The Precipice Picnic (Grand Canyon part 4)

After extraction from the river LZ (which had become even hotter, by the way) it was time for lunch. We took a bus from the airport to the lunch area. We passed two interesting things along the way.

Firstly, there's a rock formation called the eagle which is kind of interesting. See for yourself:


Secondly, there's an installation called the Skywalk which is a transparent semicircular platform over the canyon edge. Since we had just done a far impressive helo ride we didn't feel the need to go there.


The food was served on a promontory overlooking the Canyon. Easily the most spectacular scenery for a meal ever.


The best table in the house:


After lunch we walked a short distance to Guano Point.


That's a piece of rock sticking out over the Canyon that has a derelict cable car installation. It was put in there in the early 60s to mine guano (bat droppings) from a cave on the other side of the Canyon. Unfortunately for the company that installed it, their projections as to how much guano was in the cave were off and the supply was exhausted within 8 months.

After a military aircraft clipped one of the cables (presumably by flying under it) they removed them. The towers still remain. You can see the cave and the second tower if you click on the pic - they're about 1 o'clock from the near tower.


Apparently the plane and pilot were fine.

There really is very little to prevent you from falling in if you're careless or stupid (or unlucky). These days we expect almost all risk to be eliminated and that which remains should be no greater than that on a theme park ride with full liability insurance - this experience was quite outside that and I am most grateful for it. Life raw and uncut!

This particular gentleman was quite unconcerned by 4,000 foot drop a few feet behind him.


This is our pilot who was clearly suffering from depression and profound job dissatisfaction...


He was awesome.

This is the walkway from Guano Point back to the picnic area. You can't help but feel a little like Indiana Jones when you have fatal drops on either side of you and mindblowing scenery all around you.


Unforgettable.