Boy, talk about something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy’s dog.  Getting sick on your vacation – especially knowing how long it’s probably been since your last one – has got to be the ultimate drag and I hope it never happens to you.  That goes ditto for getting hurt.  But if you’re travelling to the Grand Canyon with small children, seniors, or a party member with a health condition that bears watching, knowing where to seek medical care if you need it is very important. 

At the Grand Canyon, the most common health issues tend to arise from two things: the altitude and dehydration.  Grand Canyon South Rim is at 7,000’; the North Rim is at 8,000’.  The air up here is “thinner” than at sea level, and it takes the average person in good health about 2 weeks to fully acclimate.  Since most of you will have 2, maybe 3 days tops here, you won’t get a chance to acclimate yourself properly.  In fact, you may be heading up someplace higher (i.e., Bryce Canyon, where some viewpoints are actually up at 9,000’) before you get used to the Grand Canyon!  Headaches, nausea and dizziness are common complaints related to altitude sickness.  If your physician has advised you  not to go to such high altitudes, consider a visit to Grand Canyon West on the Hualapai Indian Reservation.  It’s only 4,000’ high, but ghastly hot in the summertime. 

Remember that this is the desert, even though it doesn’t look like it on the surface.  Even though pine trees and not cactus dominate the landscape, the climate out here is probably a lot drier than you’re used to.  Carry water and drink it, even if you plan to take it easy.  If you’ll be hiking in the inner canyon, then carrying and drinking adequate fluids is imperative, essential, crucial – during the summer, temperatures below the rim can and do exceed 110 degrees Fahrenheit.  I’ve heard of people hiking down to the river with just a half-empty can of soda – the end of the tale’s not a pretty one.  Coincidentally, headaches, nausea and dizziness are common symptoms of dehydration. 

In case of a life-threatening emergency, do as you would at home and call 9–1–1.  If you’re staying at one of the in-park hotels at Grand Canyon South Rim, call 9–9–1–1.  If you find yourself feeling under the weather and need to see a doctor or PA, just head over to the North Country Community Health Center.  It’s located inside the park a couple of miles South of Grand Canyon Village.  If you’re staying in Tusayan, it will take you about 10 minutes to get there.  It’s always a good idea to call ahead.  Just look on your local services directory in your hotel room for the number, or ask the front desk, concierge or hotel operator.  They’re open 7 days a week from 8 AM to 6 PM and have a pharmacy and dental clinic on-site. 

If you’re staying in Williams (60 miles south of Grand Canyon South Rim), Banner Health operates a clinic in that town.  In Flagstaff (90 miles Southeast of the South Rim), you may see if your front desk can recommend a walk-in clinic near your hotel, or try the Flagstaff Medical Center.  In Page-Lake Powell, Canyonlands Community Health Center is located at the center of town, as is the Page Hospital. 

I hope you have no need of this information whatsoever.  I hope your Grand Canyon vacation goes smoothly and pleasantly and that you return home feeling better than ever.  But if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to make one more point on the subject of “things that go wrong:“ most hotels, your airline, etc., will probably require payment for their services upfront, and if you’re on a week-long trip, you’ll have let loose a good sized chunk of change before you hit the road.  If you have to cancel or shorten your trip last minute, you could lose a lot of that money due to the current norm of 48–72 hour cancellation policies.  That’s where travel insurance comes in.  Contact your family’s insurance provider for more information, or visit www.accessamerica.com or www.worldtravelcenter.com

Here it is Day 2 in the life of the Grand Canyon Skywalk.  The much-touted (and much-maligned) attraction officially opened yesterday at Grand Canyon West near Peach Springs, Arizona.  Approximately 2,000 people had the distinction of being the first paying customers to walk on the see-through platform high above the Colorado River, and for the most part, they felt the $75 a person price tag was money well spent.  Here at GrandCanyon.com, our phones continue to light up like Christmas trees as folks like you ponder how you might work a visit to the Grand Canyon Skywalk into your vacation plans.  

For those unfamiliar, Grand Canyon West is a separate area from Grand Canyon National Park, lying almost smack dead center between Las Vegas and Grand Canyon South Rim as the crow flies.  Owned by the Hualapai Indian Tribe, Grand Canyon West is a developing tourism complex where Grand Canyon visitors can partake of activities not readily available in the National Park, such as trail rides on the rim, cowboy cookouts, hummer tours, Indian dances, helicopter rides to the bottom, and now, the Grand Canyon Skywalk, a glass-bottomed horseshoe-shaped observation deck projecting 70’ past the edge of the Grand Canyon 4,000’ above sea level. 

