Side Canyons, Creeks and Waterfalls

The Grand Canyon is so vast and the folds of the earth so complex, that there exist many unique and beautiful places that are inconceivable when looking at the big hole in the ground from up on the rim. While rafting the river, we had the opportunity to visit a few of these special places that are particularly photogenic (it being a photography trip after all!)  We often camped or had lunch by a creek which might have a slot canyon to explore or waterfalls to admire.  Some of these creek environments are so sublime and so different from the rest of the canyon that there is a feeling of being transported to another place altogether.  Here are some shots of the more notable of our special spots.

Stone Creek Falls--we camped a short walk from this pretty falls and photographed it before dinner.

Matkatamiba Canyon--we stopped for lunch here and had a lot of fun wading up the narrow creek.

Little Colorado River--this was a special photo stop to capture the incredible color of the water. This river is really light blue with calcium carbonate. In the bottom shot you can see how it flows into the very dark green Colorado.

Deer Creek Falls--we stopped for lunch at this spot also, and stayed a while to shoot the falls.  The hardest part of photographing this falls was keeping the photographers out of the frame! This falls is about 30 feet tall.

Havasu Creek--this was a special stop just to photograph the amazing creek and canyon.  Again the water is light blue due to minerals.  A long hike upstream from here is the amazing 100-foot  Havasu Falls on the Havasupai Indian Reservation.