Horseshoe Bend, Arizona by shutterbugs

Photography • Landscape • posted on Jul 05, 2008

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Description

Just to put things into perspective so you have a sense of scale: the white speck in the middle of the river on the left side is a house boat. People rent them and go down the Colorado River. Can you imagine being in one and staring up the sides of these monumental cliffs, or how about yelling and getting a thunderous echo back? Pretty "Planet of the Apes," isn't it? About this shot. The walk from the dirt parking lot to where I took this picture is a rugged 25-minute hike (50-minute roundtrip) on loose sand that you sink into. Definitely bring a bottle of water. First, one climbs up a hill, then descends down the same hill before standing at this precipice. While descending one has no idea what lies ahead. In fact, I kept wondering, "Where is this place?" Perhaps 100 yards before the earth opens, one sees a slight drop. Then suddenly, you stand in front of this spectacular sight, where vertigo and drop-jaw set in big time. Walking right up to the edge of the cliff and taking this shot required some self-talk ("No, there will be no sudden strong gust. Everything will be OK. Don't think about it ... just take the bloody picture!"). I had researched this shot before setting out to Arizona (i.e. what time of day to photograph, how to find the place, what to do/not to do, etc.) and I had, of course, seen pictures of Horseshoe Bend, but absolutely nothing had prepared me for the scale and sheer spectacle of what nature had carved out of the earth here. Wow, wow, wow!!!! This is a "must-see" if you are heading to Arizona. The closest thing in terms of the "wow factor" is Spider Rock. Click on the photo below and then the full size version of it to get a sense of the scale involved in that particular capture.

Thanks for your comments and a happy July 4th weekend!!!

Comments (45)

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flora-crassella

10:42AM | Sat, 05 July 2008

...ist DAS eine super-tolle Aufnahme! Hervorragend fotografiert!!!!

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KarmaSong

10:49AM | Sat, 05 July 2008

Tremendous view and superb landscape, it makes me really dream and look up the travel agencies for my current holidays! Excellent photo, fantastic render!

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Garlor

10:54AM | Sat, 05 July 2008

Scenery like this is just great, especially when you have a wide angle .

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DarkStormCrow

11:02AM | Sat, 05 July 2008

excellent shot and POV, nicely done...

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GBCalls

11:25AM | Sat, 05 July 2008

Awesome! Excellent shot

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MrsRatbag

11:27AM | Sat, 05 July 2008

Amazing POV! And the scenery is spectacular. Great capture!

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mermaid

11:32AM | Sat, 05 July 2008

excellent shot of a really spectacular scenery!!

thevolunteer

11:41AM | Sat, 05 July 2008

Oh my gosh, this really is something. Don't know if I would go through this or not. Maybe a fly over....Fantastic shot. Aloha

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bclaytonphoto

12:01PM | Sat, 05 July 2008

Breath taking view

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Fidelity2

12:28PM | Sat, 05 July 2008

This is an excellent image by you.

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danob

12:45PM | Sat, 05 July 2008

Amazing scene and perfect POV

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SapUS59

1:52PM | Sat, 05 July 2008

fantastic image, i never been to that area but would love to visit it one day.

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JeffG7BRJ

2:04PM | Sat, 05 July 2008

Fantastic, absolutely bloody fantastic. Now that is mother nature doing her thing, why she wanted the shape of an horse shoe I have no idea, but I never question her reasons. Superb capture, but one that you can't REALLY appreciate fully unless you see it yourself. What I mean by that is it will remain with you a lot longer than someone viewing a photo of the place. The work you had to do to get there and back is all part of your experience and goes hand in glove with the view. I will never make it to the real place so I will have to make do with this wonderous image instead. Thanks for sharing. Spectacular! Bravo!!!!!

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thelamb

2:46PM | Sat, 05 July 2008

Absoloutly stunning, great POV and fantastic colour, well done xx

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Jay-el-Jay

3:13PM | Sat, 05 July 2008

An incredible view and a great shot.

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kahun.hida

4:17PM | Sat, 05 July 2008

これ写真なんですか？　こんな風景が実際にあるなんて驚きました！！！！！

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dwarvenkind

5:02PM | Sat, 05 July 2008

Fantastic shot. Bravo, for both the photo and the bravery.

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jocko500

5:13PM | Sat, 05 July 2008

this is super looking for sure. i like to see this place. is it closet to Red Mountian by FLAGSTAFT ?

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artaddict2

5:20PM | Sat, 05 July 2008

I can't believe what I'm seeing, its just breathtaking. This is the sort of shot I could only dream about!

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shutterbugs

7:03PM | Sat, 05 July 2008

It's near Page, Arizona, which is quite a ride from Flagstaff, but well worth it!

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Richardphotos

7:51PM | Sat, 05 July 2008

exceptional landscape quality capture. so beautiful

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CavalierLady

8:54PM | Sat, 05 July 2008

Stunning image and POV!! What a spectacular place. Superb!

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babuci

9:07PM | Sat, 05 July 2008

This capture is fantastic. Love the color of the water.

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ralph49

10:22PM | Sat, 05 July 2008

Wow what super visual overload_absolutly perfect capture_I'd love to be there now

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leanndra

11:23PM | Sat, 05 July 2008

I am speechless at the beauty you have captured! Lucky for us, I can still type! It is strange how artists of all mediums try to capture beauty yet none of us can compare with what the natural world can show us! Just looking at these few photos I have seen thus far in your gallery, I can only say that you would be a wonderful photographer for National Geographic Magazine! You are definately going into my favorite artists! ;) Lea

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