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Day 8: After seeing photos of this place at the top of every “Things you must see before you die” list, we finally found ourselves within a stone’s throw from the most photographed area on the Colorado River, the stunning Horseshoe Bend:

It was amazing to us that such a renowned place was so easily accessible (map). We parked in the dirt lot (no restrooms here), followed the short .7-mile dirt and rock trail (1.5 miles roundtrip) and voila! We had arrived:

Note: A wide angle lens, or a fisheye lens is necessary to fit this incredible site into the frame, and trust us when we say you don’t want to miss any little piece of it.

An ideal retreat for outdoor enthusiasts, there are six designated campsites that you can see from the cliff’s edge! None of them are accessible by land, they are exclusive to recreational boaters on the river. If you’re interested you can rent kayaks here:

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Breathing, gazing and relaxing, we lounged on the cliff’s radical edge, not even flinching at the 1,000 foot drop below. I guess when you decide to leave your job, sell your possessions and dive into a future filled with the unknown, that 4,200 foot overhang doesn’t seem like such a big deal. I actually felt a true sense of peace with my feet dangling over that ledge:

Something we’ve grown to love in tourist dense places like this is the prime opportunity for high-quality people watching. Check out this award wininng father and son tribal hoop dancing team! Part of a company called Native Spirit, these 2 traveled to Horseshoe Bend for a supremely unique photo shoot and we were lucky enough to capture some shots of our own:

After taking in the sites, people and reality of being in such a beautiful place, we couldn’t help but feel joy for being right where we were… on the edge, together.