Entrance: The tour operators transport visitors from Page, Ariz. to the entrance area of Antelope Canyon. We toured the Upper canyon. The entrance to the slot canyon is unassuming but as soon as you enter and round the first bend in the trail, visitors experience the beauty of the canyon. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
WOW: One of the early views seen by visitors after entering the canyon. This landscape was carved over millions of years by wind and rain. Still today, a close eye is kept on the weather and if thunderstorms are possible, tours are cancelled. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos
While we are all staying at home during the pandemic, the next few Post From the Road will be from previous travels during the last couple of years.
Slot canyons are prevalent through the southwest, primarily in Arizona and Utah. Most of the canyons in this region of the country are the work of wind and water flowing through the sandstone landscape forming and carving beautiful red walls.
Perhaps the most well known of these canyons is Antelope Canyon just out of Page, Ariz. Antelope consist of two sections, Upper Antelope and Lower Antelope Canyon. Tours are available for both but Upper Antelope Canyon is the most popular and most visited.
These pristine canyons are within the Navajo Nation. To enter the area, visitors are required to take a guided tour given by Navajo tour guides.
There are several tour companies in the town of Page that offer tours of this and other canyons.
Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn are traveling around the country and he shares his photographs, which appear in the ‘Posts from the Road’ series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.
Narrow Pathway: Many areas of the short hike in the canyon are a few feet wide but there are narrow pathways in part of the canyon. No climbing or scrambling is required but a larger person may touch both walls when passing through a narrow area. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Wind and Water: The beautifully sculpted sandstone walls vary in color depending on how much light reaches the canyon walls. Wind and water formed the canyon and its angled and flowing walls. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Heart: At one point the canyon walls form the shape of a heart. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Curved and Fluid: Another beautiful example of the canyon walls which are unlike anything else on earth. The canyon is breathtaking. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
If Walls Could Talk: These ancient formations must have a story to tell from their years of wind and water blowing and flowing through these walls. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com