Best way to do the GC from Vegas?

[bevorules]

Give me good, cheap suggestions here please! What's the best and cheapest way to do the Grand Canyon from Vegas?

What are things there that are 'can't miss' kinda things?

Thanks

 

[VinnyVango]

helicopter ... drop you off there in morning... and return you back to Vegas that eve... not as costly as you might think... and VERY cool view.

 

[MAROON]

get a window seat on the right side of your plane on the trip out there. Best view of the Canyon you will ever get...I'm serious. I just saved you a long day of driving that you can now spend lounging by the pool or playng craps.

 

[Me So Horny]

I just 'did' Vegas along with hiking down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon at the Phantom Ranch last week.
The GC hike was the highlight of the trip. My opinion of Vegas is worse every time I go there. For instance, a beer (standard mass produced US ****) cost $7 at the Mandalay Bay.
5000 ft at the bottom of the GC (supplies are brought only down by mules), a beer cost $4

Basically **** Vegas, those gouging MF'ers

Oh yeah, $30 to enter a strip club and $10 beers...seriously? **** that ****, it's definitely changed in the past couple years

I will add though, if you go to a place called the Freakin Frog, they have a happy hour that starts at midnight and good beers cost $2. Full of locals, much more interesting than the usual middle America fatties and LA douchebags that swarm there

 

[bevorules]

Do you have a link to the place you used to hike?

How much did it cost and how long did it take?

 

[Me So Horny]

www.grandcanyonlodges.com/phantom-ranch-704.html

We stayed one of the cabins down there. It's so popular that we had to make our reservations a year in advance! But, there is a campground down there which I'm not sure you need reservations for or not. If you do camp down there, do it soon because it gets very, very hot at the bottom of the GC. It was 30 on the South Rim when we started and about 85 along the Colorado River. It gets well into the 110's 120's in the summer down there.

Or you could just simply hike down there and come back out but that's about a 16 mile hike round trip and obviously very strenuous to do in one day. It took us about 5 1/2 hours to hike out but we're in pretty good shape but it is still very tough.