Teetering on the brink

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August, 15 - August 16

Leaving Las Vegas behind we headed out into the desert to visit the Grand Canyon. It was surreal heading back out into the wilderness after the hype and buzz of the city and soon we were on the long and mostly empty roads sandwiched between the Joshua Tree-dotted desert.

We also managed to incorporate a drive along the iconic Route 66 and stopped for food at the Roadkill Café - ‘you kill it, we cook it’. Tempting as flat coyote sounds we opted for soup.

The drive to the Canyon’s south rim was a long one but we were in luck as that weekend was the last free entry weekend of the summer. We’ve all seen images of the Grand Canyon, remember the final scene in Thelma and Louise? In real life it’s phenomenal. Such a vast space of nothing but rock and deep valleys. Completely breathtaking. The good thing about visiting the Canyon is that there are no barriers so it’s really easy to get amazing photos of yourself perched precariously on a cliff edge. Despite the crowds we were able to find quiet spots and when alone in the Canyon it really feels as if you’re the last person on earth. It is so peaceful too. Although I doubt it would’ve been as peaceful the next day when Barack Obama dropped in for a visit with his family.

After a night in the town of Kingman we drove out to the West Rim of the Canyon to do the skywalk -the glass walkway over the Canyon floor. This is a relatively new attraction and is miles away from the more visited and easier to reach south rim. In contrast to the paved roads and excellent facilities at the south rim getting to the west rim involves a jaw-juddering drive down an unfinished road. It’s even more peaceful on the west rim though and the silence is deafening. We had a really good view of the Colorado River and as we peered over the edge could see helicopters flying by below. The Skywalk was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. It juts out from the edge at a height of 4,000ft. The floor and sides are glass and we had to wear special booties over our shoes to prevent scratches. It was cool to look below and see your shadow on the rock - almost like floating. Simon, who has a fear of heights, managed to go on to the Skywalk but couldn’t stand up. He took a more novel approach of crouching along the side of the walk (there’s an opaque bit of glass here) so he didn’t have to look down. He did look rather peculiar but I thought it was a bit mean of the staff to discuss whether or not ‘his legs were all messed up’. They seemed to think he couldn’t walk. I put them straight.

After all that desert it was time for a change of landscape so we headed to the ocean - Santa Monica.

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Photos

Desert driving
The view from all windows of the car

Hoover Dam
That image is certainly shifty

Grand Canyon
The Skywalk

Comments

[Candice tunnell]

Greet blog
It was interesting reading your experience. I love the grand canyon, i love the visual effect of the different rock layers. It is so impressive, pictures barely capture it. Its so massive that it really takes seeing it in person to understand it.