Antelope Canyon 55K Ultramarathon

Our first camper trip of the year was to Page Arizona which is the jumping off point for Lake Powell and Antelope Canyon activities. We planned to run a 55K (34 mile) Ultramarathon on Navajo land that traverses upper Antelope Canyon and many other slot canyons.

Lake Powell, which was created by Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River, is a gigantic reservoir. It is more than 180 miles long and is a really popular summer boating location. Because of climate change and reduced snowfall in Colorado and Utah, the lake is only at 30% of capacity. It hasn’t been full since 1983.

Driving towards our campground at Antelope Point Marina.

Antelope Point marina has hundreds of boats, some more than 100 feet long. The entire marina, including its restaurant, is floating and can rise and fall with the water level.

We took a short boat tour into lower Antelope Canyon.

Our race started at 5AM Saturday morning in the dark. Our friend Christie from Boulder was also running.

The first 90 minutes of the race took place in the dark and included this short scramble.

I expected the highlight to be running through Upper Antelope Canyon but it was too dark to capture many photos. This photo is at the entrance. These slot canyons have amazing flowing shapes formed through erosion of the sandstone.

Once we were through Antelope Canyon we got to see a beautiful desert sunrise.

After Antelope Canyon we traversed several other slot canyons.

Running through another narrow slot canyon.

The Navajo use these slot canyons for tours and have installed lots of ladders and platforms to enable people to access them without rock climbing.

The desert landscape around Antelope Canyon.

This was a the deepest canyon and climbing out of it would have been impossible without these ladders and platforms.

Staci running through a slot canyon.

The early morning sun hitting the canyon walls.

Running on the rim above a deep canyon.

The steeper sections of the course had ropes to help people who were not accustomed to running in the mountains.

Nearing the end of the race.

Crossing the finish line. We both felt fantastic and had a great day.

We took a tour of lower Antelope Canyon the next morning. The following photos highlight the different parts of the Canyon.

This is a photo of Antelope Canyon from above. It is hard to spot these canyons in the desert until you are on top of them.

Our next stop on the trip was the Dark Sky campground in Kanab, Utah. Staci is practicing her cornhole toss.

Our next stop was Buckskin Gulch - one of the longest slot Canyons in the world. It is a 16-mile series of slot canyons and rock formations.

Many of the rock walls in this area have Petroglyphs.

Heading into another area of Petroglyphs called “The Maze”.

We visited the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary on our last day in Kanab. It is a massive facility on 4000 acres that is home to 1600 Cats, Dogs, Pigs, Horses, Parrots, Bunnies and other animals in need. Hundreds of volunteers keep this facility running.

Looking out at the Colorado Plateau and Vermillion Cliffs, with Grand Staircase Escalante and Bryce National Park in the distance.