VEGAS MEETS THE GRAND CANYON

The final full day of the Vegas adventure involves a side trip: My daughter and I decide to visit the Grand Canyon. Bear in mind that the closest rim of the Canyon to Vegas is the West Rim, where the Skywalk is, and it is not part of the National Park system. This part of the Canyon is operated by the Hualapi Native Americans, so it's not the usual flashy tourist trap.

We sign up for the bus tour, an excellent decision if anyone is considering this, and pass through some of the most amazing scenery I have ever seen up close. Of course, we goof a bit, too, like making fun of the mini-mountain that appears to have a nipple on top, but it wouldn't be a true adventure without some shenanigans on our part. 

The first stop is at the Hoover Dam. Lake Mead is slowly disappearing, which makes the entire Hoover Dam project an exercise in irony, and it's a bit mind-boggling walking across the bridge and trying not to think about falling to one's demise over the railing. We don't have time for the full tour, but we get some great pictures of the dam and the surrounding rock structures and hills.

In order to get to the West Rim, the bus drives through the Joshua Tree National Park in Arizona. It's still winter and has recently snowed, so there isn't a lot of greenery nor blossoming going on, but it's still amazing and so very different than what we are used to in New England. 

After that, we are on the Hualapi Reservation, a place where the "People of the Tall Pines" have lived since around 600 A.D. (C.E. for you modernists). The place is both beautiful and heartbreaking. It's tough to see how many of these people live on land that is so amazing in conditions that are limited. Of course, the counter to that is the way the scenic areas surrounding Vegas have given way to gated cul-de-sacs, and that is equally bothersome. 

Once we arrive at the West Rim, the skies are blue but the air is cold. It is windy and chilly, and we seem to have brought our New England weather with us. We decide against the Skywalk as it is rather expensive for the experience, and opt instead for a glassed-in corner table view over the Canyon and Skywalk where we will eat our lunch. The meal is one of the best things we have ever eaten: tortilla/taco toppings on traditional Hualapi fried bread and a salad with fresh nuts from nearby groves. The experience is stunning and mind-bending. We are literally sitting in and above the Grand Canyon!

After that, we explore both Eagle Point and Guano Point (yes, guano). By the time we get to the second location, Guano Point, the weather has started to deteriorate. The winds have picked up, the sky has clouded, and we watch as a snow squall moves all the way through the Canyon, following the Little Colorado River as it barrels toward us, wee little people standing precariously 4,000+ feet in the air on ledges less than ten feet wide that have zero barriers to oblivion. Some people are climbing the huge rock mountains for better views. I'm praying that a wind gust doesn't send us flying to our demise.

Finally, we make our way back to the gift shop and then to the bus. We are so cold at this point because the temperature is now in the 30s, at best. We pass across a time zone (Arizona doesn't change its clocks), and make it back to Vegas in time for dinner. We wish we had one more day to hit a couple more Vegas sites and museums, but there is no way in the world that we regret taking that bus tour and seeing what we experienced. We didn't get a chance to see any Hualapi demonstrations (it was too cold and snowy for even the crafters to come out), but it was wonderful to walk with the Native people in their own lands and see what they have been seeing for centuries. 

Yes, I'd like to see the South Rim someday, and the North Rim if it ever reopens after the fires. The true cultural experience, though, is through the eyes of the people who live amongst the Canyon itself, who share their traditions and their food and their knowledge and their talents. It's not a tourist experience, it's a spiritual one, and well worth the travel.