NV/AZ/UT Road Trip: Upper Antelope Canyon

I don’t think I have much to tell about the car ride from Monument Valley to Page, Arizona since I took that chance to take a catnap. I must have been really tired to do that, since some of the best times I have on a road trip are watching all the passing scenery and changing landscapes.

However, when I awoke we were nearing our destination and the husband alerted me that we were even closer to Upper Antelope Canyon so I better keep my eyes peeled just in case we see it. If you must know now, we don’t have solid, well-defined plans on how to visit Antelope Canyon; although luck smiled on us as we passed by a structure with a sign for Antelope Canyon Tours. Now wasn’t that easy?

Naturally we pulled over and were even surprised to find an available parking spot given the number of people milling about the small window that looks like a ticket booth window. While we were walking up to the window booth queue, we saw a tour van leaving. It appeared that they do have more tours for the day.

When it was my turn at the window, I found out that all the tours for the day had been fully booked. We could book one for the next day if we wanted, but we were thinking that we could just book a tour for both the Upper and the Lower Antelope Canyon with one company online for the next day.

So not completely heartbroken by missing out on a tour, we went back on the road hoping to reach the hotel and plan the next day’s adventures. However, not far from the tour company, there is another company that offered tours to the canyon and it had better curb appeal than the last one. It even looked like a bigger operation by the larger area, parking lot and structures. And lo and behold, it has more vans and guides and thus more tours and we were accommodated. In fact we were signed up to go in the next 15 minutes. Lucky us.

Now everything about the Antelope Canyon is going to blow anyone’s mind. We all have seen the photos scattered all over the internet and you think you are prepared for the beauty because you have seen it all online, but hah, how wrong is that assumption. It’s breathtaking! Such is its impact that instead of “beauty” or “beautiful” you will use “pulchritude” or “pulchritudinous” when speaking of it.

As you may know from your personal experience as well as this one that images on photos do not appear like they are in real life. I don’t think anyone can capture the real essence of this canyon magnificently carved by water through time, but here are my brave attempts at the canyon.

My Upper Antelope Canyon album is here, if you want to see more shots.