Project 10 Challenge: March 2014: Magic (al)

Project 10 Challenge set the task at doing something in the theme of Magic. The informal definition of Magic is something wonderful, exciting.  A Magic moment would be something that fascinating, captivating, and spellbinding.  

So here is my take on Magic.  In March we headed out to Las Vegas.  The purpose was to connect with my brother whom I had not seen for a year. That in itself was magic. However.... 

This blog is dedicated to the fascinating, captivating and spellbinding experience of the Grand Canyon Skywalk on the West Rim.

Driving into the area all we can see is helicopters and light planes heading in and out of the area.  The mountain range is stunning and I am excited to be able to get up close.  Once we had gone through the checkpoint (oh yeah there is a checkpoint) and done all the administrative work of deciding which package to take and what all the costs involved were, we finally began our journey through the Grand Canyon Skywalk on the West Rim.  

A little bit about the history of the Grand Canyon Skywalk on the West Rim is that it is run by the Hualapai Tribe.  The name means people of the pines so I discovered in a 45 minute conversation with a gentleman of the tribe. First stop was down to a typical old time miners village set in the era of Cowboys and Indians.  The view of the canyon was amazing and I could not wait to get a little closer to the edge.  However, not too close as I have two left feet and it is a long way down.

The second stop was the skywalk and the view from the edge of the canyon is pretty darn awesome.  So did I walk - no! Here's the deal.  I would have hated to walk on something that plunged down below me, but I was willing to do it. However, I was not going to pay $30 to walk on there and not take my camera.  Sorry, the whole idea was to be able to take photographs.  I am not just there to "see" the view I am there to "capture" the view.  Phew - that makes sense to me, and it gets me out of having to walk on a piece of glass. :)

We were welcomed at the Skywalk area with traditional American Indian music and dancing and it was a treat to experience this part of life that I have always found fascinating and wanted to learn more about. 

Another very interesting aspect of the Skywalk area is that they have created examples of how they different tribes lived in days gone back and while talking I learned so much about lifestyles, old time, migration of the American Indian, why some tribes built on plateaus, the value of building a teepee with branches of a fir tree (why they left the teepee as it was when they moved on was so that the seeds from the fir tree would fall to the ground and eventually new firs would start to grow).  I learned about traditional laws of the old days, and laws how they impacted the tribes today.  What a pleasure it was to stand and talk to this gentleman and learn a little bit about what I have always been captivated by.

They showed the different homes and sweat lodges of the various tribes and it was very interesting to see, as I have read about them and always visualized something much bigger. The lower of the two sweat lodges was used by the Navajo tribe. The notice board said "Used for ceremonial purposes, the sweat lodge accommodated four to six peopled, and was used to cleanse the mind, body and spirit.  Small stones are heated on a fire, and placed in the middle of the mud hut.  Water is then poured over the rocks to create steam.  While in the sweat lodge the participants pray to the creator"  

Our third stop was probably the most spectacular of all three with views of the canyon going wide and deep. Once again the edges had no railings, and I was careful not to get too close to the edge.  I have two left feet and it was a long, long way down.  However, the view from as close to the edge as I would venture was breath taking.

The third stop also had a minor hill you could climb to get a higher vantage point.  This is where we stopped for lunch.  Flying around us were large crows and I have to confess my black boat tailed gackles looked really small in comparison.  

This is just a small portion of the magical trip to the Grand Canyon West Rim Skywalk.  On this day I checked off one of the items on my bucket list, to be on an American Indian Reservation and to actually talk to someone about the past and the present of the culture of American Indians.  That in itself, for me, is magic. 

If you did not see the blog on the Valley of Fire which is 40 minutes out of Vegas click here

For the blog on the Las Vegas strip click here

If you are interested in seeing more of my photography take a look at my facebook page or my Flickr Page