Horseshoe Bend

I didn't realize when I set out on my camping trip that I would stumble upon this famous section of the Colorado. Horseshoe Bend is located just a few miles south of Page, AZ on Highway 89. Announced by an unassuming hiking sign, I nearly passed it by. From the small, dirt parking lot, the well-traveled trail leads up a small hill then over a short section of unremarkable desert. It is challenging to detect any sign of the Colorado until you're nearly tottering on the brink. Horseshoe Bend is so large and close that it is impossible to capture the whole thing in just one image. The image above is a tiled panorama of nine separate images. Coincidently, the boats in the bottom left and bottom center are actually the same boat captured at different times as I took the series of photographs for this panorama.