If you want to feel like a bird...

*I'm scared.*
*Why are you scared? It's so cool up here.*
*We are 4,000 feet above the ground!*
*Get me off of here!*
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Walking gingerly across the translucent surface, visitors hear the glass layers creak. Far below, directly underfoot, they see the Colorado River as a pea-green ribbon.

"It felt wonderful; not exactly like floating on air," said former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who once walked on the surface of the moon and on Tuesday became one of the first to stroll onto the Grand Canyon Skywalk, a massive glass-bottom observation deck perched 4,000 feet above the canyon's floor.

The deck, which juts 70 feet beyond the canyon's edge, will accommodate up to 200 guests at a time, and offer a bone-chilling vantage point more than twice as high as the world's tallest buildings!

The Hualapai Indian tribe invited Buzz Aldrin, fellow former astronaut John Herrington, and others to the unveiling of the horseshoe-shaped deck last Tuesday for an advance showing of the Skywalk, which opened on March 28th.

The Hualapai (pronounced WALL-uh-pie) allowed Las Vegas developer David Jin to build the Skywalk, which took two years to construct. Mr. Jin provided the money to build the $30 million structure, and will give it to the Hualapai in exchange for a cut of the profits, the tribe said.

"To me, I believe this is going to help us. We don't get any help from the outside, so, why not?" said Dallas Quasula Sr., 74, a tribal elder. "This is going to be our bread and butter."

The Skywalk has sparked debate on and off the reservation. Many Hualapai worry about disturbing nearby burial sites, and environmentalists have blamed the tribe for transforming the majestic canyon into a tourist trap.

Tribal elder Dolores Honga, 71, said she remembers riding horses in the area when it was a remote patch of grassland. Her grandparents once herded cattle here.

"I still don't agree with what's going on here," she said. "There's so many memories here. This was my playground."

Here is the official website.

http://www.grandcanyonskywalk.com/

and here is a news page with more about the Skwalk, including pricing, and information about accomodations. It's also very well written, I think.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20070329/ap_tr_ge/travel_trip_grand_canyon_skywalk;_ylt=AnJ_MN2iVUc2enrs7RsMRhQ8sM0F

If you go...

PRICE: Visitors must pay anywhere from $74.95 to $199 to walk on the Skywalk, depending on what other activities they do. (The tribe advertises a $49.95 rate on its Web site, but that just lets you "view" the Skywalk, not walk on it.)

The Hualapai also offer Hummer tours and helicopter trips, a museum of Indian houses and a cowboy town. You also can take a ride to another part of the canyon called Guano Point, where a hiking path will take you over a thin strip of land with cliffs on either side. Details at http://www.destinationgrandcanyon.com/inclusive.html or 877-716-9378.

LOCATION: The Skywalk is far from the canyon's South Rim, where most visitors go to visit the national park. The Hualapai live on the remote western edge of the canyon, about five hours by car from the South Rim and four hours by car from Flagstaff.