As part of our trip up north, Marlena and I made it to the famous Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River. Undoubtedly you've seen many picture of this before and I'm sure mine is very similar to those. Nonetheless this was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
The path to Horseshoe Bend is right off Highway 89 about 4 miles south of Page, AZ. There is a dirt parking lot and from there the trails goes west up a small hill, and I thought myself "that doesn't look so bad." So Marlena and I loaded up our photography gear and water and started the climb. Then at the top of the hill, reality set in. This was only the beginning of the trail. The trail continue about another 1/2 mile and while it was all downhill from there, I knew that I was going to have to trek back up that hill after getting the pictures. Keep in mind that it was about 102 degrees and I was carrying about 30 lbs. of gear. However I didn't know exactly what gear I would need so I decided to carry on with what I had.
If you've never been there, let me describe the scene for you. First of all, it was packed with people - probably 300-400 people all hanging around this huge chasm which hovers about 1000 ft above the Colorado River. There are no guard rails or anything stopping you from falling in. In fact there were so many people right on the edge that I was astounded that I've never heard of anyone falling to their deaths from here. On top of that, there are tons of people, including many children, horsing around near the gorge. It wouldn't take much for someone to trip and bounce into someone else who then falls into someone else and pushing them right over the edge.
It was with all this in mind that I gingerly worked my way to the edge and start taking pictures. So here's one of them. And yes, I was right on the edge.
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