Antelope Canyon - Wow!

Roger here...  We spent two nights in Page, AZ on the way to Zion so we could tour Upper Antelope Canyon.  I had seen photos of Antelope Canyon in numerous publications, including National Geographic, for years.  I have always wanted to see it.  Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon, which essentially means that it is extremely narrow.  It was formed by water cutting through sandstone.  The result is jaw-dropping.  The canyon is on the Navajo Reservation.  All trips through the canyon are required to be led by Navajo guides --- a good thing, from my perspective.  It made the tour more interesting and probably helped to maintain this pristine place.


We booked the one-and-one-half hour tour as soon as we arrived at the Lake Powell/Page Campground.  The most popular 11:30 tour for the next day (sunlight shining directly through the openings above) was already full.  We were able to get a spot on the next tour at 1:30 p.m.

Our Navajo guide picked us up at the campground in a flatbed truck in which the bed was converted to accommodate passengers.  The trip to the canyon on paved and unpaved (bumpy and sandy) roads was quite the white-knuckle ride.  We held on for dear life. 


Here is a shot of the entrance.

The floor of the canyon was entirely light orange sand.  It was like walking on a beach.




















At one point, our guide threw some of the sand up on a ledge to illustrate how the sandy floor falls from the upper part of the canyon.  

There were lots of people being led by numerous guides.  Without a doubt, more than half the tourists were not from the United States --- German, Japanese, French, etc.  Squeezing by people in some of the very narrow areas was sometimes a challenge.

Dianne was the chief photographer during this adventure.  Here she poses to demonstrate the angle necessary to take most of the pictures.  Two purposes here.  One, to show the interesting light at the top of the canyon.  Two, to avoid having lots of people who we do not know in the pictures.  And.... she took lots of pictures.  She has to have sore shoulders right now, but she is not complaining --- what a trooper :-)


Here are a few of my favorite shots, followed by a slide show.

All Photos From Antelope Canyon Tour


Dianne here:  The pet picture of the day was taken at our current location, Zion River RV Resort, in Virgin, Utah.  Our site backs up to the Virgin River, so every morning we take the "kids" over the flood wall and down to play near the water.  Using the expandable leash, Bandido is able to fetch sticks from the river.  

Tequila watches from shore, but she has just as much fun sniffing all the unique smells down by the river.  She has waded into the shallow water, and one of these days I think she'll take the plunge, too!