Lake Powell and Antelope slot canyons

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Oct 28, 2008

After a cursory look at Monument Valley, I was headed down to the city of Page in Arizona. I gained one hour as Arizona does not observe day light savings. It was about 3 hrs of drive between MV and Page. At Page, I saw Upper and Lower Antelope Canyons. Cool places. For Upper Antelope, you are put on a pick up truck and it makes a bumpy ride on sand. The 4WD handles the sand well but that does not mean that the ride is smooth. Far from it. But it is fun. The two little girls who were part of a family of four, specially enjoyed that ride. I did not bring my tripod which was needed to photograph shady areas of the canyon. It is a narrow slot canyon where you are surrounded by these wavy rock walls with the light filtering down from the top. It makes for beautiful pictures but only if you are using tripod since the lens need more exposure time to collect more light. The ride back was even more bumpy with sand flying in our faces sometimes. The ride cost: $25.

Later, I went to Lower Antelope. It is on the other side of the road. Both these Antelopes are just before the town of Page, if you are coming from MV. Lower Antelope required a short hike and then I had to climb down into the canyon. It has ladders which help you climb down. I took my tripod and took some pictures. Lower Antelope canyon is much narrower than its other cousin. Some spots are a little tricky to negotiate. I spent about an hour and a half negotiating the narrow slots and clicking the camera.

After the Antelopes, I headed towards Horsehoe Bend which is near Page. Here Colorado river makes a bend around a huge sandstone rock. It was about 15 min drive from the Antelope canyons. After about 20 min hike, I was looking down on the magnificent Horseshoe bend. Sun was just setting right in front of me. Once the sun was down, I started clicking my camera. You need a wide angle lens to cover the whole Bend. The 18mm end of my 18-55 IS lens for barely enough. Cool marvel of nature.

Lake Powell

Oct 29

Next day, I took a boat ride to the magnificent Rainbow bridge. The idea was to see the canyon walls containing Lake Powell and the Rainbow bridge. It was a 7.5 hrs ride which included a 20 min hike to the Rainbow Bridge. The lake is the 2nd biggest man made lake in the US after Lake Mead near Vegas. But that alone does not warrant taking a boat ride in it. The canyon walls surrounding it are worth taking a look even though the portion that has been immersed in water has lost its color and has become white. The boat negotiated two narrow canyons, one was Forbidden and the other Antelope. The boat ride in Lake Powell becomes more interesting when going through these narrow canyons. If you are willing to spend more money , you can rent a Houseboat and spend a week or more on the lake. Sleep under the starry night and negotiate all the side canyons in the lake. It would leave your pocket lighter by a few thousand dollars but the experience would be a once in a lifetime kinda thing!

After the boat tour, I headed towards the town of Kanab in Utah via route 89A and not 89. I took the longer route as it is supposed to be scenic. But after driving little over an hour, it had become dark. I stayed in Kanab in Parry's lodge. This place also has links to the Hollywood of yore. Nice little town.

Next day, I had to head towards the east entrance of Zion national park. It is about 40 min drive away. That meant an early start to the day.

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