Antelope Canyon

Antelope Slot Canyon near Page, Arizona

You can only go there by way of a tour administered by the Navajo Tribe and it was well worth the fee. There were two canyons I could visit but I chose the Upper Antelope Canyon. If you look carefully you can see someone just entering the slot in the center. The Navajo name for Upper Antelope Canyon is Tsé bighánílíní, which means "the place where water runs through rocks."

 

Even with a lot of people there at one time the experience was wonderful. 

 

The canyon was formed by erosion of the Navajo Sandstone by flash flooding. Rainwater runs into the basin above the slot canyon, picking up speed and sand as it rushes into the narrow passageways. Over time they have been eroded, making the corridors deeper and smoothing hard edges in such as way as to form the flowing shapes in the rock.

My arrival was the perfect time to see the rays of sunlight coming through one of the cracks above. 

 

The guides toss sand into the air to enhance the rays and by the time I left my hair was full of sand and my teeth gritty.

 

Sunlight enters the canyon through small openings at the top and bounces off the canyon walls to create mind-blowing colors and shadows.  I'm not sure what makes it look blue in some places but it was that way in several of my photos. I wished I had been alone so I could have stood and bathed in the warm beam of sunlight. It is one of those places you can't believe really exists.

 

“These words I choose are the only ones I can offer, for the canyon evokes wonder, imagination, and reverence. Antelope Canyon is a place of celebration for the eye, mind, and spirit.” – Michael Fatali