Antelope Canyon is a drainage near Page with five separate slot canyons carved by wind and flash floods over thousands of years. Lower Antelope, the last narrow canyon before entering Lake Powell, is very much like a cave. About one-third of a mile long, its twisting, narrow passage is known as "the Corkscrew". In 1997, a group of mostly Europeans on a Navajo-led tour encountered a flash flood caused by rain some seven miles away. At that time, there was no provision for people to escape, so eleven people died. The only survivor was the tour guide, who wound up in Lake Powell and later said he had no idea how he escaped.
By 2006, various devices had been installed to make the trip through the canyon easier, and rope ladders placed on the rim to permit escape from a flood. Also at that time, Lower Antelope was much less popular than Upper Antelope. On the day I went through, it cost only $21 and I was allowed to go without a guide. I was in the canyon for some four hours and only saw one couple near the end of my visit. Today, you can only go with a guide, groups number in the hundreds and the tour ranges in price from $50 to $90.
The first photo shows the original entrance to the canyon, but I chose to walk to the far end and start there. This meant going down a steel staircase that descends about 75 feet to the bottom. (That is the standard approach today.) The hike then requires climbing a number of ladders and stairs to get back to ground level. The way the light plays against the curves and angles of the canyon walls is pure magic, and is never the same from one trip to another. I've gone through this canyon twice since then, but the thrill of the first time cannot be matched.
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