Monday, August 20, 2018

exploring the canyons in US..

This post is about the second leg of my US holiday from May 2017. this part of the trip was about exploring few of the famous canyons that East Coast of America had to offer. The day began with a trip to the airport to pick up the rented car. I had booked Jeep Cherokee but only Jeep Compass was available. We left Las Vegas around the afternoon and soon hit the boring straight highways.. [click on photos to enlarge]  photo IMG_1852H_zpsyandvq8r.jpg our steed..  photo IMG_1861H_zpst6qy8bti.jpg our first stop on the trip was Bryce Canyon National Park. the canyons here are shaped like talk columns called hoodoos. these are formed by water seeping into the rocks and repeated melting and freezing. this expansion of water cracks the rocks creating windows. gradually the top of the window falls leaving columns. so some places have columns, others have gates and windows. before we entered the park..  photo IMG_1880H2_zpslg4asr0p.jpg the rock gates..  photo IMG_1883H_zpsqvqh0i5f.jpg the entrance of the park.  photo IMG_1886_zpsbknewjqy.jpg one can drive along the edge of the canyons and stop at the various view points  photo IMG_1889_zpsugkoeggb.jpg  photo IMG_1896H_zpswvqyy60t.jpg other views of the hoodoos..  photo IMG_1899H_zpsvbpftjpc.jpg  photo IMG_1920_zpssw1tdyry.jpg the road along the rim of the canyon  photo IMG_1938H_zpsvglcs2ru.jpg the black birch canyon  photo IMG_1954H_zpsyb651ox8.jpg this point is called the natural bridge  photo IMG_1966H_zps19glguyn.jpg the best view was from this view point. the inspiration point  photo IMG_2002H_zpsglonsbfv.jpg  photo IMG_2063H_zpseqm3xbkm.jpg the map of bryce canyon..  photo IMG_3540_zpsylpd1bxz.jpg next day we headed to Zion Canyon. on the way we came across Checkerboard Mesa, the mountain named so because of the criss cross pattern on the rock face  photo IMG_2095H_zpsyss0nfce.jpg the red stones of the Zion Park..  photo IMG_2101H_zpstwtutduu.jpg even the roads had red hue  photo IMG_2124H_zps0f7kysxl.jpg mountain called the East Temple..  photo IMG_2139H_zpsaa5axocr.jpg Cars are not allowed inside the Zion Canyon. One can park outside and take the free shuttle. But finding parking is a pain and we had to go all the way till Springdale village to find an empty spot. the whole canyon is split by a river and the route along the river is called the Zion scenic drive.  photo IMG_2145H_zpscs7k8mpo.jpg the shuttle stops at the designated stops and from there one can do various treks, each having different difficulty level.  photo IMG_2158_zpszbynwrqp.jpg the canyons are rich in flora and fauna..  photo IMG_2180_zpsvhw7prrx.jpg The most intesting trek in Zion is the Narrows trek. the trek is basically a walk along the river between the 2 mountains.  photo IMG_2227H_zps6wyils3b.jpg infact at most places, the trek is the river. be prepared to get drenched..  photo IMG_2206H_zpslkrhqfnb.jpg some places the water flow was pretty strong. walking in the water was very tiring. one should carry lot of drinking water and also some snacks..  photo IMG_2254H_zpswvbesnbx.jpg when we got back from Narrows, we still had enough sunlight for another short trek. we decided to do the Emerald Pool Trek which was graded easy. the trek started with an uphill walk along a path cut in the rocks  photo IMG_2391_zpseneqhq8j.jpg then we climbed a few rocky steps and reached the beautiful pool just as the sun was setting  photo IMG_2404H_zps0yl7ak9c.jpg one could climb further to see the pools situated at higher elevations but we were tired and also it was getting late. so we came back down and headed towards the car. glimpse of the Zion Canyon as we left the park  photo IMG_2411H_zpsdsnuebtr.jpg the map of the Zion Canyon  photo IMG_3540_zpsylpd1bxz.jpg next day morning we had booked a tour of the world's most photographed canyon: the Antelope Canyon. it is a narrow slot canyon in which lights enters from shafts on the top. depending on the angle of sun, the light falls on different parts of the canyon creating a beautiful play of colors and light. the tours are run by the native Navajo tribes. these need to be booked in advance as there are limited slots per day and sometimes the waiting is months long. most tours start from the nearby town of Page. i booked the Chief Tsosie's tour which started from a parking near the canyon. they collected all the tourist in the