!!!Horseshoe Bend Colorado River Arizona

by Mike Reyfman,
member of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

14 September 2011

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

American Southwest is where the wind, water and passing time carved the
most impossible, fantastic shapes in the ancient sandstone. This area is
a true geological Wonderland, and Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado River
is its most precious jewel.

The emerald-green river makes a giant u-turn of 1,000 ft (330 m) under
the steep cliff of the Marble Canyon. How deep is 1,000 feet? Imagine
standing at the rooftop of 99-storey building. Can you get to the edge?
Keep in mind that there are no guardrails at the Horseshoe Bend
overlook. There is actually no overlook per say. You just casually walk
on the giant plateau until suddenly the abyss opens up under your feet.
You breath is taken away, and even the bravest of us feel dizzy and weak
for a moment. By the way, this white spot on the river is a speedboat
with people, and that tiny speckle near the end of the road is the
parking lot for several dozens of cars. I think this will give you a
good idea of the picture scale.

Remember the old saying "dripping water wears away a stone"? The
Colorado River is the best example. Over the course of billion years a
little river, running from Rocky Mountains of Colorado and being filled
up by melting mountain snow, has created hundreds and hundreds of miles
of colossal canyons down its path. Magnificent Grand Canyon begins a bit
south from the Marble Canyon, which you can partially see in this
virtual tour; and if you look north, you'll see Lake Powell, which is
also created by overflowing waters of the Colorado River. We'll visit
these places in our future virtual tours!

Here is a piece of trivia for you: people looking for a "beautiful
death" often choose Horseshoe Bend as a place to jump into their "next
life". So this place is rightfully considered the suicide capital of
Arizona.

It is relatively easy to reach the Horseshoe Bend viewpoint. The Bend is
a short hike away from U.S. Route 89, about 2.5 miles (4 km) south of
little town called Page (AZ). It's only half of a mile from the parking
lot to the cliff. Thanks to its convenient location, Horseshoe Bend
became one of my very first places in American Southwest. Places that I
visited and fell in love with. Since that time my every trip to the
Southwest brings me here. Sometimes I am alone, sometimes — with a group
of students (I conduct educational photo tours to American Southwest on
a regular basis). I enjoy observing mixed feelings of excitement,
curiosity and dismay in people who stepped on the Horseshoe Bend cliff
for the first time. Sometimes I come with my camera, sometimes — without
it, so I can sit at the edge, dream and think of the essence of our
being.

One day we had an idea to photograph this amazing place from above. The
only available helicopter was found almost 250 miles (400 km) south, but
it didn't stop us! Horseshoe Bend and near-by Lake Powell looked
unbelievable from the air, and aerial photographs that we took during
that flight still win international photo awards.

During one of those helicopter flights in 2006 Oleg Gaponyuk (future
founder of AirPano) has shot his first spherical panorama, which has
been digitally assembled later. This sphere became the beginning of
aerial spherical panoramas. Click here to view >>>

When I was sitting next to Oleg in the helicopter that day, I was
puzzled — what is he doing? — I watched intensely our pilot Maria, who
followed Oleg's instructions and held us up on the same level rotating
clockwise, nervously wiping sweat off her brow.

Years later, as AirPano project grew bigger I continue taking part in it
with great pleasure. Panoramas presented in this virtual photo tour were
shot in different seasons: September 2010 and February 2011. I hope that
you will find them interesting. Enjoy!

You can also see the ground panorama here.

\\ \\
[3 Panoramas of Horseshoe Bend Colorado River Arizona|Geography/America/United_States/Pictures/Panoramas_of_Horseshoe_Bend]










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