Antelope Canyon?

[Lex]

I recently saw photos of Antelope Canyon in northern Arizona. They were gorgeous. I've never heard anything about it before Anyone familiar with it?

[Earlyriser]

Hi Lex,

Not familiar with it, but it looks great! I have been to Arizona and really like it. I am always up for a new adventure! It stated the tour takes about 1-2 hrs. I will have to research what is around it. Thanks for sharing the info.

I would like to visit this place:

http://www.havasupaitribe.com/waterfalls.html

The waterfalls look amazing!

[Lovermont]

Interesting! I too am unfamiliar. But, I happened to score a coveted cabin at Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon earlier this week for March of 2012. So, I might just have to add in some of these sights to my trip.

OK... I've got a year to get in better shape for the canyon hike. I'll be celebrating my 52nd birthday the day we hike out of the canyon.

[waterguy]

Lovermount just check your backpack as when we did it we got to the bottom at our camp site the other husband said wouldn't a cold beer go good about now his wife said yes it would as she went to his pack and pulled out a six pack that he didn't know was there he was mad until we drank them we let him have an extra one for lugging them down.

[Lex]

After looking at photos:

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=an ... 97&bih=959

I didn't understand why I was unaware of it. At first glance I thought they were airbrushed paintings. It seems like it would be up there on a lot of people's lists. Puts me in mind of the Baths. I did a good bit of research prior to our trip to Arizona a few years ago and don't recall coming across it. It's outside of Page, so it is a bit out of the way, but so is much of the good stuff. And now I'm seeing that so far no one on this forum is familiar with it, much less been to it.

It's definitely on my list.

Lovermont--that's good fortune getting a spot at Phantom Ranch. Nice place to wake up. I do want to get back to northern Arizona and southern Utah to revisit places and see some of what we missed. I adore that part of the country.

[jmq]

Lex - nothern AZ and southern Utah is home to some of the most amazing landscapes on the planet IMO.

Antelope probably one of those awesome places that is remarkably small when you get there, like when you compare Bryce Canyon to the Grand Canyon. But the accesiblity of a place like Bryce and the ability to wrap your head around it is very appealing.

There are probably other similar "slot canyons" in southern Utah so if you ever do the Bryce/Canyonlands/Arches loop hit some of the hiking websites/trail maps and they are likely to locate some that might not be highlighted in the sites devoted to the general public. One of my main motivations to see 127 Hours on DVD is to enjoy the cimematography of that part of the country.

The closest I've been to Antelope is Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly, both of which are well worth seeing.

On the drive between Canyon de Chelly and Monument Valley:

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/u ... site"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_8poT ... yEdit1.jpg" height="442" width="640"></a>

Some photos of each after playing around with a "watercolor" effect:

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/3 ... site"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_8poT ... 424-1b.JPG" height="474" width="640"></a>

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Y ... site"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_8poT ... 0055-1.jpg" height="480" width="640"></a>

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/_ ... site"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_8poT ... 0441-1.JPG" height="423" width="640"></a>

[jmq]

OK... I've got a year to get in better shape for the canyon hike. I'll be celebrating my 52nd birthday the day we hike out of the canyon.

Me too. I believe its about 9 miles of trail gaining a mile of elevation (?) We are about the same age and my daughter is going to accompany me sometime in the next 2 yrs on a bucket list item on one of those multi-day white water rafting trips down the Colorado. Most itineraries involve either that hike down to or up from Phantom Ranch.

PS Cinque Terre is booked. I may be PMing you with more questions as we get closer.

[Lovermont]

OK... I've got a year to get in better shape for the canyon hike. I'll be celebrating my 52nd birthday the day we hike out of the canyon.

Me too. I believe its about 9 miles of trail gaining a mile of elevation (?) We are about the same age and my daughter is going to accompany me sometime in the next 2 yrs on a bucket list item on one of those multi-day white water rafting trips down the Colorado. Most itineraries involve either that hike down to or up from Phantom Ranch.

PS Cinque Terre is booked. I may be PMing you with more questions as we get closer.

I think the hike out on the Bright Angel trail is 9.6 miles covering 4,600 vertical. My personal benchmark is climbing Ben Nevis in Scotland a couple of years ago. Ben Nevis is 4,400 feet over 5 miles, and then a return of 5 miles back down. So, I actually think if we just keep one foot in front of the other, we'll be able to get out without incident. Also, because we have two nights at the bottom of the canyon we can just do a light day hike the day before we hike out. It'll be interesting doing the decent before the accent. I'm intrigued by the river idea, but my husband isn't a real fan of water (thankfully, he's embraced STJ) so I don't think I could sell that plan to him.
I did my research re: booking a cabin, and was on the phone the minute that the March 2012 reservations opened up. Initially they said that they were all sold out, but then, as if by magic, they found one. So stoked!
Great news about Cinque Terre! You'll love it.