I have been gone for a while.  I took what was going to be a short trip up to Page, Arizona to visit Horseshoe Bend and both Upper and Lower Antelope Canyons.  I took a few detours because there was so much amazing stuff to see around the area.  Another trip to the Grand Canyon, but the North Rim, yes please.  I ended up at a couple very unexpected national parks on the way home as well.  I was even swimming in pristine water in one area…it was almost November.  This trip turned out to have more to do than I was ever expecting.  Seriously, you need to visit some national parks if you’ve never been.  I have almost visited most National Parks in AZ this year.  All pics are unfiltered and unedited.

First up, Horseshoe Bend.  This isn’t a national park.  Just a cool sight to see.  The Colorado River, flows around this canyon in the shape of a horseshoe.  It’s amazing.  Depending on the time of day and cloud coverage, your pictures of the river and rocks will be different.  There is easy hiking along the rim and you can do some easy rock climbing off to the right side of horseshoe.  It’s about a mile hike to get from the parking area to Horseshoe Bend.  There is no cost for this amazing site, but I honestly wouldn’t be surprised to see that changed eventually.

Upper Antelope Canyon.  I found this online and had to visit it.  This cost $48.00 and last about 90 minutes with the guide.  It’s worth the cost, plus the guide was real nice and pointed out some real cool shots to take and even takes pics of you in some cool places.  One pic the guide took of me has a cool almost black and white effect.  This place is simply beautiful.  The colors are unreal.  I just wish I had a better camera to capture everything.  The lines carved out by the water and wind are simply stunning.

Lower Antelope Canyon.  It’s pretty cool, but I preferred Upper.  This one feels really rushed.  Luckily I had a cool guide that wasn’t in a hurry, but one group passed us.  The next group behind, also had a guide that was constantly trying to push forward.  The guide for my group was just wanting to make sure everyone got some good pics.  This tour cost $28.

Glen Canyon. Not much to say here.  It was in the area, so figured I’d stop by to check it out.  You can do a boat tour to Rainbow Bridge from here.

Antelope Point.  This was an unexpected find.  I was the only person out there.  The water is beautiful, and the water was perfect for swimming.  It gets deep really quick.  A perfect way to cool off in the heat.

Grand Canyon North Rim.  So 2 months ago I fell in love with the Grand Canyon on the south rim.  Had an amazing hike.  Had to make it to the north rim before everything shuts down, unfortunately a lot of things were starting to close.  The drive to the north rim is amazing.  Stop by Navajo Bridge and there are some really cool rock formations a little past that at the gas station.  The drive to the north entrance is beautiful.  I’m planning to go back when the north rim reopens in May.  I want to do the hike from North Rim, down into the canyon, and back up to the South Rim on Bright Angel Trail, camping down there at least 1 night.  I was pretty pumped to see Plateau Point in the distance while at the North Rim.

Wupakti National Monument and Sunset Crater Volcano.  These were 2 unexpected stops on the way home.  They happened to show on the GPS, and I’m a curious person.  Glad I stopped by.  2 easy hikes with super cool things to check out.  Plus for Sunset Crater, you get to walk through a river of lava.

Please throw out some recommendation on fancy cameras.  I’m looking to get a dslr, since I’ve really gotten into this nature stuff.