The Finn Files: The Grand Canyon

The main reason we went to Las Vegas was to see the Grand Canyon. Because Las Vegas is great fun . . . just not so much for (or maybe with?) a 5 year old. But the Grand Canyon was amazing. Beyond words. We decided to do the day-long helicopter tour to maximize our time there. We flew by helicopter to the western rim of the canyon and landed down in the canyon. Then, we got in a boat and cruised down the Colorado River. The helicopter picked us up and flew us to the Grand Canyon West/Eagle Point which is a section privately owned and operated by the Hualapai Nation. This is also where the Skywalk is which is a glass bridge extending out over the side of the Canyon and is 4,000 feet above the Canyon floor. It was amazing and terrifying all at once. More on that later. Then, we flew back to the airport and were taken back to our hotel in Vegas. It was an amazing trip--the perfect way for Finn to see the Canyon since he's still a little young to really do some of the longer walks and hikes. But, I hope we can take him back when he gets older, but this experience will be hard to beat.

Because Finn was the youngest/smallest on board, we both got to ride shotgun, next to the pilot!

Super excited and ready for take-off

Our ride

Taking off--views of Lake Mead

Western rim and Colorado River

Pictures don't really do this place justice!

My rugged wilderness men

On the back of the boat cruising down the river

So this is the skywalk. It doesn't look that intimidating but it is. They had really strict protocols to protect the floor . . . since it is glass and all and a mere 4000 feet above the ground. We couldn't bring anything with us . . . purses, cameras, etc. we even had to wear shoe covers over our shoes. Since it is a Reservation, the land had to be protected and when building the Skywalk they could not drill into the side of the mountain and so had to build the skywalk and then slide it out into position before anchoring it into the top of the mountain. I can't say that it made me feel all that much better hearing that little factoid. Finn wasn't bothered by the height at all. At one point, he laid down on the glass part to get a better look. It made me nauseous just watching him do it. I'm not really afraid of heights, but this was a different sensation all together. They did take pictures of us on the skywalk and I'll have to dig them up and post, but they wouldn't let us take our own pictures.

This is looking the opposite way of the skywalk. There are no fences or rails or ropes or anything to keep you from tumbling over the side. Our guide said that they hadn't had any fatalities on this particular section but in the eastern rim there are several incidents per year of tourists/on-lookers getting to close to the edge to take a picture and tumbling over. Reassuring? I think not. Needless to say, Finn didn't get anywhere close to the edge. I don't trust him that much.

Little out of order here--flying over with Lake Mead to the left

Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam (the entire time I'm thinking about the "Damn Tour" from the Griswold's Vacation movie. Sadly we weren't offered a Damn Tour!