As many of the first Skywalkers observed yesterday, Grand Canyon West has an “unfinished” look and feel to it.  Only in development for about 15 years, it’s definitely a work in progress (or a “diamond in the rough” as we like to think of it).  One of the things that is presently lacking in the area is lodging.  14 miles from the Grand Canyon West airstrip lies the Grand Canyon West Ranch.  This is the nearest available lodging to the Grand Canyon Skywalk.  A very unique place indeed, guests at this genuine working Ranch can choose from Indian tipis or old-fashioned cabins.  Your lodging rates include meals and entertainment, too!   For more information, visit www.grandcanyonranch.com or call 1–800–359–8727.

In Peach Springs, Arizona, you can choose from the Hualapai Lodge or the Grand Canyon Caverns Inn.  The Hualapai Lodge has very spacious rooms, an on-site restaurant, gift shop and a most unusual feature, a salt water spa.  The Hualapai Lodge is also the starting point for the only one-day Grand Canyon White Water Rafting Trip.  Though a perfectly decent place to stay, one of Hualapai Lodge’s drawbacks that potential guests should know about is that it is situated near a train track, and trains pass by anywhere from 10 to 20 times a night.  It is quite loud, as I distinctly recall hearing the train many times while talking to the hotel and river staff on the phone.  As for me, I sleep like a baby around trains, and if you’re the same way, call 928–763–2219 to book a room at the Hualapai Lodge.  For more information online visit www.destinationgrandcanyon.com 

The Grand Canyon Caverns Inn is a smaller family-owned property located about 10 minutes from Peach Springs.  On their website (www.gccaverns.com), they boast “NO train noise.”  They also have an on-site restaurant, gift shop, and pool, plus an RV park, convenience store and laundromat.  This is also where you can see the unusual “Grand Canyon Caverns,” a limestone cavern that lies 210 feet underground and one of the few “dry” caverns in the world.  The hotel property itself also has that old Route 66 kitschiness to it.  Very cool.  For reservations, call 877–422–4459. 

Even though Peach Springs is a part of the Hualapai Indian Reservation, getting there from Grand Canyon West is not as easy as it might look on a map.  You can get from Grand Canyon West to Peach Springs via a really bumpy dirt road, which takes about 90 minutes, but if you’re driving a rental car, you really shouldn’t do that because you could be liable for any damages that result.  Via paved roads, the trip from Grand Canyon West to Peach Springs is more like 2.5 hours. 

The community with the most plentiful lodging nearest to Grand Canyon West is Kingman, Arizona.  Kingman is located about ninety minutes Southwest of the Grand Canyon Skywalk.  Also a part of Route 66 “back in the day,” Kingman now has a permanent population of about 40,000 people and about two dozen chain and independently owned hotels and motels.  Restaurants are equally numerous, featuring everything from Chinese to old-school diners celebrating the glory days of the “Mother Road.”  Kingman also offers golf, hiking and museums.  Easy day trips from the area include Oatman, Arizona, an old mining town where “semi-wild” burros still roam the streets, and Laughlin, Nevada, a scenic resort community on the banks of the Colorado.  From Kingman, Grand Canyon South Rim would be about a 3.5 hour drive, making it the perfect stopover for those visiting both the Western Rim and Grand Canyon South Rim. 

To book a hotel room in Kingman, Arizona, visit www.grandcanyon.com/hotels and query “Kingman, Arizona,” or call 1–800–916–8530. 

‘til next time, Happy Travels! 

Alley Kaye

Andy Warhol once said that everyone is famous for at least 15 minutes.  Pam Wasner of Phillips, Wisconsin will certainly be enjoying at least that much notoriety in the next few weeks as she and her husband Jim became the first customers to set bootie-covered foot on the American Southwest’s newest sensation, the Grand Canyon Skywalk.  They camped overnight to secure their place in line, and they were not alone. 

Yesterday was the official opening day of the long-awaited, much-hyped glass-bottomed walkway jutting 70 feet out from Eagle Point at the Grand Canyon’s Western rim on the Hualapai Indian Reservation.  Thousands of people journeyed to this remote corner of Northern Arizona to share the distinction of being among the first to walk on – or just look at – this innovative yet controversial attraction.  They came by car, bus, hummer, motorcycle, plane and helicopter.  The consensus?  It’s not cheap ($75 a pop)… it’s hard to get to (20 miles of washboard road to the Grand Canyon West complex)… it’s not quite finished (the publicized cafe and gift shop have yet to be built)… but all things considered, it’s a hit.  

Ms. Wasner stated that she “still had goosebumps” long after stepping off the horseshoe-shaped platform hanging high in the air above the Colorado River.  Her husband Jim likened the experience to walking on a pond when it first freezes and you can see fish swimming below you.  Even those who were a bit dubious at first were impressed.  Check out this video. 

