Southwest Road trip - Grand Canyon

We arrived at the Grand Canyon east entrance just in time for the golden hour but missed the sunset as we were busy checking in at the lodge.  

Panorama from the east rim

These ravens were very active in the canyon

The watchtower at Desert View near the East Entrance

A long stretch of cliff wall seen from Desert View

You can see the colours intensify as the golden hour started

The Colorado River can be seen from this viewpoint

The rocks turned purple as the sun set behind us

Moonrise over the Canyon

The following day, we woke up to a snowy, windy morning so I took a break to regroup my senses .  My friends braved the weather and took the shuttle to the Upper rim trail.  After seeing their photos, I wish I had gone even though I enjoyed the mid-trip break.  Well, one can't have everything even though I should know by now bad weather is often the photographer's friend!  Thanks to my friend FT for this photo which gives us a picture of the Grand Canyon in bad weather - still beautiful.

We were lucky that it was just half a day of bad weather, things cleared up in the afternoon and we enjoyed a brilliant golden hour and sunset on the same day.  

The golden hour captured the different colours on the west facing canyon walls

I wish I could remember the names of all these buttes and points but there are so many it was almost impossible to track.  But these are familiar forms that we saw every day we were there, at sunrise and sunsets in different colours as the light changed.  This is the same perspective of Chuar Butte and Temple Butte but at golden hour and then the blue hour that followed sunset.

Looking west at sunset

Southwest Road Trip - the Road to the Grand Canyon

Our original itinerary was to continue on to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park.  But while in Page we heeded a winter storm warning for the two National Parks and made a change in our itinerary to go south to the Grand Canyon instead.  We were lucky to able to make last minute room bookings in one of the Park lodges. I have been to the Grand Canyon more than a few times but it has been more than ten years since my last visit so I was glad to revisit.  I knew I would find the scenery just as awesome if not more so because of changing perspectives.

Before we left Page, we visited the Wahweap Overlook to see how low the water has become on Lake Powell,  continuing on our quest for yet another golden hour with bonus moon rise in the process.  

Lake Powell from the Wahweap Overlook - the water has become so low the boat cruise had to be cancelled.

Not much of a sunset but a gorgeous moon rise...

We missed Marble Canyon on the way to Page so made up for it on the way out.  This is the version of Marble Canyon for poor souls who can't do too strenuous hikes and missed out on the lottery to visit the Wave, so don't be disappointed by the photos.  We lucked out though with a sighting of two baby condors, a rare sight for us.

89A south of Page

A scenic drive to Marble Canyon

The Navajo Bridges over the Colorado River - the one on the right is the older one built in 1929 which is now a pedestrian bridge.  The wider one on the left was built in 1995 to allow vehicular traffic over Marble Canyon to the Grand Canyon North Rim.

Marble Canyon is part of the Grand Canyon

One of the two baby condors sitting on one of the canyon walls

We managed to make it to the Grand Canyon for the golden hour, when the rocks are at their most spectacular.

Cedar Mountain from the east entrance to the Grand Canyon

Golden hour on the eastern side of Grand Canyon

 

Southwest Road trip - Antelope Canyons

If you haven't already visited the slot canyons, you have probably seen iconic images of the Antelope Canyons in Page, Arizona.  There are two of them, Upper Antelope and Lower Antelope, tourist meccas with visitors from all over the world. I was last in Page to see these slot canyons in April, 2013 - it was busy but not as crowded as things have since become. I was also able to sign up at the time for a private tour of five slot canyons in the area.  For my post on these canyons, please click on Arizona in the header of this blog.  This time we were visiting in what is supposed to be "low" season yet I still had the feeling of being rushed through a crowded tourist area with the next group hot on our heels.  This may be particularly obvious because I was always the last one in our group to leave a spot! 

But the slot canyons are as spectacular as ever.  I was able to stand back and enjoy the beautiful swirls and lines in the rock face already knowing what to expect, also having already heard the tour guide's script before I didn't need to stand around to listen any more.  

On my first visit, I had found the Lower Antelope Canyon very peaceful, stunning in its beauty - almost conducive to poetry.  But this time around it was a completely different experience - the over-enthusiastic guide created an almost marketplace atmosphere, although his enthusiasm should probably be applauded.  

The Upper is narrower on top but wider at the bottom.  The Lower is the other way round, narrower at the bottom which makes it sometimes hard to walk through.  You can see in the some of the photos below that it can be a tight squeeze at times.  

Upper Antelope is above ground while the Lower Antelope Canyon is below ground which made a difference in the lighting.  You will notice in the images below that the rocks can come out in different colours - that is because of the very dim light in the canyons which doesn't always allow the natural sandstone colour to come through and also made the rocks seem surreal at times - all the more beautiful in many ways.

The first nine images are from the Upper Canyon, the rest from the Lower.

Upper Antelope walls - looking up

This provides a perspective of the inside of Upper Antelope - you are walking between canyon walls but still relatively wide compared to Lower Antelope.

You can almost see the water gushing and turning through in these swirls

The layers of rocky swirls make for nice abstracts

This is the exit/entrance to the Upper Antelope Canyon

Entrance to the Lower Antelope.  In my first visit, this was the exit.  They have reversed the direction of the tour.

Lower Antelope - swirls are a little different

The guide referred to this as the Johnny Depp profile (as in Pirates of the Caribbean)...

Love this perspective looking up - reminded me of sunset in the canyons

This is a perspective on the height of the canyon

It's a tight squeeze!

Looking down 

Using your imagination you can probably see all kinds of animals carved on the walls, like this one.

Or make up your own abstracts

Another sunset landscape

Reminded me of candy making

This is where we exited - used to be the entrance.  It makes sense for them to reverse the direction as the descent was quite scary not knowing where you're "falling" into when you first enter.

The slot canyons are the sort of landscape you could visit ten times and still capture different perspectives of it - if only it weren't so crowded...