My Birds Eye View of the Grand Canyon!

In  the Canyon!

I have always fancied the idea of a Helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon, but never thought the opportunity would present itself. However, when planning our 40th Wedding Anniversary road trip, from San Francisco to Las Vegas, this journey would not be the same without ending on a ‘high’!  And what better than to  have a birds eye view of this magnificent natural wonder from a height of 4000ft!

The trip itself was more exciting and enjoyable than I could have imagined.  From the moment we were picked up from our hotel and taken to the nearby airport in Boulder City our hearts were pumping with adrenaline!    One of the funniest things I saw was that at ‘check in’ passengers had to stand in front of the desk on 2 footprints painted on the floor.  This was a subtle way of weighing you to let the pilot know the weight of the individuals he was taking in his helicopter.!

Being Weighed at Check In!

There were 6 of us in total including the pilot, (who looked about 12yrs old but really knew his stuff!) After safety checks, and instructions on the do’s and dont’s whilst aboard, we strapped in, helmet and earphones on, then suddenly the helicopter’s rotor fired up, and we were off!  rising into the sky and then whoosh! veering off to the right to fly across the Nevada desert!

Me and My Pilot!

Toasting our 40th Anniversary in the Canyon!

We flew over the  impressive Hoover Dam, which was built during the Great Depression and provides electricity to cities nearby using the power of the Colorado River. The  Dam holds back Lake Mead National Recreation Area , It was a beautiful day and the lake glistened in the sunshine. The lake is huge and stretches for miles, and is the largest fresh-water reservoir in the United States.

Lake Mead

Then we arrived at the Grand Canyon, passing the West Rim and the Skywalk to our right, it was hard to know where to look first! The scenery was just amazing!   Huge layers of rock formed  over millions of years, by the sheer force of the  Colorado River, with beautiful colours of reds, golds & browns!  Hard to do justice with words alone, but etched into our memories forever!    We flew through the Canyon almost touching the sides!  passing through Grand Canyon West, Guano Point, and Eagle Point -(home to the Hualapai Indian Tribe and known historically as the “Guardians of the Canyon”) – before landing for a Champagne picnic and a chance to take some pictures of the stunning rock formations.

After a very delicious picnic, it was back on board the EC130 helicopter for our flight back to Boulder City, via a different route to ensure we had the best experience and more photo opportunities on this once in a lifetime trip!

Truly Amazing, and never to be forgotten. Highly recommended!

Folks! Take my advice! –  do it! Experience for yourselves the thrill and spectacle – its worth every penny!