June 6th ~ Page, Arizona (Part 1)
Upper Antelope Canyon
Antelope Canyon is another of those iconic places in America that I have dreamed of seeing. There are two separate sections of Antelope Canyon – Upper and Lower. The Lower section is more strenuous and requires climbing up and down steep ladders. The upper section is doable for almost any fitness level.
A beam of light from above
Being located on tribal land, you must have a guide. We did not have any reservations for either section of Antelope Canyon and I was a tad bit concerned. However, with the temperature at 100 degrees, walking in the canyon also had me worried. We decided to go to the site for the upper canyon to find out what options might be available for us.
Capturing the reds
Upon arrival the morning time slot at 11:00 was already sold out and the noon tour almost filled. As we waited in line to purchase our tickets, I overheard one of the guides say that three people were no-shows for that tour. I walked up to her and asked if Tim and I might be able to take two of those places. She initially rebuffed me, and told me to go back in line. Then she came over and asked if we had cash. We did. So, not having to wait for a credit card to be run, we quickly paid and hopped into the back of a waiting pickup.
Heart shape
Our group of 14 was a great mixture. Four from Spain, four from India, two (plus their toddler) from Australia, two from the Caribbean, plus the two of us from Los Angeles.
I had read earlier that the photo tour for experienced photographers departed at 11:30, so I was hopeful that the lighting in the canyon might be optimal midday, and I was not disappointed.
Between Tim and I we took several hundred pictures in the 90 minute tour. It was that spectacular!
Cascading shelves
But I really should let you decide for yourself if you agree with me. So without any further adieu, here are a few more of our favorite shots from this morning…
GRATITUDE MOMENT: Today I am grateful that I was not too shy to speak up and ask if we could fill the spot where people had not shown up for the tour. The lighting turned out to be perfect and we walked away with some pictures that we love. I hope you enjoyed them as well.
A Note From Abroad 
Love the photos! And such a great story to go with it. Never hurts to ask 🙂
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It certainly worked out in our favor this time!
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These pictures are absolute beautiful. This location will definitely be on our bucket list!
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I could have easily spent a week in the Lake Powell area. There is much to see and do. Two nights was not long enough. Hope to come back again one of these days to take the day long boat trip to visit Rainbow Bridge, get to Lower Antelope Canyon and Monument Valley.
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Yes, I agree it was that spectacular! Your photos are beautiful. Glad you were able to get those two spots for the tour.
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Thank you. It was a highlight for us.
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Gorgeous! Great pictures. Sometimes I see these and wonder how much is digitized but I can see they are not. You did well. BTW, is that sand dribbling down in some of those shots?
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Yes, that was sand sliding down the rock. Looked like mini waterfalls.
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Yes it did, but I’m guessing they sweep it out periodically? If not you’d think it would fill up?
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The guide had tossed some sand from the floor up onto the shelf to create that effect. Slot canyons are kept pretty clean naturally by the occasional flood waters that come barreling through. That is how the canyons were formed in the first place. They are not accessible when it has rained due to flash flood possibilities.
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Oh yeah, I heard about flash flooding.
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Luck truly favors the bold! Good for you! Awesome shots, thanks for sharing. 🙂
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Glad you liked them. Thank you! I’m not really much of a wall flower, but don’t see myself as particularly bold most of the time. This time it worked in our favor.
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Very lovely photos, it must have been hard to cull down to just these. The slot canyons are magnificent and a wonder. Happy travels.
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I left quite a few “on the cutting room floor” 😬
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Stunning photos!
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Thank you!
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Amazing pics. Its on our list for early July. You must have a good camera and great skills using it!
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I am not close to being a professional photographer, but I do take LOTS of pictures and have learned a bit through trial and error along the way. All of these pictures were taken with a Sony RX 100, a small pocket sized “point and shoot” camera on an auto mode setting! But it is one of the best in that category and does very well in low light settings which was perfect for inside the slot canyon. We have used this model camera almost exclusively for the past several years and have gone through version I, II and now V. When shooting animals or specialized shots, we do sometimes break out our bigger Nikon cameras with a long lens.
