Beauty and Danger

 

 

Beauty and danger quite often go together, and that is certainly the case with the (in)famous slot canyons of Arizona. The beauty is quite astonishing; truly, one of the natural wonders of the world.

Slot canyon, Arizona.

 

These curves and waves have been petrified into the soft rock. The colour comes from the minerals; and the soft lighting from above makes the whole glow. It’s breath-taking & exquisite.

 

Rock Lion

 

 

Upper Antelope Canyon

 

 

These are not big canyons; 10-20 metres deep and pretty narrow. In some places I needed to take my camera bag off so I could squeeze through the gap. And therein lies the danger. Rain water, sometimes up to 30 miles off, can flash-flood through these canyons. You can’t outrun a flood, you can’t swim in it. The water, which creates all this fantastic beauty, will annihilate anything in its path.

Lower Antelope Canyon

 

 

Lady in the rock

 

Is all this beauty worth the risk? For me, yes. But only after checking the weather forecast, very, very, carefully…