November 2018: Day 1 W Trek Recap

Day 1 of the W Trek: 22 km (13.5 miles) Round Trip to the Blue Towers from Refugio Torres Central

On Friday, Nov. 9, we were picked up by our private transfer van at 6:30 am and driven up to Refugio Torres Central, which is by the northern entrance of Torres del Paine National Park. We arrived within two hours and saw some ucos (llamas) along the way, grazing the grass before the park entrance. After dropping off our backpacks for storage and only carrying our daypacks and trekking poles, we started off for the long hike at 9:05 am.

The weather forecast predicted by Mountain Forecast was pretty reliable. I checked the forecast every day until we arrived in Puerto Natales and it called for a calm, sunny weekend with temperatures ranging from the 40s to high 50s. To have NO wind is pretty incredible as this area is know for its forceful winds. In fact, when we stopped to take pictures of the valley early on during the hike below, our guides mentioned it’s usually too windy to stop here for pictures.

Our hike started off flat before ascending up through a gravelly trail. The halfway point of the one way route to the towers was at Refugio Chileno and we stopped there after a couple of hours of trekking for a snack and to fill our water bottles.

After passing through some valleys and the refugio, we came upon the forest, which was the easiest hike of the trail and a much needed ‘break’ as this part was mostly flat. Along the way we crossed a few suspension bridges and filled our water bottles at the glacier streams.

I was really hesitant to consider drinking from the streams but honestly it was the best water I’ve ever had in my life! No one got sick from drinking the water straight. The water is so clear. I initially bought sanitization tablets but didn’t end up bringing them anyway. I really miss drinking this water. My water bottle did have a carbon filter on it but that’s about it. There aren’t really any animals in the wild here except for pumas (which we never saw) and hares and smaller wildlife.

We reached the base of the towers at noon and from there, it was about an hour hike through a rocky path to the top. This was the hardest trail of the trip, especially after you’re already walking for hours! My trekking poles really helped me get up there. It was exhausting but not impossible to get up there. I hadn’t really eaten much of a breakfast which was a poor decision on my part as well. You will be burning tons of calories on this hike! I got an Apple Watch for this trip and based on my height (I’m 5’2”) and weight (not telling!) I burned about 2000 active calories on this hike and over 1500 resting calories. So not eating much in the morning really hurt me since I was so tired from lack of food.

The views up here were picture perfect though and the first thing I did when I got up here was whip out our packed lunch and eat everything! The trail was busy but not overwhelmingly crowded. Although to our guides, they found it to be too busy but I’m a New Yorker and didn’t find it to be that bothersome. I would say about 75-100 other people were up here when we there. Everyone was spread out so getting pictures without people in it wasn’t a challenge. The sky cleared up and no wind made it even more magical as that’s the only way you’ll also see reflections in the water (as seen above at the top!).

We stayed up here for about an hour before heading back down. Going back down was tough as your limbs are already tired and everyone is heading down around the same time too. However, I didn’t think it was that bad in terms of a crowd (compared to how it is at the popular upstate NY hikes!). Obviously starting earliest in the day is better to beat the rush. In addition, if you don’t get to the base of the towers by 4 pm, they won’t allow you to continue up for safety reasons (the sun goes down in November after 8:30 pm).

We left round 2 pm and passed through the same way we came, with a brief stop at Refugio Chileno again. All trash you bring into the park you’re expected to carry out (or throw it away in the bathrooms at the refugios!).

These horses carry the trash back down to civilization

We finished the hike at 5:45 pm. I remember as we headed back down that I must have blacked out during parts of the ascension up as I did not remember some of the areas we passed through! It was the longest hike I’ve done so far in one day. While I love the outdoors, I’m a city girl at heart and although I worked out and ‘prepared’ for this trip all year long, I still found it difficult (but not impossible).

The views of the turquoise lakes all around were beautiful and after we got back to the refugio, we did a LOT of stretching for our tired muscles. Overall it was a beautiful day and a beautiful hike. My friends will find it impossible to believe but I think this was my favorite HIKE of the trip (but not my favorite day since I was hangry half the time, but that was totally my fault!).

November 2018: Planning for Patagonia

Planning for Patagonia is not logistically easy. It basically took me and my friends three days to get to Torres del Paine (pronounced Torres del “Pine-ay”), which resides in Chile, from NYC. Most people fly into Santiago, Chile to travel to Torres del Paine but we chose to go through Buenos Aires, Argentina as we wanted to end our trip visiting the vineyards of Mendoza.

