The Grand Canyon, only grander
I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon; I’ve only seen it from a jet, streaming overhead at some ridiculous speed. Nonetheless, I remember being in awe. No, it was more than awe. It was so beautiful my reaction was like forgetting, for a moment, who I was. I’m determined, one of these days, to make my way back there, to hike to the bottom and camp out under stars, each slightly higher from that lower ground.
And then I read this article on NationalGeographic.com, and let’s just say that the urgency for a real trip has magnified:
Members of a Native American group based in a remote part of Arizona are hoping to entice more tourists by inviting visitors to step off the edge of the Grand Canyon. The 1,500-member Hualapai tribe announced last week that the Skywalk– ”a giant, 30-million-dollar steel-and-glass walkway– ”will open to the public in March 2007.
The Skywalk will jut out 70 feet (21 meters) from the canyon rim, allowing tourists to go for a stroll with nothing between their feet and the Colorado River– ”4,000 feet (1,220 meters) below– ”except for four inches (ten centimeters) of glass.
The Hualapai, or “People of the Tall Pines,” are working with the Las Vegas, Nevada-based Destination Grand Canyon to market the Skywalk and draw in valuable tourist dollars.
As the article indicates, the Skywalk (you can find construction photos here) is linked up with casino tourism (something we find fairly repressive most of the time) and some of the tribal leaders are rightfully concerned that the development will damage sacred ground and graves (something we are also concerned about). Collectively though, this Native nation is allowing the Skywalk to be built, and, well, I’m going to go. I’m going to go and not gamble a dime. I’m going to go and stare down into the gorge below. And I’m going to respect this world of ours even more.
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