Mountain Sheep Canyon, Page, Arizona

Mountain Sheep Canyon, Page, Arizona

There are lots of small and very beautiful canyons located around the town of Page, Arizona.
These canyons are located on Navajo land, and can only be visited by hiring a Navajo guide.

There are a few tour companies around Page, each offering a different tour.
Travelers and photographers from all over the world come here to take stunning photos of these amazing canyons.

The Navajo guides are very knowledgeable and experienced in advising people on how to take great photos inside the canyons.
Some of the canyons are very tall and narrow, which does not allow much light to penetrate to the narrow path on which you walk.

The camera needs a special setting, in order to get good results.
I will give you here the camera setting to use to get good canyon photos.
Put the dial of your camera on “P” (Program) Mode.
Then go to “Settings” and find “White Balance” - put it to “Cloudy.”
Then go to “Exposure” and put it on minus one.
That’s all.

As our Navajo guide told us, you do not want to shoot on auto mode, which tends to wash out the details.
This is because an overexposed photo is useless, while a bit underexposed photo can always be brightened afterwards.

The canyons have different names, but they are all part of the same vast area that is referred to as Antelope Canyon.

I have heard it called “The Most Beautiful Canyon On Earth,” and I heartily agree.

I have visited some beautiful canyons, including some on the Silk Road in Xinjiang Province, in the Taklamakan desert in China, and also in the Gobi, but I have never seen such beauty as the canyons on this Navajo land.

Usually canyons are wider, but some of the canyons we saw here are very narrow, with walls that are so close together that you can barely put one foot in them, and you have to squeeze around thin stone walls to progress to the end of the canyon.

The light filtering through the tall canyons illuminates the bends and ripples in the rocks, created by the water as it gushes from the surrounding mountains when it rains.

Art, our Navajo guide for the day, told us that he used to roam these canyons when he was a young boy.
He said he used to live on the reservation, and walk here with his dog and a BB gun.

I asked if he was carrying the gun to hunt for rabbits, and he said:
“Yes.... but also because anything can happen in a young, seven year old boy’s mind.
Anything from an encounter with a hungry pack of coyotes to a wild cat to a monster.”

I wanted to ask Art so many questions about his childhood, and about legends of the Navajo, but our tiny tour group of only three people, included a recently divorced lady from Chicago who talked about her life the whole time.

I kept quiet, and instead walked around with my jaw opened, admiring the beauty of the canyons.

I know that I blog often, and share intimate details of my activities, what is on my mind, my dreams and my opinions, but when in person, I like to listen to the people around me instead of talking about myself.

In fact, I very rarely share stories about my life when I am around people.
There are a few reasons for this.
One is that it is boring.
I already know all my own adventures and thoughts, so why repeat them again and again?
Wouldn’t it be more exciting to hear new views?

Another reason is that talking about one’s self and dominating conversations is the game of an ego that wishes to establish its worth, pride and value, when in fact, we are ALL worthy and lovable.
Not a single one of us is more worthy than the other.

Wishing you a blessed day or night,
Tali