This is the fourth time I attempted to plan this trip and I’m glad I waited this long. The first time I looked into going was more than 10 years ago and information on Torres del Paine is not as plentiful as it is today. The internet/communication infrastructure has probably improved over this period of time as well and a lot of things in place years ago are no longer. Four years ago I went to Argentina to visit Iguazu Falls (amazing, highly recommend waterfall lovers to go) and had to pay a $100 or so reciprocity fee (valid for 10 years) to get into the country. Well, apparently as of last year that’s no longer in place. In addition, the last time I was in Argentina, I had to exchange all my money on the ‘black market’ because the exchange rate was fixed as $1 USD = 8 pesos (on the black market you could get up to 12 or 14 pesos) and today, $1 USD = 35-38 pesos!

Anyway, planning a trip to Torres del Paine is no easy feat unless you have a lot of time on your hands. You need to register with the park and also make reservations in advance if you want to stay at the limited number of refugios (hostel lodges) in the park. From what I read on the internet, booking a bed or tent at the refugios was frustrating (payment won’t go through, people don’t respond, sold out, etc.) so early on my friends and I decided to bite the bullet and sign up with a tour guide instead to do all the bookings for us.

After a bunch of research, we decided to go with Swoop Patagonia. They have a flashy website and were very responsive and their itinerary worked out for us. However, as soon as we said yes to booking, they turned us over to Chile Nativo! So it turns out Swoop Patagonia is a 3rd party seller of tours and Chile Native is the local operator who actually takes you on the tour. It worked out anyway though as we LOVED Chile Nativo (and after speaking with them, I can see why they need Swoop—the agency has been around for over 15 years but is a small-run tour operator which has grown bigger in the last year and they just haven’t done as much marketing as they can be doing).

We found the price to be reasonable for our budget (we did the 5-day trek for $1695) though yes, if you planned this on your own, you’d be saving more than half. We just didn’t have the time to plan it all ourselves so to us, it was worth it. And no one in our group is an experienced camper or hiker so we felt more comfortable going with a guide in case something happened or someone got sick/injured but you don’t really need one. The trails on the W Trek are all well marked paths.

When I was doing my research for the tour, I read many mixed things about going either west to east or east to west on the W Trek (the other option is the O trek, which is much longer and you’ll see all of the park while the W hits the highlights). As Torres del Paine is known for its wind, most people suggested going west to east (to move along with the winds) but I am SUPER glad we went with Chile Nativo and did the route from east to west. I think this route is better because:

• you’re moving along with the sun (if it is sunny—this will be incredibly helpful, hiking without the sun in your eyes)

• we got the hardest part of the hike over on day 1, going up to the Blue Towers (which is what Torres del Paine means)

This is literally what you can expect from hiking Torres del Paine. Our trip started at Refugio Las Torres and we stayed overnight in Los Cuernos, Paine Grande, and Grey. The first day of the hike to the Base of the Towers was the hardest (22 km roundtrip back to Refugio Las Torres) and took 8 hours.

In addition to planning all our accommodations, meals, and guides in Torres del Paine, Chile Nativo also booked our first and last night in Puerto Natales (the gateway into the park). We stayed at Hotel Vendaval, which was a wonderful stay, and you’re able to leave whatever luggage you’re NOT taking into the park here (which we found to be safe and we had locks on our luggage as well).

Getting to Torres del Paine from New York City

We traveled through four airports, two taxi rides, and two buses over a 72 hour period to get to Torres del Paine. We flew with Aerolineas Argentina (pretty decent airline, I have no complaints—besides the very first 5 minutes of my trip, the check ins were smooth, service was friendly, and had no issues traveling with this line). In summary, these were our travel logistics:

• On Tuesday, Nov. 6, we took a 3:30 pm direct flight from JFK to EZE, the international airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The trip may have started off on the wrong foot had I not watched out for my luggage! I ended up bringing just two pieces—a carry-on size hiking backpack for the trek and a carry-on size suitcase that I checked in. Well, while the Aerolineas Argentina agent gave me my plane ticket at check in, I noticed he totally forgot about my checked-in bag! When I asked him about it, his eyes got wide and said “Oh, yes! Sorry about that!” and ticketed my luggage, stuck the slips on, and put it on the conveyor belt. Had I not watched/said anything, who knows if my luggage would’ve made it out! Probably not, since he didn’t even issue a luggage ticket until I asked! My other friend also had an issue with her luggage and bringing on her trekking poles. Mine were foldable and hidden but hers were bigger and sticking out and had metal tips and they had to recall her luggage (after she checked it in) to put the metal tips away. They wouldn’t let her pass security otherwise. Anyway, after the luggage issues, we otherwise had a smooth overnight flight and arrived in EZE by 4 am, and in November, Buenos Aires is two hours ahead of NYC.

