‘The desert’s an old dream of the sea.’-Holly Ringland

Once again, for my winter break, I hit the road and headed west. The impetus of this trip is seen Adele(!!!!!) in Las Vegas so I decided to hit a few spots that were old and new to me! First up, I took a slight detour and returned to Page, Arizona and Lower Antelope Canyon! I only had time to hit one canyon and I loved Lower more. Due to my time options and waiting until the last minute, I returned to Dixie Ellis Lower Antelope Canyon Tours. I should have done Ken’s Tours Lower Antelope Canyon, to compare and is the only other tour group you can take, but Dixie Ellis worked better with my needs. Next time though!

While I was there the same time period as I had the year before, a lot had changed. Most notable is Covid was not as much in the forefront had been. I no longer had to mask, which was nice (mostly due to respiratory issues I have). However, by far the biggest difference was the sheer volume of people. While not at full capacity, my timed group was probably twice the size and group times were closer together. I can’t imagine what it is like during peak periods. My guide this time was not as great as Gene (who was superb). I did not get as much information about the canyon and cool stories about the Navajo sandstone canyon landmarks. I am not sure anyone else noticed this but as I had been before, I was glad I had been before.

One of the coolest things about my revisit was seeing how the canyon actually changed. In the nearly year since I had visited, they had a series of severe flash floods that came through. One of them removed a boulder that opened up another access point. In my last trip, I had to walk over the area and this time I walked through. I looked through my photos to see if I could find what it looked like before but couldn’t. As I will be back one day, maybe something else will have changed!

I am so glad that I made a return visit. This entire region is truly stunning and always you to always explore and see something new. Just remember, you are in Navajo Nation so be respectful. You should book tickets a head of time and there are only two authorized tours of Lower Antelope Canyon. As I said last year, if you have time, there are some incredible spots in this neck of the world so explore away!