Grand Canyon West, Arizona

360 view of the Grand Canyon West from our lunch table - the brown ribbon in front of Murray is the Colorado River. The pointy hill to the right of the trees is what Murray and Rainie climbed

The Grand Canyon is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. We have been fortunate to have seen the spectacular view from the South Rim twice before - once in summer and once in winter with my daughter Kim - and there was snow everywhere. This time we accompanied our friends Rainie and Tom and paid a visit to the West Rim. It is now spring, so the nights are very cold, and the days are glorious. It was a 2 hour drive from Las Vegas, driving right past Lake Mead and over Hoover Dam with only 9 miles of the route being on a gravel road. We went past so many Joshua Trees in bloom - they only bloom every second year - on the left I captured quite a thicket of them as we drove by!

The West Rim is the location of the renowned Skywalk - a glass bridge perched 4,000 feet above the canyon and managed by the local Hualapai Indians. We were all impressed with the professionalism of the tourist attraction, and compared to the South Rim where guard rails protect people from getting too near the edge of the canyon, here at the West Rim the Indians have left it more natural. It is very well organised - once you park your car, you enter into the gift shop and ticket counter, then out to the other side where shuttles run every 15 minutes taking you to various lookouts. We had lunch at Guano Point with views over the Colorado River, and where you can climb up on a rise to get a 360 degree view of the canyon. Murray and Rainie took the challenge and I was able to capture them up on top. We spent quite a while sitting there just absorbing the aura and majesty of the canyon. After we had our fill of Guano Point, we took another shuttle to the Skywalk stop for some more fabulous views of the canyon. Breathtaking - but obviously my photos could never begin to do the views justice!

Rainie and Murray at the lunch table at Guano Point

Here are Murray and Rainie (in yellow) up the top

There is the Skywalk glass ledge out behind us

After several most enjoyable hours enjoying the Canyon, we got back in our car and only had a 20 minute drive to our night's accommodation at the Grand Canyon Ranch Resort. It is actually a working ranch with about 20 cowboys working there. They have about 10 rustic cabins, each with an ensuite, with a dining room over in the main area. The view to Spirit Mountain was beautiful. Rainie and I mounted our horses at 6pm and Murray and Tom boarded a wagon and we all met up at sunset to enjoy a glass of champagne in the shadow of Spirit Mountain. When we got back to the Ranch we were eager to tuck into a cowboy's dinner of ribs, corn and beans before heading to the fire to hear Cowboy Dave entertain us with his guitar and singing and finish the night toasting marshmallows and making s'mores. It was cold!

Our Ranch Cabin on arrival

The wagon with Spirit Mountain in the background

Here are Rainie and I on our trail horses

Rainie toasting marshmallows around the fire

As we had our flight to catch to Phoenix the next day, we were up early and breakfasted with the cowboys at 6am. They were all in fine form - the sun hadn't come up, so it was quite cold. Thankfully they lit a fire that we all stood around with a coffee until the breakfast was served. Can't complain about a plate full of scrambled eggs, bacon, homemade country potatoes and a fresh biscuit (scone). Delicious.