LOWER ANTELOPE CANYON

Inside Lower Antelope Canyon the lighting condition is better than Upper Antelope Canyon, so it is easier to take pictures. The canyon is famed for its cork screw structures. The canyon is narrow, and requires slight scramble in certain places. Lower Antelope Canyon continues down to Lake Powell, but the accessible portion ends way before it reaches Lake Powell. Visitors need to walk from the entrance station to the actual entrance of the canyon. The entrance of the canyon is just a narrow crack, and at the end of the accessible area there is a long steel staircase leading to the outside. Then visitors must walk uphill back to the entrance station and the parking area.

Regular tour starts from the crack entrance and exit via the long steel staircase. The tour for photographers enters the canyon from the long steel staircase and exit via the narrow crack. The scenes are more attractive to go along the photographers tour than the regular tour. It is advisable to turn back often during a regular tour to take pictures. The guided tours end around the middle of November, and visitors are allowed to roam freely after that date for a while. The photographers tour cost more but last longer. The criteria to join a photographers tour is to have a tripod at hand.

Picture 1:

The narrow crack entrance. A visitor needs to put one foot at a time
into the crack to start the journey, but as descending, the crack
opens up and leads to a short steel staircase to enter the canyon.
Picture 2:

Looking back at the short steel staircase that leads from the crack
entrance down to the floor of Lower Antelope Canyon.
Picture 3:

The picture was taken by aiming the camera back at the crack, from
the same position as the previous picture. The head of the short
steel staircase is still visible at the bottom of the picture.
Though there is somewhat of over exposure due to the bright
outside light, the magic of light polarization is already in
play. The scene from the naked eyes is totally different and
much more dull.
Picture 4:

A cork screw structure created by the magic of light polarization.
Picture 5:

Another reward by aiming the camera at a ceiling window. It is a
judgment call to allow how much over exposure.
Picture 6:

The mouth-like hole in the picture is another illusion from the
magic of light.
Picture 7:

A cork screw nature along the passage of the canyon. The acutal
passage is, of course, not so crazy and dangerous looking.
Picture 8:
Picture 9:

A red-gold flower at the lower portion of the picture. Surely
there is no such delicate sculpture inside the canyon.
Picture 10:

A storm over "Little Monument Valley', a scene from Upper
Antelope Canyon?
Picture 11:

A hazardous journey to a "Little Sun"
Picture 12:

Monsters along the actual passage. A giant white hand at the
end of a black sleeve, and a giant head of a rabbit down the
road are visible. Those monsters are all coming alive under
the light polarization.
Picture 13:

A "Little Badland"?
Picture 14:

A precision mechanism. The extrusion at the left is going to
fit into the hole at the right and close off the passage
before the arrival of the fire storm at the background.
Picture 15:

The mark of a giant three prong fire claw.
Picture 16:

It is a real hole in the rock. A rare structure in the canyon.
Picture 17:

Another complicated structure brought out by the light
polarization.
Picture 18:

The debris locked between canyon walls is the remnant of
the last big flood. It shows how high the water level was.
Picture 19:

The long steel staircase at the end of the passage, leading
to the outside furnace especially in the summer.
Picture 20:

The plaque in memory of the victims of the 1997 flood.