Cottonwood Arizona to Henderson, Nevada via West Rim of theGrand Canyon

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We left the Sedona area this morning and headed northwest toward the Hoover Dam, about a 4 hr drive. We enjoyed the Red Rock area and would consider coming back to hike and bird. Frank had marked some geology stops he wanted to make as we drove back through Oak Creek Canyon toward I-40. He takes the roadside sign “Watch for Rocks” literally! Stopping CT on hairpin curves to look for rock samples makes life interesting.
About 40 miles south of Hoover Dam we saw a sign advertising the West Rim of the Grand Canyon and Skywalk, only 45 miles away. The attraction is on the Hualapai Reservation and is operated by the tribe. We had both read about the cantilevered glass skywalk that extends over the Grand Canyon. Ten miles later we turned CT around and headed for the west rim - - that’s spontaneous for us! It was about 1:30 pm
The first 29 miles were interesting enough with lots of desert vegetation: flowers, cactus and Joshua trees. It was the next 16 miles that made us wonder about our decision. It was a washboard gravel road that would rival any in Alaska, except it wasn’t narrow with a passenger side drop off. I used to drive those roads in Alaska, nice and slow, but Frank was excited and took it as fast as possible. CT rattled and shook and so did we. One of the dogs got car sick.
We finally arrived. It was a little airport and bus hub out in the middle of nowhere on the rim of the Grand Canyon. You paid to park. You paid to ride the bus to the 2 scenic overlooks and you paid extra to go out on the skywalk. You also paid to have photos taken on the skywalk since they allowed no cameras. Frank did the skywalk. I passed since I don’t like heights.
The overlooks were pretty, but the West rim is not as scenic as the North and South rims. It was late afternoon and it wasn’t crowded. One of the employees guarding the rim told us over 1000 people had been there in the morning. Most of the tourists are from Europe or Japan and fly or ride a bus in from Las Vegas
Frank said the skywalk was cool; not as scary as he thought it would be. Standing on the edge of the rim is actually more nerve-wracking. It’s innovative and different (and expensive). The attraction has only been open a year. I’m sure the crowds will come. I hope they do something about that road! We were glad we made the trip.
When we drove over the Hoover Dam it was dark and there weren’t’ any crowds. All you see was the outline of this giant structure and the lights. It was eerie. When we came down the canyon into the valley the lights of Las Vegas lit up the distant landscape. WOW! Don’t think the signs for casinos(even in the suburbs) can get any bigger and brighter. We spent the night in Henderson, NV, which is a suburb of Las Vegas.

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Photos

Joshua Trees
The road was bad but the scenery was interesting!

Road Scenery
Field of orange flowers

Comments

[kimberly]

Todd really wants to do the skywalk. I'm with you Deb....not into the heights thing. I'll just wave and let him go on :)