President Barack Obama put his political worries to one side and followed the traditional American call to "Go West" as he and his wife and daughters visited the Grand Canyon.

With wife Michelle, daughters Sasha and Malia and his White House retinue in tow, Mr Obama struck out into the wilderness on the third day of a four-day tour through western mountain states aimed at defending his health care reform bid.

Mr Obama's work-hard, play-hard tour mixes trips to some of America's most majestic beauty spots with the serious business of thwarting Republican attacks on his health care plan. He held two town hall meetings on the issue in Montana and Colorado on Friday and Saturday.

Mr Obama, the first city slicker president in decades, has spent his adult life in New York, Boston, Chicago and, now, Washington. Basketball, golf, and bodysurfing comprise his athletic activities. Indoor daily gym workouts are the norm. Fishing and hunting are not part of his typical repertoire.

But late on Friday, the president tried his hand at fly fishing, fulfilling an often-stated goal from the campaign trail.

"Every time we'd been to Montana… he said, 'I'm going to come back here and learn how to fly fish,'" said Robert Gibbs, Mr Obama's spokesman.

"He was dying to do that and finally got a chance… though he was a bit frustrated he didn't get to hold one of the fish," Mr Gibbs admitted.

Michelle Obama and his two daughters, meanwhile, spent Saturday whitewater rafting in the shadow of Montana's craggy peaks "in the rain, and I'm told, in the hail", said Mr Gibbs. Despite the inclement weather, "they had a blast", he added.