Walking on Air--Grand Canyon SKY WALK
Hi ho, MMMLogerinos!
I was having breakfast on Sunday at one of our favorite eateries, Endolyne Joe's in West Seattle. The couple at the next table was reading each other items of interest from the Sunday Times. The fellow pointed to a photo of the Sky Walk that was built out over the edge of the Grand Canyon in Arizona by the Hualapi Indian Tribe. He didn't think it was such a grand idea that people were allowed to walk out over the edge of the Canyon on a 70 feet long Plexiglas floor. He was sure some base jumper would soon throw himself off the Sky Walk and that was a bad thing that shouldn't be allowed.
Why not? And, really, is there actually any stopping a determined base jumper? Not so much, IMO. Besides, the Hualapis would get their fees from the jumper up front, so no worries.
The Hualapi Tribe owns a big section of the western end of the Grand Canyon on the Arizona side of the Colorado River. They call it Canyon West and have been trying to make a go of various business concerns on the edge. My brother and I flew in to their little casino there a few years ago. We paid a landing fee and bought "tickets" for a tour and lunch. They put us in an old yellow bus and drove us over the desert to the edge of the Canyon. My brother recognized one of the guides as a kid he went to high school with and teased him about the touristy getup he wore--a cotton shirt with ribbons stitched to it, which seems like a back East designer's idea of what native Americans might wear. Most of the Hualapi kids we went to school with, including their parents, dressed like we did. We had no idea they had a "traditional" dress. Neither did they, apparently.
When I was a little girl you could stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon at the park. Then the Park Service decided to protect us foolish tourists and put up Verboten signs and fences. You won't find that at Canyon West and I love that. In fact, you can hang your toes and anything else you're big enough to over the edge of the Canyon. We had lunch a picnic table on the edge and that was way cool. You just know that when you go to Canyon West, you pay your money and take responsibility for your stupid choices. No park ranger is going to deny you the opportunity to kill yourself. Or so it was when I was last at Canyon West.
My brother tells me that locals were invited to preview the Sky Walk a couple of weeks ago for free. He said it was great and now there are three different spots along the edge to dine after one strolls in midair several thousand feet above the Colorado. I'm not sure but I think the fee to do the Sky Walk is about $70. The Hualapis should do great with this idea and I wish them the best. I can't wait to do the Sky Walk myself regardless of critics' complaints that Las Vegas has come to Grand Canyon to ruin its natural beauty with this Sky Walk that can't be seen from the river below or unless you're standing on it. Oh, and from the news helicopters buzzing around.
Mmmmmmmmelinda
I was having breakfast on Sunday at one of our favorite eateries, Endolyne Joe's in West Seattle. The couple at the next table was reading each other items of interest from the Sunday Times. The fellow pointed to a photo of the Sky Walk that was built out over the edge of the Grand Canyon in Arizona by the Hualapi Indian Tribe. He didn't think it was such a grand idea that people were allowed to walk out over the edge of the Canyon on a 70 feet long Plexiglas floor. He was sure some base jumper would soon throw himself off the Sky Walk and that was a bad thing that shouldn't be allowed.
Why not? And, really, is there actually any stopping a determined base jumper? Not so much, IMO. Besides, the Hualapis would get their fees from the jumper up front, so no worries.
The Hualapi Tribe owns a big section of the western end of the Grand Canyon on the Arizona side of the Colorado River. They call it Canyon West and have been trying to make a go of various business concerns on the edge. My brother and I flew in to their little casino there a few years ago. We paid a landing fee and bought "tickets" for a tour and lunch. They put us in an old yellow bus and drove us over the desert to the edge of the Canyon. My brother recognized one of the guides as a kid he went to high school with and teased him about the touristy getup he wore--a cotton shirt with ribbons stitched to it, which seems like a back East designer's idea of what native Americans might wear. Most of the Hualapi kids we went to school with, including their parents, dressed like we did. We had no idea they had a "traditional" dress. Neither did they, apparently.
When I was a little girl you could stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon at the park. Then the Park Service decided to protect us foolish tourists and put up Verboten signs and fences. You won't find that at Canyon West and I love that. In fact, you can hang your toes and anything else you're big enough to over the edge of the Canyon. We had lunch a picnic table on the edge and that was way cool. You just know that when you go to Canyon West, you pay your money and take responsibility for your stupid choices. No park ranger is going to deny you the opportunity to kill yourself. Or so it was when I was last at Canyon West.
My brother tells me that locals were invited to preview the Sky Walk a couple of weeks ago for free. He said it was great and now there are three different spots along the edge to dine after one strolls in midair several thousand feet above the Colorado. I'm not sure but I think the fee to do the Sky Walk is about $70. The Hualapis should do great with this idea and I wish them the best. I can't wait to do the Sky Walk myself regardless of critics' complaints that Las Vegas has come to Grand Canyon to ruin its natural beauty with this Sky Walk that can't be seen from the river below or unless you're standing on it. Oh, and from the news helicopters buzzing around.
Mmmmmmmmelinda
posted by MMMelinda at 9:41 PM
