Road trip to the Mid-West! Part 3: The Grand Canyon, Arizona

This is the last post about our fabulous road trip to the Mid-West. Our last destination was the Grand Canyon, Arizona. Instead of spending one night here, we stayed two nights and got to explore for two days! The Grand Canyon definitely lives up to it's name. It's HUGE and pictures are incapable of capturing it's depth and expanse.  I kept reminding myself that what I saw in front of me was only a very small part of the Grand Canyon. What I saw had no end. It's so big it borders 3 states! I really couldn't imagine. Can you?

Almost everyone has heard of or have seen a photo of the Grand Canyon. I already had expectations of what I was to see but it still took my breath away. I think the first glance is always a shock and then you are left to stare straight out feeling perplexed. What are you supposed to do here with all this land? There is so much of it! It's so wild! It's barren! It's untamed!  The park offered many activities:  hiking, helicopter ride, or donkey guided tour? You could have any type of trip you wanted. Hiking is our thing. We started with a scenic view and then went for a hike. Believe it or not that takes a whole day. The next day we would walk the rim of the park all the way to Hopi Point before heading back to Vegas. We chose Hopi Point because you could catch a glimpse of the Colorado River from there. It was barely visible and from every point it all sort of looked the same. One must explore going into the canyon and not just going from one point to the next. However, my favourite view point was a secret remote location that took you through a short walking path through a forest. We went there to catch the sunset. On the way back we ran into a family or herd of deer. That was really cool. I also saw a tarantula...not as cool. I think the Grand Canyon is a place you need to stay longer to appreciate it. Our two days felt very rushed.

For those of you who want to visit, the Grand Canyon is a national park and you need pay an entrance fee to enter with your car. I think each car was 24 dollars regardless of how many people are in it. The fee is for a 7 day pass. The best part of this very popular destination is that once you get your pass you can park your car at the visitors center and take the free shuttles that bring you to all the view points. You don't even need to tip!!!  They are also walkable if you start early in the day. The other great thing is that the food in this park is super affordable. All the other canyons we visited were near tourist trap towns where everything was $$$. Dinners often cost 20 dollars. I was running out of money fast. I was happy to see a meal that didn't cost an arm and a leg that also kept you full. It's hard to find cheap eats when you go on VACA.

Below are just a few photos...

Just a generic view point (can't remember the name) but every view of the canyon looks very similar to this. Sometimes it's hard to tell how deep it is because the colors play with your eyes but if you really concentrate it gets kinda scary.

We are walking one of the trails here. While hiking along this trail we were met with many obstacles (mostly donkey poo). The trail was really well paved and consisted of long steep switch backs. This was the first stop on the trail and it had a decent view of the canyon and a nice little ledge to take a cool photo. This is not the ledge. We hiked down a little further than this.

During our hike we stopped a view point and had some lunch. The moment we opened up our snacks this little guy appeared. Against everyone's advice I shared a bit of my orange with him and I feel we became friends until he tried to open up my friend's purse and steal our garbage bag full of scraps. Later I saw a sign with his face on it saying "DO NOT FEED ROCK SQUIRRELS". Apparently people get bitten and scratched by rock squirrels everyday! And they also carry the plague... I guess I am sucker for a cute face. What else can I say?

This was our very secret and remote view point that we took through the forest path. We had it all to ourselves and about 6 other people. Very cool.

Of course we can't leave the Grand Canyon without a GoPro Groupie! What a bunch of gems to travel with.

One thing I really took away from this trip was the United States is an amazing and exciting place to explore. I travel often to the states but more often to big cities.  So to me, America represented strip malls, metropolitan city scapes, designer bags and food. It was about night life, face paced city life, outlet shopping and leisurely living if you could afford it. Now I realize that there are places in the states still very untouched, pristine and beautiful. There are places ruled more by nature than by dollar bills. It's got so many mysteries. It's a new playground for me. I look forward to my next trip. Next on my list is Zion Park and Arches in Utah! I think I might become a canyoneer!

Road trip to the Mid-West! Part 2: Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend.

This post is all about Arizona! After our lovely day and a half  (not enough time) in Bryce Canyon National Park our next destination was Page, Arizona! It was a couple hours away from Utah. The two main attractions we were checking out were situated in Navajo Land. They were two slot canyons: Upper Antelope Canyon and Lower Antelope Canyon. Another attraction we were headed for was Horseshoe Bend. All three are very close to each other in proximity. If you are planning a trip to see one of these beautiful canyons I suggest you make time to see both and definitely make time to see Horseshoe Bend. To see the canyons we needed to pay a fee to the Navajo Nation as well as an entrance fee for each canyon. They both required guided tours. Horseshoe Bend was free.

UPPER ANTELOPE CANYON

The first canyon we visited was Upper Antelope Canyon. It is said that out of the two Upper Antelope Canyon is the more popular one to visit. It's popularity is due to a beautiful feature of light beams that illuminate the dark passageways during a specific time in the summer. Though we missed what would have been a magical sight it was still breathtaking in the fall and less densely packed with tourists. It was a nice trade off to have the canyon a little bit more to ourselves.

