Antelope Canyon X

 We took a Canyon X tour on the Navajo lands.  The Navajo own so much land in the area.  The land is sacred and secured.  We could not bring bags, food, trash or anything but water and phones into the lands.  We took a 15 passenger van down to the canyon entrance.  The short hike down into the canyons revealed caves and cliffs underground, hidden by the flat desert land above.  The canyon is called Canyon X because when you look up, the skylight is in the shape of an X.  There is also a Canyon Y and a few others.  It is interesting that that is how it got its name, rather than the characteristics of the caves themselves.  The walls of the canyon are super tall, smooth and you can see the lines on the sides of the walls that comes from the wind routes.  The canyon acts like a wind tunnel and over time makes lines.  

Our tour guide told us about the natives that used to live in the canyons here, and many natives still do up in the Grand Canyon.  They raise animals in the canyon, keep safe from heat and weather, and cook and sleep in the canyons.  It was once the way of life here and still is in some native groups.  During the rainy season the canyons can flood, so the natives move out during the rainy season.  The tour groups have to pump water out of the canyons for tours during the rainy season. 

It is all so fascinating to learn about and to see the canyons first hand.  This world is so big and there are so many types of people who live in so many different ways.  Their stories of how they are and where they come from are so fascinating to me. 

We got lots and lots of pictures here in Canyon X.