Starlight Antelope Canyon Sunrise Tour
The Starlight Antelope Canyon Sunrise kayak and paddle boarding tour at Lake Powell is an amazing adventure, once in a lifetime, unforgettable experience that is an absolute must do while touring through the Grand Circle. Paddle Express is the only out-fitter that accommodates these unique reservations due to the fact that Paddle Express doesn't set goals for huge profits in the season. Paddle Express main goal is to have the best, most unique experiences with you, the valued customer. We value your trust in us to guide you on this amazing journey.
The experience: Customers arrive at Antelope Point Public Launch Ramp in the darkness of the galactic lights while seeing the glow of the day on the Eastern horizon. Upon exiting your vehicle, the Milkey Way, and constellations such as the Big Dipper look like they are within reach as the dark skies surrounding the point provide amazing clarity for the settings, and very limited light pollution. While walking down to the shoreline the Eastern horizon will start its glowing blue purples along with the epic yellows, pinks, and oranges that come with every rising sun. In those moments the silicate of the sandstone starts to glow, and rock formations appear to add another element to the already breathtaking surroundings. During orientation the morning skies will be filled with soft blues as the stars fade, and mirror like water will be extra inviting to adventure through.
The Paddle: Once set out on the paddle customers begin their 2.5 mile paddle to the shoreline of Antelope Canyon. During this journey you will paddle through 1 mile of the main Colorado River Channel from mile marker 4 to mile marker 3 (towards the dam) and exit into Antelope Canyon to the South East just a few hundred yards before mile marker 3. At that time the mornings sun will be making plenty of ambient lighting for some of the most fascinating land water photography in the world as you paddle through the long straights between the S turns of the canyon with the striated and scalloped vertical walls being nearly 200 feet tall above the waterline.
The Hike: From the shoreline the adventure can be as long as 4 miles one way to hike to the end of the Glen Canyon National Park section of Antelope Canyon. The iconic upper and lower land sections of Antelope Canyon are not accessible from this point. With that being said several other customers have said the kayak and hike is just as good of an experience in Antelope Canyon if not better because of a few factors, one of the most common being time. A kayak and hike tour with Paddle Express is not timed whether it's a DIY or guided, and Paddle Express is the only premier tour company that doesn't put timelines on their experiences. Each tour is custom made. The connection to the canyon is more authentic during the adventure because as you discover silence you loose track of time. In doing so the reality of that essence is remarkable, and a huge difference to the overall experience in the canyon. The second major factor is the low lake levels are allowing the sand deposits (that back filled the slots of the canyon) to get flushed out with the flash floods so the canyon is now 4 flights of stairs deeper or the walls are 4 stories higher depending on how you look at it. The canyon walls are now 7-8 stories tall and a plethora of geological formations can be discovered along the wall. The full length walking distance can take its toll on customers so please consider your land and water fitness for the full length adventure. The full length is about 6.5 hours or less as some spots are very scalloped, and rich with geological features that Navajo Sandstone is World famous for so usually a great picture of the epic orange morning glow is waiting to be captured.
The total experience: The nature of experiencing the canyon while no one else is there, is priceless, and like none other. You don't really realize how much you need to unwind in silence, and solitude until you do it. To find it, you have to be willing to sacrifice your sleep schedule for one night and get up early no matter what. You will be rewarded with a once and a lifetime opportunity because you get to discover the silence, and the beauty of the stillness within the canyon. See nature in it's true form with the fowl and fish activitions of the ea morning glow. The kayak and hike is becoming the best way to experience Antelope Canyon because you avoid crowds, experience peaceful, calm, flat glassy water and best of all you get the most amazing amount of silence. Discover the stillness of the waterways, and the tranquility of solitude compounding with the majesticly vibrant nature of the stoic cliffs with their mesmerizing texture. Feel free in nature and connect with the canyon vibe as it's brilliant glow is charging to the soul and extremely refreshing. It all hits when you are more than 3 hours into your "dreamy" adventure, and you see someone else paddling into the canyon as you're leaving. You realize at that moment it was all worth it, the alarm clock super early in the morning, the "why am I waking up so early while in vacation mode", it was all worth it because you not only were first but you got hours of silence that you never anticipated or expected to discover. You soak it all in stunning fashion as you finally realize the only sounds that you have heard for hours are faint, and from a jets that are off in the distance. At that moment you realize how much your day to day life is filled with noise and you come to a new level of general awareness for your inner peace and joy in life. The best part of that level up is you have the rest of the day to see other things, or avoid the heat if it's the Summer.