sunset

A shot of Horseshoe bend at sunset.  To get this image we're perched at the edge of the rim, but back a few yards from the edge, because of some very strong winds.   The winds were sandblasting us the whole time. 

 When I posted the previous image  I should have explained myself a little bit when I said that Horseshoe Bend had changed a lot since we were there last.  

When we were there in 2011 or 2012 you drove back a short dirt lane to a parking area that was just a packed down area in the desert.  You then hiked over a hill to the rim.   There would be a few photographers around, some may have traveled in a small motorhome, but that was it. Pictures would appear in photography magazines once in a while and it was known to locals and the photography community.  

Then came social media, everyone in the world saw the pictures and wanted to see it for themselves.  The appeal grew, crowds came complete with tour busses.  The parking was chaotic and it came to a head once a tour bus ran over a pedestrian.  So the city of Page built a formal parking area, graded the trail to the rim and installed toll booths and started collecting a fee to park a visit.  We paid $10 for our truck.  

The above is what we were told when we asked the toll booth person about the changes.