Papillon is the world's largest helicopter sightseeing company offering
the ultimate tour experiences of the Grand Canyon National Park
the ultimate tour experiences of the Grand Canyon National Park
Friday, March 23rd, 2007
(please click on photos for enlargements)
Woke up very early (5:30am) to catch a shuttle bus picking us up at our hotel en route to Nevada’s Boulder City Airport to catch a tiny, 8 seat plane to the Arizona’s Grand Canyon. The weather was 70 degrees leaving Las Vegas that morning with highs expected in the 80’s that day. Therefore it didn’t seem abnormal to decide to wear shorts, sandals and bring a pullover sweatshirt for early morning/late night chills… little did we realize that the Grand Canyon is 8,000 feet above Las Vegas in elevation and the weather would be 39 degrees with rain, sleet and snow when we landed!
There were patchy clouds on the way over the western rim of the Grand Canyon but nothing would prepare us for the cold, dense fog that blanketed the Southern Rim. Due to the thick veil of white fog that engulfed the cavernous hole in the earth, our scheduled helicopter ride that promised to descend into the canyon was cancelled. Instead, we were taken to an IMAX movie that captured the experience of swooping amid the canyon walls, minus the photos I truly hoped to capture of the once-in-a-lifetime experience. The entire tour lasted 12 hours hotel-to-hotel.
We arrived back in time to greet our friends Matt & Alexis who had driven in from L.A. for the weekend to celebrate my birthday the following night. Later that evening, following dinner, we hit the bars and craps tables, fortunately continuing our winning streak!
Views of Las Vegas in the morning sky
Hoover Dam from above
Grand Canyon (South Rim) from the air
Grand Canyon (South Rim) from the ground
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