READ JANUS
  • Venture Advice
    • About Us
    • Reviews
    • Contact
  • Books
    • Book Store
  • TrekPic
  • Venture Moola
travel  history  business  blog

Underground Antelope

11/22/2022

 
Picture
The locals call this the Hummingbird because of the shape. We are underground looking up at the sky and the colors it brings out in the canyon walls. A Navajo guide is leading through the canyon. We are all masked, as required in Navajo territory.

To get here we drove to a remote spot in the desert outside Page, Arizona in the far southwestern part of the State. From the office outside the canyon we walk downhill with our guide to a hole in the ground that serves as the canyon entrance. Several sets of steps and ladders lead us deep underground for the starting point of our gradual walk uphill through Lower Antelope Canyon.
Picture
There are just four of us but larger groups follow behind. Once we reach our starting point at the bottom of the canyon, we are reminded of those following us when a water bottle dropped from high above slams into my head. Argh!

No damage done, we start our gradual ascent. The scene is other-worldly. Intense colors and curving walls greet us at every turn. Morning light filtering in from above works its magic to produce a show of light, color, and shape.
Click to Follow Venture Moola!
We feel no sense of claustrophobia, The cavern is immense and always light. To get a sense of scale, see if you can find the hiker in the image below.
Picture
Magical curves and shapes are everywhere, bathed in the morning light. Some are quite remarkable, like the one below.
Picture
Others are less dramatic but interesting in their own way. The exotic shapes and swirls are the work of wind and water, we are told.

And, I am reminded that we carefully checked the weather before coming. Even distant rain showers can flood one of these caverns quickly.
Picture
In this moment, however, we are feeling no anxiety. Wonder at the exotic beauty and the play of color and light have captured our attention.
Picture
It takes us about 45 minutes to make our way to the exit. One last short climb brings us to the surface not far for the Navajo office. Our trip will end with an early lunch of Navajo flat bread in a native hogan constructed nearby. The hogan is the traditional style Navajo home with its door opening facing East to capture the early morning spirits.
Picture
But before we get there, we stop at a small memorial to the dozen or more people who died in the canyon we just exited when a flash flood triggered by a far off rain storm swept through the canyon trapping all but two of people exploring that day.

Funny how this didn't make it into our guide's introductory talk before the tour began. I guess I'm happy the water I encountered in the canyon was in a plastic bottle.
----- All photos and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. Feel free to share this blog. Click here to get a weekly email that notifies you when we release new entries.
The venture moola blog comes to you from Atlanta, Georgia. Find it at readjanus.com. Copyright Clinton Richardson.

Comments are closed.

    Subscribe to Venture Moola!

    Order: (1) Ancient Selfies (2)
    Growth Company Guide 5.0 (3) Passports in His Underpants

    the blog

    Travel, history, and business with original photos.

    your host

    Clinton Richardson - author, photographer, business advisor, traveler.

    Categories

    All
    African Safari
    Alaska
    American West
    Ancient Coins
    Blue Ridge Trail
    Entrepreneurship
    Life's Moments
    Lincoln Log
    Photography
    Photo Safaris
    Sky Above
    Venture Capital
    Where In The World?
    Wildlife

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    July 2023
    November 2022
    September 2022
    March 2022
    June 2021
    October 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    June 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

    Enter your email address to subscribe to venture moola:

    Follow us on Facebook

Check out Ancient Selfies: History Revealed Through the World's First Social Media - Ancient Coins
a 2017 International Book Awards Finalist in History and 2018 eLit Awards Gold Medal Winner and
Passports in his Underpants - A Planet Friendly Photo Safari a 2020 Readers' Favorite Winner in Nonfiction
Site Copyright 2023 by Clinton Richardson

  • Venture Advice
    • About Us
    • Reviews
    • Contact
  • Books
    • Book Store
  • TrekPic
  • Venture Moola