First let me start by saying that winter is coming in the US, and even if I am in the southwest, the temperature at night is dropping quickly.  The night after leaving Tucson I was sleeping in my FJ at a truck stop, and in spite of having put a new quilt over my thick blanket, and wearing fleece, a warm hat, and mittens, I was freezing!  In the morning I found that the temperature was just below freezing and there was a layer of frost all over the truck.  Granted I was at about 7,000 ft elevation there, but I think I need to prepare myself better for the cold weather!

My next stop was in Page, AZ, where I was was hoping to see Antelope Canyon, another bucket list place for me.  I first stopped at Glan Canyon Dam on the Colorado River, though, and enjoyed the warm sunshine for a while.

The dam itself, in spite of being rather graceful in design, seems to be quite controversial, with many questioning it’s value and impact.

The main purpose of my visit to Page was to see Antelope Canyon, one of the few slot canyons in the area, and one of the most photographed in the world because of it’s beauty.  Because the canyon is on Navajo land, there is no private viewing, and everyone must be part of a tour group.  I found an operation, which I’m not going to name for reasons that will become obvious, run by the Navajo, and signed up for the scenic tour — they run professional photographic tours as well.  There are two parts to Antelope Canyon, the Upper and the Lower, and I was touring the Upper.  Both part of the canyon are carved into the sandstone of the region, primarily by flash flooding during the monsoon season, a process that’s still ongoing.

When I checked in and was waiting for the tour to begin, I was surprised to see a young man in Navajo costume walk out and suddenly start dancing in the parking lot.  I’ve been to a few pow wows, but have never seen this ring dance before, so maybe it’s a Navajo thing, or even a modern adaptation?

 

When the time came, we were instructed to climb into the back of what were essentially large pickup trucks, with seats in the back facing sideways, about 14 of us to a truck.  We started looking for the seat belts but the guides wanted to get the tour started on schedule so, OH&S be damned, the truck took off with none of us strapped in.  I was in the last seat, nearest to the tail gate, which was about two feet high (about the level of my knees) and held in place by a cotter pin.  What could possibly go wrong?  We tore through town and down another road at high speed, with all of us hanging on for dear life.  Naturally I let go with one hand to take a picture…

Once we turned onto a dirt track I thought the ride would slow down a bit, but actually it didn’t, just got bumpier.  We were tossed around pretty madly, with me going from sitting in the lap of the guy next to me to hanging over the tail gate.  Somewhere in the middle of all this I was struck by the humor of it all, and spent the rest of the trip laughing my head off while contemplating my imminent death.

But, either thanks to our driver or in spite of him, we arrived alive, if rather dishevelled.  The entrance to the canyon was rather unassuming, and from a distance you would think it no different from any other crack in the rocks.

But inside… magic!  Pure flowing beauty in stone!  I’m going to let the pictures I took there speak for themselves, because there’s really not much I can add to what they say about the canyon.  I have many more.  I took all of these with my Samsung phone, and not at the ideal time of day, so just imagine what someone with a good camera and actual photographic skills could do.  And if you’re wondering why all of these pictures are looking upwards, it’s because there were actually a lot of people there, as seen in the first photo.  But I still loved every minute of it, and would love to go back at different seasons and times of day to see it change.  If you Google Antelope Canyon images you can see many more and better photos.

To view the canyon you walk in and then back out along the same route.  I was so wrapped up in the sweeping lines of the seemingly liquid rock, that I had almost managed to forget about the return trip in the truck.  But we all climbed in,  I didn’t even bother looking for a seat belt, just grabbed the nearest handhold, and bounced around the place as I laughed hysterically the whole way back.  Totally worth it, would do it again in a heartbeat!