Antelope Slot Canyons

I clearly remember seeing a photo of Antelope Canyon the first time. It was that first time it appeared in the National Geographic magazine, and I was blown away. How was it possible that the shapes of the rocks and the colors flowed together, formed flames, looked so strong and soft at the same time?

I put seeing the canyon on the list of places I would probably never visit and that was that. Still, when deciding to visit the Southwest, it popped up again and it was a now or never decision. But only seeing the very popular Antelope Canyon with many other tourists wasn’t my idea of actually being able to experience the feel of a slot canyon. So an all-day photography tour which included 3 other slot canyons along with the well-known Antelope Canyon was booked.

The following photographs were taken in Owl, Rattlesnake, Antelope and Mountain Sheep Canyons and haven’t been enhanced. Each beautiful in their own way, they show the different characteristics slot canyons can take on. Some are wider, some narrower. Some are twisted, some aren’t. The sun bounces off the canyon walls and reflects colors back and forth and is constantly changing. The colors range from red to orange to yellow, pink to purple, beige to brown.

When standing between the canyon walls which look smooth and feel rough, time stands still. The canyons are not at all what I expected and most of all, Antelope Canyon isn’t at all what I imagined it to be like. The atmosphere was different, the walls were higher, there was simultaneously more and less light shining through the cracks.