Lower Antelope Canyon

We didn't sleep well - no surprise - and were up before the alarm. We packed and headed to the cafe for breakfast, knowing we had to meet the group at 8 am. I was pretty psyched and curious to meet the ten people and two guides who would be our companions on this adventure. Who would they be? How old? How fit? What stories would they have to tell? A little before 8 am we headed out front where we saw the World Outdoors van pulling up. There we met Bill, the owner of the company and the lead guide for the trip, and Mark, a 25-year old guide who had been with the company for three years (a long time in the guiding world) and who had not actually done a rim to rim hike yet.

As we waited, the rest of the group arrived in drips and drabs. Ann and Buzz, a couple from Wisconsin, high school teachers, and their friends Tom and Mary - Tom was Buzz's high school basketball coach when Buzz was a freshman - they became friends and remained friends all these years. That made me smile. I liked that story right off. Then Bonnie and Tracee, friends from Chicago, and Jenn and Chris, a young couple celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary. Jenn said she had been pregnant or nursing for the last 5 years and this was the first vacation since then. Man, not my thing. Lisa, a brave and courageous woman traveling alone, was celebrating 10 years of remission from cancer. Brenda, also traveling alone, from Vancouver, Canada celebrating her 50th birthday. We stood in a circle in front of the hotel and introduced ourselves: name, where we were from, our occupation and why we were on this trip. After that we piled into the van and took off for the north rim. Whoo hooo!

The drive felt long to me - I was so ready to get out and move - when we finally arrived at Lower Antelope Canyon, a slot canyon near Page, AZ, I was ready. Unfortunately, this slot canyon is also known for the loss of 11 lives to a flash flood on August 12, 1997. That was sobering but my enthusiasm and the fact there was not a cloud in the sky and the temps in the mid 100's led me down into the shadowy canyon. The temperature dropped ten degrees as we climbed down. It was eerie and gorgeous and amazing. The canyon floor was over 75 feet deep in places, maybe more - I'm not good with distances in feet. The walk through the canyon was only a quarter mile, but with all the picture taking and oohing and aahing, it took an hour or more. The color of the light, the feel of the canyon walls, the warm air on my skin - everything was perfect. Absolutely perfect.

Out of the canyon, we walked back to the van and headed north toward the Grand Canyon Lodge, located on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. We stopped at the Navajo Bridge, spanning the Colorado River just down from Lee's Ferry where all the rafting trips launch, and took pictures. Then we loaded ourselves back in the van and made the two hour trip to the Lodge. We passed through some country that was awe inspiring. Forests of Ponderosa Pine and open meadows that looked like they had to be man made but weren't. It was gorgeous. We arrived at the Lodge around 4:30pm with dinner reservations for 6:15pm. Bill suggested we check in and freshen up before walking out to Bright Angel Point. Nancy was beside herself with the need to see the Canyon and voted on going now, immediately, to the rim. Everyone agreed, so we dropped our bags in our cabin and met in the parking lot.

My first view of the Canyon was breathsucking - wow - what a huge place, and we were only seeing a small portion of the vastness of it. The late afternoon light showed off the south rim and the temples in between were highlighted by incredible color. It was hard to walk, look and take pictures - I sort of stumbled along, amazed and awed, with Nancy smiling beside me, happy to see the look of joy on my face. Reluctantly we walked back to our cabins, showered, and dressed for dinner. The dining room was a large glassed-in enclosure with ceilings that must have been 50 feet high. Everything was dark, old wood and a deck overlooking the rim filled with chairs where people sat to take in the view. We waited a while to be seated and ended up at a table with Buzz, Ann, Tom and Mary. We ate a delicious meal, and afterward Nancy and I took off for the deck and took a sunset picture. We were pretty tired so we headed back to our cabin where Nancy proceeded to laugh, high on being in the Canyon at last. She finally calmed down and we fell into another night of restless sleep.