The Grand Canyon, behind a fence
Last weekend, on the day after Thanksgiving, Brian (plutarck) and I decided to take a drive out to the Grand Canyon Skywalk. I learned about it when the Snopes feed came through my LJ, and many of the people there were complaining about how they were marring up the beautiful scenery with this thing. I argued that this was done by the Hualapai Nation tribe, and that I was sure it would be done in as much of a non-intrusive manner as possible, and they would respect the environment.
The sky-walk is supposed to be finished early in 2006, and so we expected to find it near completion. We were hoping to get some photos of a work in progress. Brian and I were both very excited to see it, and this was going to be a great outing for us. The Skywalk is at Grand Canyon West, and up until now, I didn't even know that you could access the canyon from this close to our home. It only took us about 2 and a half hours or so to get out there.
We took HWY 93 to the Dolan Springs turnoff (Pierce Ferry Road), and then followed the signs to Grand Canyon West, and turned on Diamond Bar road. Dolan Springs hasn't changed much - it's still pretty much a hole in the wall, but we ignored all of this as we went through, and continued on to see the Canyon compound.
We got to the turnoff to Grand Canyon West and realised that we were going to be on a dirt road for about 21 miles. This road was extremely rough, and washboard-y. It even had a spot in the road where a wash flows, and came with warnings about flash floods. I can't imagine what will happen to tourists when they get out there and it begins to rain. They may be stranded. There was a "Welcome Center" shortly before this turn-off, and the brochure says that you'll be able to park there and take a bus over the dirt road to the Canyon, "for a small fee". We continued on, and dodged the tail pipes, bumpers, and hub caps that other weary travelers had left behind on their trek out here.
The scenery was gorgeous! We were in the "Joshua Tree Forest, Grand Wash Cliffs" and there were signs up that it was a critical environmental concern. You have to go through BLM land to get to the place.
It took us quite a while to drive the 21 miles, as it was slow going, and I was hoping no pieces of my Chevy Van ended up as road ornaments along the way. We became concerned with what we saw from the other drivers that we were meeting on the road. None of them looked very happy. In fact, they looked down right angry. I feared that we'd be going out here only to find out that the road was closed somewhere down the line, or something. I eventually decided that they were just bothered by the condition of the road they were on, and we kept going.
When we finally reached pavement, we were greeted with signs that said "Low flying aircraft, do not stop, do not leave the pavement." We came upon an area that had several make-shift buildings and we wondered if we were in the right spot. Of course, at first I was afraid to slow down and see *Laughs* "Do not stop, low flying aircraft" and all. Then we saw the parking lot, and we stopped to ask directions to the Skywalk. That was all we stopped for, as this surely wasn't it. There were a bunch of metal buildings there, and big fuel tanks all over the place. Who knew that were actually at the Grand Canyon?
When we got out of the car, there was a Native American man walking out of the building that turned out to be the Airport, Gift shop, and main place for the skywalk. I'd post a picture of the man, but you can't take pictures of him unless you buy an expensive $49.95 per person package to see the canyon. He was a plump fella, in full headdress, black denim jeans, blue T-shirt, and white tenni's. We asked the man how we got out to the Skywalk, and he pointed down a road that had a "No private vehicles" sign. He told us to go inside and inquire about a package that would take us down there. This is where I first got the very real impression that something was very wrong here. I asked Brian if he wanted to go inside, as I was ready to turn and run right there, but he wasn't feeling it yet (we really WANTED this to be a good thing!) so we went inside. We've been to the Grand Canyon up by Flagg before, and it costs something like 15 dollars per carload - and that got you a pass for an entire 10 days or so. After I saw that I couldn't actually drive down the road to our destination here, I became quite frightened of it all.