• By the time we got our luggage and through customs, it was 6 am. I was paranoid about getting money from the ATM (last time I was in Argentina my cards didn’t work at all!) so I exchanged U.S. dollars at Banco Nacional, a local Argentinian bank. The bank is located directly outside the luggage, to the right. ATMs may have a limit to how much you can withdraw every day so I withdrew $600 USD which was more than enough to get me through the two week trip (most places except taxi cabs take credit card). The exchange rate I got it for was AR 34.60 vs. the official rate at the time of 35-36 pesos so not much of a difference. And if you do use the ATM, you will probably pay additional fees there too.

• We booked a car transfer with Taxi Ezeiza. I made the rsvp a few days beforehand online and they charged $35 USD for 4 people. They’re also located right outside the luggage terminal, at a big booth and if you make a rsvp your name will be on a sign at the desk. You can pay in dollars or pesos (or in credit card). We had rush hour traffic and it took just over an hour to get to AEP, which is the domestic airport in Buenos Aires.

• From AEP, we took a 12:15 pm flight from Buenos Aires to El Calafate, Argentina. You can either fly to El Calafate to get to Puerto Natales (the last town before Torres del Paine) or to Punta Arenas, Chile (which is further south than Puerto Natales). Two of my friends told me there was NOTHING to see in Punta Arenas whereas in El Calafate you at least have the Perito Moreno Glacier so I’m glad we stuck to El Calafate. Also, if you plan to visit more of Argentina after Torres del Paine, it’s cheaper to fly within Argentina than to fly to Chile and then back to Argentina. We arrived in El Calafate by 3:30 pm and grabbed a taxi to pick up our bus tickets for the next day’s trip to Puerto Natales. The bus terminal is about 15 min. away from the airport and costs like $10 USD to get there by taxi. We had to pick up our tickets the day before because they needed to verify our passport info for the border crossing. The bus office (Cootra) closes at 4:30 pm so keep this in mind if you choose to use them and fly into El Calafate before then! We stayed overnight at Hostal Gnomos, which is a 5 min. walk from the bus station.

• The next day: woke up early to catch the 7:30 am bus to Puerto Natales. We got to the bus station by 7 am though as we heard horror stories of buses leaving without people if they were not on time. The Cootra bus was quite nice and comfortable. It’s a double decker bus (you can reserve seats in advance) and there is a bathroom on board for the 5-6 hour drive. The driver didn’t really speak English though but we figured things out. By the time we got to the border crossing it was about noon and the whole process took an hour. On the Argentina side, they just stamp your passport. On the Chile side, they stamp your passport but they also scan your luggage (we had no problem bringing in snacks or food—I think someone got fruit in—but from what I heard it really depends on the mood of the officers!). The Chile passport security check has bathrooms which was much needed after the long drive. The Argentina side does not, and going on the bus is not really fun. So after security check it was another 45 minutes to Puerto Natales. When we arrived, we grabbed a taxi for 2000 Chilean pesos to Hotel Vendaval (like $5 USD). I had gotten Chilean pesos before the trip at Chase Bank (they didn’t offer Argentian pesos though and all I took was $60 USD equivalent in Chilean pesos which was more than enough. I never needed Chilean pesos on the W trek, just for the taxis. We ended up using the money for dinners in town though but they take credit cards). Checked into Hotel Vendaval.

• In the evening, we had our briefing at the office of Chile Nativo (literally a 2 min. walk from the hotel) and met our two tour guides, the rest of our tour group (10 people in total!) and got the details of the trip.

• The next day: got picked up at 6:30 am on Friday morning, November 9, 2018 for the hiking trip of a lifetime!!!

