Grand Canyon - Dream Catcher Sunset Tour by Maverick Helicopters

There are a number of ways you can visit and experience the wonder of the Grand Canyon such as car and bus trips or fly overs with a fixed wing plane but none can match a helicopter flight over this vast geological wonder. 

Maverick Helicopters of Las Vegas offer a variety of tours but the Dream Catcher Sunset Tour offered the ultimate experience; take off in downtown Las Vegas, fly out over the Bowl of Fire, Valley of Fire and Lake Mead, fly into the Grand Canyon, land in the canyon floor close to the Colorado River for champagne and canapés, fly out over the Hoover Dam then return into Las Vegas at sunset as the lights on the Strip came on.

Maverick Helicopters are based at McCarron Airport, which is a short distance from central downtown Las Vegas. After registering and being allocated to a helicopter we took off directly over the downtown area of Las Vegas giving us a stunning view of the city and our hotel, the MGM Grand. Heading east we headed out over the flat desert land on the outskirts of the city where we could see some exclusive housing areas around some lakes and then north east into the area known as the Bowl of Fire and Valley of Fire. 

Valley of Fire State Park is the oldest state park in Nevada, USA and was designated as a National Natural Landmark in 1968. It covers an area of almost 42,000 acres (17,000 ha) and was dedicated in 1935. It derives its name from red sandstone formations, formed from great shifting sand dunes during the age of dinosaurs. These features, which are the centerpiece of the park's attractions, often appear to be on fire when reflecting the sun's rays.

Valley of Fire is located 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Las Vegas, at an elevation between 2,000–2,600 feet (610–790 m). It abuts the Lake Mead National Recreation Area at the Virgin River confluence. It lies in a 4 by 6 mi (6.4 by 9.7 km) basin.

Complex uplifting and faulting of the region, followed by extensive erosion, have created the present landscape. The rough floor and jagged walls of the park contain brilliant formations of eroded sandstone and sand dunes more than 150 million years old. Other important rock formations include limestones, shales, and conglomerates.

Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the United States in maximum water capacity. It is located on the Colorado River about 24 mi (39 km) from the Strip southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, in the states of Nevada and Arizona. Formed by the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead is 112 miles (180 km) long when the lake is full, has 759 miles (1,221 km) of shoreline, is 532 feet (152 meters) at greatest depth, with a surface elevation of 1,221.4 feet (327.3 metres) above sea level, and has 247 square miles (640 km2) of surface, and when filled to capacity, 28 million acre-feet (35 km3) of water. However, the lake has not fully reached this capacity since 1983 due to a combination of drought and increased water demand.

As we came over the next rise of hills we could at last see the vast expanse of the Grand Canyon as far as the eye could see. From the air is really the only way to really appreciate the size, extent and complexity of this geological feature. 

The Grand Canyon (Hopi: Ongtupqa; Yavapai: Wi:kaʼi:la, Spanish: Gran Cañón), is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is contained within and managed by Grand Canyon National Park, the Hualapai Tribal Nation, and the Havasupai Tribe. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of preservation of the Grand Canyon area, and visited it on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.

The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,000 feet or 1,800 meters). Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. While the specific geologic processes and timing that formed the Grand Canyon are the subject of debate by geologists, recent evidence suggests that the Colorado River established its course through the canyon at least 17 million years ago. Since that time, the Colorado River continued to erode and form the canyon to its present-day configuration.

For thousands of years, the area has been continuously inhabited by Native Americans who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon ("Ongtupqa" in Hopi language) a holy site and made pilgrimages to it. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.

Down below we could see the Colorado River snaking its way through the canyon floor. On the valley side on the right hand side we saw in the distance the Grand Canyon Skywalk, the glass viewing platform which many tourists travel out to experience the Grand Canyon. Seeing how small this platform was in relation to the canyon made you realise that from this platform you really only saw one very small part of the canyon.

We descended into the canyon itself and flew above the Colorado River with the steep-sided canyon walls on either side. The pilot guided the helicopter to a small elevated landing area just above the Colorado River. At this small private landing area there were small benches with umbrellas all set up for us to get out and enjoy our champagne and canapés as we took in the wonder of the breath-taking beauty that surrounded us.

We had about 45 minutes on the canyon floor giving us a good opportunity for photographs and get a close look at the barren and stony canyon floor environment. There were a variety of cacti and small dried bushes growing on the hard, stony ground.

Leaving the Grand Canyon we then headed back west, making a short re-fueling stop, then past the Hoover Dam where the pilot made a few turns giving us all a great view of this incredible feat of engineering. Then it was back to Las Vegas as the sun was dipping down to the horizon. The lights on the Strip were coming on and we had a great view of all the hotels and casinos on the Strip as we descended back to McCarron Airport.

This trip was truly spectacular .... expensive, yes .... but a highly recommended way to truly appreciate the grandeur of the Grand Canyon.


Video of Grand Canyon - Dream Catcher Sunset Tour by Maverick Helicopters

Highway 1 - California State Route 1

State Route 1 (SR 1) is a major north-south state highway that runs along most of the Pacific coastline of the U.S. state of California. Highway 1 has several portions designated as either Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), Cabrillo Highway, Shoreline Highway, or Coast Highway. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 5 (I-5) near Dana Point in Orange County and its northern terminus is at U.S. Highway 101 (US 101) near Leggett in Mendocino County. Highway 1 also at times runs concurrently with US 101, most notably through a 54-mile (87 km) stretch in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, and across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Highway 1 is famous for running along some of the most beautiful coastlines in the USA, leading to its designation as an All-American Road. In addition to providing a scenic route to numerous attractions along the coast, the route also serves as a major thoroughfare in the Greater Los Angeles Area, the San Francisco Bay Area, and several other coastal urban areas.

