Today, Monday, my coworkers and I left McCarran International as we usually do, around 630am, headed for the Grand Canyon. For the third time in a week we were stopped by inclement weather. We nearly made it, though! After crossing Lake Mead, we have to pass over the Grand Wash Cliffs, which are the western boundary of the plateau through which the Colorado River has carved the Grand Canyon. The area around Lake Mead is around 1,200 feet above sea level, while the Grand Wash Cliffs reach 5,500 feet above sea level. The area where we land sits at 4,825 feet. Las Vegas is around 2,200 feet. It happens every now and then that the ceiling, or cloud cover, will be lower than 5,500 and inhibit our visibility while flying. That was the case today. A blanket of clouds sat still around 3,500 ft. Just before Grand Wash is a small plateau called Grapevine Mesa. Near the steep edge of the mesa is a small, rarely used landing strip called Pierce Ferry, several miles away from the nearby town (or dump, however way you look at it...), called Meadview, Arizona.

Our pilots decided we were going to land at Pierce Ferry and wait an hour or so to see if the cloud cover would move or burn off as the sun rose. Neither happened. In fact, another mass of clouds, hugging the ground, moved in from the our west, and we decided to return to Vegas as it approached.

My coworkers stand on the edge of Grapevine Mesa, at Pierce Ferry, Arizona, overlooking the valley below through which flows the Colorado River between Lake Mead and the Grand Canyon.



The most eastern portion of Lake Mead, from Pierce Ferry.



A US Coast and Geodetic Survey marker from 1950, at Pierce Ferry.



Joshua tree on Grapevine Mesa, at Pierce Ferry.



Two Sundance Helicopters A-Stars and and a Maverick EC-130 on Grapevine Mesa, at Pierce Ferry, Arizona, awaiting clearer skies at the Grand Canyon.

Karsten, with a Sundance Helicopters A-Star, on Grapevine Mesa at Pierce Ferry, Arizona.

Pierce Ferry from satellite.

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