Road Trip to Northern Arizona

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Thursday, 26 April 2018 - Woke up before sunrise to catch early light at Mather Point and other Grand Canyon viewpoints including Duck Rock, Moran Point, and Lipan Point, enjoyed dramatic canyon vistas as clouds and shadows shifted, then drove east to Page for a photography tour through Upper Antelope Canyon capturing the beautiful narrow sandstone forms before returning to Flagstaff for dinner at Brix.

northernaz2018 — Up early - real early - real early. In order to get to the Grand Canyon before sunrise we had to get up at 0400 and the gang was bright eyed and bushy tailed.

We headed back to Mather Point as it was easy to park and a short walk to the point. The sun is rising over the features of the Grand Canyon. There was quite a crowd waiting on the sun - a few in PJs.

northernaz2018 — Early morning sky over the Grand Canyon

northernaz2018 — Morning light on the rocks

northernaz2018 — The sun is just hitting the canyon cliffs

northernaz2018 — Virginia Ann and Angie watching the sun at Mather Point

northernaz2018 — The sunrise was pretty - then the sun went behind some clouds.

northernaz2018 — Early day in the Grand Canyon

northernaz2018 — A spot we had not been to - Duck Rock. Angie said she saw the duck and tried to help those who could not - I still can't see it - do you?

northernaz2018 — At Duck Rock overlook the trees climbed the ridges

northernaz2018 — Moran Point offers sweeping vistas

northernaz2018 — At Moran Point the clouds and shadows move across the landscape

northernaz2018 — At Moran Point the cliffs of the Colorado Butte and canyon are very close.

northernaz2018 — Past a rock formation the Colorado River flows far below Moran Point

northernaz2018 — Lipan Point is one of my favorites - beautiful cliffs and the Colorado River in the background.

northernaz2018 — The cliffs at Lipan Point. The clouds were coming in and helped create some good skies.

northernaz2018 — Angie and Joe pose at Lipan Point

northernaz2018 — The camera is still rolling

northernaz2018 — The last place we stopped on our eastward journey was to Navajo Point. By now the clouds had turned into rain but the rain was not hitting the ground - it simply dropped a small way from the clouds.

northernaz2018 — Next stop was outside Page at Antelope Canyon. It was a long drive - 1.5 hours but the countryside was beautiful. We arrived at the Navajo tour group and walked up to claim our place in the tour. They would not allow any bags and we had to prove we had cameras and tripods. Very strange.

We only had time for one of the several canyons. The one we toured was the Upper Antelope Canyon

northernaz2018 — Very beautiful canyons - to think water created them is just amazing.

Antelope Canyon was formed by erosion of Navajo Sandstone due to flash flooding. Rainwater, during monsoon season, runs into the extensive basin above the slot canyon sections, picking up speed and sand as it rushes into the narrow passageways.

northernaz2018 — We were not there when the sun hit the canyon floor but still the sun on the red rocks was simply beautiful

northernaz2018 — The canyon was busy - since we were on a photography tour they would hold the crowds of another tour to allow us to shoot - all very chaotic and at the same time well executed.

northernaz2018 — Looking up toward the top of the canyon

northernaz2018 — Our guide threw sand on a ledge and then we photographed the falling sand

northernaz2018 — This formation is called the Mummy - see it?

northernaz2018 — Light tried to find its way into the canyon

northernaz2018 — The canyon narrowed to very narrow passages

northernaz2018 — The light and red stone was simply magical.

northernaz2018 — Hard to stop taking pictures of the walls

northernaz2018 — This formation is called The Bear - if you look at the light you can see a bear looking to the left.

From Antelope Canyon we drove back to Flagstaff for the night - had an excellent dinner at Brix - highly recommend dining there.

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