We were picked up by shuttle early in the morning and taken to the nearby small airport. There were five of us, plus pilot, going to be flying from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon in our helicopter. Julia and I had been allocated two seats in the front next to the pilot so we had a great view. The doors were just closed when I noticed a bee on the windscreen inside the helicopter. I was rather concerned about a bee biting someone, possibly the pilot, while were in flight so brought it to the pilots attention. He let me open our side do and I tried to use a piece of paper to chase it outside. But the stupid bee wouldn’t go out. So I squished it. Sorry little bee.
The view of Las Vegas as we left the city was great. Likewise the view of the desert and the Grand Canyon as we approached. We landed near the bottom of the canyon near the river. The pilot brought out some minor refreshments and we had champagne, orange juice, and muffins while we enjoyed the view.
We left the Grand Canyon and landed at a nearby refueling site for the helicopter where I tried jumping in the air while Julia took my photo (to pass the time).
The pilot few us to a nearby town were we waiting for the next part of our trip; down the river. A shuttle took us though a security area (they have special permission) to the bottom of the Hover Dam.
We boarded our boat and our new guide took us down the river telling historical information about the area.
It was a very hot day. The guide gave us all small cloth towels which he soaked in the river water and we used them to keep cool. The water in the river is released from very low in the day so the sunlight never has a chance to heat it up. So the river remains very cold. We stopped along the river three times. Once for the guide to show us a natural hot spring. He collected some water for us to touch and it was definitely hot.
He also showed us another hot spring further along the river which was just above a nice little beach. Apparently hikers/cannoers have been spotted having a shower in the natural spring, sometimes naked. No such show for us today.
The other two times we stopped were to cool off and have some lunch.
I was amazed at how clear the water was.
It was often that I saw large fish in the water as the boat traveled along the river (there are none in the photo above – that I’ve seen anyway).
At the end of our journal we left the boat and got back onto a shuttle bus which returned us to our hotel in Las Vegas.