parking and then drove us to the canyon in jeeps. the entrance of the canyon  photo IMG_2426H_zpsbuapcnug.jpg the narrow canyon  photo IMG_2429H_zpssnlk2rbm.jpg there are 2 types of tours: a normal tour and a photography tour. in normal tour the group size is large and tripods are not allowed. so the small space gets really crowded and its difficult to take picture in low light without a trpiod. in photography tour the group size is very small and the guide blocks the other tourists to give you a clean shot at clicking the different points in the canyon. but the charge for the photography tours is double. i would only advise these for serious photographers interested in long exposure photography. the crowd in the canyon  photo IMG_2432H_zpsweowshrt.jpg the play of colors and light  photo IMG_2508H_zpsxye1etfj.jpg the clear view of canyon thanks to our guide  photo IMG_2527H_zpsknctijl6.jpg the beautiful shafts of light  photo IMG_2568_zpsvnbzlouo.jpg most shots of colors and lights  photo IMG_2643H_zps1f5kyjes.jpg another light shaft..  photo IMG_2729_zpsqzliudnw.jpg light and sand..  photo IMG_2832_zpsbrxghrjj.jpg after the tour of the Antelope Canyon and having clicked almost 600pics, i was really hungry. i drove to Page and grabbed some food at the restaurant in Walmart. my family had booked a later tour and till their tour got over, i waited at the Walmart. Page also has a marina from where on can take a boat tour on the outside of Antelope Canyon. when my family returned, we left Page and headed to out next stop: the Horseshoe Bend. again there we had to walk in the heat which was pretty tiring. as we reached the ledge, we saw the river bending around the canyon  photo IMG_3028H_zpsylglnl8f.jpg from Horseshoe bend we headed towards the grand-dad of all canyons, the Grand Canyon. some more rock formations on the way..  photo IMG_3069H_zpsyym568n4.jpg we were going to spend the night in the Grand Canyon Village. the entry to the park  photo IMG_3064 000M_zpsr2ovdeef.jpg as soon as we entered, we rushed to the nearest view point. and we were just in time to catch a dramatic sunset..  photo IMG_3080H_zpsikzbgird.jpg and what beautiful sight it was..  photo IMG_3122H2_zpsxbd9o31b.jpg as the sky changed colors from yellow to red  photo IMG_3159H_zpsknlvpkwd.jpg to orange..  photo IMG_3189H2_zpsvxuljfxb.jpg next day morning we went to see the canyon. there is a road along the rim of the canyon with view points along it.  photo IMG_3210H_zps4fk9kqmi.jpg here also one can take the free shuttle from one view point to other. it is also possible to walk around the rim of the canyon and see all the view points. we mostly took the shuttle, walking some of the distance between the view points which were close.  photo IMG_3231H_zpsjgsxu7zj.jpg as we walked along the rim  photo IMG_3254_zpscjl6fcj4.jpg view from different view points  photo IMG_3327%202_zpsx7ipimpy.jpg all viewing platforms were full of tourists  photo IMG_3373H2_zpsklkbh8ge.jpg what really inspires awe is the sheer size of the canyon and the amount of rock that has been cut by the rivers. imagine how big the river must have been at one time.  photo IMG_3376H2_zpsa7mx0aza.jpg the final point  photo IMG_3385_zpswzorn1pj.jpg the panoramic view of the canyon.. we even spotted a 2 Condors flying but sadly were not able to capture in our cameras..  photo IMG_3427P_zpsxxowf2it.jpg Grand Canyon can be approached from north side and south side. we can come from the south. map of the Grand Canyon South Rim..  photo IMG_3540_zpsylpd1bxz.jpg from Grand Canyon we drove back to Las Vegas.. after spending a few more days there we hired another car. this time we went grand and hired a monstrous GMC. in this huge car we drove from Vegas to Los Angeles, the last destination of our trip. Driving the car through traffic packed roads of LA and finding the drop off point was a task in itself.  photo IMG_3540_zpsylpd1bxz.jpg Some pics from LA.. Santa Monica Pier  photo IMG_3540_zpsylpd1bxz.jpg  photo IMG_3540_zpsylpd1bxz.jpg The Griffith Observatory which is situated on top of a hill with a great view of the city and the Hollywood sign..  photo IMG_3469H_zps31r8pygy.jpg the observatory.  photo IMG_3510_zpshvu81psj.jpg it has an exhihibition as well as a light & sound show.  photo IMG_3540_zpsylpd1bxz.jpg the cityscape..  photo IMG_3527_zps6hngsjrl.jpg

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