Road Trippin' - Part 3: Antelope Canyon

Day 5 Antelope Canyon

The next morning I had us scheduled to do a tour of Lower Antelope Canyon.  This was the other reason we came to Page.  There’s Upper and Lower Antelope.  I had a hard time deciding between the two.  Upper Antelope has the light beams, even though they aren’t present in the winter the canyon is still beautiful.  Lower Antelope is narrower and more open at the top so the light reflects off the upper walls giving the canyon a beautiful glow and light and shadow play.   

When I was checking into each one, I found out Lower had some tight spots and ladders you had to climb up and down to get through the canyon.  Because of this I originally, I decided on Upper, but something kept drawing me back to Lower.  I was worried about the tight spots, because we both are large people and I wondered if we would even be able to make all the way through, and I knew Hubby wouldn’t like the ladders.  As it got closer to our trip I started to waffle between the two and even asked Hubby what his preference was.  I started to look at photos online and read other people's accounts of each and finally decided I wanted to do the Lower canyon tour, but there was a problem.  In my research I ran across a photo of the entrance.  It was basically a crack in the ground about 2 1/2 feet wide.  I couldn't find any real answers as to how wide it was and really started to wonder if we would be able to fit.  I emailed the tour company asking about the entrance and they told me it was very wide and they've never had a problem with anyone getting stuck.  The more I looked at that the photo and thought about the email, I thought something was wrong, so I emailed them again explaining in more detail my concerns and again they assured me they never had a problem before.  I thought well maybe we'll give it a try, but then again I thought that maybe other people were just smart enough to know better. 

I had told Jim, our guide from the other day, that we were planning on doing Lower Antelope and asked if he thought it would be a problem and if he had any advice on shooting in the canyon since I didn't know what the light was going to be like and I knew I couldn't take a tripod.  All he said was that the lower canyon was more V shaped, to start with ISO at 400 and to lean into the wall for the longer exposures.  

Our tour was scheduled for 11, but we had to be there and checked in by 10:30 so we had time to sit around and watch the other tourists.  There was a bus load of Asian tourists there and they were all taking selfies or group shots in front of the tour company sign with funny poses.  It was kind of comical to watch.

Finally our tour group was called up.  I had read that at Lower Antelope they do smaller tours, so I was surprised when we seemed to be in a fairly large group of 15 people.   But they split us up into two groups so our group consisted of us, three German tourist and our tour guide.  This helped keep things moving because guides didn't have to corral 15 people in one spot, which would of been very hard to do, due the the narrow nature of the canyon.

Stairway into Lower Antelope Canyon

To get to the canyon entrance, our guide lead us down a short trail which led down a steep hill to the first set of stairs.  Looking down from the top, it was a little intimidating, but he said we could go down backwards like climbing down a ladder and that made it easier.  We climbed down 5 flights of stairs to the bottom.  The canyon was beautiful with its smooth curving walls and interesting lines.  It's amazing what the power of water can carve.   I would of loved to do the photography tour they offer but it was more expensive and they only allow serious photographers (meaning anybody with a SLR camera) on those tours, so Hubby wouldn't of been able to come with.

The narrow path

I did the best I could and my pics aren’t professional by any means but they turned out pretty good, and I only had to throw away 2 that were out of focus that the guide had taken.  We wound our way through the canyon, listening to our guide point out the different structures in the canyon walls.  Some of them were clear as day and others you really needed to use your imagination to see them.  We were able to make it up and

 http://www.wildnatureimages.com

down the ladders and through the narrow spots.  The worst was the exit. This was the photo I was obsessing over online.   We had to climb up a few short flights of stairs and then squeeze ourselves out of this tiny crack in the ground.  When I was looking online they showed people entering the canyon at this point, but I think they switched it around because it was easier to climb down all those steeps stairs on the other side, rather than up to get out.  Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the exit, so I had to steal one online.

The tour was only about an hour and we had nothing else planned for the day, so we drove around stopping at the scenic overlooks over Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam and visiting gift shops.  By the time we left Page, we had crossed the Glen Canyon Bridge at least 6 times, and it got a littler easier each time.

Us in Lower Antelope Canyon

Page is a cute little town, but it’s not the place for the out of shape.  My shins, knees, and back hurt so bad it was difficult to walk.  I had big plans for the Grand Canyon, thinking we could hike ½ mile into the canyon to Ooh Aah Point, but after all the walking up and down the hills and ladders in  Page, I decided to stick to flat ground for a while.

Road Trippin' - Part 1; Minnesota to Arizona
Road Trippin' - Part 2: White Pocket