Glen Canyon and Antelope Canyon
We left the Grand Canyon and headed north towards Page, Arizona. As we pulled into town, I summoned my best Alec Guinness and said, "Page, Arizona...you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany...we must be careful." Page was once a US government work camp, settled in the late '50s by workers building the nearby Glen Canyon Dam and Powerplant.
History of Page from the John Wesley Powell Museum
We settled down at one of the Best Westerns in town (a different one than where Randy and I stayed in 2001) and headed off to find some dinner. In 2001, Randy and I ate at a decent looking place a couple blocks from the motel. The food wasn't too bad, so thats where Jess, Marc and I decided to go. Apparently, things have gotten tough in 3 years. The decor was the same, but the alleged "steak special" that we all ordered was less than advertised. There was nothing special about it. We think they found a drowned cow in Lake Powell and didn't know what else to do with the carcass.
Stitched panoramic of Glen Canyon, below the dam.
Jessica
and Marc yomping across the sandstone near the dam. Normally,
this area
would be under water, but Lake Powell was over 100 feet below normal
pool level.
We signed up for a photographer's tour of Antelope Canyon, a sandstone slot canyon located on the Navajo Reservation just outside of town. Our Navajo guide hauled us and four other photographers out to this crack in the rock wall, told us the rules and then let us loose. He hung around with Jessica and Marc and gave them pointers on how to take pictures inside the narrow, winding passageway. The canyon itself is only about a quarter mile long and maybe fifty feet deep, but as you can see, its rather narrow inside.
The best time to visit is near high noon, as rays of sunlight will beam
down into the canyon, playing off the walls and bringing out the deep
red, orange and purples of the sandstone. Our guide would toss hand-
fuls of dirt up into the air and let the sunlight reflect off the dust.
Marc checks out the images that Jessica has
taken on her Nikon 3100 digital camera.
Because
of the narrow confines of the canyon, courtesy between
photographers is a must. Its easy to inadvertantly walk into someone
elses shot. You announce yourself before walking around a corner and
wait for a response. "Exposing!" or "Open!" means there's someone else
trying to get a shot of where you're about to stand. The ones who go
here to photograph the canyon are generally courteous; it's
the
general population of the weird and unwashed touristen who get in the
way.
Many of the good shots were right above your head. Marc in particular was amazed by the contrast between this canyon, where you can touch the walls on either side of you, and the Grand Canyon, where the opposite canyon wall is a mile away. And to think that I was concerned that they would be bored on a photographer's tour of the canyon.
Next up...Injun Territory
(Yes, I know thats not politically correct, but hey, they lost.)
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