Jet Skiing at Lake Powell and Photo Tour of Antelope Canyon, AZ

I'm so glad I made the diversion to Lake Powell, AZ to check out the lake and Antelope Canyon.  I think it was the pictures on my friend Tony Gieda's wall of Antelope Canyon that may have cemented my decision.  I stayed at the Travelodge in Page, AZ and it just may as well been a European motel due to 99% of the guests being from Europe (lots of French).

I signed up for the tour of Antelope Canyon online while I was at Bryce and had no idea how popular the tours would be once I got to Page.  There are several companies that offer tours and are run by Navajo Native Americans.  The only way to visit the canyon is through a tour company as tourists are no longer able to access the canyon on their own.  Apparently,  safety concerns (flash floods) and vandalism were two main reasons the change happened.

I was definitely satisfied by the tour since I took some great photos (even without a tripod).  I think the tours could be a bit more organized however and it seems that the tour operators are losing out on additional income by not packagaing more add-ons (photos of you by proffessional photographer in canyon, etc).

As I boarded the back of the pickup truck to sit in a safari style bench seat looking out of the side of the truck I had no idea really what was in store since our personal guide did not discolse much.  It would have been great to have been told about the 10 minute drive through sand to the canyon which brings sand from the backside of the truck whipping into the passenger area - getting in your eyes, etc  I was fortunate to have my camera packed away - although it still did get a little sand on it.

As I mentioned, overall I'm happy with my experience because of the amazing photos I took but think that if the tour operators were a bit more organized they could make the experience a much better one.

Later in the same day I headed to Lake Powell and rented a jet ski to explore the canyons and rock formations around Lake Powell.  It was a blast jetting around the lake and exploring canyons with towering rock around you as you speed along on top of the lake.  I took a couple dips in the lake during my outing and returned just in time since a lightning storm was moving in.  I snapped some photos with a disposable water proof camera - check out the shots here.