Other Info

Other resources that really helped me for the trip:

• This website someone recommended on Trip Advisor was amazingly helpful to check out the weather forecast in Torres del Paine: www.mountain-forecast.com. Just be sure to pick the lowest altitude and convert it to Fahrenheit if needed. I checked the forecast every day for a week before arrival and it was 90% spot on in predicting the weather we would be having in an unpredictable place.

• REI. I love this store. I know I’m late to the game but I grew up as a city slicker. I never grew up camping or being in the outdoors! But REI and the people who work there were wonderful resources for me in terms of what gear I needed for this trip. I got my backpack, trekking poles, jackets, windproof pants, blister bandaids, everything here. I’ll do a post later on the gear I got.

May 2017 Trip Report: Mt. Etna (Day 3)

Friday was spent all day on Mt. Etna, an active volcano that blew up as recently as a month ago! We did the tour with Etna People, who I thought did a fantastic job.  I think you can book up to a month in advance as the tours may be altered based on weather and what's happening on the mountain. 

We did the Etna Easy tour, which was 149 euros per adult and includes 4 stops--a cable car ride to 2700 meters up, then lunch, then walking around some old craters, then going into a lava cave, then visiting a gorge carved by lava.  

We had two tour guides, one who gave the tour in Italian and the other in English so the groups were split whenever necessary. One of the guides who spoke English well was a geologist so they give tons of facts.  

The Etna Hard tour goes to the summit but I don't think it was available due to the recent lava eruption last month. It is a bit chillier up the mountain and the tour gives you good jackets and hiking boots to borrow for free if needed.  

We were supposed to see the valley at the top but it was too cloudy. Was still cool though, the terrain was all black rocks and sand and felt like we were on the moon instead. You do need to have good balance to walk around since it's so rocky but really if you're remotely fit you can walk around. It was also cool to feel the heat from the surface below. Just pockets of hot air when walking around. 

Where the eruption from April 2017 occurred.  

Lunch was a typical Sicilian lunch of some veggies with vinegar and two types of pasta. One was ravioli with pistachio cream and beef and the other was a macaroni pasta with mushroom and tomato sauce. Pretty decent, it's lunch at one of those restaurants that caters to tour groups.  

Crater face

After lunch we walked around some craters. We walked around the entirety of the one above which was cool and great views of the area.  

Afterwards we headed down to explore a lava cave. They give you helmets to wear and flashlights as it's total darkness and you must watch where you step. We only walked about 0.15 miles in but it felt longer due to the rocky jagged surface! 

Lastly we went to see this gorge which was carved by lava flows hundreds of years ago. The water that flows through here is said to be therapeutic for your body and they unite you to soak your feet in the water so bring a towel/flip flops if you're interested in that.  

Overall a good tour to do if you're interested in volcanos/nature. A lot of walking is involved so it's quite active. We were picked up at our hotel at 8:45 and our day ended by 6:30 pm.  

April 2017 Trip Report Part I: Page, Arizona

Last week, I went out to Arizona for a work trip (conference) but took an extra three days to explore northern Arizona. For the past few years, I've been itching to see Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon and both did not disappoint!

Getting to Page, Arizona

To get to Page, Arizona is not an easy feat from the East Coast. There are no direct flights, so if coming from NYC (or other major East Coast cities), your best bet is to fly directly to Phoenix as early as possible and then rent a car and drive 4 hours to Page. This was quite a long trip and I am SUPER glad I took the first flight out at 6:30 am from JFK as the rest of the day did not go quite as planned...

Due to my early flight, that meant I also had to be up at 3:30 am to get to JFK by 5 am from Manhattan. I can never sleep well whenever I take an early morning flight (the anticipation of waking up/not missing the alarm) so I was pretty sleep deprived by the time we landed in Phoenix (about a 5 hour flight direct). We landed at 9 am Phoenix time though, but by the time I got my car rental and left the airport, it was almost 10:45 am. The first thing I did was drive to the nearest Walmart about 15 min. away to stock up on water and snacks for the road, then I hit up the infamous West Coast burger and fries franchise In and Out for lunch and by noon, I was on the road.

It's generally a very straight drive from Phoenix to Page and though the speed limit was like 75 mph, you're going uphill most of the time (northern Arizona like Sedona, which is on the way, is at a higher elevation which means it's also cooler). My car rental didn't have strong pick up speed even though it was an SUV so I wish I was flying faster but I was just going about 75-80 mph max. (not that you should be speeding but I usually like to think +10 over the speed limit is okay and most were going way faster than me!). Anyway, about an hour into my drive, I GOT A FLAT TIRE!!!!!

