Antelope Canyon 2021

 

#traveldiaries

#September 2021 Road trip

Day 2: Saturday September 4th

The night before going to bed in Page AZ , I had asked Minal if it would be ok to wear a saree for our planned tours to Antelope Canyon the next day. She shot it down. There are ladders to climb, difficult hike etc. etc.  OK ! 

Early morning we were both up by 4:00. She probably sensed my sadness. As I was getting ready she told me she could drive me for a sunrise saree photo shoot before the guys woke up. Better than no saree all day, I thought. 

I showered and draped the orange Garden Vareli saree. We took the car. She had researched some viewing point that reportedly had the best sunrise view. Unfortunately there was no internet service anywhere in town, and we couldn’t find our way to this place. Instead we decided to go to a nearby scenic drive with a view of the Glen Canyon . After some photos there we drove further down on Highway 89 to Lake Powell and took some more photos around the marina there.

The guys were barely waking up by the time we were driving back. They asked us to pick up coffee and Subway for breakfast. We found 2 Subway locations. Both were closed. But there was a gas station near by and we took care of the fill up. As we pulled out of there we spotted a Starbucks sign. This was located within a Safeway grocery store. We decided to divide and conquer. Minal delegated me to pick up water and the plates, spoons etc for our homemade food for upcoming days. She went to pick up the coffee and tea . I was done sooner and returned to the car. She couldn’t find me inside the store so texted to ask where I was. I received her text alright but my response couldn’t go through due to no signal in the area. So I locked the car and made my way to the store to get her. 

We walked out of the store to the car with the tea and coffee in our hands. As we tried to unlock the car with the remote key it made the usual sound of unlocking yet the doors wouldn’t open. I tried. She tried . After a dozen attempts we pulled out the small manual key from the remote unit and tried that .That wouldn’t open the car either.

 Minal thought it must be the battery in the remote that possibly needed to be replaced. Just as she was getting ready to go back to the store to look for batteries, I noticed there were seat covers inside the car that looked unfamiliar. Simultaneously our minds flashed with the realization !! This is NOT OUR  CAR !! 😅

In the small fraction of time when I had left the car to get Minal from the store someone had parked an identical car right next to mine. My car was unlocking just fine with the remote after all 🤦🏻‍♀️😂

We laughed our way to our hotel. While the guys had their coffee with the pastries we had picked from Tehachapi, we started packing our bag to be ready for checkout from the hotel in the afternoon.

We had a tour of the Upper Antelope Canyon and Rattlesnake Canyon scheduled for 10am. The site was on the Indian Reservation about 4-5 miles from our hotel. The local time on the reservation was an hour off compared to local Arizona time. All day it caused us major confusion as our phones kept switching clock time back and forth.

We checked in with the tour operator. Parked our car on their premises. Our tour guide Albert arrived in a large four wheel drive SUV. It was just the four of us with him for the next 2 hours . Through some real rough terrain he took us first to Rattlesnake Canyon. This was a narrow winding canyon just like it’s name. At a few places inside this canyon we had to climb over ladders and even jump over a few poodles caused by heavy downpour two days earlier. Nothing that I couldn’t have done if I was in my saree 🙄. I was reminded, though a bit late, of a popular Marathi saying: Aikave janaache, karaave manaache😃 That realization did come handy two days later when I did my skydive.

 Like many other canyons in the area this place has the danger of flash floods whenever it rains. Albert told us because of this risk they have to occasionally cancel the tours when it rains.

It took less than an hour to see the Rattle snake Canyon. From there Albert drove us onwards to the Upper Antelope Canyon. This one is referred to as The Crack and is a much bigger canyon with different features from the Rattlesnake. Masks were mandated inside the canyons. Albert was very informative and helpful.  We asked him questions about the Navajo Nation . Even personal questions regarding marriage, inheritance, benefits from the Navajo Nation etc he was very much willing to answer. Indeed we learned a whole lot from him. 

By noon we had completed our tour with Albert. Back in our car we drove to Page downtown and ate pizza at an Italian restaurant. We still had some time at hand before our afternoon tour. So we walked around shopping for some souvenirs. Then checked out of the hotel, loading our stuff into the car. 

2 pm was the lower Antelope Canyon tour. Here things were a bit more strict with masking , photography etc. Our guide was Shane and 3 other people joined our group. 

The lower Antelope Canyon is also known as The Corkscrew. The entry is through a steep and narrow yet sturdy staircase, 5 storeys deep. This was constructed after one of the deadliest accidents in the history of this canyon in 1997 when 11 of 12 hikers died in a huge flash flood that swept them away.

Right near the beginning of the descent of this staircase is an indigenous plant on the red sandstone that Shane pointed out. This is a poisonous plant Datura writii. Shane told us in olden times locals entering the canyons became deluded when they came in contact with the plant.

 Personally I found the lower canyon more beautiful of all. It had so many more features and colors to it. Only problem was it was rather hot in the afternoon. But on the brighter side there wasn’t much of a crowd .Each place we could take our time for a closer look, take a lot of photos. There was no rushing from corridor to corridor.

Once done with the Antelope Canyon tours we took the road( Highway 160 East)  to our next destination: Monument Valley. This is about 120 miles from Page and located at the border of Arizona and Utah on Indian reservation land. These lands have their own jurisdiction under the Navajo Nation. On the way we passed by the Copper Mine. The entire area is rich in minerals.

We arrived at Monument Valley just before sunset. Our hotel was aptly called the View hotel and stood right in front of the Monuments. Even before we got to our room we went over to the hotel deck and watched a glorious sunset over the majestic valley. It was a scene to remember. 

That evening we warmed the home cooked food in our room. Spicy masoor usal with fresh French  bread I had picked up from the Safeway in Page earlier in the day. Minal took help from some friendly guests in the lobby to open our bottle of red wine,( we forgot to carry the opener).

 The night sky from the room balcony was simply gorgeous. We saw rising Jupiter and Saturn on the eastern side . With our binoculars even three moons of Jupiter were visible. The dense spread and visibility of stars and constellations in the sky was amazing.

With that dreamy vision we went to bed that night.

 And no, the wine had nothing to do with it 😉

Watch out for additional pictures related to the trip later.