Another Amazing Feat of Nature

The story goes that hundreds of years ago herds of antelope grazed on the grounds where natural forces carved an assortment of narrow passages through the sandstone to create what native Americans call Tsé bighánílíní or the place where water runs through the rocks.

This sacred Navajo monument is commonly known as Upper Antelope Canyon. This slot canyon is a phenomenal site to experience and photograph.

Since Antelope Canyon is a Navajo Tribal Park, access is is granted only through one of five guide services that operate from nearby Page, Arizona which is also home to the Glen Canyon Dam. I chose to take an extended 2-1/2 hour photographic tour.

I’ll illustrate my visit with photos that show you the scale of the passageways and canyon walls in relation to the size of an average visitor.

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This is one of vehicles used by our tour operator. The ride from Page to the canyon entrance takes about twenty minutes. Notice the vehicle’s sizable off-road tires.	,/td>
The canyon entrance is at the end of a long, sandy road, hence the need for off-road, four wheel drive transportation. The road is actually a wide channel that serves to drain the watershed for a large part of northeastern Arizona.
With five tour operators, there is a steady stream of visitors coming and going. This is the parking area immediately in front of the entrance. My experience was that each of the tours was well organized.

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Judging from the size of the two photographers here, you can gauge the narrowness of the pathways in the slot canyon. The color of the canyon walls varies greatly. Here the opening at the top of the wall is quite wide so it lets in a lot of bright light.
The pathways are very level making it easy to walk on the hard packed dirt surface. You can see that the walls jut out randomly along the pathway. As you are walking, you need to take care not to bump your head or appendages. The coloring is quite different here. The dim lighting accentuates the texturing of the rocks.

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The widest part of the canyon is a cathedral-like alcove near the entrance. Here the canyon opens to about 30 feet wide and the walls are simply splendid.

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For anyone interested, I chose the 2-1/2 hour photographic tour from Antelope Canyon Tours. The cost was $80.

Before this visit, Antelope Canyon had been on my list of “must see” places for several years. Now that I’ve experienced this enjoyable place, I am again thoroughly impressed by Mother Nature.

 

 
Written by: Arnie Lee

 

 

 

 

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