GRAND CANYON HERE I COME!!!!

I had decided that when I got to the Grand Canyon I would take 2 or 3 different tours to get a real feel for the Canyon and then I would do day trips on my own. My first tour was a jeep tour to the Colorado River on the west side of the Canyon.

On Friday, June 5th the tour operator picked me up from the RV Park and drove into Williams. I got on a larger bus with people who were doing the same tour that day. We left Williams at 9:15 am with a group of 18 tourists. We got onto the highway and headed west which seemed odd to me as the Canyon was north. But obviously they must know what they are doing so I sat back to enjoy the ride. After about 30 minutes we headed north and drove through the small town of Seligman where the Disney movie “CARS” was filmed. The original Road Kill Café was also located in Seligman. The bus drove slowly through town with our guide, Carol, describing points of interest. Left town and sped up and now it has been an hour and still no sight of the Canyon. I was beginning to doubt the whole Grand part as I couldn’t see anything but crappy little hills covered in dead shrubs. I also wondered if I was on the wrong tour and maybe I was on the bus tour to the local hospital as the age of most of the people was over 65!

FINALLY, Carol said that the only road into the Canyon was on the west side and is owned by the Hualapai Indians. Now that made more sense. But before we got to see the Grand Canyon we stopped at the Canyon Caverns for a 50 minute tour. She described the tour as a bit of a walk with inclines and steps but no big deal. Everyone got off the bus including the woman who is on portable oxygen. She and her husband stayed behind and the rest of us descended 220 feet down in an elevator to the cavern (pictures posted separately). Our tour guide was a man about 65 and after a minute of his spiel I realized that this was not his first tour and his speech was mind-numbing. The cavern was incredible so it was well worth the tour for the first 15 minutes then real boredom set in. Luckily there was a couple and she could not make the climbs and steps so I stayed behind with them and waited for the underground tour to end.

Back up and into the bus which took us to the jeeps that were prepared for the next leg of our tour. There were three jeeps with a tour guide and six tourists in each jeep. NOW WE WERE GOING TO SEE THE CANYON – HURRAY!!

Not so fast, Tonto! We drove for another 20 minutes on the highway then turned off the road and passed through the Hualapai Indian Reserve. Fancy cars and trucks but the houses lacked “curb appeal” so to speak. This tribe owns the rode down into the west side of the cavern. The only other way to the bottom of the Canyon is through the east side by way of Page, Arizona and then only by rafts (that is my Wednesday adventure so more after that tour). The tribe has allowed this tour groups to use this road (for a fee) since 2007 so it is a new venture for the tribe. NOW WE WERE REALLY GOING TO SEE THE CANYON!!

Not quite yet, Batman! We drove down a “road” in the jeeps and I am pretty sure that a couple of my internal organs were bounced into new positions. Our guide, Carol, was really well informed about the vegetation, wildlife and geology of the tour. The scenery changed around every turn and it was fascinating. After an hour in the jeeps we finally got to the bottom and the Colorado River. The temperature didn’t seem too bad while we were moving but now that we had stopped we were hit full force with 110 degree heat! And NOT the good heat. They had warned us that it would be hotter on the floor of the canyon but hotter (like nicer, richer, faster, etc.) is a comparative word. What they should have said was the floor of the canyon would be the hottest place outside of HELL and maybe Nettles, California.

I had already consumed 2 litres of water and the first thing I did was drink another litre. Then we ate the bag lunch that was included (sandwiches, apple, cookies) even though it was too hot to eat. I then drank another litre of water while I sat in the river as it was the only cool spot I could find. There was a large raft being taken out of the river. The people that had been on that tour were already gone. It had been a 17 day rafting trip of the Colorado River and they looked the part. I actually thought about it until I found put that there were no “Sherpas” and I would have to put up my tent every night.

We spent an hour by the water and then loaded up for the trip back to Williams. To sum it up - we drove 8 hours round trip for an hour on the river. It was worth it but it was an exhausting day. I was to do another tour the next day but moved it to Wednesday so I had time to recover. These tours are not for the feint of heart and there were probably 6 people on the tour that really should not have been along for health reasons.

Tomorrow I do the south rim tour of the Canyon which included the IMAX show and a helicopter ride. Once my tours are done I can then either take the train or dive to the Canyon and explore on my own.

Well, now I will upload pictures and then I am done for the day.

Love
Adelle