It is hoped that the Grand Canyon Skywalk will generate much-needed revenue for the 2,000 member Hualapai Tribe, who have grappled with widespread poverty and unemployment for decades, especially after Route 66 was bypassed by Interstate 40 in the 1970’s.  Their visitor services complex, Grand Canyon West, has been in development since the early 1990’s and presently includes an airstrip and helipads, a small airport terminal with a cafe and gift shop, a barbecue/picnic area at Guano Point, a cowboy town, an Indian village, amphitheatre and stables.  Various Grand Canyon tour companies offer airplane, helicopter, Hummer and jeep tours to the area.  Most tours operate from Las Vegas due to its proximity to Grand Canyon West, but tours are also available from Phoenix, Flagstaff, Sedona and Lake Powell.  The Hualapai Tribe also offer the only one-day Grand Canyon white water rafting excursion from Peach Springs, Arizona. 

The Grand Canyon Skywalk is not everyone’s cup of tea.  Its detractors have called it everything from an “eco-travesty” to a “butt-ugly eyesore” to an “architectural abortion.”  Even some members of the tribe share those feelings, viewing the steel and glass contraption as a desecration of sacred land.  A commentor in response to an article about the Skywalk in the Arizona Republic stated “I will never go to the Grand Canyon because of it.”  Why???  The Grand Canyon Skywalk, as we have stated repeatedly, is NOT located at Grand Canyon National Park.  If you visit Grand Canyon South Rim or North Rim, you won’t see the Skywalk.  You won’t be anywhere near it.  Grand Canyon West is situated on the Hualapai Indian Reservation and is therefore separate.  I would hate to see this poster deprive him/herself of the experience of visiting Grand Canyon National Park because of something they wouldn’t even see while they were there. 

As for us, we will always recommend that you go to Grand Canyon National Park if you possibly can, especially if it’s your first visit.  The South Rim in particular is still the “quintessential” Grand Canyon with vast, expansive views of the canyon and the Colorado River; the North Rim is “the connoisseur’s Grand Canyon,” offering a quieter, more “back-to-nature” experience.  If you go to the South Rim, you can still visit Grand Canyon West on our Colorado River Heli Adventure tour.  Or if you fly to Las Vegas, consider visiting Grand Canyon West on your way to Grand Canyon South Rim.  Remember, one of the main access roads is unpaved, and there is very little lodging in that immediate area.  But if you’re going to Las Vegas for a conference or convention, and you’re really squeezed for time for a Grand Canyon visit, Grand Canyon West is definitely an expedient and exciting alternative. 

‘til next time, Happy Skywalking! 

Alley Kaye

Well, you’ve gotta love the internet.  Within hours of Buzz Aldrin’s official “christening” of the Grand Canyon Skywalk at Grand Canyon West, the dispatches began pouring in and the kinda-sorta semi-official verdict is ……….. among those in favor………the Grand Canyon Skywalk is pretty cool.  Rob Cuthbert, a writer from Viator, had this to say about it:

“It’s brilliant. Despite the concerns of many, it takes absolutely nothing away from the Canyon, but instead adds a subtle yet powerful new dimension to the Canyon experience that every visitor willing to buy a pair of throw-away bootees for $25 will certainly enjoy. Actually, enjoy doesn’t quite seem like the right word, it’s maybe a little understated, but after the Skywalk experience, I’m at something of a loss for words… By the way: I wondered if the Skywalk would induce vertigo.  It’s a long sheer drop to the bottom, and the glass walkway is the only thing between you and the distant but no doubt merciless rock below. But no, it doesn’t seem to.  It’s about the most solid structure you can imagine.”

Understandably, the reservation lines at Grand Canyon West (www.destinationgrandcanyon.com) have been busy, but that’s what redial buttons are for.  Be persistent, be patient.

At Grandcanyon.com, our motto has always been “an informed traveler is a happy traveler,” so as we get a sense for the questions most asked about the Skywalk, we want to pass them on to you. 

Right now, one of the Grand Canyon area’s most popular activities is the Grand Canyon Railway historic train from Williams, Arizona.  When folks inquire about it, we always like to be sure and point out that the train does not ride along the canyon rim, but rather goes up to it from 60 miles due South.  You don’t see the canyon until you get off the train at the park.  It seems as though another misconception we’re going to have to actively dispel is the notion that the Grand Canyon Railway goes to where the Skywalk is.  The Grand Canyon Railway DOES NOT go to where the Grand Canyon Skywalk is at.

