Across the Southwest / Adam Schallau

If you are looking for a unique experience and a different view of the Grand Canyon, you may want to consider a scenic helicopter flight. Flights depart the South Rim heliport and make either a quick trip across the canyon, or circumnavigate it in a counter-clockwise direction.

My wife and I chose the latter. After liftoff from Grand Canyon Airport you head east 500 feet over one of the world’s largest Ponderosa Pine forests as you make your way to Desert View and the eastern canyon. For the first few minutes of the flight, the canyon is barely visible off to the left as the pilot follows the FAA approved corridor for helicopter operations. Just before Desert View the helicopter turns north and within seconds the world drops out from underneath us as we begin our experience over the Grand Canyon.

As we fly towards the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado River, we are looking down upon one of the 7 wonders of the world. Below us are the magnificent patterns, colors, and shapes of the Grand Canyon and Colorado River. The rain that we’ve had lately has been good to us, saturating the soil and cleansing the air. I’m one happy photographer.

Looking northeast I can see another canyon, more narrow than the Grand Canyon but equally impressive. It’s the Little Colorado River Gorge. I’ve seen pictures of the Little Colorado and its turquoise water, but nothing has prepared me for it’s intensity. It might be cliché, but I think it’s fair to say that a picture can’t do it justice. As our pilot put us into a turn around the confluence of the two rivers I snapped away, thankful that we had a helicopter with a sliding ‘photography’ window so that I wouldn’t have to shoot through the Plexiglas.

That’s it for today. Tomorrow I will pick up with part 2 and the rest of the flight as we follow the Colorado River to Nankoweap Butte, pass Mount Hayden, and cross the North Rim before heading back to Grand Canyon Airport.

>>>Read Part II of “Grand Canyon by Helicopter”<<<