We spent the day that started in Seligman and the two that followed in the stunning landscapes of Arizona and Utah. It was incomparable; those red grounds are engraved in my mind forever.
The first day we visited the Grand Canyon national park. One of the things that surprised us most was that everything around the park was so very green; we thought we were going to a desert! It did not seem a dry land at all :)
We arrived to the South Rim Visitor Center, where very kind rangers explained us that it is better to park the car there (that explains why it was so crowded!), and then use the free bus shuttles to move from one viewpoint to another. We decided to move to the first point and then walk to another two more (like 3-4 miles); we would return from the last viewpoint with the bus directly again to the visitor center. The system works perfectly fine; I thought it was quite convenient for everyone and it additionally allows to cut down the number of cars inside the park.
We slept that day in Page, a town near the Secret Canyon and the Horshoe Bend, which was going to be our headquarters for the following two days. Our arrival to Page was one of those you can’t ever forget. Our gps measured the journey from the Grand Canyon to Page in 3 hours. When we were only 20 minutes away from our hotel, we arrived to a big sign in the middle of the road saying “Road closed”. Bummer! It was already quite late (9:30pm), we were exhausted from the day and so very eager to arrive. The gps alternative road was passing by Tuba City, adding 3 hours and a half to the trip! We finally arrived at 1pm in the early morning to the Comfort Inn & Suites hotel. From that moment on our secret laughing word was “detour!” :)
The hotel was great, a really good choice as it is quite new (has a pool!) and very comfortable with big rooms, but the staff in the reception was the most rude we found in the US. It was not that big problem for us, but it was quite shocking as everyone else in the area was so nice!
Instead of visiting the more crowded Antelope Canyon, we changed it for the Hummer adventures tour to the Secret Canyon. It is a little more pricey but we think it is really worthy, because instead of having to share the slot canyon with lots of groups, you are there all alone, with plenty of time to take pictures. Also the hummer ride driving along the sand dunes was a bonus for us, a little more adventurous as you can only arrive there with that kind of cars. Our guide Paul was very nice and explained us lots of things about Page and the Canyons (he even recommend us a restaurant to have lunch afterwards). He also told us that the road to Page was closed because on January it cracked and sank down, how scary!
The same afternoon we headed to the Monument Valley in Utah. If you think you are not familiar with this place, that can’t be the case :P because it is the scenery used in all the western films, every single one (well, I tend to magnify, you know). However, the day we arrived in Barcelona we went to a store were they had the newest Johnny Deep movie playing on their tvs and we both screamed at the same time: Monument Valley! hahaha.
We arrived a little short of time, so when the sun began to set we decided to stop the car, a few feet ahead of the park entrance, and take the pictures from there. I think they turned good enough, so no regrets on not entering inside the park. I read in a guide that you can hire horse rides across the valley, which sounds nice, maybe a next time? :)
Our last morning in Arizona we visited the Horshoe Bend. It is a hole in the canyons that resembles a horseshoe because of the way the river goes around it. There is a 3 mile walk in the sand to arrive, and then…there it is.. in all its amaziness! Quick go to the left to see the pictures because I am not able to describe :) And yep, be aware the walk under the sun is hard, we carried bottles of water and I had my strawberry Japanese fan with me, and even with all that I really really had a hard time with sunstroke.
Sorry about the long text with this post! Lots of things to mention for those three unforgettable days in the wild (kind of) west!
** This post is part of our US road trip series **
Grand Canyon
My fearless adventurer! ♥
The slightly foggy views in the back gave it a sense of irreality while the nearest rocks were of much darker colors.
We have a picture together! yei! yei! thanks Albert for this one.
Secret Slot Canyon
The hummer arriving to the secret entrance of the secret canyon, all very secretive indeed :P hahha
From the parking spot we walked towards the Canyon, we found several lizards and some rad cactus
Let’s enter to the canyon, shall we? follow me I know the way!
Paul, our guide, leading the way for us.
Our guide told us that each different line represents a sedimentation of the sand in a certain time. Please, forgive my not very accurate vocabulary!
It looks like pottery! A little sand was actually falling down every time you touched it.
Monument Valley
A a hitchhiker’s guide to the valley (please excuse my pun :P)
The road was deserted but once in a while a car passed at a high speed, so here I am making sure that was not the case.
Horshoe Bend
Can you spot Anna in her red skirt? And a big hole just behind her!
There were two boats sailing along the horshoe bend, that must be a fun time.
