Antelope Canyon
Antelope Canyon is a canyon located in the southwest of the United States, in the north of Arizona, near the city of Page, near the border with Utah, 240 km from the Great Colorado Canyon. The canyon got its name thanks to red-red walls resembling the skin of antelope. Antelope Canyon is not a national park and is probably therefore not known as widely as the Great Canyon or Bryce Canyon. It lies on the lands of the Navajo tribe and belongs to the Indians of this tribe. To get there, you need to pay a fee for passing through Indian territory and hire a guide. There are two Antelope canyons - upper and lower. They are famous among photographers around the world because of the bizarre shape of the rocks illuminated by a delightful magical light. Due to shades of red, yellow and red, the canyon resembling the color of the antelope skin got its name.
Antelope Canyon refers to the so-called slit canyons. It is formed by the erosion of the sandstone of Navakh. Geologists call the causes of erosion, firstly, sudden floods, and secondly, sub-aerial processes. Rainwater, especially during the monsoon season, enters an extensive pool located above the slit canyon sections and, gaining speed and mixing with sand, penetrates the narrow passages of the canyon. For a long time, the passages in the rock collapsed, becoming deeper and smoothing, acquiring the characteristic « fervorous » forms. Today, canyon floods are occurring more often. Visits to Antelope Canyon are possible solely as tours with guides, partly because during the rainy season the canyon can be quickly flooded. During the visit, there should be no rain near - water from a distance of several miles « upstream » can quickly and almost without signs of approach reach the canyon. During a thunderstorm or even with insignificant signs of its occurrence, it is strictly forbidden to go down to the canyon - too likely a sudden flood. On August 12, 1997, 12 tourists washed away in the Lower Canyon with a stream, 11 of which died.
The best time to visit is in spring and autumn: March - April and October - November. At this time, the sun's rays penetrate to the bottom and the canyons look as if bright light is burning inside a dark palace. In winter, the lighting in the canyons is rather weak - inside is rather gloomy, deep shadows and flat topography. For winter photography, it is advisable to install additional lighting.
The upper Antelope Canyon, named by the Navajo tribe "Tse Bighanilini", "The place where water runs through the rocks", is most often visited by tourists because of its two characteristics. The first is the entrance and the entire length of this part of the canyon are at ground level and do not require ascension. The second - rays - is much easier to see here in the Upper Canyon than in the Lower. Rays are more often observed in the summer, because for this it is necessary that the Sun be as high as possible in the sky. In winter, colors are a little more muffled. In the summer months, two types of lighting are available for creating photographs. Rays of light begin to penetrate the canyon from March 15 and disappear by October 7. The period of greatest lighting lasts from May to September.
The lower Antelope Canyon, named by the Navajo tribe as "Hasdetswazi", or « Spiral Archs of the Rock », is located several kilometers further than the Upper Antelope Canyon. Before installing metal stairs, visiting the canyon had to go up and down the ropes and very dangerous rope stairs in certain areas. Even after installing the stairs, the tour in the Lower Antelope Canyon remained significantly more difficult than the tour in the Upper Antelope Canyon - the route is longer, in places narrower, and in some places you can’t even stand on your feet. At the end of the route you need to climb several long staircases.
