Grand Canyon

We joined a tour today which headed out to the Grand Canyon.  On the way, we stopped at the Hoover Dam.  The coach parked in the state of Nevada, and we then walked across the state line into Arizona, onto a road bridge for a look at the dam.  Most people were very interested in the dam, and I understand it was quite an accomplishment when it was constructed during the Depression.  Personally, I was not interested.  To me, it's just a dam.

The Hoover Dam, probably named after US President Herbert Hoover.  I could have got a better photo later but I wasn't really impressed by the dam.

In the vicinity of the Grand Canyon are these Joshua trees.  They were so called because they reminded someone of Joshua in the bible at prayer.

On arrival at the Grand Canyon, we took a helicopter ride down into the bottom of the Canyon.  Passengers were Jean and me as well as a couple from Melbourne.  We had to each be weighed, and then seated in the helicopter according to our weight so that our weight was evenly distributed.  

This was our helicopter pilot, a friendly sort of chap.  I sat in the front next to the pilot, which I was quite pleased about.  Jean sat directly behind me.  Not liking heights, Jean thought the helicopter was a rickety old thing.  I was quite at home on the ride down into the Canyon.

The view was excellent.  The greatest artist of all time, Mother Nature, has spent about eight or nine million years carving and sculpting this canyon.

The Colorado River is the second longest river in the United States, the longest being the Mississippi.  Our flight lasted several minutes as we descended the six hundred metres, or 2,000 feet, to a designated spot by the river.  I took video and umpteen photos while flying down.

It was monstrously hot.  I estimated it was 45 degrees Celsius or well over 115 Fahrenheit.  It was much hotter here than in Las Vegas.  From our helicopter landing spot, we had to walk down a short track to the river.  The track had stone steps, requiring some effort in the heat.  Along the trail were the occasional shaded area with bottles of water.  Everyone out here was swallowing lots of water.

The Grand Canyon is a spectacle of rugged beauty.  The colours are basic.  Here it is hot and harsh.

Jean and I wondered, what do we like better?  Yosemite or the Grand Canyon?  Well, they're just different.  We think we would rather go back to Yosemite in the future than the Canyon.  In Yosemite, there is more colour.  It's prettier.  The above picture is, I think, pretty.  But taking 'pretty' pictures in the Canyon is a challenge.

Jean and I in the Grand Canyon, by the Colorado River.

We took a short boat tour of the river.  Our boat's the one in front.

Our coach driver had told us about the Native Americans who live in the Grand Canyon.  They are the Hualapai Nation.  They are deeply spiritual and don't like modern things.  They don't like to be called 'Indians'.  Not sure if the young, female guide in our boat was a member of the Hualapai Nation.  She told us some facts about the Canyon, that there is a drought, and that the river level is very low.  However, in some parts, the river is 100 feet deep.  Although it looks very peaceful and quiet down here, the background noise of arriving helicopters either at ground level or way up by a cliff face was constant.  Mondays are busy days in the Canyon, so they say.

Our guide took photos of the few passengers in the boat.  This is us.

After maybe a 10 minute boat ride, we climbed back up the dusty, hot track to the helicopter waiting area.  The seat was stinking hot, and I couldn't wait for Jean to take this photo.

Boarding the helicopter, our ascent out of the Canyon lasted a few more minutes than our descent.  We flew for a little while, absorbing some spectacular cliff scenery until we finally lifted out of the Canyon and returned to the main base.

Some of the cliff scenery we saw.  In the picture below is the Skywalk.  Once off the helicopter, we headed there.  On the Skywalk, you walk on three-inch thick glass and you can look straight down beneath you to the bottom of the Canyon 600 metres down.  Jean didn't come with me on the Skywalk because it didn't appeal to her at all.  It didn't bother me.  It annoyed me that all one's personal items have to be locked in lockers.  You can't take any cameras, nothing, out onto the Skywalk.  Staff take your photo and charge you for it.  That aside, I didn't think the Skywalk was worth the $US35.00.  

The Grand Canyon is home to many wildlife.  It is associated with ravens (see picture below) but there are also chipmunks, mountain lions, eagles and many other critters.  Not far from the Canyon, Jean and I saw something that looked like bison.  There are also many cattle out here.  If a driver hits cattle, it's automatically the driver's fault.

Like at Yosemite, the area above the Canyon had a few locations you could get to by a shuttle.  Once there, you could view the Canyon, take lunch, or, at one of them, take the Skywalk.  Our departure time of 3pm was strictly enforced, and we made our way back to Las Vegas, where we arrived around 6.  It had been a long, hot, tiring day.  Our coach driver called Las Vegas 'Lost Wages'.