Page 219 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL MAGAZINE FALL 2023 DISCOVERING TURKEY

tounding beauty, but as a slot canyon it is not
as well-suited to accommodate all who wish to
see it. Tours began in the early 1980s, and the
world has found it.
Johnny visited as part of a tour that began
at 11:40 a.m. and included transport to and
from the canyon aboard a four-wheel drive
truck with bench seating on the sides of the
bed so 14 passengers face each other in a
space that would comfortably hold 10. A total
of seventy passengers stepped off five such
trucks to walk the magnificent canyon at mid-
day, the best time to see unusual light beams
in the narrow space from March through Oc-
tober.
Unknown to Johnny was that the Navajo
tour guide carries a small shovel and uses it to
fling a load of the abundant sand from the
canyon floor into the signature light beam,
thus adding more opportunity for light reflec-
tion and the photo everyone expects to take.
The timetable is brisk enough and the pas-
sageway crowded enough that photographers
can probably forget about taking a moment for
image composition or futzing with f-stops. Au-
tobracketing is probably out because it’s un-
likely you will have time to excavate that
setting from the camera menu. The next tour
group is pressing from behind so get out of the
background already, would ya? The best ap-
proach might be a cellphone on full auto. Blast
away and sort it out later.
Can’t blame the Navajo for wanting to capi-
talize on such a place or the crowds for want-
ing to see it. The mystical swirls of rock and
the striations on the canyon walls are
time’s signature, and time has such beauti-
ful penmanship. The tour is expensive,
crowded and worth it.

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