I had been looking forward to our visit to the Upper Antelope Canyon all week. The images I had seen on numerous sites were amazing with exotic, fluid shapes and warm colors that seemed surreal. The photography would be challenging. Bright daylight filters down through openings at the top of the slot canyon and it could be fairly dark at the bottom. The dynamic range of light could easily overwhelm the camera sensor. I set things up the best I could guess and we set off. 

The Slot Canyon is only about two-hundred yards long and I took over two-hundred images.

We had arranged our tour with a company that offered deluxe vans.  They were comfortable and outfitted with four wheel drive and off-road tires and wheels. It turned out to be a good choice. After we left the highway it was a good couple of miles of rough sandy wash before we got to the entrance. Many tours offered seating in the back of open pick-ups, strapped to benches on both sides. That would have been a rough ride.

There were thirteen of us in our van. This would be the group we would stick with, the driver being our guide and shepherd. The groups went through in a steady stream one at a time with just enough space in between to separate the groups. Here's a collection of images from our tour.

Susie approaching the entrance

Our guide took this for us. 

It took some real horsepower from Photoshop to bring these to life. And, because the ISO was so high, everything went through a de-noise filter. But the slot was pretty spectacular.

Coming out the other side, we had to go back over the top of what we had just passed through. This gave us a good glimpse of the desert. 

Our guide told us the pock marks in the rocks were from shots fired at Indians hiding in the slot canyon.

This is the wash above the slot canyon. Flash floods would fill this with a torrent of water, all of which went through the slot. These flood carved the canyon.

Looking down on the exit from above

Metal stairs took us to the top and we walked across a sandy trail back to the vehicles.

Looking back at the wash above the canyon

This is the wash below the slot canyon. You can just see one of the vehicles heading back at the end.

And we're back at our vans. We were in the pretty ones.

This marked the end of our trip in terms of planned events. The car was already loaded---we had checked out of our motel before the tour---so we grabbed lunch and headed back to Flagstaff for an uneventful flight home the next morning.

It was a whirlwind trip but worth every minute of it. 

Let me leave you with this reminder. The video is set in a different biosphere but the words of the old hymn performed by the Getty's still speak to our experience:

This Is My Father's World

Thursday, October 20

 Thursday was our last day at the Grand Canyon. We had scheduled a sunrise tour for that morning and met our tour bus about forty-five minutes before sunrise. As it turned out, we could have saved ourselves the cost of the tour. The shuttles could have taken us to the same place and we would have missed only the driver's narration. 

In any case, we drove to Hopi Point to watch our last sunrise at the Canyon.

When we got back to the lodge, we packed our gear, loaded the car and began the drive east again along SR 64. Our next stop would be Page, AZ, a three hour drive north with a few stops along the way.

Susie took this of me on one of our stops en route.

We stopped at a side attraction offering a view of the Little Colorado River. The site had the requisite Navajo pottery and jewelry for sale, and a sign warned us to stay on the trail and look out for rattlesnakes and scorpions. We did and were treated to this view of the Little Colorado.

The landscape along the trail.

It's hard to capture this in a photo. The canyon walls are scary steep and solid rock.

Susie enjoying the view.

SR 64 connects with Hwy 89 which would take us up to Page. It's a gorgeous drive with amazing rock formations, desert and tantalizing invitations to go off trail. Since we were on a schedule we had to bypass several of these opportunities, but we still enjoyed the ride.

The Vermillion Cliffs

We arrived at Page and enjoyed a prime rib dinner in a local family restaurant. Page is a relatively small town of just over seven-thousand residents, but it sits in the heart of many of Arizona's scenic hot-spots. Lake Powell is there. Horseshoe Bend is just SW of town. Monument Valley, Glen Canyon National Recreational Area, and Bryce Canyon National Park are all within easy driving distance. But we only had one more day and that would take us to the Upper Antelope Canyon, a slot canyon famous for it's fantastic shapes.

Wednesday, October 19

 The Grand Canyon is deservedly one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. It looks almost as if a pair of giant hands rent the earth apart leaving behind this enormous gash to which some five million visitors come each year to witness its majesty.

I woke up early Wednesday morning (still on Michigan time) and stepped outside for some sunrise photos. In the first picture you can see the Bright Angel Trail heading down to the Phantom Ranch.

The vistas are amazing in every direction and I was only witnessing one section of the chasm between two points. 

While I was out a cow elk wandered by, munching on the available browse. She seemed completely unconcerned with my presence, and the several others out for the sunrise, and enjoyed her breakfast stroll through the village.

Grand Canyon Village is a small town with year round residents, mostly the staff serving the visitors and Park Service employees. They have their own school including a high school which graduates about fifteen students each year.

Looking west along the rim sits the Lookout studio. It was designed by architect Mary Coulter as a place for visitors to photograph the canyon.

The Hopi House was another Coulter design, modeled after Hopi pueblos. Tourists can buy American Indian arts and crafts.

At 9:00am we boarded a Desert View tour bus to visit the eastern reaches of the Canyon. It took us along SR 64, stopping a various overlooks and ending at Navajo point and the Desert View Watchtower. This is where the Colorado River enters the Grand Canyon and the canyon itself begins to open up. 

Susie took her Stetson, first chance she's had to wear it.

The watchtower at Navajo Point was another Coulter project. It was conceived to resemble other towers built by the Navajos in the desert. The are was under construction so photography was constrained.

One of the juniper trees that populated the landscape

Mary Coulter used Native American petroglyphs in the walls

One of the ceremonial shields used during the dedication in 1932

The views from Navajo Point spilled out over the desert to the east.

You can see the Colorado River coming into the Canyon from the east

On the way back we made a stop to see "the duck on a rock."

We poked around the rim during the afternoon then took a shuttle out to Mohave Point for the sunset. Again, the afterglow was amazing.

The setting sun just kisses the peaks in the Canyon.

And then back to the lodge for another night's rest.