I've never gotten a flat tire on my own...This was also the second time ever in life renting and driving alone. Thank goodness the woman at my Enterprise car rental had asked me if I wanted roadside assistance before I drove off the rental lot! Usually to keep costs down I turned down all the car insurances/packages, etc. But when she asked if I wanted roadside assistance (which is only like $6.99/day and basically a tow truck will come help with any car issues) I had a bad foreboding feeling and got it just in case. 

I was also lucky the flat tire happened early on during the drive. Between Phoenix and Page, there is basically nothing but mountains and desert road (although when you pass thru Flagstaff there is civilization). I was a mile away from a gas station so I pulled off the highway and called for help when I was at the gas station (which was in a safe area, thankfully). Took about an hour for the tow truck guy to come and he was able to change my tire in about 5-10 min. So I didn't know this before and will share this to others who may not as well. When you get a flat tire:

• you cannot drive more than 50 mph on a spare tire
• you cannot drive more than 50-100 miles with a spare tire on

I did not know this! In my mind (before I found out) I thought I was gonna just be driving the car around with a spare. Anyway, so I found out I needed to switch out my car at the nearest Enterprise so off to Flagstaff I went (driving oh so slow at 50 mph while everyone else was whizzing by). Luckily it was within 50 miles of where I was. So I get to the Flagstaff Enterprise rental at the airport (no direct flights from NYC, otherwise I would've tried to fly into Flagstaff to cut driving time!), and the guy tells me he has no cars to give me!!!! It's about 3:30 pm at this point and I'm hungry, sleep deprived, and generally cranky from the whole tire situation. Plus everything closes by 6 pm (like the rental car office and the garage) so I was feeling nervous. And I forgot to mention earlier that my car was pretty new (only 5K miles on it!). So the car rental guy called the local garage who had the exact tire I needed to replace so he sent me over there to switch it out. It was about a mile away, and when I got there, I see how busy they are and not feeling happy about having to deal with all this (I didn't have to pay for the tire though). The mechanics there were really nice though and took care of me, within 45 minutes they switched out the tires (they said they couldn't repair the flat, the tire melted too much! It was quite hot on the road). So by the time I got back on the highway again, it was close to 5 pm and I still had 2.5 hours to drive! 

At this point, I start to race against the sun. As I head north, there are less and less cars on the road, and zero services. Ok, not COMPLETELY zero, thank God there was ONE service area about 1.5 hours from Page. It's in Cameron, Arizona and it's near the Navajo Trading Post. There is also a Conoco gas station there but it's pretty deserted so it feels a bit sketch. I initially saw the gas station first and wanted to pull in and use the bathroom but it didn't feel safe to me (lack of people) so I drove down the road further to the Burger King and used their facilities instead (more people and definitely a tourist bus stop area I believe). Otherwise, there was NOTHING to stop at between Flagstaff and Page. I was feeling nervous too--what if I somehow popped another tire??? The tow truck guy told me flats happen often on the highway from all the traffic/debris from trucks. Anyway, at this point in the day with light fading, I was not feeling great driving solo but I was thankful I started my day early.

For GPS, I was using good old Google Maps, and I knew that at some point, it was taking me off the major highway of route 89. To get to my hotel, it took me onto Coppermine Road which is like a highway road except it's one lane in both directions and less cars!!! However, on my return trip, I was glad my GPS took me on Coppermine Road north because I came back south on US route 89 and saw that it is a HUGE incline up on one segment of the road whereas Coppermine Road was flat the whole way. The difference in length between the two is only 5 miles and while 89 is a more commercial road, I guess I'm glad I was on Coppermine.

So, long story short, I got to my hotel RIGHT at dusk and I was thrilled I made it but had zero energy for anything else and basically went straight to bed. Not sure if I would ever put myself in a situation like that again! I mean, everything turned out fine but I didn't like how I felt uneasy driving solo so remotely and without much energy.

Hotel in Page

I stayed at La Quinta Inn Suites, which was great. Feels like a new hotel and the staff is super friendly. My rate $135 USD included breakfast too but I never ate it (I opted for nearby McDonald's to save time after I finished seeing Horseshoe Bend). I highly recommend as an affordable and central place to stay. It's less than a 10 min. drive to Horseshoe Bend and most restaurants, about 15 min. away from Antelope Canyon.

