We were so captivated by Antelope Canyon (near Page, AZ) that we wanted to retain as many of the images as possible.
After a quarter-mile navigation of the slot canyon, we emerged at this point--a point that reveals the hidden (to novice visitors) danger of the slot canyon.
Caught up in the beauty of the narrow rock walls, visitors can easily overlook the risk inherent in a rain storm in the desert.
During monsoon season, rain does not have to fall on or near the Antelope Canyon slots for flash floods to whip through.
Rain falling dozens of miles away
"upstream" of the canyons can funnel into them with little warning.
On August 12, 1997, eleven tourists were killed in Lower Antelope Canyon by a flash flood, which sent an 11-foot wall of water crashing through a normally dry canyon no wider than a hallway in places.
Very little rain fell at the site that day, but an earlier thunderstorm had dumped a large amount of water into the canyon basin--seven miles upstream (en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Antelope_ Canyon).
The walk through the Upper Canyon of Antelope Canyon was memorable, and we are already planning a return trip.
One visit is not enough.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
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