Onward and upward - Lone Rock Beach and Horseshoe Bend - heading to Utah

At the beginning of May I joined the WINs, (Wandering Individuals Network, An RV Singles Travel Club.)  They had been in Cottonwood while I was there and I sat in on some of their afternoon "circle" meetings where they talk about what they did that day and events planned for the next day. 
 
I have been thinking of joining for a couple of years, visited a few times as a guest and finally decided to join to see if I liked traveling with a group.  They have different "circuits" and members travel together for the entire circuit, or come and go, visit the locations they want, and wander off to see other things for a while.  No obligation, of course, and you can pick and choose which trips appeal to you during the year.  Some people are full-timers, others are part-timers.
 
The first place I went as a member was Lone Rock Beach in Utah, right over the border from Page, Arizona.  It's a National Park and we had to pay to camp there, but it's only $14 a night - and with the America the Beautiful Senior Pass, it's reduced to $7 a night.  You can camp in the dunes, on the beach, or up on harder packed  ground overlooking the beach.
 
Here's Lone Rock:
 

From the National Park Service website:  No designated campsites. Open fires permitted, must be within four foot squared area. Quiet time 10pm-6am. 4 micro flush toilets, 6 vault toilets, 1 comfort station/wheelchair accessible, outdoor cold shower, Off Road Vehicle area, dump station, potable water (seasonal), and day use area. No launch ramp.  No reservations.
 
Below is a picture of the view out my window.  It was really pretty at sunset.
 

On cloudy days, the colors were completely different:
 

A large boat pulled in and tied up on the beach in front of where we were sand-camping.
 

Here's the same view of the boat and Lone Rock in the morning, with kayakers between them.  Shows the size of both the boat and the rock, and the morning colors: bright, clear and peaceful.
 

Check this website for more information on Lone Rock Beach. 
 
The weather was perfect for a few days, then LOTS of wind, and then a little rain.  Very changeable.  On the windy day it was very hot, and the wind blew all day, with HUGE gusts of sandy wind that rocked The Palms on and off all day.  Some of the WINs took off in the morning to do some inside sightseeing and be out of the wind, some moved up to the harder packed overlook location and the rest of us just hunkered down inside with our doors and windows shut tight and our air conditioners on.  It was a weird day.  One of the men who left his RV for the day said that he left some windows open, totally forgot to close them, and he had inches of sand over everything inside his Class A motor home.  He's probably still finding piles of sand to sweep away.  I did pretty well, The Palms seems to be pretty air tight, so far dirt or sand in a windstorm or water in a driving rain doesn't get in if everything is shut tight. Thank you, Forest River!
 
While at Lone Rock, the group had lots of activities scheduled, as they always do, lots of hikes, sightseeing, restaurants, etc., and one of things I chose to do was visit Horseshoe Bend.  I've seen photos of it, and thought it would be fun to post my own pictures.  
 
It was close to where we were camped and such a beautiful day!  Lots and lots of people there, too. Here are a couple of the shots I took - I think this one is the best:
 

There was a short sandy hill to climb and when we got to the top, this is what we saw - a long gradual sandy trek down to the overlook of Horseshoe Bend.  We could see people lining the overlook from one side to the other.   We started down and joined the crowd.  Of course as we were walking I was thinking, Sure hope I make it back up!  Turns out I'm in better shape than I thought.
 

See the feet of the man standing close to the ledge in the photo below?  I thought these people were taking a risk, but I have to admit, I went pretty close and leaned a bit to get that first horseshoe shot without the side rocks in the way.  It feels much safer than it looks, but people do fall over into Horseshoe Bend.
 

I had to get a photo of this girl - she was on a ledge in front of that rock - pretty darn close to the edge as her friends were taking her photo:



 


Lots of red rock here, just like at Sedona.
 
Here's a picture of the people we passed on our way back up to the top and over and down to the car.  If you look closely, you'll see a line of people starting with the ones you can easily see, then behind them, curving around and then back to the right. About 2/3 of the way across the skyline is a structure, and to the right you can almost see people cresting the hill.  Coming back up was quite a trek, but we made it.  Then we continued on down the sandy path to the parking lot.
 

It was a great day; I was really glad I went.

From me and Katie, have a nice day, everybody!