We left Durango on Sunday to make our way towards Kanab, Utah our home for the next three days. Kanab is a central hub for Zion, North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and Grand Staircase Escalante.  We left early on this 330 mile segment of the trip in the hopes that we would arrive with enough daylight hours for a hike in one of the many slot canyons in the area. We had our sights set on Zebra Slot Canyon, more later on how they turned out.

Enroute we realized that we would pass The Four Corners, the only place in the United States where 4 states meet: Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.  Because of Quan’s love for cheesy pictures this was a “Must Stop.”  There is a line to take photos at the exact spot where the 4 States meets:

Perhaps the biggest highlight of this stop was watching the ridiculous photos people take here and how excited they get about this…well that and the amazing snow cones sold in the parking lot. Here are our the ridiculous photos we took when it came our turn at the Four Corners as well photos of the snow cone we celebrated with afterwards:

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​ Onwards to Kanab!  Page, Arizona was our lunch stop and while there we realized that Horseshoe Bend was only a 5 minute drive and 1.25 mile hike away.  Apparently, the Horseshoe Bend hike was a lifelong dream for Quan (Jesse first heard about this lifelong dream for the first time shortly after she spotted the Horseshoe Bend hike photos at the cafe where they had lunch).

Horseshoe Bend was pretty easy find as it is directly off of Highway 89 in Page with lots of highway markers directing to the trailhead.  Warning, this is a real tourist attraction so there were several large tourist buses. Despite this, you will get some of the best views and photos anywhere and we saw one tourist risk his life for a photo which you can see to the left of Quan in the photo below.

While the first part of it is uphill, Horseshoe Bend hike is a relatively easy loop. We saw hikers of all ages and physical fitness. If you travel in the summer do bring water and a head covering to protect against the sun. There was an extreme heat warning in place when we arrived with temps over 100.

One hour and fifteen minutes from Page is Kanab, Utah, where we were staying and its also where google maps had listed as the location of Zebra Slot Canyon (a 5 mile hike). Unfortunately Google maps directed us to a housing development in Kanab, 2.5 hours away from where Zebra Slot Canyon actually is.  We sent a report to Google to flag the issue, but just in case stay the listing stays, steer clear of these directions (it’s currently the top google result when you search “Zebra Slot Canyon Trailhead” )

It was probably a good thing we didn’t hike there as an hour after we arrived in Kanab the skies opened up and it poured for hours (we were told it’s a rare monsoon going through the region) which is certain death in a slot canyon.

Kanab will be home for the next few days while we try our luck at The Wave (Coyotte Buttes) lottery and go on day trips to some of Jesse’s favorite hikes on the world!