The weather forecast called for 80% chance of thunderstorms at the Grand Canyon West Rim. I was assigned 2 people for the Above, Beyond, and Below (ABB) tour with Maverik helicopters and 8 people not flying. All flights were cancelled because President Obama was in town grounding the flights eventhough the helicopters were at McCarran Airport while Air Force One was at Nellis Air Force Base 12 miles away. I informed my two guests flying about the cancellation. They opted not to go on the tour. The helicopters wouldn't have flown anyway at the Grand Canyon due to the weather. I proceeded to pick up the rest of my group.

I knew the forecast would mean heavy rain with flash flooding. I brought my camera, Olympus 590UZ, to take pictures and extra gear for myself and my guests on tour to help keep dry. On the way to the West Rim we encountered no rain, but the clouds were looming and growing. Upon arrival I passed out all my supplies to the guests so we can go to the viewpoints. Upon arriving at Eagle Point the skies were clear, but a significant cell was forming to the west. The views were very clear and worthy of a picture. I then realized I had left my camera in the truck. Ugh!! Five guests were interested in the Skywalk. Three paid, walked out to the Skywalk to find out they closed it due to the approaching storm. Two others found out it was closed at the register and thus didn't pay the fee. Normally, the Hualapai don't offer refunds, but my three guests were able to get their money back. We then proceeded to Guano Point.

The storm cell was getting bigger and darker. We walked around a little until it started to rain so we went for cover and had lunch. At that time I received a text from my wife informing me about the big strong cell tracking NE in my area. We ate lunch while it rained. The canyon to the NW was not visible while the canyon SE towards Eagle Point was clear. After about 20 minutes or so of heavy rain the clouds started to clear. I walked over to the canyon edge to see if there were any waterfalls. I had to walk right to the edge to look down to see lots of waterfalls. I ran back to my guests to let them know. I also grabbed Mike Metzger and John Marinich (the only other Pink Jeep tour guides at Guano) to see the waterfalls. I was now really kicking myself in the head for leaving my camera in the truck. John had a camera phone so I took a couple pictures for him on the edge. One of my guests came by, but couldn't see the waterfalls because she was afraid of the heights. I asked for the camera to take pictures. She gave me her new Nikon 5100 DSLR with two lenses - 18-55mm & 55-300mm. I don't own an SLR, but I know how to use it.

I started taking shots immediately even though the clouds hadn't cleared. I even took a full 1080 movie of the scenery. I then wanted to take a zoomed shot so I asked "I need the 300!". I changed the lens and continued with pictures. The clouds cleared offering amazing views. "I need the 55!" to take broader views. I kept switching lenses to get the shots I wanted. When the clouds cleared the views were amazing. It was really neat and amazing experience. None of us have seen views like this so I took lots of pictures to capture the different amount of light and waterfalls.

The waterfalls started to diminish after about 30 minutes. We then walked further down the road to enjoy the views. I then looked at the camera noting a couple of settings that would have improved the quality, but it was too late. The image compression was set to normal instead of fine and the image stabilizer was off. In any case, amazing shots. I was very thankful for the use of the camera (I want one, but it costs around $1000). Since the camera uses an SD card and my tablet has a full-sized SD port, I was able to download the pictures and movie right away.

To quote a great cartoon movie, Up - 2009, "Adventure is out there!" We really did experience adventure. The guests loved the trip and agreed. We left the Grand Canyon an hour later than expected, but the delay was very worthwhile. On the way home it rained a lot washing off the mud on the truck. Dropping off on the Strip was difficult with accidents, rush hour, shift change, and lots of flooding throughout the area. One of my guests were staying at the Imperial Palace, but I couldn't drop them off since the IP parking garage was a flood channel with a flood occurring so I dropped them at Harrah's next door. After over a 12 hour day, I was ready to go home!

The next day was not amazing. There was a 50% chance of thunderstorms. We encountered rain on the way home, but not at the canyon. This time I remembered to bring my camera so I took some pictures at Guano Point to show a reference of what that area looks like without waterfalls. The end result for me the day before with the waterfalls was a lot better (times three) with eight people than with ten people the next day.