Hawaii
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Hike to Skeleton Point
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Hike to Plateau Point
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More hiking
Every so often in my schedule I get a day of "Prep/Rove" in which I can either prepare for upcoming programs, complete training, or rove the area talking with visitors. Yesterday I had one such day, and I really wanted to be out and about. So early in the morning I hit the Bright Angel trail in my uniform and hiked down the trail. My goal was Plateau Point, a location 6 miles into the canyon, with an elevation change of 3000 feet. Along the way there are are few stops that I was using as markers, so I knew if I had the time (and energy) to make the full hike.
Four and a half miles into the canyon the trail passes through a beautiful oasis filled with trees, and more prickly pear cactus than you can shake a stick at! This is the location of Indian Gardens. There's a campground and a ranger station located there, and during the fall/winter that is the first water available. I didn't stop on my way down, except to say hi to some ranger friends in passing.
Heading further out on the Tonto plateau another mile and a half I reached Plateau Point. This is the first view of the river you can get from the Bright Angel trail. At this vista you stand 2,000 vertical feet directly above the river. The wind is incredibly powerful, and I spent the whole time down there holding onto my uniform hat.
After a short impromptu program for some of the visitors down there about the condor circling above, I started back up. The hike down took me 3 hours, which meant I should average about 6 hours on the way out. In this summer this hike would have been completely in the sun, and therefore very dangerous. Even now it's an incredibly difficult hike, and we don't recommend it to visitors.
On the way up I ran back into a ranger friend, helped her with some tasks, and then she offered me some Gatorade and ibuprofen, which I desperately needed! At that point I was only in a little pain, but still knew the hike out would be hard, and I still had 4.5 miles and 3000 feet to climb! On these hikes usually it's my hips that ache, while my knees and legs are just tired. After refueling I hit the road.
This time of year is incredibly busy for hikers, as the weather in the canyon is cooler, and an ideal time to be out galavanting. On my way out I stopped and talked with over two hundred visitors, gave advice for hiking, turned some people around and asked them to return to the top (they had no water, or an insufficient amount), and provided some basic first aid to a woman who had tripped and scrapped up her leg. For me it was a lot of fun, but also gave me a chance to break and give my legs a rest!!
I made it back out (obviously, as wifi is really not that prevalent below the rim), with a grand total of 8 hours and 30 minutes hiking, including stops! No wonder I was exhausted when I made it back up!!
It was an absolutely beautiful hike, and I am surprisingly not that sore today. A little soreness in my calves, but nothing like my last hike where I waddled around for a day with soreness/stiffness throughout my legs, glutes, and lower back. I have some photos on my camera, as well as my phone, which will be posted soon!!
Four and a half miles into the canyon the trail passes through a beautiful oasis filled with trees, and more prickly pear cactus than you can shake a stick at! This is the location of Indian Gardens. There's a campground and a ranger station located there, and during the fall/winter that is the first water available. I didn't stop on my way down, except to say hi to some ranger friends in passing.
Heading further out on the Tonto plateau another mile and a half I reached Plateau Point. This is the first view of the river you can get from the Bright Angel trail. At this vista you stand 2,000 vertical feet directly above the river. The wind is incredibly powerful, and I spent the whole time down there holding onto my uniform hat.
After a short impromptu program for some of the visitors down there about the condor circling above, I started back up. The hike down took me 3 hours, which meant I should average about 6 hours on the way out. In this summer this hike would have been completely in the sun, and therefore very dangerous. Even now it's an incredibly difficult hike, and we don't recommend it to visitors.
On the way up I ran back into a ranger friend, helped her with some tasks, and then she offered me some Gatorade and ibuprofen, which I desperately needed! At that point I was only in a little pain, but still knew the hike out would be hard, and I still had 4.5 miles and 3000 feet to climb! On these hikes usually it's my hips that ache, while my knees and legs are just tired. After refueling I hit the road.
This time of year is incredibly busy for hikers, as the weather in the canyon is cooler, and an ideal time to be out galavanting. On my way out I stopped and talked with over two hundred visitors, gave advice for hiking, turned some people around and asked them to return to the top (they had no water, or an insufficient amount), and provided some basic first aid to a woman who had tripped and scrapped up her leg. For me it was a lot of fun, but also gave me a chance to break and give my legs a rest!!