SR 1 was built piecemeal in various stages, with the first section opening in the Big Sur region in the 1930s. However, portions of the route had several names and numbers over the years as more segments opened. It was not until the 1964 state highway renumbering that the entire route was officially designated as Highway 1. Although SR 1 is a popular route for its scenic beauty, frequent landslides and erosion along the coast have caused several segments to be either closed for lengthy periods for repairs, or re-routed further inland.

Leaving downtown San Francisco on a Sunday morning was quiet and we quickly headed west to join up with Highway 1 just south of the Golden Gate bridge. As we left the city and the road came closer to the ocean on our right the views improved. Our plan was to be in Santa Cruz for lunch to catch up with an old friend who had lived in Kuala Lumpur and was now living just off the beach at Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz is a lovely seaside town and after meeting our friend we took a walk along the seafront admiring the beautiful bay and the surfers working the waves. We had lunch at the Crow's Nest Restaurant right next to the small harbour watching the sealions play in the inlet as we ate.

Leaving Santa Cruz it was a short drive south to Carmel stopping briefly at Monterey to admire the seafront.

Carmel is a delightful and relaxed small town with a quaint collection of very English looking houses along the Main Street. The beachfront is wonderful and the sunset with the waves crashing on the beach was very relaxing.

Just adjacent to Carmel is the iconic Pebble Beach Golf Club and as a keen golfer I could not resist a visit. It was strange to walk into the clubhouse Past the practice putting green and clock that looked so familiar from TV coverage. The view over the 18th hole from the clubhouse verandah with the sea in the background was stunning.

From Pebble Beach we drove around 17-Mile Drive which offered up some incredible views over the Pacific. 17-Mile Drive is a scenic road through Pebble Beach and Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula in California, much of which hugs the Pacific coastline and passes famous golf courses, mansions and scenic attractions, including the Lone Cypress, Bird Rock and the 5,300-acre Del Monte Forest of Monterey Cypress trees.

The drive serves as the main road through the gated community of Pebble Beach. Inside this community, nonresidents have to pay a toll to use the road. Like the community, the majority of 17-Mile Drive is owned and operated by the Pebble Beach Corporation. The 17-Mile Drive is a 17-mile (27 km)-long scenic loop having four primary entrances - the main highway entrance at California State Route 1, and entrances in Carmel and Pacific Grove.

Heading south again from Carmel on Highway 1 we reached the area known as Big Sur where the scenery just got better and better with steep cliffs falling away to the ocean. Stopping occasionally to take photographs we saw many whales breaching in the sea and there were also many large pelicans flying close to the sea.

Big Sur is a sparsely populated region of the Central Coast of California where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. Although it has no specific boundaries, many definitions of the area include the 90 miles (140 km) of coastline from the Carmel River in Monterey County south to the San Carpoforo Creek in San Luis Obispo County, and extend about 20 miles (32 km) inland to the eastern foothills of the Santa Lucias. Other sources limit the eastern border to the coastal flanks of these mountains, only three to 12 miles (19 km) inland. Another practical definition of the region is the segment of California State Route 1 from Carmel south to San Simeon. The northern end of Big Sur is about 120 miles (190 km) south of San Francisco, and the southern end is approximately 245 miles (394 km) northwest of Los Angeles.

The name "Big Sur" is derived from the original Spanish-language "el sur grande", meaning "the big south", or from "el país grande del sur", "the big country of the south". This name refers to its location south of the city of Monterey. The terrain offers stunning views, making Big Sur a popular tourist destination. Big Sur's Cone Peak is the highest coastal mountain in the contiguous 48 states, ascending nearly a mile (5,155 feet/1571 m) above sea level, only three miles (4.8 km) from the ocean.

The name Big Sur can also specifically refer to any of the small settlements in the region, including Posts, Lucia and Gorda; mail sent to most areas within the region must be addressed "Big Sur”.

Further south we reached San Simeon where we had planned to visit Hearst Castle. Unfortunately we had missed the last tour so had to make do with taking a photograph of the castle on the hill from afar.

However right next to this location we saw a long pier heading out to the sea and some commotion happening in the water. When we got down to the pier we saw the incredible sight of thousands of pelicans and other birds in a feeding frenzy as there were obviously large shoals of fish in the water. As the birds dived for fish we could also see numerous dolphins surfacing in the waves ..... what an incredible sight it was.

We stayed in Morro Bay that next evening and witnessed a most beautiful sunset over the distinctive Morro Rock which sits just offshore from the town. The seafood here was fresh as expected and was washed down well with local Californian wine.

Heading south from Morro Bay the scenery was not so dramatic and had many wine growing areas as well as large extents of pastures for cattle. With the recent drought in California much of the land was yellow and very dry.

We stopped at Santa Barbara taking lunch out on Stearns Wharf giving us a panoramic view of the town.

This was the end of Highway 1 for us as we then headed north east at Ventura towards Valencia, Santa Clarita to bypass Los Angeles before then heading on the following day for Las Vegas.

Highway 1 is one of those must-do drives of the world and I hope I get the opportunity to do this again, perhaps doing it south to north next time.