I slept in a bit at the Bob and Bon Inn in Kanab, Utah.  My feet were killing me from the hike in the narrows at Zion.  It was well worth the soreness but I would have been better off to remember to take dry shoes and dry shorts.  Fortunately my camera shirts at Natural Gear shirts you can get at Sam’s Club and they dry very quickly and are vented well too.  If your hiking at all I recommend them highly.

I headed for Page, AZ they are doing construction on the Highway 89 between Kanab and Page so there were some delays getting to Page for the photography tours.  Page is on Pacific Time so I didn’t realize the tours run two hours behind us who are on Central Standard Time.  Page is right on the cusp between Pacific and Mountain so the time doesn’t change correctly on your phone making everything confusing.  Check in times, tour times, can be an hour after you think they should be.

I got into town and decided to try the Chief Tsosie tour, I had read that the tours they offer were top notch.  However, after listening to Tom Cory from a recent speaking engagement for the Cookeville Camera Club I was aware that lower Antelope canyon was what I wanted and they told me they didn’t offer trips to the lower canyon.  They told me to just drive out the canyon and talk to the staff there.  Unfortunately on the way out to the site a truck through a rock and cracked my windshield badly.  It is mostly on the passenger side but appears to be getting worse as time passes.  I may have to get it replaced before I get home if it gets much worse.  Upon reaching the lower trail site I talked to the Navajo woman who was getting the tours set up, she said the best time to come was 8:30 in the morning and to get the photo tour which is 2 hours instead of just the regular 1 hour tour.  I opted to do this and decided to go grab lunch and book a hotel room.

After getting lunch and my room booked a large storm blew in and I was afraid it may rain out the canyon for the next day.  12 people died in the canyon on August 12th, 1997 when they wouldn’t get out of the canyon as they were instructed to.  The  water from the surrounding desert all drain to the canyons like a natural sinkhole or aqua duct.  So they take rain very seriously around the canyons.  It doesn’t even have to rain on the canyon itself it can be from several miles away.  They woman at the Super 8 motel said it was odd that it was raining in Page, as they often get rain all around them but not in Page itself.

I decided to make the best of it and go out a photograph the wonderful lighting storm (it was in the distance).  I drove around Page looking for an optimal place to get the shot.  I found a nice overlook which already had another photographer.  His name was Chris Eaton and he is a local which photographs lightning storms in and around the area.  We talked about photography and the places we’d seen or like to see.  Chris was really nice and I have decided to go see his pictures over in a local gallery called the Thunderbird, I may pick up some of his work if it is affordable.  

The storm started getting on top of us so we retreated to our respective vehicles and I went back to my hotel and waited for sunset hours.  The storm died off after about an hour and I headed for Horseshoe Bend to photograph it in the fading light.  Unfortunately the cloud cover didn’t allow for a dramatic sunset but it was magical all the same.  I ran into another photographer named Ryan from Albuquerque that was photographing the the Bend.   He was on a long weekend trip and we discussed photography locations and a lot more.  Ryan if you get a chance to read this let me know if you ever want to photograph the smokies and send me an email, I’ll take you around.

After Horseshoe Bend and a phone call home I got some dinner  at a local Mexican/Italian place which was okay, but the service was a bit slow.  I was $20 for Fettucini Alfredo and a drink, tax by the way is 12% here inside of Page.