To access the canyon we were driven to it's location by the tour guide in a bumpy open top truck that seated up to 8 people in the back. The short ride took us through a dry river bed. The entrance to the canyon was a dark wide opening. There are several tour companies you can go with for Upper Antelope Canyon and I didn't know which one we went with. From the ratings they all appeared to offer a similar tour.  Our tour guide (Shelly) gave us tips on how to change our camera settings so that we could take the best pictures in the dim light. She also showed us some good picture ops. Basically all the pictures I took of Upper Antelope Canyon were guided by her and look very nice. With all her experience she was basically a professional photographer. She was an extremely no non-sense guide and tended to be a bit on the bossy side when it came to photos and timeliness. At times it felt like she was ushering a herd but it was still a mostly pleasant experience.

 Inside, the canyon seemed like an alien landscape. It had smooth surfaces all throughout. You could see and feel the striations and horizontal lines that stretch all the way through it. The floor was covered in a soft layer of sand. Though it was filled with tourist it still seemed somehow untouched. It also felt ancient as though it held many secrets. The temperature within was cool but not cold. Each time you turned a corner there was a breathe taking view ahead. Even more so, if you look up towards the ceiling of the canyon you would see  peaks of the bright sky. It is a truly still and beautiful environment. The tour guide led us through the passage and when we got to the other side we were given permission to come back through individually rather than sticking together as a group. It isn't a very long canyon. You could probably walk through in and out within 20 minutes if you didn't stop every minute to take pictures. If I were to rate it Upper Antelope Canyon would be considered a very accessible canyon. It doesn't require any climbing to enter or exit. It's relatively flat, wide and easy to navigate. Anyone could easily trek through this canyon. Being inside a slot canyon is something everyone should experience at least once in their lives.

Here are just some photos of Upper Antelope Canyon.

The shape of my heart. What a magical sight to see. Because the canyon was carved

with so many smooth surfaces, nooks and crannies every angle of the same structure could

look completely different. At one angle, this heart looks whole. At another, this heart was broken.

 The curvature of the walls and the horizontal striations showed the 

power of water cutting into rock and creating this amazing environment.

The ceiling was something I kept looking for 

because each time I looked up I saw a different view of the sky and the sunlight

would light up the rocks up with red glow just like that.

LOWER ANTELOPE CANYON

 Lower Antelope Canyon was our second stop. I didn't know too much about this canyon and we were debating whether or not we wanted to pay an extra $25 dollars just to see some more rocks. We didn't take long to decide YES! It's just $25!!! and you only live once! Why not? We didn't know what to expect but we were all probably expecting less as this was deemed the less popular canyon.
The guide book said that "Ken's Tour's" was the best so we went with that. To be honest, the tour itself was not astounding as our tour guide merely took us into the canyon and didn't do much else. He did help with taking photos but he did not talk a whole lot. In comparison to Upper Antelope Canyon I felt that I wasn't really given a tour but more of an entrance but at least there was not herd prodding. Between the two, I enjoyed the Lower Antelope Canyon tour much more because we had more freedom to roam the canyon. It was less busy too so it felt like we had the whole canyon to ourselves to run around.

The Lower Antelope Canyon was surprisingly fun and different even though it is another slot canyon very similar to Upper. To start off, Lower Antelope Canyon is probably called that because it's much deeper. To get into it you must go down several flights of steep metal stairs. Though it could be unsettling to think of it, those stairs used to be made of wood until a group of tourists and the structures that were used in the canyon (all made out of wood) were swept away and destroyed during a flash flood not too long ago. Hence, all structures were rebuilt and made out of metal for sturdiness. There are also some narrow passages, whereas the upper was mostly wide passages, and some more stairs and ladders to get out.  In comparison, the terrain is slightly more challenging to navigate. I loved this aspect of the Lower as it made the journey more adventurous and fun but it may not be for everyone. There is also a lot more light in this canyon even though it appears deeper. You can see and take in a lot more with the eyes! The walls, though similar to that of the Upper canyon, were sometimes speckled with round protrusions. Our guide told us it was calcium. There also some dark round circles in the stone, those, he said, were iron spots. These were just the slight differences between the two canyons. According to the guide, the canyon was discovered by Ken himself about 35 years ago. Upper Antelope Canyon was discovered a bit earlier than that by our tour guide's grandmother when she was a little girl. I liked those little facts...

 Stairs...

 Ceiling of Lower Antelope Canyon. Yet again a dance of light and rock. 

See the 3 iron spots right above. 

 It's much brighter here as you can see. And empty... all for me.

At moments I was all alone in sections of the passageways and it was a beautiful,

peaceful quiet that you rarely get to experience. 

 Unlike the opening of the Upper Antelope Canyon, the Lower Antelope Canyon's entrance and exit looks like a fissure in the vast desert like landscape of Navajo Land. This was the exit. 

HORSESHOE BEND

Our last stop in this trio adventures day was Horseshoe Bend. I don't know what the Horseshoe Bend actually is aside from the fact that it is a body of water that encircles a tall mound in the middle of nowhere surrounded by more rocky mounds and a desert landscape. The area we were in was far and wide and from the starting point of our short hike (in sand for some parts) all we could see was flattened sedimentary rocks and shrubs. We were surrounded by arid land. Then as we walked deeper into this landscape we saw a large, dark, gaping pit-like area and there was the Horseshoe Bend. 

