Explore Arizona: Antelope Canyon

Recently I was asked by a friend what were my highlights of the summer.  There were truly so many, from the Grand Canyon to Alaska, to simply spending time with the family on the beach in California.  I have to admit, however, that our visit to Antelope Canyon tops that list.  Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon located on the Navajo Reservation in Northern Arizona outside the city of Page.  It can be visited exclusively through guided tours, in part because rains during monsoon season can quickly flood the canyon.  The issue is that rain does not have to fall on or near the area, as rain falling dozens of miles away upstream can funnel into the canyon with little notice.  A few recent drownings have captured the media’s attention, and visits to Antelope Canyon, as well as to the many slot canyons in the area, are highly regulated.

You may have heard about the most expensive photo ever sold by photographer Peter Lik. Lik’s black and white photograph called Phantom sold for $6.5 million in 2014.  It features a shaft of light coming down into the canyon that appears to depict a ghost-like figure from dust particles in the air.  Since then, the popularity of Antelope Canyon has soared.  We did not get one of the iconic photos of the light shaft coming down through the canyon, as that occurs around noon when the sun is directly above. Rather, we had scheduled our tour for 7 am to avoid the following scene:

As you can see, Antelope Canyon is wildly popular now, and even if you book the first tour like we did, you are not guaranteed privacy.  However, the tour guides do their best to navigate around the other tours, and can even help you photograph the beauty of this natural cathedral.  Most guides are amateur photographers, and regardless of the time of day, will set up some pretty spectacular photos.  I used both my iPhone 7 and my Canon Rebel, but the photos I selected for my post were shot exclusively by the Canon.  Our tour was booked via our hotel, the Amangiri, who used Antelope Canyon Photo Tours, http://www.navajoantelopecanyon.com.  And yes, there will be another post featuring the jaw-dropping Amangiri in Utah.  Until then, enjoy my photos while you figure out how to plan your visit to Antelope Canyon.

If you are not that into taking photos, you can check out Amazon for some incredible wall art like this:

http://amzn.to/2wqLYgQ

All photos by Marci Symington for texAZtaste.com (except for the last one).  This is not a sponsored post.

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