A trip to the Grand Canyon was top of my list when we decided to visit the US. We chose to go to the West Rim as it was the easiest and quickest site to get to from Vegas, and meant we could spend longer there. Since we returned Stuart has read up on the Grand Canyon and apparently the South Rim is the more iconic and less touristy area to visit. That'll teach us to do research after the holiday but I had no complaints, the West Rim was amazing, and it just means if we go back, we'll do the South Rim next time.
There are three sections at the West Rim, the first being a replica of a Wild West town. Very touristy but I got to go on a wagon ride, so I'm not really one to criticise!
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| Heading towards the West Rim site |
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| A fossilised giant sloth paw print |
Next stop was Eagle Point, which was absolutely breathtaking. I've seen some pretty amazing and beautiful areas of nature before but the Grand Canyon is hard to describe, other than being so much bigger than I'd ever expected. Hopefully the next few photos will give you a slight idea of the place.
Next to Eagle Point is the Sky Walk. This is basically a big metal walkway jutting out over the Canyon. We hadn't planned to do this as it was pretty expensive but in the end we thought we may as well.
Apart from the cost another downside of the Sky Walk is you cannot take a camera, not even a camera phone, if you want photos you have to buy them from the one site photographers. We did buy a couple photos in the end but I would have preferred to be allowed to snap a few of my own shots, but ce la vie. Before we got on the Sky Walk I thought I would be fine, I've been up tall buildings and walked over the glass floor sections before but this glass floor freaked me out a little. I think it was a mix of being so much higher than any skyscrapper and the added fact the structure was just dangling across the canyon - it wasn't built from the bottom up.
The third and final stop at the West Rim was Guano Point. My only regret is that we didn't have more time here. It was mind blowing. You could see for miles, the tour helicopters that flew past looked like tiny birds against the backdrop. If I ever find myself back in the US and any of the canyon states I will definitely be heading back - and perhaps check out other, slightly less Grand Canyons too! But if you only have time for a quick day trip I'd definitely recommend the West Rim.
Apart from the cost another downside of the Sky Walk is you cannot take a camera, not even a camera phone, if you want photos you have to buy them from the one site photographers. We did buy a couple photos in the end but I would have preferred to be allowed to snap a few of my own shots, but ce la vie. Before we got on the Sky Walk I thought I would be fine, I've been up tall buildings and walked over the glass floor sections before but this glass floor freaked me out a little. I think it was a mix of being so much higher than any skyscrapper and the added fact the structure was just dangling across the canyon - it wasn't built from the bottom up.
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| And this was one of the less cheesy poses the on site photographer made us do! |
The third and final stop at the West Rim was Guano Point. My only regret is that we didn't have more time here. It was mind blowing. You could see for miles, the tour helicopters that flew past looked like tiny birds against the backdrop. If I ever find myself back in the US and any of the canyon states I will definitely be heading back - and perhaps check out other, slightly less Grand Canyons too! But if you only have time for a quick day trip I'd definitely recommend the West Rim.
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