Thank Water for Beautiful Antelope Canyon
Water.
You place your hand under a running faucet. The water runs through your fingers, swirls around the drain beneath and disappears without a trace.
But, given time, water can create some of the most beautiful things you’ll ever see.
For evidence of that you need look no further than Arizona’s Lower Antelope Canyon.
Over millions of years, sandstone was created in the Navajo tribal lands of Arizona from sand, silt and gravel deposited and compacted into layers. Each layer providing an indication of time, much like the rings of a tree can be counted to determine its age.
Water, from the smallest of showers to the mightiest of downpours then came in, carving wondrous, narrow, slot canyons into the sandstone.
Descending into the canyon, you become enveloped by it. The sun cascades down from above, casting shadows and illuminating the walls into an endless variety of colors.
Touring the Canyon: Details
There is both a Lower Antelope Canyon and an Upper Antelope Canyon. Because the canyons are part of the Navajo nation, they are only accessible by participating in a tour led by a Navajo guide..
I did not visit Upper Antelope Canyon, but I’ve read it is easier to access and walk through than Lower.
Personally, I didn’t think Lower Antelope was that difficult. You should probably be in relatively average physical health, but decent coordination is probably more important than endurance.
As you should expect, there’s walking involved, but the floor of the canyon, for the most part, has been cleared out and is mostly flat. There are a few narrow spots and a couple of areas where you’ll have to do a little climbing over rocks, but nothing too serious.
The most difficult part is probably the steep, narrow, steps going down into the canyon, and then back up again at the other end. Most people take the steps going down backwards, and you’ll want to make sure your hands are free so you have a secure grip on the railing..
One note I hate to even mention, but feel I need to, to be entirely above board. I greatly disliked the way the tour was operated.
There were a half dozen tour groups, with a dozen people, give or take, in each group. The groups all left at the same time, with a slight delay between each group as we went down into the canyon.
Only a few minutes passed before the groups caught up with each other, so you basically had roughly 70 people crammed into this narrow canyon, all together, with guides trying to hustle us through because they had to keep within their one hour time limit.
Our guide was a friendly young man, no complaints about him, he was just handed a terrible situation. He had no time to tell us about the canyon because he spent all of his time herding people through.
Enough about that. If you’ve read my posts, you know I am very seldom negative about anything. I usually just don’t write about something if it’s been a bad experience.
But I wanted to write about the canyon because, despite the challenges of the tour, it's really worth visiting. It’s absolutely beautiful. I just don’t want anyone surprised if they run into the same situation I did.
If you’re curious which tour company I was with, its name is the same as Barbie’s boyfriend’s.
Enough of that, here’s the pics!
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**I allow use of my photos through Creative Commons License. I'm not looking to make money off this thing. I only ask you provide me with credit for the photo by noting my blog address, alansheaven.com, or a link back to this page.
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