We visited Grand Canyon West today. This is a new end of the Grand Canyon that visitors can come to. It is on Hualapai Indian Reservation land and is home to the becoming famous Skywalk. The Skywalk is a glass platform you can go out on that allows you to experience the feeling of being suspended 2,000 feet above the canyon floor. Yvonne didn't want to do it, so we just watched others do it.

We started out this morning at 8 AM and drove 2 hours to the southwest rim. The last part is about 10 miles on a dirt road that is a poor man's roller coaster. The drive took us through the Joshua Tree Forest (not to be confused with Joshua Tree National Park in California). Here there were even more huge Joshua Trees than in the National Park.

When we got there, they take you off on a bus that allows you to hop on and off at three locations. Our first was at the Skywalk where we took some pictures and watched the Indian Dancers.

The second stop was at Guano Point which was a really cool hike way out onto a point that is in the middle of the canyon. At the end of the Point, there's an old contraption thing that we found out was a Guano recovery system. There is a huge bat cave way down at the bottom of the canyon and in the 1940's, they "mined" the bat poop for use as fertilizer and ingredients in cosmetics - YUCK - makes "Take that Shit off your face!" to a new meaning!

The third stop was to Hualapai (pronounced Wal-a-pie) Ranch. They have gun-fights, horseback riding, a petting zoo and a dance hall. The food smelt absolutely amazing, but we already had lunch with us. We ended up going on a wagon ride with a fellow that is part of the tribe and has lived here all his life. He took us out to the rim and pointed out 1,000 year old cooking pits and a Mamoth footprint fossilized in a stone.

We ended up spending a wonderful 4 & 1/2 hours there before heading off on the 2 hour drive "home". This end of the canyon is well worth the trip. It is not as commercialized as the south rim but with all the wonderful views and the chance to learn about the culture of a people who have lived here for thousands of years.