Antelope Canyon has become the southwest's most popular slot canyon for tourists in recent years due to it's ease of access and much publicity by photo and travel tour groups. Thousands have now walked through it's convoluted passages and images of it are now so wide spread that it really doesn't belong under a heading of "hidden canyons" A secret spot known only to the locals and a few photographers, Antelope Canyon was thrust into the public eye by photographer Bruce Barnbaum who published directions to it in a book of his black and white photography. Soon other photographers were traveling there, taking groups in, and spreading the word. The Navajo soon realized there was money to be made and put up a gate in front of the entrance to the wash leading to the narrows and began to charge a fee to enter. Not to be outdone, the tour operators of nearby Page, Arizona began busing people back into the canyon and tacking on an additional charge for their services.
The section of Antelope Canyon that most people visited was it's upper set of narrows. it's easy to get into as it has a flat sandy bottom. the chocolate and peach colored walls rise up about 110 feet. Formed by hundreds of thousands of years of flash floods the walls sweep up and over it's awed visitors.
The rocks that make up the canyon are the petrified remains of prehistoric sand dunes laid down when a shallow ocean filled this portion of North America. Cross bedding is noticeable in the soft sandy walls. Many large over hangs with spiraling grooves carved into the sandstone loom over head.
If you were lucky enough to get in to Upper Antelope before the throngs of tourists arrived you could experience absolute silence. As the sun climbed higher in the sky the light bouncing into the canyon began it's magic.
The view straight up is also spectacular. Deep violets and reds give way to pink, orange, and finally yellow near the top of the opening. Bird's nests and chunks of debris can be seen high above.
Down at the canyon bottom the walls are beginning to glow an unearthly orange. The sun bounces off the walls above and with each bounce gets more and more intense. Eventually, it hits the canyon bottom and lights the entire chamber from the ground up. It is at this time the canyon is at it's most magical moment.
Reactions to this spectacle are mixed. For some the experience borders on the religious. Others report a felling of dread, like they are in a place humans are not supposed to see. A chamber of the gods.
It is indeed a unique experience and one not soon forgotten.
But the shows not over.
At certain times of the year the sun passes above the canyon at just the right angle to penetrate the narrow opening above and if conditions are right, forms an intense beam of light for a few short minutes. There are numerous beams that occur at this time in various places in the canyon, some pencil thin, but this spot is the most vivid and it is well known to photographers.
It is pictures like this that have given Antelope it's world wide reputation for unparalleled beauty.
No one gave much of a thought to the processes that shaped the canyon. Not until a hot steamy day in August of 1997 that is.
August 13, 1997. It had been a typical week in Northern Arizona. Huge storms were creating flash floods to the west and north. Its normal for afternoon thunderstorms to build up, drop a large amount of rain in a small amount of time, and then dissipate. Guide books warn about the dangers of canyon hiking this time of year as storms miles away can create flash floods in canyons with blue skies above them.
It was also a typical day at Antelope Canyon. The buses took people back and forth to the Upper set of narrows for the "Antelope Canyon Experience" By 3:00 pm most people had left the narrows since the light show was over. Downstream, however, a group from Trek America, a tour group specializing in south west tours for European visitors, was entering the deeper and narrower section of Antelope Canyon. 15 miles away, on the Kaibeto Plateau, a major thunderstorm was dumping several inches of rain directly into the drainages that empty into Antelope Creek. Fifteen miles away is not very far when your in high desert of Arizona. the storm clouds would have been noticeable.
The Navajos controlling the canyon claim they warned the group of the danger although others that had been in that day say no warnings were given. At any rate 12 people climbed down into the abyss.
Lower Antelope is a deep convoluted passage with steep drop offs and shear overhangs. It's more like a long thin cave than a canyon. the Navajo have put 30-40 ft. step ladders in to help tourists get deep into the rift. In places the walls are only 36" apart. It's a difficult place to get into and an even more difficult place to get out of if your in a hurry.
At 10 minutes to 4:00 a 10 foot wall of water and debris cascaded down the 60 foot wide dry wash and into the narrow corkscrew canyon. the 12 people inside the canyon never had a chance. The blood red water swept through with a force so strong that it ripped the clothes off the victims and hurled them miles down stream near it's confluence with Lake Powell.
One person, the tour guide, managed to grab hold of an overhanging branch and escape the deluge. 8 bodies were found in a debris field downstream. 3 are still missing.
Antelope Canyon remains shut down while the tour group and the Navajo point fingers at each other and lay blame. This tragedy is an example of what happens when unique natural spaces are left in the control of people whose only desire is to make money off them.
