Grand Canyon Visit

Arriving by air at Grand Canyon Airport (GCN) is highly recommended. For pilots, there are permitted lower level corridors over the canyon that allow flights below the 14,500 msl restrictions, although its a little harrowing in a single engine plane. Taxi to the Park is $5 per person. Expect at least a 30 minute wait, and longer during the season. Add to that a $6 National Park entrance fee if you don't have a pass.

The El Tovar restaurant and lodge is a classic turn of the century (the last one, not this one) structure perched directly on the South Rim. While the menu is fairly limited, the food was good and not over-priced. The Arizona Room is a dining facility about 100 yards from the El Tovar. It is "less classic" but with an acceptable menu. Within a short walk from both restaurants there are many craft and souvenir shops with an attractive array of authentic, but not bargain priced, goods. California condors, a nesting pair, were visible on the day we visited. While they're not pretty birds, they are massive and majestic while soaring on the updrafts near the canyon walls; effortlessly circling and swooping up and down without seeming to move their wings at all.

Things to note: Aviation Fuel is $5.50 per gallon (6/2007). There are several nice looking hotels and restaurants in Tusayan, AZ (right outside the Park entrance). While there is also Visitor's Center outside the entrance in Tusayan where you can buy Park passes, it does not seem to get you through the Park entrance any quicker. The line of cars waiting at the gate can be very long.