Lower Antelope Canyon - Page AZ

Click on any photo to enlarge. 

We would like to thank our friends Barbara & Andy for recommending the Lower Antelope Canyon.  We met Barbara & Andy (who are from England) back in 2007 at Yellowstone while we were waiting for geysers to erupt.  Lower Antelope Canyon, called Hazdistazí, or "spiral rock arches" by the Navajo, is located in Page AZ. The road to Antelope Canyon is gated by the Navajo Nation. 

From above, Lower Antelope Canyon is just a crack in the ground. The excitement and joy started to take over on the first sight of what is below the ground.

Even following the installation of stairways, it is a more difficult hike than Upper Antelope—it is longer, narrower in spots, and even footing is not available in all areas.

Despite these limitations, Lower Antelope Canyon draws a considerable number of photographers, though casual sightseers are much less common there than in Upper.

The lower canyon is in the shape of a "V" and shallower than the Upper Antelope. Lighting is better in the early hours and late afternoon.

 To show only a few of the exquisite photos of the canyon would not do it justice.

On a bright sunny day the colors of the canyon are incredible. 

 Today, ladder systems have been bolted in place, and deployable cargo nets are installed at the top of the canyon.

Antelope Canyon is visited exclusively through guided tours, in part because rains during monsoon season can quickly flood the canyon. Rain does not have to fall on or near the Antelope Canyon slots for flash floods to whip through, as rain falling dozens of miles away 'upstream' of the canyons can funnel into them with little prior notice.

August 12, 1997, eleven tourists, including seven from France, one from the United Kingdom, one from Sweden and two from the United States, were killed in Lower Antelope Canyon by a flash flood.

Very little rain fell at the site that day, but an earlier thunderstorm had dumped a large amount of water into the canyon basin, seven miles upstream.

At that time, the ladder system consisted of amateur-built wood ladders that were swept away by the flash flood. 

They say that the right center section looks like the face of an Eagle coming out of the rock.

Our guide takes a picture of Kathy and me.  The floor of the canyon is sand which is easily removed during a severe storm.  The guides then have to haul in sand to reinstall a new floor. 

Look at the contrast of colors in the following photos. 

The walk at Lower Antelope Canyon is long, narrow, and there were a few spots where there was hardly any footing.

Grains of sand fall from the funnel rock formation. 

  

For the most part when we were inside Lower Antelope Canyon, we felt like we had the canyon all to ourselves. There were other tourists of course, but the canyon is long enough for us to spread apart and have our small private spaces. Occasionally, we bumped into each other, or we had to stop because someone was taking a picture or was composing a picture, but for the most part, our time at the canyon was fantastic. 

At the end, the climb out requires several flights of stairs.

We had about a 1/4 mile walk back to our staging area.  We would highly recommend this canyon to anyone passing by Page AZ.  It was truly a great experience!  Kathy & I agree that the Lower Antelope Canyon tour is in our top 5 of places that we have visited in our travels.