Grand Canyon & Hoover Dam by Helicopter

#Grand_Canyon_Helicopter

The cost of the tour is depending on what you want to see with your flight destination.
I chose the aerial views of Hoover Dam, Lake Mead & Grand Canyon with a landing on a private plateau to see the Colorado River, plus meal with a roundtrip shuttle from my Hotel to the Las Vegas Airport

KeyTip; I was here in the off season so reduced pricing or you can just drive out to see the Hoover Dam ( 48 kms or 30 miles from Vegas) or Grand Canyon (442 kms or 275 miles, so an overnight trip )

 

From above in the helicopter we can see the visible examples of the rock strata created millions of years ago

The Hoover Dam was built to control the flooding of the Colorado River, plus supply water as the population in the west continued to grow & of course to provide hydroelectric power to millions of nearby residents since 1936

During the five years of construction (1931-1936) at least 138 men died, 96 due to accidents & 42 workers from illnesses on the site
Some believe additional staff passed away from their long term exposure to carbon monoxide that was present in the tunnels which created health issues, long after the work was done here at the dam
Also finally putting rumors to rest, no one was buried alive in the 4.3 million yards of concrete that was poured

On average 3500 men worked daily at the dam with wages from 50 cents to $1.25 per hour under extreme conditions, especially the heat where the average temperature was over 37C or 100F  plus add another 17C or 30F in the poorly ventilated tunnels  

The dimensions of the dam is insane, 221 meters or 726 feet tall, 379 meters or 1244 feet long plus the base is 201 meters or 660 feet thick of concrete.  To use a comparison you could build a standard four lane highway from San Francisco to New York with the concrete that was used during this project.

 Some interesting facts of the Hoover Dam;

 A) At first the structure was called Boulder Dam (named after Boulder Canyon that was in the area) then was named after the President at the time, Herbert Hoover
B) Nevadas Boulder City did not exist until it was built in 1930 to house the workers for the dam. It had no local mayor or elected officials & was managed by a US Bureau because the land was on government property.
Finally after 30 years (with the construction of the town) the control of the area was given to Boulder City & it was officially incorporated as such
 C) During World War Two it was found out the Nazis plotted to blow up the dam.
 It would of had a disastrous effect on the Southern California airplane manufacturing industry with the loss of this electrical grid.
After America entered the war (with the attack on Pearl Harbor) the dam was closed to all visitors until after 1945
 D) The Hoover Dam was the tallest (726 feet) in the world until the Mauvoisin Dam was constructed in Switzerland (820 feet)
E) Because concrete needs time to settle from liquid to solid ( the Hoover Dam would of taken over 125 years for this process because of the amount of concrete poured on this project) the engineers built a large refrigeration system to produce 1000 tons of ice per day
 Then they embedded one-inch pipes within the concrete which allowed the ice water to circulate thus allowing the cooling process to take only two months to fully set, plus an added benefit it made the concrete less susceptible to cracking    

Landed on the floor of the mighty Grand Canyon

KeyTip; We were warned that the canyon can create its own weather (so dress for all conditions)
 As for example the temperature can change by 25 degrees depending on your location & plus it has many ecosystems within its rock walls 
Also there is wildlife here; Gila Monsters, Bighorn Sheep, Rock Squirrels & Pink Rattlesnakes (which blends into the rocks around it)
So please remember WE ARE the guests here on their property so act accordingly 

The Grand Canyon National Park (3064 kms or 1904 sq miles) is bigger than the State of Rhode Island (1934 kms or 1212 sq miles) plus in some areas could be 1.6km or 1 mile deep or 16kms or 10 miles wide

The canyon has an estimated 1000 caves with only 335 have been recorded plus only 1 is open to the public
Also it is home to the most remote community in the continental United States, the Supai Village with a population of 208

KeyTip;  You will get weighed before your flight for weight distribution & for no other reason
I got lucky & got to sit up front 😃

Heading back to The Strip (which has its own history 😀)
Fremont Street was paved in 1925 & it was the Old Strip, once the ban on gambling was lifted in 1931 it created a massive casino development in the downtown, which was later known as The Strip