Again, and here’s where I’m being redundant, but this is important: the Grand Canyon Skywalk is situated at Grand Canyon West, which is part of the Hualapai Indian Reservation. it is NOT situated at Grand Canyon National Park.  The Grand Canyon Railway goes to Grand Canyon National Park South Rim. 

Some of you have also asked about the glass on the Grand Canyon Skywalk and how is it possible for 120 people to stand on the skywalk at the same time.  The answer: Ultra-Clear DuPont Sentry Glass.  For more information, read this article on PRNewswire.   Speaking of the glass, things like cameras and cell phones are apparently going to be banned on the Skywalk so the clarity of the glass can be maintained.  Hopefully the staff at Grand Canyon West will offer some other way to allow visitors to take home a memento of their trip on the Skywalk.  We’ll keep you posted on this “work in progress” at Grand Canyon West. 

The day has dawned gray and drizzly and it makes we wonder – how are they gonna keep the Grand Canyon Skywalk clean?  That’s gonna take one big bucket of Rain-X.

Not surprisingly 9 out of 10 of your calls this morning have been about the Grand Canyon Skywalk.  The first photos and videos are pretty exciting… unfortunately my Blogjet program isn’t letting me post any pictures, but if you’d like to take a look at some cool photos, visit www.azcentral.com; you can also see some video there, or check out CNN.com too.  There’s also a video on YouTube by a director called “Staseman” that shows the road leading to the Grand Canyon West compound – it shows a rental-car type vehicle going down it, which we really don’t recommend you do, but the footage of the surrounding Joshua Tree forest is very pretty. 

So far the most common misconception I’ve encountered about the Grand Canyon Skywalk is that it’s part of Grand Canyon National Park.  It isn’t.  One gentleman in particular that I spoke with last night (who isn’t crazy about the Skywalk) was under the impression that he’d go to Grand Canyon South Rim or North Rim and be forced to look at it.  Another lady thought she would be forced to go on it!  That’s not the case.   

Grand Canyon West and Grand Canyon National Park are separate.  Grand Canyon West is part of the Hualapai Indian Tribal Lands; Grand Canyon National Park is a federally controlled area.  Grand Canyon West is located about 3 hours from Las Vegas; Grand Canyon National Park, depending on what side you go to, is anywhere from 5 to 5.5 hours from Las Vegas.  The main access road to Grand Canyon West is also unpaved for about 20 miles, so it is best to utilize the park and ride shuttle at the Welcome Center in Meadview, or get on a package tour from Las Vegas (Grand Voyager) or Grand Canyon South Rim (Colorado River Heli Adventure).

Even if you do visit Grand Canyon West, you are not obligated in any way to go on the Skywalk.  If you’re content just to enjoy the view from the rim, you can, but there are other things to do, such as trail rides, helicopter flights to the canyon floor, hummer tours, etc. 

Regarding the price – it has been widely publicized that the Grand Canyon Skywalk will cost $25 per person to walk on.  However, this does not factor in entrance fees, rim top transfers, etc., so in reality, it will cost about $75/person to walk on the Grand Canyon Skywalk.  Visit www.destinationgrandcanyon.com and look for the “Sky” package.  You can apparently add the Skywalk on to the other packages too (except for the “Creation” package, which is the basic package).

Folks have asked where they can stay in order to visit the Skywalk.  Here’s where one must remember that Grand Canyon West is a “work in progress.”  There is no lodging in the immediate area of the compound.  The nearest lodging to Grand Canyon West is HeliUSA’s Grand Canyon West Ranch, which is 14 miles from the airstrip.  For more info on it, visit www.grandcanyonranch.com  The next nearest lodging would be in Kingman, Arizona, which is about 90 minutes Southwest of Grand Canyon West.  Kingman has many choices of hotels, both chain and independently owned.  Las Vegas, Boulder City and Henderson are of course good options, though they’ll all be a bit further away (3 hours).  You can also consider Peach Springs, where the two hotels are the Hualapai Lodge and the Grand Canyon Caverns Inn.  For more info on Las Vegas or Kingman hotels, visit www.grandcanyon.com/hotels or call 800–916–8530. 

Another thing – we’re getting a lot of reports that the reservations line at Grand Canyon West has been constantly busy this morning.  That’s to be expected.  They’re buried.  We knew they would be.  It happens to us all.  Just pick a phone with a redial button, be patient, and be persistent.  For those of you who would like that number, it’s 1-877-716-9378 or 702-878-9378 (outside the US). 

I’m out of here, I’m planning a trip of my own to beautiful Ridgway, Colorado this weekend. 

Happy Skywalking, Alley Kaye

P.S.  Stay tuned for updated video on the Grand Canyon Skywalk!