Antelope Canyon, Arizona

I'll tell you right up front, this is going to be a photo-heavy post. To see the whole post, click on "Read more" at the bottom; it's in tiny green type, so it's easy to miss.

Vertical streaks are from water pouring over the lip of the canyon

Antelope Canyon is outside Page, Arizona, and very near Lake Powell. Why we never visited when we lived in Arizona, and camped at Lake Powell several times, is completely beyond me. 

Lake Powell full moon

 

It’s a Navajo Tribal Park, and tours of either the upper or lower canyon must be booked through one of the companies in the area, as well as a day use fee to enter tribal land. We chose Lower Antelope Canyon because it’s less visited and there were bound to be smaller crowds. According to the guides, it’s also longer than Upper Antelope Canyon. We went into the canyon on two different days, once mid-day and once in the morning, to experience different lighting.

 

The weather was perfect for our visit: warm, still, and dry. On occasion the tours will be cancelled if there is a threat of rain that can cause a flash flood, a wind can make for a dusty day down in the canyon. The floods are powerful enough that the metal stairs bolted to rock are torn away and must be replaced a couple of times a season. One of our guides described having to empty the canyon floor of water left after the flood has passed; it all has to be done with buckets.

Stairs inside Lower Antelope Canyon

One of the main draws of the upper canyon is the famous “beam of light” that shines down into the canyon at mid-day, although there is a 20-minute ride in the back of a jeep to get there. The entrance and exit to the lower canyon was just a few minutes walk from the tour offices.

The upper canyon is “A” shaped, with wider floors and a narrower mouth, so it tends to be darker, which makes using a tripod more necessary. By contrast, the lower canyon is “V” shaped, and in a couple of places the floor is only about the width of your foot. Despite some of the tighter spots, my claustrophobia didn’t kick in, maybe because it was so fascinating to walk through.

Fairly typical passage width

Both guides we had were good about describing how the canyons were formed, and at pointing out different formations and shapes in the rocks. I tended to lag behind, so missed about half the information, but it seemed that every time you took a step, there was a new shape to pick out.

The Chief

It would have been easy to spend hours in just one of the canyons, trying different angles with all the abstract shapes, watching the light shift, and experimenting with a variety of shots. It’s truly amazing what water and time can create, and it’s definitely a place we’ll make a point to visit again.

Canyon exit in lower left