I first discovered Antelope Canyon 20 years ago whilst trying to teach myself photography from the pages of John Shaw’s Guide to Nature Photography.   He had an entire section in the back pages that told you where to go and the best times of year to go for good light, frost, water, migrations, etc.   I took his advice and started a road trip that took me through Zion, Bryce, Escalante, and on my way back down to Phoenix I decided to stop at the infamous Antelope Canyon.   The internet hadn’t ruined every cool spot on earth yet, so when I got there it was just me and an Indian asking for 10 bucks to guide me.  I thought 10 bucks seemed reasonable so proceeded to give him a 20 and he asked for “change.”   I said, “Keep it lets get going.”   He took me down a trail that led to a crack in an otherwise dry river bed and pointed to me to get into the crack.   The entire trip was about 3 minutes.  Doing the math, I realized that maybe the 20 bucks wasn’t so reasonable.   I thanked him for the excellent guide service and told him I could take it from here.   Despite ease of accessibility, Antelope Canyon should really be a national treasure, and designated a park.  I realize that technically it’s on Indian land, but that has really never stopped the U.S. before and besides there’s no Casino.  Regardless, it’s a bonafide national treasure and would do well for some protection.  Zion, Bryce, Escalante, Grand Canyon, are all wonders in themselves but that little Canyon outside Page is on par with anything you will see or experience in the afore mentioned.  
Fast forward, 15 years from my first trip to Antelope, and now you will stand in line for about a half hour with Chinese and Germans and pay 50 bucks for the “guide.”   Despite the ridiculousness of it, I still enjoy going there and while taking, ironically, some German and Austrian friends to see it, I actually got lucky enough to attain, the right time of year, time of day, and no people, for a light beam to make its way through the cracks, twists, and dust to show me that Nirvana can be found despite commercialization.  Well, on second thought, maybe not at Wallmart.