Antelope Slot Canyon

Note: this is the last (!) of a series of posts that deal with topics covered before in the Blog, but now we have the pictures processed to prove it!

September 9, 2008
Antelope Slot Canyon, Navajo Reservation near Page, AZ

Also covered in a prior post, we had an excellent time visiting the Antelope Slot Canyon. Starting from the tour company office in "beautiful downtown Page", we (Geri and I plus 10 others) piled into the back of an old Ford 4WD pickup outfitted with bench seats and rattled and bumped our way to the Antelope Canyon on the Navajo Reservation, just outside town. Antelope Canyon has been formed, of course, by Antelope Creek, which only runs when it rains. Heavily. Within +/- 8 miles.

Fortunately for us, the threatening showers that day held off and found a different area to rain on. The last 3 miles or so of the truck ride take you right up the dry creek bed, through quite a bit of loose sand. Our guide (driver) spent some time "playing" in the sand, power-sliding around curves and weaving across ruts. The passengers concluded that he needed to try riding in the back, just once.

The primary focus on the tour was photography; there are cheaper and shorter tours earlier and later in the day for people who just want to see the sight/site. When I return (I definitely would like to go back), I'll try to find a time of year when it's less crowded, and maybe find a private (as opposed to truckload) tour. No matter what, this was probably the highlight of the stay in Page/Lake Powell, photographically speaking. For the pure experience, it was right up there with the river rafting.

Click here for selected photos. I'll probably post some more pictures in the future, since I want to play around with cropping, retouching, and color management with some of the better photos from this set.