Travel Stories: Arizona Rocks!

If you’re the type of person who gets your rocks off on rocks… and mountains and cactus and canyons then Arizona is the place to be. Seriously.

Phoenix

Just flying into Phoenix, you have your pick of mountainous parks and ranges.  The last six months, I’ve tried to find some common ground between commuting across the country every few weeks and spending my free weekends running around this gorgeous state capturing as much as possible.

Papago Park

The park borders the Desert Botanical Garden and the Phoenix Zoo and there’s a beautiful duck pond nearby. It’s main feature is this bulbous mountain with eyes in which people sit and watch the sunset.

Papago Park mountain in Phoenix, Arizona

Tip: if you go around the back it is pretty easy to climb to the top.

Lost Dutchman State Park

A few friends and I decided to visit the nearby Superstition Mountain range known for some nice walking trails.

Superstition Mountains panorama at Lost Dutchman State Park outside Phoenix, Arizona

I ended up getting 10,000 steps on my Fitbit and making some pretty nice images.

Tonto National Park

Once again, I assisted a friend who does model photography on the side.  This was another great experience for me plus I had no idea that there were lakes and rivers in Arizona where families could frolic in the water and barbecue on the shore.

Photographer and model at Salt River in Tonto National Forest outside of Phoenix, Arizona

I haven’t even mentioned Camelback Mountain that’s viewable from nearly every window in Scottsdale.  I plan to explore that area in depth very soon.

Venturing outside of Phoenix, there’s plenty to keep a photographer busy.

Sedona

A couple of hours North is Sedona, famous for its red rocks, vortexes (or vortices), and art galleries.

Aerial view of Sedona’s Red Rocks

Flagstaff is also on my list, especially now that I’ve seen snow on Snow Bowl Mountain in April when I was driving further North to Page.

Page

A few weeks ago, some friends and I traveled 4.5 hours North and had the pleasure of a thrilling weekend trip to Page, better known as Navajo Tribal Lands that include the Antelope Canyons.

Upper Antelope Canyon

The beams of light were sometimes soft and sometimes harsh due to the sun being at its zenith, but it’s been said that noon is the best time for viewing.  And I obtained some excellent images.

Upper Antelope Canyon sunlight beam in Page, Arizona

Lower Antelope Canyon

Lower Antelope is surprisingly very different than Upper Antelope; there are no light beams to throw sand into. The morning light angles into the canyon and the walls were gloriously colorful.

Lower Antelope Canyon colorful waves in Page, Arizona

Horseshoe Bend

I wasn’t feeling well enough to go down cliff-side to Horseshoe Bend but my friend got a fabulous image at sunset.

Last, but certainly not least, this is the Grand Canyon State.  Yes, I’ve been to Grand Canyon twice via helicopter and cessna plane to the South Rim from Las Vegas. The next time I visit, I will drive there and enjoy the North Rim and, possibly, the Sky Walk.

We’ll see…

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