Charly is a gnarly, wirey guy covered in tattoos. He looks like a Hell's Angel more than a slot canyon guide! He hails from Wiesbaden, Germany and is very, very cool on a photo tour. He knows just how much to say to both the amateurs and the pros. He never got in my way and never tried to tell me how to do my job.
I paid Charly's tour company the $28 fee which included their $20 fee, the $6 Navajo fee and tax. I couldn't wait to see this canyon - I hadn't had those photo jitters in ages! In fact, I was so gung ho, I decided to stay an additional day in Page, AZ in order to visit the mysterious Canyon X. The tour wouldn't be with Charly, however. It would be with Jackson Bridges.
Upper Antelope Canyon
Unfortunately, Upper Antelope Canyon has become a gigantic tourist destination that draws the masses. It's on Navajo land which means they control who and when and how much. Well, the one thing they don't control is how many.
We did the short, six-mile trip to the canyon, some of it over a wide, soft bed of canyon sand and arrived at an ideal time. We were there only about an hour and a half, but by the time we were ready to leave, the photo ops were done. The place was packed. It was almost claustrophobic.
I was so enthralled by the canyon that I hauled myself to Lower Antelope Canyon that afternoon. Didn't even stop for lunch! You do not need a guide for this canyon - just show up and pay the fees.
Lower Antelope Canyon
Lower Antelope is much harder to navigate, so it draws a tiny fraction of the crowd its haughtier neighbor. The parking lot is almost on top of the entrance, but it's guarded by the Navajo. You have to pay ANOTHER $15 to crawl in and they tell you you can only stay for two hours. Well, nobody checks.
This haunted canyon is the site where eleven tourists, most of them French, died in a flash flood on August 12, 1997. Apparently they were well-warned by the locals in the cave just minutes before, but all refused to heed it. Of the eleven who died, two were never found and only pieces of the others turned up.
Now, the locals diligently watch for thunderstorms as far as ten miles away. If there's any threat at all, they close up.
A nice plaque with all the names and nationalities sits just in front of the entrance. It's a very sobering experience.
I had a hard time navigating the ladders as they all go down! You can circumvent all this by walking the quarter mile to the end and working your way up the canyon. I was carrying a camera with a wide angle lens (16-35mm), a backpack with other lenses and a tripod.
While most people prefer Upper Antelope, Lower is serene and beautiful in its own right. It's not crowded and photographers have all the time they could ever need or want to make pictures.
I kept running into a father/son team in the canyon, so when we both exited at the same time, I asked them if I could join them for lunch. They were Howard Wood (Dad) and Greg (son). Here's Howard's beautiful site:
Woodpile Images
We went to the Dam Grill, an apropos name given the nearby Glen Canyon Dam. Lunch was good! I'd go there again.
I checked back into the Marriott and got a good night's sleep.
