Upper Antelope Slot Canyon

We only had one activity today, and it didn't start till the afternoon, so we decided it would be a good day to do laundry.  I guess there aren't many home washing machines in this part of the country either (We still haven't found a drive-through car wash!) because there's a laundrymat on every corner and they were PACKED!  We were lucky to find a machine for our little small load of clothes!  But, we did, and now we have enough clean underwear for the rest of the trip!  Yay us!

After a short rest from such strenuous activity (lol), we headed to our tour company to catch our bus to Upper Antelope Canyon.  I'm disappointed in my pictures.  After some bad actors did some bad things with tripods, monopods, selfie sticks, etc. (such as hitting guides with them), there are no longer photo tours and tripods, monopods, selfie sticks, or other stabilizing posts are no longer allowed into the canyons.  The lighting wasn't as good in the upper canyon as I remember it being in the lower canyon.  Granted, it has been several years since I was in the lower canyon, and if memory serves, we were there at midday instead of mid afternoon.  My camera hated it, and in many of my shots, the shadows are clipped, leaving green blotches, and I don't know how to fix that - yet.  I plan to learn, but it may take a while.  I'm sharing the shots that were salvageable.  I don't think any of them would be suitable for blowing up, though.  It was still a nice tour, and even though my pictures are a bust, it's a beautiful slot canyon.  As I learn more, I'll just have to come back and do more slot canyons to try to get better shots!

If you come to this area, don't be confused if your watch keeps changing time as you ping on different cell towers.  The State of Arizona doesn't do Daylight Savings Time, but the Navajo Nation does.  So New Mexico, the Navajo Nation, and Utah are all on the same time, but you have to pop in and out of Arizona and New Mexico from Four Corners until you actually go into Utah.  At times, you may think your watch is possessed!

This is our guide.  In the background is the entrance to the upper canyon.

These "popcorn" areas are formed when the sandstone forms around small debris that ultimately breaks loose.  Eventually, the "popcorn" edges will erode off, the walls will smooth out, and the wind and water will ultimately turn it back to sand.

This formation is called "Beauty and the Beast"  the formation in the foreground looks like a canine-type animal, and the formation in the background looks like the lower part of a face with hair flowing behind.

This formation is called "Lumiere" because it looks like a candle and flame.

This is called the "butterfly" because of the shape of the purples and the shadows.

A shot of the moon through an opening of the canyon walls.

After the canyon, we had dinner at the Dam Bar (because it's close to the Lake Powel dam).  The food was excellent and, in fact, warm! 

Tomorrow is a busy day!