Horseshoe Bend

My initial plan was to see Horseshoe Bend the afternoon I arrived. Since that obviously didn't happen, I got up at the crack of dawn (5 am) to see it at sunrise (which was at 5:30 am in mid-April). I am SO glad I did!!!! Most people recommend seeing it at sunrise and after seeing it, I understand why. The bend faces East, so as the sun rises, you see the colors of the canyon change. If you see if any other time of day like afternoon the face of the canyon will be in shadow of the sun.

It's also completely safe to see/do on your own. When I arrived in the parking lot, there were about 10 cars there too. It wasn't too cold, about low 50s, and it wasn't windy yet. It got windier as the morning went on. FYI, it just gets really windy in northern Arizona! On my drive from Page to Sedona, the winds were so forceful I could feel the car waver thru it! 

The walk from the parking lot to the overlook is easy--you walk uphill in sandy terrain and then downhill, all less than a mile. The path is wide and easy to follow.

Path up to Horseshoe Bend

Walk down to the bend

There are zero barriers so as you approach the canyon, just be careful and watch where you step. And don't let young kids run around too freely! There were less than 10 people when I arrived at sunrise (mostly pro photographers who had their tripods set up!) on a Thursday morning. I'm glad I did this early because when I left in the afternoon the parking lot looked quite full. I stayed here for about an hour, just watching the colors of everything change from muted colors to bright vivid ones as the sun came up. I'm also glad I came earlier as the higher the sun rose, more flies seem to flit about and we also heard the waking sounds of far away coyotes! Overall, despite my horrendous travel the day before, the views here were beautiful and worth the trek out from Phoenix.

Horseshoe Bend at sunrise (but before the sun gets too high up)

Logistics

Another thing to know--the time out here can get confusing!!! Because parts of this area are close to Utah, your cell phone signal might show Mountain time, instead of Pacific time. Depending on the time of year, this matters. In this case, I was visiting in April, after Daylight Savings Time is in effect, and I knew that Arizona was on Pacific time but while I was in Horseshoe Bend/Antelope Canyon, my phone would show time an hour ahead. So be careful! When I left Horseshoe Bend, it was about 6:30 am Pacific time (although my phone said 7:30 am, but my car's time was correct so I would refer to that if I got confused) and instead of catching breakfast at the hotel, I went to McDonald's which is very close and got drive thru and ate at the parking lot. The reason why I did that was because I needed to be at Upper Canyon to make a walk-in rsvp at 8 am and then I needed to be in Lower Canyon by 8:10 am to check in for my tour. And I wanted to make sure I had time to digest/use the bathroom before I went to either one! So I just ate as fast as I could, got back to the hotel by 7 am, rested for about 30 min., then headed back out around 7:45 am.

So about booking tours for Lower Canyon/Upper Canyon. I read a lot about this and based on my experience:

• Definitely visit both. Do Lower Canyon first (which is longer and more interesting to see) and do Upper Canyon at prime time (which is 11 am or noon, depending on the time of year you go).
• You do NOT need a rsvp for Upper Canyon! Everyone tells you you need one but you don't! Even my hotel receptionist at check in! On Trip Advisor I read mixed things about making a rsvp. And yes, you do need to if you choose to use one of the big touristy upper canyon operators. If you go with Antelope Navajo Tours, you can totally just show up and sign up for an 11 am or noon slot. However, when you look on their website, you don't see this option at ALL which is why it's confusing (I guess they purposely don't post it). My friend had done the same a couple of years ago so it doesn't seem like anything has changed. I showed up at 8 am and only 3 other people were in front of me (they have two lines, one for walk-ins and the other for online rsvps).
• For Lower Canyon, I used Ken's Lower Canyon tours and I'm so glad I did. They were fun and well organized and definitely get on the first tour ASAP! This you can (and should) rsvp in advance. I got on the 8:20 am tour (I booked for 8:40 but they let me change it since they had room). Both Navajo and Ken's tours are LITERALLY across the road from each other (two minute drive, if even that) so if you plan this right you can hit both. First, hit Upper at 8 am when they open to sign up for the 11 am or 12 pm tour and then sail over to check in for the early Lower Canyon tour. Hold onto your ticket for Lower Canyon so you don't have to re-pay the $8 permit fee for the park when you do the Upper Canyon tour later.
• Another reason why you want to do Lower Antelope as early as possible is because (according to my guide at least) it looks best early in the morning and it's less people. When I was signing up for the Upper Canyon tour, the lady said I might not make it back in time if I did the Lower first because the day before, there was so much congestion that people got backed up for 2-3 hours! I can see how this happens if you start the Lower Tour later like 9 am. You might not make it for the 11 am Upper. I did Lower at 8:20 am and by the time we entered the canyon, the line in grew super long so being an early bird pays off! I finished Lower Canyon by 9:30 am, plenty of time to catch the 11 am and better safe than sorry!

