On our way from the Petrified Forest to the Grand Canyon Grand Canyon to Zion (Grand Canyon post coming up!), we stopped in Page, Arizona. We hadn’t really researched the area and thought we’d just be spending a quick overnight in the Wal-Mart parking lot before moving along. It turned out that the area is beautiful, and full of gems you’ve probably seen all over your Instagram feed.

After much excited Googling, we made a plan! We had time to see Lower Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, and Glen Canyon Dam.

Lower Antelope Canyon (and Upper, for that matter) is on Navajo Nation land, so you can only visit as part of a tour. We used Dixie Ellis tours and went on the first tour of the day at 6 am (do figure out if the company you choose is on the same time zone as Arizona- Navajo Nation follows daylight savings time but Arizona does not. It can be tricky and lead to you missing your tour, so know before you go). Tours of Lower Antelope are a little bit more active/tight from what I’ve read compared to Upper Antelope, but it was pretty mild and only a quarter mile in total. We had the canyon to ourselves, which was awesome. Our guide knew all the best photo spots and the light was gorgeous.

 

I think this place was one of the most beautiful places we visited.

 

 

 

 

After Nik wrapped up work for the day, we headed to Glen Canyon Dam. Now, with our background in whitewater kayaking, we are generally not huge fans of dams. Glen Canyon, in particular, drowned a lot of rapids and scenery that were just like the Grand Canyon downstream. Dams also negatively affect wildlife, plants, and the overall river ecosystem. So, we went and saw Glen Canyon, but we weren’t very happy about it.

Just think of how beautiful that would be without all the concrete and power lines.

Come sunset (and a minimal drop in the temperature- it was SO HOT), we headed to Horseshoe Bend. Horseshoe Bend is a neat spot where the entire Colorado River makes a 180 degree turn. You cannot see it from the road and there is a short hike, maybe 3/4 of a mile, to get to the view. Dogs are allowed (Cheat enjoyed the attention of people from all over the world. He was quite the novelty there.) Be warned, if you want a good spot where you can actually set up a tripod and get the entire bend in view, be prepared to get there earlier than you think. We chose not dying of heat exhaustion over getting the perfect photo spot, but that’s just us. We still got great photos!

Funny enough, you can’t really tell how many people were there. Here’s what that looked like:

Ha! Creative framing. 😉 Next time we will back up a stop and tell you about the Grand Canyon.