From the pit, we were already pretty high looking down at this wonder. The water was bright green-blue. It's was just a beautiful scene because the weather was amazingly gorgeous that day. The sky was as sky blue as you could imagine and there was not a cloud in sight. The sun was out and blazing hot. Horseshoe Bend appeared like an oasis out of nowhere. It was massive, but so was the land so it was hard to get the whole thing in a photo. There was a mound not too far from this gaping hole that appeared climbable so we explored it to get a better view. The climb itself was a fun adventure as there was no obvious path. There were some inukshuks left around, maybe from someone trying to leave directions for those that came after him. Every time I saw one of them I was a bit more confident that it was the safest way to go. It was a nice little hike up and a rewarding view.

By the gaping hole trying not to get to close to the edge. Posters

at the parking lot warned visitors not too get too close as the edge of the cliffs

are extremely unstable and could crumble! My heart was beating a little. 

 From the top! This is a panoramic view of the Horseshoe Bend. It is deep! To the left,

there is a little cliff sticking out with an inukshuk standing near the edge.There were speed boats in the water that day!

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The trusty inukshuk waiting for us at the top. See the gaping hole.

Our next and final stop would be the Grand Canyon and I'll update that another day! Part 3 awaits!

Road trip to the Mid-West! Part 1: Bryce, Utah.

Not too long ago I went on vacation with some friends to visit a part of the United States I never thought I would venture... the Mid-West. We went there to explore the amazing natural landscape of Utah and Arizona. Our main vacation points were Bryce Canyon (Utah), Antelope Canyon  (Arizona), Horshoebend (Arizona) and THE Grand Canyon (Arizona). We also landed in Vegas so we tried to spend some time doing Vegas things in the very limited time we spent there. It was a whirlwind of a vacation. The first night we arrived in Vegas we had just enough time to run around town for a couple of hours. We checked out the light show in Old Vegas, ate some cheap casino food (Nathan's Chili Cheese Hotdog...YUMMY!) and gambled away some vacation money. I lost 50 bucks playing roulette before the real vacation even began :/  I think I lasted 10 minutes max.  This is why they call Las Vegas "Lost Wages". When all bets were off we retired to catch as many zzz's as we could because we would be driving to Utah bright and early the next morning. We would be moving from hotel to hotel for the next five 5 days trying to catch look out points before sundown. Talk about a serious road trip!

Our first stop was to Bryce Canyon in Utah. This area is roughly a 5 hour drive from Las Vegas. As we made it across the highway the scenery was mostly brown mounds and desert like landscape with bushes sparsely spread across the ground. There were some sad looking cacti-like plants and some straggly short trees amongst the bushes as well.  It was definitely different from the lush green forest view we are used to seeing here in B.C.  Though there was some beauty to it I think there was some fear in all of us that we had come all this way to just look at a bunch of brown rocks. Let me quickly point out that this definitely was not the case so do not let the highway scene scare you!

As we drove into Utah and through Bryce Canyon Park we started noticing some changes. The  striations in the rocks were becoming more vivid. There were red, oranges, and some off whites in the sedimentary layers. Some places the rocks were completely red with iron. Also, instead of mounds we started noticing more unique formations called Hoodoos. At first there were just patches of them, then suddenly they were everywhere. Hoodoos are rock formations caused by erosion from water. They are column like in structure. Many of them are shaped like hammers, or heavier on the top. Others look pointy. Some just look really odd.  The structures in close proximity were all pretty uniform and if you didn't know it you would think they were man made dwellings in the side of a mountain. It's a surreal spectacle. Aside from the land the weather had also started to change. The air was cold outside with a bone chilling wind. The ground had patches of snow here and there as we got higher and higher. Some info about Bryce Canyon. It's considered an amphitheatre which means it's a space that echos sound. .  It's rim varies from 2,400m - 2,700m high. At one point I felt my ears tingle a bit in the car. A bag of chips in the car also got extremely puffy and fat. We were at a very high altitude.

 

The first panoramic view I had of the canyon was breathtaking. I had never before seen a place as alien looking and beautiful as Bryce Canyon. I had done a little research and looked up pictures on the internet but it didn't prepare me for the vastness of the land and depth of it all. The hoodoos themselves were so unique sometimes I found myself mesmerized by their sheer population. They seemed alive and unreal  the same time. They seemed like they had stories to tell. Now if you are impressed by the photos above I have to say I didn't doctor any of the photos above. The original versions of the pictures were so amazing already that I couldn't make them better. However, incomparable to what you see with your naked eyes.

My experience at the Canyon was one of awe.  Just seeing the Canyon reminds me of how little I am, and of how many things in the world I haven't experienced yet. It gave me a sense of mystery and wonder. I realized there are still so many things to explore. Everyone needs that reminder. I would love to go back to Bryce and do some hiking. We were there for a day or so and we it was definately not enough time. Here are a few more photos of this amazing place!