We had reserved 'Ken' s Tours' for Lower Antelope Canyon at 10.30. We arrived early as requested and booked in. We had a quick wander round the gift shop and we were then directed to our meeting point. (There were a lot of people waiting at the ticket office for last minute cancellations and no shows. So pleased we had booked before we left home!!) We were allocated a guide in groups of 15. We were stunned when we realised the slot canyon was literally just a few feet away and we were walking the 5 mins to the entrance. There is no hint from ground level of what you are about to see.
We walked down a sandy slope to the canyon entrance. There were some very steep steps built down into the canyon. This apparently used to be the exit but it was changed so you didn't gave to walk back up a sandy hill at the end of your tour!
The next hour and 15 mins passed with many wow's and "OMG look". Keith was on camera duty this morning and I seriously thought the freshly charged camera was going to expire from overuse! 😂 Words really can't describe the colours and shapes visible throughout the canyon. This canyon has a V shape, narrow at the bottom and wider at the top. Some of the walk ways were to narrow to place a foot so you needed to half climb through the gaps. It as definitely the sort of experience you don't want to end. As you go through there are small metal stairways built in that gradually bring you back to the surface at the end of the mile long canyon and back out into the sunshine. Just a WOW experience.
We headed back to the hotel to recharge the camera. We grabbed a coffee from the hotel breakfast area (available for free all day) and took an hour to chill. We were due for a tour of the Upper Antelope Canyon, with Navajo tours, at 1pm ready for a 2pm tour. We stopped at Wal-Mart and bought a sub to share and headed back to Antelope Point. The temperature was rising by now and was heading for the mid 80s. We booked in, then sat in the air conned car to eat our lunch, then reapplied suncream before joining the meeting point. This canyon is about a 10 minute jeep ride away, we were allocated a guide (groups of 14ish) who then took us to our jeep for the short ride over the desert!
This canyon differed from this morning in a number of ways. First off you can just walk straight into the canyon. It is also A shaped so wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. This was very visible the further in we went as it got much darker, with just glimmers of sun high above us. It also felt much busier than Lower Antelope. Equally stunning in its own way it was perhaps spoilt a little with the number of people. We made our way through the canyon taking lots more pictures. Our guide gathered us together at the far end and we then made our way back through. The instructions say photos on the way in only, none on the return walk. It was well worth doing though. We returned on the jeep to the car park said our thanks to our guide and headed for the air con of the car!
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| would love to have had time to take a boat out on the lake |
It has again been a lovely day with staggering scenery. We popped back to the hotel to shower before heading to Denny's for dinner! Keith was looking forward to his Denny's milkshake.
As we got ready for bed later we found an old programme on the TV showing the building of the Glen Canyon Dam and how Page was built around it - fascinating.
Tomorrow's plan is a long drive to Moab via Monument Valley.
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