That little black spot on the right is Carlos taking pictures. I like this one because the height is specially striking comparing his size. Hope you liked it! Which “canyon” catches more your eye?
ahhh these picture are amazing! I want to do this! welcome home!
bwaterloo.wordpress.com
Thanks!!! :)
I went to the grand canyon about 15 years ago and I’d love to go back to show it to my husband. Horseshoe bend looks incredible. I would love to sail around there.
Definitely the boat was an activity I wish we had thought about :)
so stunning. i really really am wishing we can make it out to AZ or UT soon. I have friends out in UT so I have no idea why it’s taking us so long to trek out there. nature is so beautiful and seeing it in person is just an experience of a lifetime i’m sure!
Oh! friends in Utah! You should pay them a visit ;) I am usually a city girl but I was blown away with all the landscapes. Moab looks amazing, maybe we will be able next time to see more of Utah :)
1. From Grand Canyon to Page through Tuba City! That’s a hell of a detour… :S
2. Good choice the Secret Canyon one. I save it in case Page appears again in one of our trips agenda…
3. It’s a shame you don’t get to Monument Valley on time: across it from the inside by car is an awesome experience.
4. Horseshoe Bend without shadows looks amazing. I wonder who insisted on not going there just before sunrise… :)
5. More long texts posts, please!
Thanks for the comment Alberto! Yeah, it was a hell of a detour, driving three hours in the night when there were ONLY 20 minutes to arrive… I guess every trip has its own anecdote ;(
que xulo!a mi també em va sobtar el Grand Canyon el primer cop….tant de verd, aparquem, obro la porta, trepitjo neu i de cop m’aparix el Grand Canyon a davant!
Page està molt bé, hi hem dormit els dos cops. es l’antelope canyon o un que shi assembla el secret slot?
Ostres, que impresionant el que expliques de la neu i de cop el Grand Canyon, quina experiencia més guai!. Al final no vam anar a l’Antelope, vam anar a un altre que li diuen així Secret Canyon, jejeje, encara que soni estrany :)
Wow, these photos are seriously stunning! So beautiful. Those ridged rocks are so interesting!
Thanks Michelle!! The rock formations are unbelivable, so pretty.
Impressionant!!! I unes fotos meravelloses!!!
El que més m’ha agradat ha estat el Secret Slot Canyon, donen ganes d’anar a visitar-lo… Però entre les fotos i l’artícle que heu escrit (mai es fa llarg) sembla com si hi hagués estat per una estona al mateix lloc!
Seguiu així!
Ei Gerard, moltes gràcies per les paraules tan maques que ens has dedicat, un plaer tenir lectors (i amics!) com tu ;)
Your photos are glorious (I’m a broken record! he he he) I must admit I like the sound and look of the Secret Canyon! Oh and I love that picture of you two together, super sweet! You should get it printed huge and framed :)
Thanks for your comforting words Fiona! One of the perks of traveling with photography gifted friends is that you can get non-blurry couple pics ;) The secret canyon was also our fav!
Omg! Your trip was way too amazing! Grand Canyon is at the top of my “places must be seen” list. When we plan our roadtrip around USA, we’ll visit there for sure.
I’ve never heard of Page though… I really like your “diary” type of posts, please keep going.
And by the way, I don’t why but I adore 5th picture, I think it’s taken with an analog, right?
Hugs.
Thanks Deniz! We had never heard of Page or Tuba City before planning the trip, but after our 3 hour detour we will remember them for a while! ;) If you plan to visit the grand canyon area don’t miss the Secret Canyon, it worths the visit! Thanks for the analogue feeling of the five pic, we precisely tried to achieve that with the edition but all of them are digital.
Woah! This place looks incredible! The colours in these photos are so super gorgeous, and that secret slot canyon looks amazing!
Thanks Sally! The red land was amazing to take pictures, we’re so happy with the results :) Don’t miss the secret slot canyon if you visit the area, I think it was one the best choices of our US west coast road trip!
These photos are so gorgeous and you have such a sweet blog too! <3
Thanks for your kind words Ting!
Sounds like you two had a great time! I’ve only been to Arizona once but I have to say that it was not my thing. (I like lots of green and all I saw there was red, orange, and white.)
To be fair, I never visited the Grand Canyon so that could be why I wasn’t very impressed, haha. I still think you guys should come visit the south, that’s where all the cool kids hang. ;)
Hahaha, We are not used to the desert so it was very impressive! I don’t need much convincing with having to visit the south but you have totally sold it for us ;) I will start dreaming about it right now.
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