Walk the Sky at Grand Canyon West:Trip Report

I can only take about three days in Las Vegas before I start to go crazy. There's only so much neon and flashing lights and dinging before you want to scream. So if a Vegas trip is more than 3 days, I always recommend a day trip.

I had taken a day trip to the Grand Canyon five years ago. Friend Irish and I had booked a bus tour to the South rim. It took us 5 hours to get there (at the time, due to security precautions, we couldn't go over the Hoover Dam) and we had a mere 2 hours there before turning around and going home.

This year, the BF and I rented a car (it was a Seinfeld episode, we reserved a car, yet the car wasn't there. Hertz sucks) and drove to Grand Canyon West. We crossed the Hoover Dam (that post will come soon) and drove for 2.5 hours - through Joshua Tree Forest - to get there.

The newest attraction at the Grand Canyon is the Skywalk. Opened in 2007, it's a glass bridge that extends out over the canyon, allowing you to look down into the canyon. It's a bit of a freaky experience, and one that'll cost you. There's a $20 fee to park. There's a $29.95 fee to the Hualapai nation to enter their land. Then, if you want to actually go on the Skywalk, there's a $29.95 fee for that. Is it worth it? I think so, but it takes a while to get used to the price.

No cameras are allowed on the Skywalk - or anything that could fall over the side. They give you a locker to store your stuff (so you do have a key around your wrist, not sure I get how that won't fall over, but whatever.)They then give you little paper booties so as not to scratch the glass, but I joked that we were doing their dusting for them. :) They have photographers on the bridge - take as many photos with them as you like - but you'll pay a premium for your photo when you get done.

The Skywalk is located at Eagle Point - where the rocks form a shape that looks like an eagle in flight. Another lookout point - and probably the most stunning - is Guano point. Yes, folks, it's named after bat doo. That's because some moron (or genius?)constructed this tower that sent people across the canyon into a cave to collect bat guano to sell.

At Guano point, the land juts out into the mouth of the Canyon, so you get as close to a 360 degree view of the Canyon as you can get. (Below is my - very windy - 360 degree video. I was standing on a rock, and rotating VERY CAREFULLY to get you the best video. Putting my life in danger - that's how committed I am to you folks.)



And below are some photos of Skywalk, one of my favorite photos of me and the BF on the Grand Canyon and some general shots of the Canyon. Why is it that the photos never capture the grandeur?

Day Trip from Vegas

My next trip will be to fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada at the end of April with the BF. He's never been to Las Vegas, and this will be my 5th trip there, so there will be a lot of beginner Vegas activities - fine by me.

Another thing we'll be doing while we're there is driving ourselves to Grand Canyon West and walking on the Skywalk.

I have to admit, I'm a little nervous about the whole endeavor. The Skywalk is a glass walkway that allows you to see down into the Canyon. I'm not sure why standing on the edge and risking getting blown off (it was windy at the South Rim when I went 5 years ago) is less scary than walking on a glass walkway with the Canyon spanning underneath, but I think it's like car sickness. You get car sick because either your eyes see movement that your body doesn't feel, or your body feels movement that your eyes don't see. My eyes will tell my brain I should be falling.

The one thing I haven't done is drive over Hoover Dam, which we will be doing this time. When I went to the Grand Canyon, we went on a bus tour and pretty soon after 9/11, so nothing bigger than a car could cross the terrorist-target Hoover Dam and we had to take the long way. There's an overlook stop where I'm looking forward to getting some serious photos.

Here's our secret. We'll be going to the Grand Canyon on a Thursday. By doing this, we're hoping to avoid some of the traffic - both car and foot traffic. We're going to rent a Hummer H3 (We're in Vegas, live a little) for about $200 for two days (we're going to drive to nearby Red Rock Canyon on Friday). Include the outrageously high gas we'll have to buy, the $20 parking fee at the Canyon, the entrance fee to the Canyon and the $30 ticket to the Skywalk, and this is likely to be the most expensive adventure on our trip. But it's new for the BF and slightly new for me, and it's the Grand Canyon - I can testify that it's well worth the price.

Tomorrow I'll tell you about the great (and I mean great) deal that we got to Las Vegas, where we're staying, and what we're doing in Vegas itself.

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