of us had been to, and Lake Powell which I mean I’ve seen before because I’ve been to Page. We had talked about driving over to Monument Valley as well but because the most direct route takes you a decent amount south to go back north again, and we had just driven 4 hours north to Page, we decided against it.
Our first stop was Antelope Canyon. There are two, upper and lower. I’ve never been to upper but from my research, it’s always more crowded (however the parking lot looked MUCH emptier than lower this particular day) and the basic shapes of the canyon. Upper Antelope I guess is shaped like an A, wider at the bottom than the top and you just walk right in and out. Very accessible. Lower Antelope you have to climb down 5 ladders to get into and it’s pretty narrow and windy. I had been to Lower Antelope before, and it didn’t disappoint so I decided that’s where Zack and I would go too. What’s really sad is my mom said the first time she went probably 7-8 years ago, you didn’t need a guide to go in. Now you have to go with a guide because people had started defacing the canyons. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?! Anyways, it was kind of busy so the beginning of the tour was a lot of waiting but after a bit it opened up a little more. I’m so glad I was able to go again, my photography skills have improved so much in the past 6 years.
The shot on the right, that formation is called ‘Lady in the Wind’
After Antelope Canyon, we decided to drive across the Glen Canyon Dam and drive to Utah. We had no idea or plans so we just drove for a while. Utah was cool, and I would like to go back one day to go to Zion, Bryce and some of the other parks. This trip was short and kind of just to say we did it. Once we were back in Page, we had heard that the Denny’s had a good view of the dam so we drove over that way and just happened to find the coolest little scenic overlook spot of the dam and river. It wasn’t in the Denny’s parking lot in case you were wondering. It was kind of like what Horseshoe Bend would be like, but we hadn’t been there yet so we didn’t know. We hung out there and watched the sunset and it was pretty awesome.
I now need to photograph a couple here. It would be epic.
PS. Husband looks badass
This one and the one of me alone.. most expensive selfies ever haha.
The next morning, bless my husband for loving me and agreeing to my crazy adventure ideas. Even when they require us to get up and leave the hotel by 5:30am so we can hike in the dark towards a cliff. Because that’s what we did. But holy moly guys, WORTH IT. Horseshoe Bend at sunrise was one of the most beautiful things ever. I bet it’s pretty cool at any time of day, but I feel like sometimes you just need to be up to see the sunrise and why not do it at this amazeballs location. It’s pretty precarious and I had fun texting my friend Jessi (yep the same Jessi from the last blog), about how close I was to the edge and making her uncomfortable. This spot is probably not for those afraid of heights. Its a cliff of about 1000 ft overlooking the Colorado river, where the river almost goes 360 – making a horseshoe around the rocks. To be able to see it you kind of have to get right up to the edge and lean/look over. I did all of my looking while sitting or laying on my stomach because this girl is clumsy and I wasn’t trying to fall to my death.
This is an area I definitely think you should visit and explore. Probably not during the summer because it would be quite hot but spring is kind of perfect. Your eyes and brain will thank you 🙂
