Bucket List Locations: Horseshoe Bend

Sunrise at Horseshoe Bend in Page, Arizona. A gorgeous place for an elopement, family or pet portraits.

On my way out to Alabama, it was just me and Grimmy. We camped in the rooftop tent the entire way and got to see some beautiful places! On my way back, I ended up having to take a U-Haul trailer instead of shipping my stuff home, so we didn't have the opportunity to camp. Plus, it was the end of January and some of the route might have had snow.

I was lucky enough to persuade a friend to make the journey from Gulf Shores to Salt Lake with me. Allie and I originally met on Instagram through dog training several years ago and have been long distance friends ever since. One day I threw the wild idea at her that she should fly into Alabama from Georgia (where she lives) and road trip with me back to Utah. And she said yes! It was long days of driving, but thankfully we didn't run into any bad weather, and the route I chose put us in line to see some cool new places, including this one, which has been on my destination bucket list for years!

We pulled up to the park entrance just after sundown.

My original plan had been to catch sunset, but our drive that day from Phoenix took much longer than anticipated. I settled for the opportunity to shoot some long nighttime exposures of the Bend. Unbeknownst to me, the park had closed about 10 minutes prior to us pulling up. Like, barricaded and tire spikes kind of closed. I was so upset! We spent the next 2 hours trying to figure out how we could get out there, but ultimately decided that a trespassing charge wasn't worth it. The majority of the trail and surrounding land leading out to that view point is owned by the city of Page, as in it is not public. Any attempt to get out there a different way would have been illegal to some degree. So we got a hotel in Page, AZ for the evening and decided we would go back as soon as the park opened at first light. Although it wasn't what I had originally envisioned, it was still just as breaktaking.

The only thing that sucked was I didn't have a lens wide enough for the view.

My 14mm f/2.8 needed repairs, the next closest thing I had was my 24-70 f/2.8. My only hope was to take enough photos that I was able to put together a panoramic shot in post. So I said a prayer and took TONS of photos, hoping I'd be able to make something out of them when I got home. This is what I was able to put together..

It wasn't anything I'd imagined it would be, but in the best way possible.

It may not have been the fiery sunset or star-soaked sky I'd envisioned, but the pinks, purples and cotton candy skies were a beauty of their own. As the sun rose, the colors on the red rock changed to a light orange and the water became more clear. It was still really early in the tourist season too, so there was just a small group of people meandering around the view point. Plenty of time and space to grab a few photos of Grimm too! The only thing that was missing was Dylan, which just means that we have to go back some day!