Once we got inside, we found there were four different packages you could buy. The earth package was $29.95, and that got you to two viewpoints along the rim of the Canyon for 15 minute stops. You HAVE to buy a package and ride a bus just to see the canyon from here. The next package was the spirit package for $49.95, and that got you three stops along the Canyon, photo opps with the Natives, as well as a meal at the "Ranch". The next package was the Sky package at $69.95, and you get everything that comes with the spirit package - but includes the walk on the skywalk. Or at least, so says the web site, but their brochure just says that you can "see the skywalk". I believe you still have to pay again to walk on it, because they say that you can add the walk to any package for 25 dollars. The next package was the Explorer, for $109.95. Which comes with everything in the spirit package, and includes a horseback ride or hummer tour. You can add the skywalk to any of the packages for $25.00.
Snopes had posted that it was $25 dollars to walk the walk, but they neglected the bit of information that it was going to cost you at least 29.95 per person to even get to the walk - to walk it. Your grand total to take the skywalk is a bare minimum of $54.95 plus tax (yes, they charge tax... on the reservation) Per person! Brian noted how they seemed to put the explorer(white man) above the earth, sky and spirit.
We asked if we could get close enough to the skywalk to photograph it being built if we paid the $29.95. This is what we had come out here for, and on this particular day they were offering a discount on the "base" package, so we were considering paying it. Which is when we found out that all they have done thus far is drill holes into the side of the canyon, and there was nothing to see. Now, this thing is scheduled to open at the beginning of the year, and has supposedly undergone all these safety tests that it can hold 71 million pounds, and can sustain winds up to 100 miles per hour. Mind you, the wind whips through that canyon - we get 60 MPH gusts where I'm at, which is not far from there, up in the Black Mountains. Brian and I couldn't figure out how they'd tested it if they don't have it up yet? We figured they must have tested models, and we were glad that they had tested their model making skills. Lets hope nature conforms to their models (but now we're getting into the "engineer" package).
We went and browsed the gift shop while we considered our purchase option. On this reservation the gift shop has fake Chinese and Mexican made products that were to look like Native American stuff, and all displayed next to T-shirts that said "Proud of our Heritage". Brian joked that what they must be proud of is their heritage of being notoriously bad traders, because this gift shop was really something awful. It was really the final thing that made us decide not to pay the money to see the canyon. The place where we were was so mucked up with pavement, landing pads, run ways, fuel tanks, fences, and signs, and then the gift shop didn't even have real Native American products in it. Neither of us actually wanted to see what they had done to the viewpoints, and especially after paying that kind of money. The brochure says they have a Hualapai village with a market at the Eagle Point view.
So, we left the building and we looked around, and decided to walk out to the edge of the canyon. We could see it, so we figured we could walk out there. We were promptly stopped by people who said we weren't allowed out there. It was a helicopter landing pad, and we couldn't go any further.
Which is when we changed directions and headed out to the rim - off to the right of where we were. That's when we saw the big ole fence. "The Grand Canyon, behind a fence... How poetic" I exclaimed, and we headed back to the car. There was No way to see the Canyon from here, without paying the $29.95 per person.
On our way back to the car, we ran into several other lost souls who had made the trek out here, only to be greeted by this mess. One couple from Germany could barely keep their jaws from gaping at how awful this experience turned out to be. We told them that the canyon is much prettier, the scenery and the skyline is far less marred up north, and recommended they go there. I felt bad for all the people who had come out here, thinking this was "The Grand Canyon." This was "The Grand Rip-off" filled with cheapness, disrespect for the wonder that they had possession of, and pure unadulterated greed.
We won't be going on the skywalk when it opens, and we certainly don't recommend it to anyone. Put the money in your gas tank, and go up north.
(PS, We were -really- glad to get back to Dolan Springs! We stopped at the Double D market, and the people were really very nice.)
More of the skyline
Another fence in another area, this one is barbed wire. Planes and Helicopters are all around
That is jet fuel in the tank, which is on the edge of the Canyon
The road you go down to get to the view points and sky walk. That's a metal shed right next to it, and no private vehicle sign there
Brian's slightly more colorful version of our experience