Monument Valley and Antelope Canyon – South West Road Trip

 Uncategorized  1 Response »
Jun 122014
 

We hadn’t planned the timing of our visit to Monument Valley, but it turned out to be a perfect day. As the sun went down the valley turned a gentle pink and the full moon rose between the two mittens. The moon rise perfectly matched the sunset colors and we were treated to one of the best evening views imaginable.

Long shadows on the mittens Monument Valley sunset and moon rise between the West and East mittens

We relaxed, watched the stars, and then got up early to watch the sunrise. The sunrise was beautiful as well, and cast a different light on everything. After a quick breakfast we ventured out with a Navajo guide around the valley floor. Along the way we heard stories about the different areas, heard our guide play the flute, and saw unique sights like the Eye of the Sun petroglyph wall. I was worried it would all be a bit clichéd given the number of visitors, but it was genuine and memorable.

Sunrise over Monument Valley Cowboy photo op and Monument Valley's Three Sisters Monument Valley arch - Ear of the Wind

After exploring the valley some more we headed back to Page, AZ and signed up for one of the Antelope Canyon tours. The canyon is one of the most famous examples of a slot canyon and has been photographed countless times. The canyon is on Navajo land and as such we had a Navajo guide for our tour. The tour started with a back breaking ride through a dry creek bed to reach the entrance of the canyon, thankfully only a 15 minute drive or so. We were lucky to be the only group at that time in the canyon (it can be packed full of photographers) and were able to take our time to explore the beautiful bends and shapes.

Looking up through Antelope Canyon Antelope Canyon Horseshoe Bend

After exploring Antelope Canyon, we visited Horseshoe Bend and continued our way home via Sedona, AZ. The full photo albums for Monument Valley and Antelope Canyon can be found here:

Photos of Monument Valley and Antelope Canyon – chrisnelson.ca
Photos of Monument Valley and Antelope Canyon – flickr.com

As part of our road trip around the southwest we visited Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park.

Zion National Park

 Photography  No Responses »
Oct 242013
 

Last fall we took a road trip through some of the South West – I’ve finally got around to posting photos from the first part of that trip to Zion National Park. We were very lucky with the timing as some of the fall colors were starting and the trees were not yet bare. There was yellow colors in the canyon, mostly around the river. The upper road going east out of the canyon was a sea of gorgeous yellows and reds in the river washes, absolutely beautiful set against the tan and red rocks.

We caught a lovely sunset at Canyon Overlook Trail one eve and stayed late to watch the colors disappear. Everyone else at the overlook had already walked back so we quietly wound our way back on the trail in the dark. As we walked we noticed a single bighorn sheep walking on the ridge in front of us, framed by the rising moon. He seemed content to pose for photographs but just then we met some bighorn sheep not ten feet in front of us on the path. Both groups had been walking quietly so several bighorns were very surprised at how close we were and trampled off through the underbrush. The others jumped to a ledge above us and kept a close eye on us as we walked by. It always blows my mind how one can have these intimate experiences by following an easy walking path just a few miles from a major road.

Photos of Zion National Park in fall colors