ANTELOPE SLOT CANYONS - ARIZONA

Since 1997, Antelope Slot Canyons have constituted a Navajo Tribal Park property, and all Antelope Slot Canyon tours are led by tribe-authorized guides. Upper Antelope Canyon is familiarly known as “The Crack.” Its Navajo name, Tse’ Bihanilini, means “place where water runs through rocks.” Its sheer walls tower to 120 feet, and it is especially popular because it is entirely at ground level, and no climbing is required.

By contrast, Lower Antelope Slot Canyon, “The Corkscrew” (Hasdestwazi in Navajo: “spiral rock arches”) is accessed by metal stairways and ladders bolted into the walls. Both Antelope Canyons were carved from Navajo sandstone as countless millennia elapsed. Located about five miles east of Page, Arizona and just off of Lake Powell, the Antelope slot canyons are on either side of Highway 98. The small signs denoting their approach just before the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station are nearly undetectable.

ANTELOPE CANYON TOURS from PAGE, ARIZONA

Both Antelope slot canyons are open year round for tours. While it would be a vacation sacrilege to traverse the canyons without a camera, photography can be difficult because of the wide exposure range required (10 EV or more) as a result of the reflecting light. Beams, or shafts, of sunlight are more common in Upper Antelope; they begin to peak in mid-March and start disappearing in early to mid-October. Be sure to keep this in mind when booking your Antelope Canyon tours. Four companies in the Lake Powell area currently offer Antelope Canyon Tours: -Antelope Slot Canyon Tours by Chief Tsosi, Page, Az. -Roger Ekis’ Antelope Canyon Tours, Page, Az. -Overland Canyon Tours, Page, Az. -Antelope Canyon Navajo Tours, Page, Az.

THE ANTELOPE CANYONS and FLASH FLOODING

While the sand on the slot floors is generally dry, flash flooding is an ever-present concern. The skies overhead can be brilliantly blue without a cloud in sight, but a rainstorm miles away can send water hurtling through the canyons. Recent history records a flash flood in October 2006 that raged for 36 hours and closed Lower Antelope slot for five months. In August 1997, a full-scale disaster struck when eleven visitors were swept away and killed by a flash flood. This tragedy led to the requirement of guide-led tours only. In addition, weather radios and alarm systems were installed at entrance stations. Cargo nets lie atop the canyon walls should they be needed in a rescue. With the addition of these safety measures, hundreds of thousands of visitors, hikers, and photographers have indulged in the pleasures of these slots. And, though barely perceptible, the powerful forces of nature continue to work their patient wonders upon the landscape.