The plane took off on time. This feeling of reluctance to Washington can only be slowly digested in travel notes, or in revisits many years later. I really like the living atmosphere in Washington —green, peaceful, healthy, humanistic, historical, Cities, Washington : There will be a period!
There is a 3-hour time difference between Las Vegas and Washington , we have to fly for 5 hours, and there is a 15-hour time difference with Beijing . We saw snow-capped mountains, deserts, lakes, and oases along the way, and we finally arrived at 11:15 This legendary city of sin – Las Vegas !
At 9:30 on June 9, 2015, we left this sinful city and started our real trip. Our 12-day self-driving trip has just begun. We pass through the urban area and take Interstate 15. People and cars are very busy. I don’t know if it’s because everyone didn’t get up or because there were few people in the first place. I drove fast all the way, and the weather changed from yesterday’s exposure to the sun, and gradually became gloomy. This may be a good start.
Moving on, the scenery gradually changed, the desert turned into a mountain, and huge rocks rose abruptly. The road passed through the mountain, as if walking through a canyon, which frequently surprised us.
Not long after, we arrived at a small desert town. After turning the corner, we continued to go straight up the mountain. After reaching the commanding heights, we looked back at this oasis in the mountain desert, full of green gardens and full of vitality.
The scenery of the Nevada – Arizona interstate highway is erratic. It will rain for a while, the sky will be clear for a while, and the sun will be covered by thin clouds for a while. The scenery on both sides is also good. It is similar to the west of China, with different rocks scattered Different colors, various shapes, very interesting.
Soon we returned to the Glen Canyon Dam . The Glen Canyon Dam was the second tallest dam in the United States built between 1956 and 1963 (the first being the Hoover Dam). It is an arched gravity dam with a total weight of 800,000. It is like a plug deeply inserted into the sandstone on both sides of the river bed and canyon, and it is also like a baffle, blocking the Colorado River . The water gate changes the direction of the river water and drives the turbine. All 8 units are running to generate 1.3 million KW. There is a bridge above the front of the bridge, which is 400 feet long and spans the 700-foot-deep Glen Canyon.
The completion of the dam turned the originally meandering Colorado River into a huge lake . To commemorate John Wesley Powell, the explorer and geologist who first came here to conduct a detailed investigation, the big azure lake was named Lake Powell.
Downstream of the dam, the Colorado River flows slowly from the bottom of the dam, gentle and calm. The golden river water before has become so clear and green now. The U.S. government established the Glen Canyon national recreation area in 1972. This resort area is very large, spanning the two states of Utah and Arizona, and has developed many water sports . The scenery is a veritable resort.
At 16:40 on June 9, 2015, we arrived in Page City ’s , Antelope Canyon Tourist Center inquired about the tour group on June 10. Because I was worried about the gloomy weather and the sudden light rain, I was really not sure. When I learned that there was only a tour group at 15:30 tomorrow afternoon, I was shocked. Hi, I was surprised that this time is really not ideal, and the light is really mediocre. I am happy that it is the peak season and we can still register, or we may have to stay an extra day to try our luck and delay our trip…
Antelope Canyon is located in the Navajo Indian Reservation near Page in northern Arizona. It is one of the most famous slot canyons in the world and one of the Navajo Tribal Park. This area used to be an antelope habitat. There are often antelopes in the canyon, and the name Antelope Canyon comes from it. Antelope Canyon is divided into Upper Antelope Canyon and Lower Antelope Canyon. The management rights of the entire Antelope Canyon belong to the local Indians. The most visited by tourists is the Upper Antelope Canyon. To visit Antelope Canyon, you must join the tour group organized by the Indians. Antelpope Canyon Tuors arranges a car from Page Town to the scenic spot. There are two types of 1-hour tours and 2-hour photography tours. The former is 40 knives per person, and the latter is 80 knives per person.
In the small town of PAGE, you must not miss two attractions: one is Antelope Canyon , and the other is Horseshoe Bend . Horseshoe Bend (Horseshoe Bend) is a U-shaped section of the Colorado River (Colorado River) in Arizona, and a small section of Glen Canyon (Glen Canyon). The ” Horseshoe Bay ” is not only free, but more importantly, although it has only one viewing point, it is difficult to find a second one in the world in terms of the shock of this point.
From the picture, it seems that a pair of glasses is displayed in front of us. What does the scenery there look like? How did this bend turn? With such a curious mood, I came slowly at a trot.
I ran to the edge of the cliff and looked down, ah… We grew our mouths, wow, it’s so high, a huge curved canyon appeared in front of my eyes: suddenly, this thrilling work of nature made me hold my breath, in the At the bottom of the 300-meter-deep red canyon, the Colorado River flows slowly like a green ribbon. For thousands of years, the water circles and scours the rocks of the canyon, forming a peerless beauty – this is the world-famous Horseshoe Bend .
Originating from the Rocky Mountains in the western United States , the Colorado River is a 2,330-kilometer-long river that flows through the bottom of the Grand Canyon and finally flows into the Gulf of California. I was excited to watch the Colorado River at zero distance. The rocks along the way are covered with uneven stripes, which are the traces left by the years. The stripes are so dignified after tens of thousands of years of wind and sun.
This is a world geological wonder, and it is also a free park. There is no guardrail on the cliff with a huge drop of more than 300 meters. Standing and watching, the cold wind is cold, which makes people shudder. Who knows if there are any legends about unlucky people who merged into nature? Turning around and watching tourists are as big as ants.
