If you have ever spent an entire winter in Montana, you know that at first the snow quickly creates a winter wonderland. The skiing is amazing and snowshoeing is a must. The tourist crowd dies down by the end of September and it is possible to visit all of the amazing destinations and be the only one there. There are many times that I have gone up into Glacier National Park and not seen another person the entire day, which is an awesome feeling. In fact, some of the best views in my opinion are of snow capped mountains.
But, as much as I like to have all that space to myself, the cloudy days, the cold air and the feet of snow take a toll and by February, I, along with many others are ready for sunshine, warm weather and camping. This year, that led a couple friends and I to planning a spontaneous trip to Arizona. It wasn't anything crazy, but 4 days and little sleep gave us an opportunity to experience everything we were missing and also see some incredible sights at the same time.
Day 1
The first day was really a travel day. We chose to fly into Phoenix which gave us some windshield time, but also the opportunity to see more places before we got to our first campground in Page. After all, we couldn't go to Arizona and not see Horseshoe Bend. We made it just in time to gather with a crowd of people to watch the sunset the first night.
When planning this trip, which we did in about an hour and a half at Starbucks, we knew we wanted to see Horseshoe Bend. It is an incredible sight and I can see why thousands of people visit each day. I am not sure why, but for some reason I was expecting the above view to be the sunrise view, not the sunset view, so it was neat to see this after a full day of travel.
Day 2
The second day started earlier than expected due to a weird thing that seems to happen in this part of the world. Apparently throughout the day (and night) cell phone clocks switch between Arizona time and the Mountain Time Zone. We knew that sunrise was at 5:45 and that we needed to be up at 4 to get a spot to watch it happen by 5. Sometime between falling asleep and the alarms going off, the majority of our group's phones switched to Mountain Time, which gave them the impression that it was 4:00 at 3:00. (Both times are dark, so how would you know the difference?) Anyway, it was definitely time for coffee. After coffee we were on our way back to the bend for sunrise. Sunrise is a very different view than sunset, but amazing regardless. There are a lot less people in the morning and on the morning we were there we got to witness a wedding which was pretty cool.
Since there weren't any clouds in the sky and we were in the desert, the sunrise happened pretty quickly so we were able to take in the scene and relax for a couple of hours enjoying the quietness and beauty. Naturally though, when you get 3 photographers together and give them free time, creativity takes over. We got some group shots, tried out new ideas, and hopefully got some different, but cool shots. I couldn't have picked a better group to travel with.
The next big adventure of the day was the second major reason for visiting Page, Arizona on this trip, Antelope Canyon.
First, it was definitely coffee time again so after a quick stop for coffee and breakfast, we needed to charge camera batteries and pack everything we needed for the journey through the Upper Antelope Canyon. These canyons get very crowded and if you want to get some pictures without other people in them, it is recommended to take a "photography tour" instead of the "sightseeing tour." Although you don't get a lot of time, if you get a good tour guide like we did, they will give you and your group of about 6 roughly 2 minutes in each area to take pictures before the crowd comes rushing around the corner.
Without a guide, there are people everywhere
It was quickly obvious we made the right decision to spend the extra money to get more of a personalized tour of the canyon. Our tour allowed us to bring tripods, which are absolutely required if you want to get pictures. I found that most of my shots were taken at around one half second exposures if I kept my base ISO of 100 and was in my lenses sweet spot of f/5.6. Also, many of the shots required bracketing because the exposure differences between the dark canyon walls and the sunlight coming through were far greater than 5 stops.
The tour was amazing and we were able to capture some pretty awesome parts of the canyon while we were down there. Visit my gallery for some of my favorites. It is a completely different world down there and it seems like just when you think you have seen the best part, it gets even better. We were told that going in January or February is perfect if you are trying to get away from the crowd and you may be one of the only people in the canyon during your visit.
After the Upper Antelope Canyon Tour, we were all about the slot canyons and after grabbing a bite to eat we were ready to check out Lower Antelope Canyon. Lower Antelope Canyon was different in the fact that instead of starting out narrow at the top and getting wider towards the floor of the canyon it did the opposite. This provides a completely different perspective and very different view of the architecture of the canyon.
There is a lot more light allowed into Lower Antelope Canyon
Day 3
The third day and we were already halfway through our trip. We had seen a lot of awesome sights, but there were still many more to see. We enjoyed the slot canyons so much that we needed to hit one more before leaving Page, Arizona to head towards Grand Canyon Village.
After a couple hours on the road we reached the South Rim in Grand Canyon National Park. This was my first experience in The Grand Canyon and I was excited to see what it looked like over the edge. The first stop was the Desert View Watchtower, which gave some incredible views of the canyon below. We stopped, walked through the tower and took some pictures before getting back on the road.
View from the Desert View Watchtower, Grand Canyon National Park
As we continued toward our camp site near Grand Canyon Village we definitely played tourist and stopped at each pull-off along the way to take in all the different perspectives. At glance, all the overlooks look the same, but each is unique and provides a different perspective of the canyon.
While checking into our campground, we found out that the Grandview Trail was going to be an excellent trail for us to take as a moderate day hike. This wouldn't get us all the way to the Colorado River, but would allow us to make the round-trip in one day.
Day 4
Today would be the big hike! We didn't wake up in a major hurry or anything because we were only hiking 5 or 6 miles total and we had the whole day. Around 10am we went to the trailhead and started the decent into the canyon.
I am not sure how it compares to the other trails in the park, but Grandview Trail starts off very steep. The first mile or so is almost like walking down steps the whole way. After the first mile, the second two are still steep, but not near as bad. After about 3 miles we got to our destination, Horseshoe Mesa. There are spots to set up tents and stay for a while as well as toilets and views in every direction. The rock is red and the vegetation is all small and close to the ground. We stopped, ate lunch, took some fun pictures and took in the views before heading back up the trail to the car.
Horseshoe Mesa, Grand Canyon National Park
Day 5
I couldn't believe that this trip flew by so quickly. It was like we were hopping on a plane to visit all these places and all of a sudden we were on the return flight. The last day was a full day of travel. We woke up early to drive back to Phoenix, grab lunch and head to the airport. Before leaving the park, we did get a chance to see some of the sights around Grand Canyon Village. The South Rim has some incredible views and I look forward to seeing the North Rim someday soon.
Grand Canyon South Rim
After catching our last views, it was 3 hours in the car, coffee, a trip to the local REI, lunch, a couple hours at the airport and 4 hours of flights before we were back in Montana. I love adventure photography. The trips that start out in the planning stages as photography trips that revolve around golden hours and the perfect vantage points quickly become memories, inside jokes, and moments in time that couldn't be recreated. I learned a lot on this trip when it comes to technique and was able to get some really cool pictures, but one thing still stands true; by having fun in photography, each one of these images tells a story beyond the four-corners of the frame. I'm not just taking pictures, I am creating memories and hopefully inspiring others to do the same thing.