Moments after Mr. Enthusiasm joined me in the parking lot at the Bright Angel Lodge, we departed for Lake Powell. I was hungry and cranky after my 19 mile trek from the South Rim down to the Colorado River and back, but he suggested we just suck it up and push on so we could get to our hotel, shower and then have a nice dinner. The best laid plans…
An unsigned highway closure and forced detour added over an hour to our drive. By this point, 3 hours after leaving the Grand Canyon, I was ready to gnaw my own arm off.
Sweaty, dishevelled, smelly and covered in an inch of red dirt, we finally succumbed to a primal craving for junk food and pulled into a McDonalds.
Do. Not. Judge. Me.
A Big Mac never tasted so good.
The following day, I was determined to explore Antelope Canyon, a place fellow blogger, Carol, introduced me to a few weeks ago. After seeing her beautiful photos, I knew I could not be that close and not visit this must-see place.
Of course I wasn’t planning on being in near-traction from aching joints and muscles, with heels missing layers of flesh from burst and bleeding blisters. Improvisation was to be the order of the day.
The only way to see Lower Antelope Canyon, part of Navajo Nation, is via guided tour.
And it involves walking. Also climbing. On ladders. Giddy up.
From Ken’s Guided Tours website:
“There are steel ladders anchored into the canyon walls. The ladders vary from 3 ft. to 25 ft. being the longest. Ladders over 8 ft. have handrails in place. There are escape rope ladders placed on top of the canyon, in metal boxes, for any type of emergencies.”
Me. Enthusiasm was less than thrilled, repeating, “this better be worth it…” several times.
I assured him it would be.
It was, right? Check it out:
And more…
It was really impossible to narrow it down to just these shots. Each turn through the canyon delivered more spectacular art.
Nature porn at its finest…
Have you booked your trip to Antelope Canyon yet? No? How about now…
Lower Antelope Canyon has left an imprint on my heart.
Your beauty was truly humbling.
*** All photos were taken with my iPhone, on the Chrome setting. No other filters applied. Sometimes Mother Nature does the work for us.
Keep moving. Even when it really hurts. It’s always worth it.
xoxo nancy
p.s. This entire post was created and published on my iPhone as I sit in a hotel room, too lazy to pull out my laptop. Apologies for spelling, formatting or any other errors. Travelling all this week.
p.p.s. I edited this post to group the photos into galleries for easier viewing. This was done on a laptop. 🙂
my year of sweat 
Amazing!!!
It truly was. Almost made me forget my pain from the hike. Almost.
Cake will fix it 😉
I know you’re on the road and time is in short supply, but I posted something today which I know is right down your street:
http://ladyofthecakes.wordpress.com/2014/06/09/the-unhealthy-truth-about-food-and-sex/
I will be over to check it out, I promise.
No worries if you’re too exhausted to muster a withering comment… though, I strongly suspect, you probably won’t be able to stop yourself 😉
I’m intrigued. Looking forward to it.
those pictures are awesome! 😀 It looks like an amazing place!
hmmm…I am not judging your mcdonalds visit…just this once…but only because you did a crazy awesome hike :-p
😀
Sam, it was the most unbelievably beautiful place. Awe-inspiring what billions of years of sand and sun can do. Nature’s art.
And hey, like I said, a Big Mac never ever tasted so good. 😛
Your pictures really make me want to see it, it does look truly amazing!
and pics never do the real thing justice, right? If you’re ever in the area – like visiting me in Vegas, say – this is a must see!
That is definitely on the list 😀
Make it happen!! 🙂
😀 I’ll do my best! I have to wait until they have finished building bits of my house though!
A reasonable parameter, for sure.
😀
Beautiful! It must have been magical seeing them with you rown eyes!
The pictures don’t even begin to do this place justice, Jhanis. Truly awe-inspiring. I finally got to my laptop so I’ve added a bunch more photos now.
Wow! That looks like abstract art! Just gorgeous!
And I’d never judge you at all, let alone for succumbing to the temptation of the Golden Arches, especially after all that hard work!! Yum. I’m glad it’s a holiday or I too might be tempted!
It was absolutely art, Deanna, no doubt about it. I’m planning on blowing up and framing the pics we took on the Nikon – they’re much better quality than these ones.
And that Big Mac hit the spot like you wouldn’t believe. 🙂
WOW!
Truly! I just finally got around to my laptop and just added a bunch more photos if you want to check it out.
Cheers Nancy
How beautiful!! That was totally worth the journey. Those pictures would make great wall art – I think there are websites that do canvases of phone pics.
Also, Big Macs are delicious. Hope you had a great weekend!
Martha, it was surreal how beautiful this place was. How the light would play on the rocks through the narrow canyon opening at the “ceiling” of the canyon… amazing!
I think I’m going to enlarge and frame some of the ones I took on the Nikon as they’re even higher quality than these ones.
That Big Mac may have been the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten. 😉
Absolutely beautiful!
Thank you Debbie! It was even more impressive in person. Pictures never do it justice, do they?
Those pictures are gorgeous. Looks like it was indeed worth it. And not only am I impressed you accomplished all this hiking, I’m impressed you managed to write a blog post on your iPhone!
I threw my phone at the wall a couple of times last night, but eventually got to upload the original post around midnight.
Now that I’m back online/laptop, I’ve created galleries and added a bunch more photos, in case you want to check them out.
It was a definite highlight of the trip, that’s for sure!
Those are gorgeous photos, Nancy!
Thanks TD! It was a magical place, even as sore as I was.
p.s. just added a whack more photos (now that I’m on laptop it is much easier) in case you’d like to check out more views of Lower Antelope Canyon.
