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| very old fossil |
The drive to north to Page towards Glen to get to
Antelope canyon was depressing and uninterestingly difficult mentally. It was super hot and dry and I did pull over
to a Navajo craft and art stand on a pull off.
What attracted me was a Navajo grandma.
I really wanted to support her but I didn’t see anything I liked. She barely spoke English, mainly Navajo, she
knew how to say $10, $5, $8. She was
gentle and kind. I made it to Page and
missed the turn off to Antelope Canyon.
Instead I found a Burger King and didn’t see a Safeway because Safeway
was 3 miles more into town. I had two
garden burgers and was totally unimpressed.
It’s amazing how hungry I am today.
I made it to Antelope Upper Canyon Point. The turn off is the one on the right. The Lower Antelope Canyon Point is the turn
off on the left. The upper is 3 miles in
from the parking lot and you have to ride on a truck to get out there. It is $20 guided tour. I went for the lower point after paying an
entrance fee of $6 to park and go to the counter to inquire on the tour. I read in the tour book that the lower point you
can just walk to the slot canyon a few yards away however the people there
insisted it was only a guided tour and $20. It literally is a few yards from
the parking lot after the dinosaur foot print.
. The guided tour limits time and
access in the canyon. They open a
certain part to public and reserve the rest for Navajo use only. Plus it makes sure no one dies of flash
flood, three Europeans died of flash flood in the slot canyons a few years ago
not paying attention to flash flood dangers.
The entire canyon walk is ¼ mile. I ended up paying more
this way with the parking fee at the other place and then the tour here,
however, I felt this payment was to have Cody as my personal guide, it was my
affinities with him that drew me here at this time to have him as my
guide. He was a young high school
graduate contemplating college, maybe was what he said. He was a nice spirit to walk with, a kindred
soul. He is a seer. The other guides play music and kind of rush
you and pull you along, controlling and interferes with your experience. Cody gives me a lot of space and room to
breathe and leave me be to interact with the canyon as a spiritual experience
and as a photographer. Cody was there
when I needed and not there the rest of the time like a ninja, like a spirit
guide, like a guardian angel. He showed
trust in me and how I would go about experiencing this place and I had a lot of
trust in him to watch over everything.
He didn’t pull me or push me with his chi or thoughts, harming,
violating, exhausting, confusing, and blinding me in those ways. He didn’t cloud me mind and limit it with
it. He was so light like a feather and
effortless. I bet he has an easy time
flying at night so weightless, I bet he can travel far at night if he wanted
to. Cody is learning about photography
and paintball. He photographed me along
the tour. Towards the end of the trail
back, he helped two tourist take the short cut up the other set of stairs who
felt done and was ready to leave. We
parted there. I was left to walk with
another group to finish the last part myself.
I took my time, it was the end of the day and I like having the canyon
to myself.
I learned that if
you bring a tripod regardless what camera you have you can get a press pass and
stay 4 hours without a tour guide. I
didn’t bring a tripod. Cody told me the
best time of the day for the canyon is 10:30-12pm for spot lighting or 2-4pm
for change of colors. That this canyon
to Cody’s opinion was not his favorite one for photography and this public tour
guide part of the trail is not his favorite spot for this trail.
Yutan a young female was now my tour guide, she didn’t
bother me even though I was taking me time crawling like a snail speed. She is Sam’s girlfriend, the other guide, the
pushy one. Yutan sang in the slot canyon
which turns out, has amazing acoustic and her song, her voice sounded holy in
the slot canyons. Yutan sang a chant as
she stood at the entrance waiting for me.
Her voice was a beautiful accompaniment to the end of this tour. The one hour tour turned into two. Yutan’s
chant was prayer chant for her mother
who is ill. I told her about Joanne
Shenendoah who she nothing about. I
highly recommend that she gets into a recording studio for her voice and she
said the male teachers in her tradition does not recommend women have public
interface like that, that only men record.
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| the locals said this was a dinosaur print |
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| What the slot canyon looks like from ground level |
I left the area at 4:30pm, the place closed down after I left.