Arizona ‘s rocks and soils are rich in iron and manganese, so they glow a beautiful metallic red in the sun. After tens of millions of years of crustal movement and river erosion, the Colorado River that cuts out this bay is emerald green. The red soil and green river complement each other, which is very pleasing to the eye in terms of color. This bay is deep and big enough, so this bay is imposing enough! As you look down the Colorado River , you can see boats as small as flies.
Everything here is pure natural, there are no tickets, no staff, and of course no guardrails as you imagined, so tourists are very careful to move around the cliff, and no one even speaks loudly. The scenery of Horseshoe Bay is ever-changing. At noon, there is often a bay of clear water, and in the evening, the river water will reflect the color of the surrounding rock walls, and the depth is more charming. This is the unique charm of the Arizona Plateau. Although it is 40 at noon The high temperature is testing our enthusiasm, and at this time we are this enthusiastic desert.
After returning to the hotel for a short rest at noon, we arrived at the Antelope Canyon Tourist Center at 15:00. There were already many people waiting in line in front of the door. We booked a tour group at 15:30. The blue sky and white clouds, the visibility is very good, and our mood suddenly became much more comfortable.
Who first discovered that the records of Antelope Canyon are unreliable. The Navajo tour guide told us that a hunter chased the antelope here, and the antelope leaped away. No trace. Historically, this place used to be the habitat of pronghorn antelope, and antelopes often wandered in the canyon, which is why the canyon is called Antelope Canyon .
The Indian female driver drove vigorously. After 10 minutes through the urban area, she turned into a road with yellow sand and rocks.
20 minutes later, we arrived at the parking lot of Antelope Canyon. Rows of desert vehicles were lined up neatly. The tour guide greeted us to get off the car. This Indian female tour guide always avoids everyone’s shots. After several shots, I finally captured it. When it came to the front face, Li Xiaoyu was still arranging her messy hair, thinking that I was taking pictures of her.
The older generation of Navajo once regarded this place as a habitat for meditation and communication with the Great Spirit. Today, Antelope Canyon is the main source of tourism income in the Indian Aboriginal reservation. In addition to tourists, there are visitors from all over the world. It is very difficult for photographers who come here especially to take good photos in this canyon. Because the light only enters from the upper edge of the canyon and the surface of the valley wall is uneven, it causes a lot of reflections. It is not easy to adjust the photometering. Adjusting the resulting work may not be as charming as the light and shadow captured casually.
It turns out that Antelope Canyon is inside this red sandstone mountain, which is equivalent to entering a cave, and nothing can be seen outside. But as soon as I entered, I was immediately stunned by the strange red rock walls inside. I have never seen such a beautiful scenery! Lines of different thicknesses on the rock wall are entwined on the red sandstone rock, each of which is unique. The surface of the sandstone rock looks smooth and clean, and you are reluctant to touch it with your own hands. The shape of the rock wall in the entire Antelope Canyon Different, natural and mixed, various forms of rocks have a strong sense of layering.
The peculiar topography of Antelope Canyon, the abstract lines of red rocks, the beams of light pouring down through the gaps and holes at the top, and the dreamlike colors are like a sacred mountain in the eyes of photographers and enthusiasts. The tour guide is also happy to point out the best shooting angle. But if you want to take a photo without tourists as the background, you have to keep up with the tour guide and press the shutter quickly, so you can hear the click sound throughout the trip. Of course, this is also the main purpose of everyone coming to Antelope Canyon, to take pictures! It is really that the Antelope Canyon under the lens is even more peculiar than what you actually see.
Antelope Canyon is entirely natural light entering the cave through the cracks in the top rocks, so the color of the valley changes with the intensity of the light, from yellow to orange to pink to reddish brown to purple to blue. Orange-pink in summer, bluish-purple in winter. Teams at noon are the hottest. At this time, it is most likely to catch up with the strong sunlight directly hitting the bottom of the valley, producing light columns, and the rocks are also very colorful. Of course, this moment is usually the time when there are the most tourists, people come and go, and you can’t allow you to compose pictures slowly and take pictures carefully.
After going in and out of the round-trip visits, I finally got a feel for the rules of shooting. The best tour group is at noon, when the light is the strongest, and it can shoot directly from the sky into the bottom of the valley, so it is easier to compose pictures. We are In the afternoon, the slanting sunlight caused a lot of shadows, so I increased the ISO to 1600, and had to switch between 4-5.6 aperture to ensure the quality of the image, and didn’t allow the use of a tripod (there was no time to compose the picture), so I had to use average metering +2-3 gears of EV adjustment, and then leaning against the wall to ensure anti-shake, sometimes the speed is only 1/20th of a second, or longer, it is not easy to take a good photo.
The visit to Antelope Canyon was too hasty and tense, so that my aftertaste and sigh came from memories. I had no chance to listen to the tour guide’s explanation in the valley. I just followed his gestures and watched the guide map in my hand. I didn’t even have a chance to compare and search. It is not easy to pick out more than 20 photos that are slightly satisfactory from the more than 300 photos I took.
The beautiful Antelope Canyon, thanks to God, endows this mysterious land with amazingness. Those who have never been there or just look at the pictures will never find the feeling of being stunned by the sudden beauty. , can’t enjoy the mystery and joy of standing on this land. The meaning of travel may be the feeling experienced in the process of seeing and passing by, which is far more direct and shocking than taking photos.
At 16:45, we returned again under the urging of the Indian tour guide. The row of desert vehicles behind us set off almost at the same time. The west is to feel the rural atmosphere, the feeling of returning to the original, no matter how much the sun is shining, no matter how dusty the eyes are, we are still chasing the splendor, we are still young and happy…
