Many years ago I heard about slot canyons and saw some pictures taken inside them.  I was interested and thought that it would be pretty cool to go to that place, wherever it is and spend some time shooting this unique phenomenon.  A few months ago, I was once again thumbing through some periodical and there it was again.  Pictures from Antelope Canyon right here in Page, Arizona.  I started to look into it and decided that if I could make it work – I’d stop by on my 2016 bike ride.
Page is located just below the Glen Canyon Dam and is the biggest town anywhere close to Lake Powell.  It is also very close to the north and south rims of the Grand Canyon.  I guess that’s why at this time of year a single, cheap-o room at the Motel 6 is $139.00 per night and after Memorial Day will go up to $200; and they are pretty much full every night and the cheapest deal in town!!  I asked the clerk when I checked in and she told me that they are the most expensive Motel 6 in the United States – no argument from me.  The room in Mesquite was $21 and worth every penny.  This Motel 6 is at the extreme opposite end of that scale.  Nevertheless, if you wanna play, you gotta pay.

My research said that the most popular slot canyon is upper Antelope Canyon.  However, it is very crowded and difficult to get good pictures due to all the people walking through your shots and/or kicking the legs of your tripod.  Lower Antelope Canyon is just about as good and much less crowded, so that was my destination.  I thoroughly enjoyed my tour of the canyon and my guide was very helpful.  However, the pictures didn’t turn out all that great.  Here are a couple – I’m still working on some others (all bracket exposures for you photography geeks) but I need my big computer to do all the heavy lifting.  So, for now this is as good as it gets.

It is really quite cool down there and I recommend the trip to anyone that is looking for something to do in Page.  Of course if you’re in Page and you’re not interested in the slot canyon stuff, Horseshoe Bend, or Lake Powell – you’re probably only interested in gettin’ the Hell Out of Page.  I was quite lucky with the weather; it was quite pleasant, and it could have been hotter than a stolen tamale.  If you want to know more about the slot canyons and how they were formed etc, I’ll be happy to share but this really isn’t the place for a geology lesson.

I also went over to Horseshoe Bend – the other photography place near Page.  They say it’s the most photographed place on the Colorado River.  When I heard that I thought – Oh Yea, what about the Grand Canyon.  Anyway, it’s cool and once again my photo isn’t exactly the best in the world but I was happy with how it turned out.  It’s a multi shot bracketed HDR shot for you photo folks.  I might tone it down a bit but I like the looks of this one and it’s pretty close to what it actually looked like that evening.

Okay, that’s about it from here for today.  I’ve been doing a lot of walking and carrying camera equipment around all day – gonna sleep good tonight.