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Sunday, March 19, 2017

Antelope Canyon

Antelope Canyon is a ‘slot canyon’ in the Southwest of North America. It is located on Navajo (pronounced as Navaho) land east of the city of Page, Arizona. (Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American Territory.)


Antelope Canyon includes two separate, scenic slot canyon sections, referred to individually as "Upper Antelope Canyon" or "The Crack" (660 feet long) and Lower "Antelope Canyon" or "The Corkscrew" (1335 feet long) and have a depth of 120 feet. The Canyons are located at an elevation of 3704 ft above MSL.
The Navajo name for Upper Antelope Canyon is Tsé bighánílíní, which means "the place where water runs through rocks". Lower Antelope Canyon is Hazdistazí, or "spiral rock arches".
Antelope Canyon was formed by erosion of Navajo Sandstone, primarily due to flash flooding and secondarily due to other sub-aerial processes. Over time the passageways eroded away, making the corridors deeper and smoothing hard edges in such a way as to form characteristic 'flowing' shapes in the rock.
Antelope Canyon is a popular location for photographers and sightseers, and a source of tourism business for the Navajo Nation.  

                                                             (Inside of the Upper Antelope Canyon)
Upper Antelope Canyon
Upper Antelope Canyon’s entrance and entire length are at the ground level, requiring no climbing. Besides, beams (shafts of direct sunlight radiating down from openings in the top of the canyon) are much more common in the Upper than in Lower Canyon during the summer months.

Lower Antelope Canyon

                                                                 (Inside of Lower Antelope Canyon)


                                                        (Stairs leading out of Lower Antelope Canyon)
Lower Antelope Canyon is located a few miles away. Metal stairways have now been installed to go into the canyon. It is in the shape of a "V" and shallower than the Upper Antelope.
Flash flood danger
Antelope Canyon is visited exclusively through guided tours, in part because rains during monsoon season can quickly flood the canyon. On August 12, 1997, eleven tourists were killed in Lower Antelope Canyon by a flash flood.  At the fee booth, a NOAA Weather Radio from the National Weather Service and an alarm horn are now stationed. Despite improved warning and safety systems, the risks of injuries from flash floods still exist. A flood occurred on October 30, 2006, lasting 36 hours had caused the closure of the canyon for 5 months by The Tribal Park Authorities. On July 30, 2010, several tourists were stranded on a ledge when two flash floods occurred at the Upper Antelope Canyon. 
Horseshoe Bend
Besides the Antelope Canyon, we also visited the Horseshoe Bend, offering a spectacular view of the river Colarado flowing down a canyon. The pictures shown here will speak for themselves.







(I thank Wikipedia for some of the information I have given here in the blog.)

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