Exploring the Horseshoe Bend

I managed to get to the Horseshoe Bend early in the morning. There is a parking lot at the entrance but slots are limited so it is best to come here early to avoid disappointment. The Horseshoe Bend isn’t where the car park is. Visitors needs to walk a bit to get there. There is a well worn dirt path here which takes you through desert landscape. I thought that there weren’t that many people visiting but I was mistaken. This early, there were already people at the end of the path which is where the view point is. There are guard rails here so people don’t fall into the gorge below.

The Horseshoe Bend is a natural bend of the Colorado River. Pictures can’t give the scale of how big it actually is. I had difficulty getting the image of the Horseshoe Bend to fit in my phone’s camera. I had to use landscape mode to get it to fit. My actual camera had a much easier time because I have an ultra-wide lens. Here I found out how difficult the lighting conditions are. The red sandstone is all lit up by the morning sun. But the view point where were were all on was casting a large shadow on the river. This huge contrast in lighting is challenging for me and it was difficult to get a proper photo for this. I could probably come back at a different time when it is more evenly lit but I don’t have the time to do that today.

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