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Amazing! We have been Sony fans for a while, currently on a HX80, but had problems with dust getting inside the zoom lense. Sounds like we should upgrade to RX100. Thanks for the tips on the tour, we will book a midday trip.
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Awesome photos of one amazing place. I spent Easter morning there a few years ago and your pictures make me want to return as soon as possible.
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Absolutely Stunning. This is on my list of must do and must see as well. Thanks so much for sharing.
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Stunning!
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Thanks!
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Truly fabulous photographs Tim and Joanne! Very artistic and the light….Wow. Memorable for you two! We’re armchair travellers now (mostly) so appreciate the experience and didn’t even break into a sweat!! Go carefully on your way. Best wishes.
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Thank you so much Joy. Appreciate your good wishes and delighted that you are following along with us.
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We went there but didn’t get snatching like such good pictures. These are amazing!
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Anything like! I just don’t understand autocorrect sometimes……
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I kind of liked “snatching” 😃 So glad you enjoyed our pictures.
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Thanks for sharing this experience, I never heard of Antelope Canyon…but am now going to research it! Your photographs are stunning! You definitely have the “photographer’s eye”.
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I hope you will be inspired to put this area on a future travel list. Our next post is about Horseshoe Bend which is also very close by. There is a lot to see near Lake Powell/Page.
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WOW!!!
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wasn’t it last year some folks entered the canyons against the advice of the owners because of a thunderstorm upstream from them? and they all died…sad but we have to be wise enough about our own lives! we really mean to make this trip someday..not that far from us…thks for yet another beautiful, wishful post!! love you!!
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Love you too Miss Carrie. It is just a hop, skip and a jump for you two to visit this area. And yes, sadly there are too many instances where people do not use common sense and end up paying with their lives.
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Great photos! We were just a couple of weeks ago. I haven’t even got around with the photos. You are fast!
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I find that when we travel, if I don’t post daily I forget where/what we have done. It forces me to stay on top of it and becomes my travel diary. Besides, I would be dying to see if the pictures turned out if I waited that long 🙂
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I had not heard of Antelope Canyon either. It is breathtaking. Is the one picture of a small waterfall? It almost looks like sand flowing. In the heart shaped photo, did you notice that the formation making the center portion looks like a woman’s face with long hair? At lease, I think it does. So glad that you decided to speak up and got to the canyon at just the right time for these fantastic views.
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You are right, it is sand flowing off of the rock ledge. I did not notice a woman’s face but do see what looks like hair.
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Spectacular place, fabulous photos! It’s definitely on my wish list.
Alison
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So glad you have it on your list. It took me a long time to get here, but was certainly well worth it.
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An incredible place – and another addition to my ever increasing list of places that I’d love to visit!
Fabulous photos btw 🙂
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Thank you so much Noeline. My list just keeps growing too 🙂
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Beautiful photos!! We did the lower Canyon tour at 10 am and the photos came out nice, but not as nice as yours!
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I think we hit it just right. The sun was sending beams in through the rocks and the colors were pure magic.
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I love your pictures! These formations are amazing!
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Thank you very much. We found it quite amazing too!
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Amazing pictures…
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Well done for speaking up! Your pictures are inxredible 🙂
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Thank you. We were pretty tickled with them😇
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Stunning photos. One of my favorite places in the world.
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I can see why it is a favorite. It really is special and unique.
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Hello, i too recently went to Antelope Canyon on my trip to Arizona and absolutely loved it. Have to see it to believe it. My own take on it with pictures in my wordpress blog below. It also covers our road trip to Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Vegas, SFO…
https://oftravelsandtales.com/picture-tour-of-our-us-trip-part-2/
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Thank you, I’ll check it out this evening.
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