Lower Antelope Canyon

As I mentioned earlier, Ken's Lower Canyon tour ($25 USD) was great. It's next to another one (Dixie) so make sure you drive into the right lot. They own this part of the canyon so when the gov't shuts down, they're still operating (unlike National Park Services). I loved the guide we had--they probably train all the guides the same. They know where to take ALL the best pictures and they're quick too! Each guide gets about 6-10 people to bring in and they have multiple guides for all the time slots. They were so friendly and efficient. 

Lower Antelope Canyon is a different experience than Upper. It's about a mile walk through roundtrip and involved climbing ladders (nothing no can handle unless you're in some way physically disabled, in my opinion) but it wasn't strenuous. They do tell you that flash floods are possible and if they throw out ropes into the canyon, you best scramble up on them! The day I went was clear as day though (with some winds) so definitely watch the forecasts. 

Going earlier in the day is better so you don't get backed up by all the various tourist groups that eventually trek/angle for space for pictures. Again, I loved our guide because he was efficient and assisted us with telling us where to take pictures and sometimes would take pictures for us that you would never realize is an amazing shot!

Entrance into Lower Canyon

Groovy baby

I have a million pictures from the tour but the above are some of my favorites. I finished the tour within an hour and liked it more than Upper as there was more to see and felt more exciting climbing up/down and going through narrow crevices.

Upper Antelope Canyon

Upper Antelope Canyon is a different experience. It's a much shorter walk than Lower, and you have to ride out on a jeep with a tour company to get to the entrance. It's also a flat, in/out walk into the canyon. The whole experience takes about an hour as well due to the 3 mile drive (one way) to the canyon and back. It sounds like it would be a quick drive but it's not because they're driving on sand. Depending on the level of wind, you should prepare yourself for getting covered in sand and you might want to bring a scarf to help cover your mouth/nose from the dust!

As I mentioned earlier, I went with Antelope Navajo Tours. Don't bother trying to call them. I called them several times before my trip and only ONE time (the first time I called actually), someone picked up. Anyway, you can book a rsvp online on their website but they do NOT let you rsvp for the popular times of 11 am or noon, but it is TOTALLY available if you go as a walk-in. You can sign up for the professional photo tour if you have fancy cameras ($120) but the guided one hour tour ($48) is sufficient. By the way, all my pics were taken with my iPhone 7 (I am too lazy to invest in fancy equipment!).

When you show up to sign up, it looks very make shift (compared to Ken's Lower tours, which has an actual building). There's basically some tables and benches set up underneath shade but otherwise don't expect any type of facility here! 

I was lucky and got on an 11 am tour with an organized tour group who was using them as well. Since I was solo, they just stuck me on with them and we were the first to arrive at the canyon (amongst all the groups that were going at the same time) so it wasn't as crowded when I went with this group since we were among the first to arrive for that time slot.

Got lucky and saw some some beams in the canyon (which only appear in the middle of the day) but to see the ULTIMATE sun beams, it's better to be there at 12:30 pm (for April at least).

To Eat in Page

After I finished the Upper Canyon tour, it was about 1:15 pm and I was starving! So I headed over to El Tapatio which is in the center of town and an authentic family-run Mexican restaurant. The food was delicious!!! I had the carne asada, which is skirt steak with rice and beans and it sounds simple but it was amazing! Super juicy and flavorful. I wish I could've eaten here more than once but I basically left Page to drive down to Sedona after I ate.

Before I drove off though, I did stop by Glen Canyon Dam to have a look. I wanted to go down to see Lake Powell too but since I was spending the next two nights in Sedona, I just wanted to get to Sedona ASAP (2.5 hour drive from Page). 

Overall I had a wonderful time cramming everything in one morning in Page and highly recommend visiting!