Grand Canyon - wow!

What an exciting and memorable day it has been! We were picked up early this morning from the hotel by mini bus and then travelled about 40 minutes to a small airport where we were to board the helicopter to the Grand Canyon. The airport was so busy, long queues of people waiting to board helicopters and there were so many helicopters taking off all the time. After we were weighed and had a safety briefing we were met by our pilot. The helicopter was small, a 6 seater so it was the 5 of us and a tourist from Moscow. The weight distribution is very important in a helicopter, particularly in that heat, so Thomas and I were assigned to the front and the others were in the back.

It was extremely hot, about 32C in the helicopter and I was worried that being in such a hot confined place I would feel ill, also I was a little nervous, but I soon relaxed as our pilot was very competent and does countless trips every day so is very confident. There are about 50 helicopters flying in, around and out of the Canyon every day and at this time of year there are 3000 visitors a day! The helicopter trip was an absolute treat and certainly the best way to properly see the Canyon. We had a package deal which included the Skywalk and a boat trip on the Colorado River, and it was so worth it as in the intense heat of 42C there were long queues of people waiting to either board helicopters or do the Skywalk and the groups on a package deal were fast tracked in and bypassed the queues. The heat was unbearable, I would surely have fainted if I had to queue in that hot sun for any length of time.

Interestingly this part of the Grand Canyon is not USA land, it is owned and managed by the Hualapai Tribe. The Grand Canyon far exceeded my expectations, it is simply breath taking. It is so vast, the sheer size of it is like nothing I have ever seen before. The helicopter travelled at 135 miles per hour but it seemed so slow as there was so much ground to cover. There were so many helicopters in the air and they seemed like insignificant specks against that enormous backdrop.

We flew into the Canyon and landed on the river bed, then had a boat ride down the river for only about 200m, then another helicopter took us back up again where we waited to be bused to the Skywalk, which is a curved viewing platform made of 6 layers of glass projecting over the Canyon. No cameras were allowed there which was a bit of a blow, and later there was only a small area where we could take photos from but they were so many people walking in front of my camera all the time that it was impossible to get the shots I hoped for. 

The heat and the bright light was not conducive to getting good photos, it would be best to be there at about 4pm in the day but that was not possible. However, it has been the experience of a lifetime - although my advice would be do not go in summer, it is far too hot and far too busy.

This is a view from the valley floor, and I have some extras taken through the helicopter window of Hoover Dam, and some others of the Skywalk.