Ohhhhhh…..I’m so there. Hold please!
And…WOW!
I know, right??!!
Hi Nancy! Glad to hear you are still alive after your big (and crazy-ass) hike! And yes, isn’t Antelope Canyon awesome. We made it a couple of years ago and also took some awesome photos. A truly special place. Keep Moving! ~Kathy
It was a definite highlight of the trip, Kathy. I’m so glad I didn’t pull the plug that morning when I woke up hobbling. I literally had to keep talking myself into it. So glad I did though.
Wow, what an amazing view!!! After a 19 mile “hike” you more than earned a stop at McDonald’s. 🙂
Right?? If anyone earned a trip to Mickey D’s, it was me, for crying out loud! 🙂
Oh my God! Stunning! Mother Nature at her finest. Now I want to do that hike too. It’s going on the list. Also, I’m sad for your feet 😦 I hope they heal fast!
Oh this one barely qualifies as a hike. You basically walk across the desert about a 1/4 mile, and then start climbing down a series of ladders and narrow steps to get inside the canyon. Once you’re down ‘under ground’, you walk so slowly – because of all the photo-taking. The climb back up on the other end of the canyon only involves 1 ladder, I think. I guess the elevation changed as we walked the length of it. If you’re in the Page, Arizona /Lake Powell area, this is a definite must-see.
The feet are all back to normal. Amazing how resilient our bodies are!
WOW! That is some gorgeous abstract antelope art. Glad you pushed yourself and enjoyed the visit.
It was worth any bit of extra discomfort! So glad I didn’t talk myself out of it!
Please tell me Mr Enthusiasm was in awe while you were there.
He was pretty impressed; although far more subdued than me. I was basically doing jumpy-claps the entire time.
Beautiful!!!
Btw, I was just told one step in stairs (climbing) equals ten “normal” steps. Who cares what that really means but it is a great excuse eg to go to a mac Donald’s after serious walking and climbing 😉
The fact that I burned over 4,000 calories on that Grand Canyon hike was more than enough reason to have a Big Mac. 🙂
True!
Thanks for the link Nancy. I wondered why I was suddenly getting likes on that post. HOWEVER we didn’t come across any steps or ladders. It was straight in and straight out. We must have been in Upper Antelope Canyon. SO . . not only do I feel a bit stupid for not knowing, I’ll have to GO BACK as I like your photos better than mine. Oh heck, or similar words.
Definitely steps and ladders at the Lower Antelope Canyon, Carol. I’m going to go find the link and add it to my post above. Also, now that I’m at a laptop I’ve added a bunch more photos in galleries. So many to choose from! And those are just some of the ones I took on the iPhone. The ones on the Nikon are even better, but I’m too lazy to download them. 🙂
Yeah. You strike me as the epitome of lazy. Not.
For technology stuff…totally. 🙂
Absolutely amazing! And I love that it’s that naturally beautiful – no filters or fucking around with it 😉 I’ve never seen anything like those colours!
The tour guide suggested putting the iPhone camera on the “chrome” setting – but that was the extent of the manipulation. Mother Nature did the rest. So beautiful!
Really! Lucky you getting to experience it!
Lucky that I saw Carol’s post! Never even heard if this place before that.
Stunning, I can’t say any but, stunning!
I was pretty wowed!
So very beautiful! I’m just in awe over the beauty you captured in those pictures!
And even more impressive in real life, Kate!
Amazing beauty!! These pictures left me hoping to see it all one day. Thanks for sharing Nancy.
With pleasure, Tiny!
Wow!!! After seeing those pictures I see the need for a road trip vacation.
On another note…Really? McDonald’s? A Big Mac? They do have a really good grilled chicken Southwest salad. First a Saab and now McDonald’s. What is the blog-o-sphere becoming? 😉
It. Was. Delicious.
I’m. Sure. It. Was. I just could not pass up the opportunity, even though I was warned not too, to question your choice. Hopefully you will still be my friend. At home I do not cook with any salt. I find that when I eat at McDonald’s, their food is very salty. Now I’m hungry for In-N-Out. I think today would be a good day to treat myself to a meal out.
In-N-Out would have been an amazing choice. In the middle of nowhere (literally) we were lucky to even find the golden arches.
Good for you for cutting out salt. We definitely still cook with it at home, but – you’re right – eating out is where you tend to get killed with sodium.
Oh my goodness Nancy, absolutely dazzling. I was sure you were going to say that you doctored those photos somewhat, I don’t see how colours that vivid and disparate could exist in nature in the matter of mere rock. Amazing, and gorgeous.
The tour guide was like the camera whisperer. She knew exactly where to position the shit to get the most amazing colours. It was like magic.
Breathtaking!! When Carol blogged about this place, I guess I didn’t catch its name as Antelope Canyon. I will definitely remember it this time 🙂
Definitely one to put on the must see list, Joanne.
Absolutely spectacular! I am humbled as I can only imagine you were too. My first thoughts were of those ribbon wands ballet teachers give to little dancers. I have a growing list of travels to make and this is now on it. Thanks 🙂
After seeing it with my own eyes, I’ve gotta say I’m quite surprised it’s not better known. What a well kept secret and hidden treasure.
Unbelievable, Nancy! Amazing photos, so I can’t even imagine how incredible it must be in person. Definitely going on our “to-visit” list!!!!
It was so beautiful, Lynne, a must see for sure!
It’s so beautiful, yet alien looking. I would love to visit here as well.
I highly recommend it. Perhaps not the day after a 19 mile hike, but I recommend it nonetheless. 🙂