Toadstools, Horseshoe Bend and the Grand Canyon

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah and Arizona
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

The road east and south from Zion was calling so off I went. First stop was at the Grand-Staircase Escalante and the Toadstool Route. Once I got back to the first rock formation I tried to duplicate the photo on the sign at the trailhead. Then I wandered around looking at the weird formations and spent about an hour exploring up a side canyon I found.

I headed towards the Arizona border with plans to hike around Page and maybe go to the lower Antelope Canyon. It was stormy when I got to page so I went a little further south to the Horseshoe Bend trailhead. While only a short mile or so hike to the overlook it is a sandy tough little hike. Lots of tourists making the trek, mostly German. Saw some inappropriate footwear on some of them. The view was fantastic, as was watching people with a real fear of heights near the edge of the cliffs. After enjoying the view it was back to the truck and off again with plans to go hike and find cool looking desert plants.

As I was going south I came up to a turn with a sign "Grand Canyon 28 miles" so I made the turn and headed for the east entrance of the Canyon. Rain was pouring down from a storm when I got to the entrance but it was a fast moving storm. I found a place to park and hiked along the Rim Trail. In places the crowds were pretty full, but once it started raining again the tourists all scampered for cover leaving me on the rim with almost no company. I liked watching the rain showers work around the canyon. Some elk were feeding on the rim in one section, and I overheard a foreign visitor call it a big deer. Kinda is I suppose. As evening came I headed out the main south entrance to the park and found a place to stealth camp in the Kaibab National Forest. A good end to a great day of exploring the southwest.