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Sorry To Bore You With My Vacation Photos
By Mike McLeod
For
some reason, people who come back
from vacation think everyone in
the world would love to see their
photos. Me, included.
My
family and I flew to Las Vegas,
but lucky for you, I didn’t take
any photos there. I probably should
have—where else can you see slot
machines in the airport and in grocery
stores, and for all I know, probably
in some churches? No, I saved my
digital “film” for Zion National
Park, the Grand Canyon, Monument
Valley, and Antelope Canyon in Page,
Arizona.
Now,
you seasoned travelers have probably
seen all of those places, except
maybe Antelope Canyon. I happened
to find it on the Internet when
I started searching for “slot canyons”
after seeing photos of the Narrows
in Zion’s. The photos I saw of Antelope
Canyon dazzled me, and since we
were going to pass right by it on
our way to and from Monument Valley
(which is near Kayenta, Az., on
the Navajo Reservation), we decided
to see it.
I
am glad we did. It is on par with
all the other places we saw, in
my opinion.
There
are two sections, Upper Antelope
Canyon and Lower Antelope Canyon.
The Upper end is located across
the two-lane highway from the Navajo
Generating Station (the power plant
near the Glen Canyon Dam) in Page.
You can’t miss the power plant because
its stacks can be seen for miles,
and the clouds of white smoke rising
from them create clouds that can
be seen from even farther away.
Antelope
Canyon is owned by a family of Navajos,
and it is on the Reservation. They
charge a $6 per car fee to park
in the waiting area, and then the
cost is $25 for adults and $10 for
children to tour the quarter-mile-long
slot canyon. Kind of a steep price
for an hour tour, but you tell me
if you think the photos are worth
it.
We
waited more than an hour for our
tour because of the crowd of tourists
who, like me, had seen it on the
Internet. (Because of the devalued
dollar, most of the tourists everywhere
we went were from foreign countries.
We met many people from Switzerland,
particularly in Zion and in Kayenta.
We also saw or met people from France,
Germany, Japan, Holland and New
Zealand. )
The
family who owns the slot canyon
has quite a few four-wheel-drive
trucks with benches in the back
to drive you the mile or so across
a deep sand wash to the entrance
of the canyon. That wash is the
outlet for the water that flows
through the canyon when it rains
and carves the magnificent swirls
in it.
The
day we were there, a daughter-in-law
drove our truck and conducted our
tour.
My
wife, daughter and I sat in the
front seat of the truck with Deseret,
the daughter-in-law, since she had
a full load in the back. This gave
us a chance for us to hear how her
mother-in-law found the canyon many
years ago while herding sheep. It
was open to the public for a while,
but when people started camping
out around it and defacing it, the
Navajo Nation closed it down for
a while and then turned it back
over to the family to care for.
Now, it is becoming a great tourist
attraction.
When
we neared the entry to it, there
were several 4 x 4s bringing people
for tours, and one was stuck in
the sand—it was that deep. Another
4 x 4 had to tow it out.
Even
with a thousand words, I couldn’t
describe what we saw in Antelope
Canyon, so I won’t try. I’ll let
the photos do the talking.
Okay,
I can’t resist. A few words that
came to mind after we saw Antelope
Canyon were: majestic, awe-inspiring,
a natural wonder. If you go to the
Grand Canyon, southern Utah, or
northern Arizona area, stop and
see Antelope Canyon.
Zion
National Park.
Zion’s
is another natural wonder. It is
located in southwest Utah, not too
far from St. George. The fee is
$25 to visit it, but that price
gives you entry for a whole week.
You can park in Springdale outside
the park on the south side or at
the visitor’s center, and a free
bus will pick you up and take you
through the park. The buses take
you on the scenic route. Cars are
not allowed on most of this route.
You can drive through the park though,
but you do want to take the bus
to see it all.
At
the last stop is where you get off
and walk less than a mile to get
to the Narrows. This is a slot canyon
carved out by the Virgin River.
(Note: “river” out West translates
to a “wide creek” in the South—until
it rains.) You have to wade through
the creek most of the time to walk
up the Narrows. Usually, it is only
ankle deep, but sometimes, you can
step into a hole that is waist deep.
 The
Narrows are magnificent. The canyon
walls rise to a dizzying height
and are usually straight up. There
are twists and right-angle turns
in the canyon that lure you on,
making you wonder what is around
the next bend?
You’ll
want to bring, find or rent (in
Springdale) a walking stick or two
because the river gets a little
swift in places, and the rocks are
uneven and can be slippery. Plan
to get wet, fully wet, because you
will probably slip down at least
once like I did. Carrying your small
camera in a Ziploc bag is a good
idea.
The
Narrows go on for miles, and a permit
is required if you plan to hike
them for more than a mile or two.
There is a danger of flash floods,
particularly when it rains miles
upstream, so you should always check
the forecast at the visitors’ center.
In a flash flood, if you can’t scale
those nearly vertical walls, you
have a good chance of dying.
My
only complaint is I didn’t plan
enough time to walk far enough up
the Narrows to see where the walls
narrow to within 20 feet of each
other. I also didn’t plan enough
time to sit, take in the view and
just think for a while.
Monument
Valley.
In
addition to John Wayne and other
cowboy movies, Back To The Future
Part III and Forrest Gump had scenes
filmed here. Navajos live in Monument
Valley. You’ll see trailers in the
photos. We picked up a young Navajo
woman and man who were thumbing
a ride home from Kayenta one evening
when it was raining. On the Res,
the Navajos depend on getting rides
to get from one town to another
because not everyone owns a vehicle.
I don’t recommend picking up hitchhikers
anywhere else, but having lived
on the Res for two years, I knew
it was safe to do so. We picked
up four people while were there.
 Monument
Valley was breath-taking to me.
These gigantic rock formations stopped
me dead in my tracks. Because it
was raining the afternoon we drove
in, I wasn’t able to get any photos
at sunset like I’d planned. But
we did get up around 5 am to drive
the 20 miles or so from Kayenta
to Monument Valley and get there
before sunrise. All these photos
are from the early morning.
Grand
Canyon.
Everyone
has heard and seen it all (at least
in photos) about the Grand Canyon,
but it is still a wonder that should
be witnessed in person. It is one
of the top ten natural wonders of
the world, and it draws people from
all over the world to see it; hence,
all the foreign tourists.
You
can spend days there, or just one
or two and have a wonderful time.
People gather at the back porch
of the Grand Canyon Lodge to watch
the sunset. If you want to sit in
one of the rocking chairs, you’ll
have to go an hour or two early
and stake one out. People start
congregating that early. There are
also vantage points on top of a
couple rock outcroppings nearby—that
have safety fences.
The
sunrise is best seen from Angel’s
Point, which is just a short walk
to the east and that also ends up
on a fenced rock outcropping. The
morning my wife and I went to watch
the sun rise, there was an awe-struck
silence from those in attendance,
or people spoke in hushed tones.
So
there it is, a few of my boring
family vacation photos. Sorry.
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