I made it back out (obviously, as wifi is really not that prevalent below the rim), with a grand total of 8 hours and 30 minutes hiking, including stops! No wonder I was exhausted when I made it back up!!
It was an absolutely beautiful hike, and I am surprisingly not that sore today. A little soreness in my calves, but nothing like my last hike where I waddled around for a day with soreness/stiffness throughout my legs, glutes, and lower back. I have some photos on my camera, as well as my phone, which will be posted soon!!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Life the Grand ditch of them all!!
After receiving a comment on my last post from my sister, I figured I should probably update my blog...
I am living the canyon now, and have been working for nearly a month. After flying home to Buffalo, I bought a Toyota 4Runner (her name is Betty White, because she's sassy and has a dirty mouth sometimes, but looks very sweet), and drove from Buffalo, through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona... in just about 3 days. I spent an extra night in Flagstaff, AZ to pick up groceries and such before driving up to the canyon. It was a long trip, and not a whole lot to see along the way. I did get to see my sister, and a friend in Ohio, but that was just the first day. I did a lot singing loudly to my favorite tunes, and laughing at weird signs. I have pictures, which I will post.
After returning to the canyon I immediately dove back into work, though my job is different than it was when I left. I give programs every day, on everything about the canyon- geology, history, condors, math (yes, math), biology, and nature. I love it!! Every so often I get to help with special projects.
Every time I've had my first day back in uniform something has happened. My first summer when I was in uniform I had to make a call to dispatch because there was a dispute between two visitors. This past summer my first day in uniform I helped on a rescue of a man who had a heart attack in the canyon, carrying him out in a litter. Now returning to the canyon, my first day back in uniform I helped with a body recovery of a gentleman who fell over the edge. Another ranger and I got caught in a huge thunderstorm just after the helicopter took off with the body, and had to wait it out in a low lying area on the rim edge. We were frozen, though thankfully our uniforms kept us mostly dry.
Every day here is different. Some days I give programs on the condors to a group of over 100 visitors, and spend a half hour afterwards talking with folks and pledging in new junior rangers. Some days are quieter and I spend a lot of time out and about just admiring the canyon with visitors. It is getting colder here, and I am very thankful that my winter uniforms have finally arrived. We had one day where the temperature was around 49ºF all day, and I froze.
Yesterday I was called in to work overtime. We had a film crew from Swiss National TV who had a permit to tape at two locations in the park. While they are on site they need to be escorted by a ranger to make sure they aren't disturbing the area or visitors, or putting themselves or their host in harms way just for a cool shot. The group I worked with consisted of 4 Swiss nationals, and 1 American. They all spoke English, but most of the time conversed in German. And I don't think the German song I was taught as a child was really going to help much...
I didn't have to restrict them very much, which was good, but I was able to give them better information on where the sun was headed, what they were looking at, where would be good at a specific location to get the best view, and so forth. Mostly I stayed out of the way. And froze... it wasn't too cold, but very windy. At the end I needed to unlock a gate and I could barely use my hands.
Visitation has quieted down a bit, which is a nice change of pace. I no longer have a sore throat at the end of every day from trying to talk and be heard over the din of construction, or just the massive amounts of people.
On my days off sometimes I'll drive to get groceries, but also sometimes I'll go hiking. Most recently I hiked into the canyon down South Kaibab Trail to Skeleton Point. Let this be a warning to all canyon visitors- Unless you are used to hiking here, at Grand Canyon, with these conditions, at this elevation, and there are no storms on the horizon, NEVER under any circumstances attempt this hike. I am used to this area, and I know what the canyon can do, and I was still in an incredible amount of pain on the way out and for the next few days. Skeleton Point is listed as a 4-6 hour long hike. I was done in 3.5 hours, but that's only because I know what I'm doing (mostly). That and it was cooler down there than in the summer time, so I wasn't combatting the sun. On the other hand, I did get trapped in a rainstorm and froze out there. That's a bit painful. Also, I completed the hike when I hadn't fully recovered from a fever/cold, which brought back the fever in full force that night. Bad idea... bad ranger.
Well my lunch break is nearly over, so I'd best get back out there!! I'll update again soon, and in the meantime post some pictures.
I am living the canyon now, and have been working for nearly a month. After flying home to Buffalo, I bought a Toyota 4Runner (her name is Betty White, because she's sassy and has a dirty mouth sometimes, but looks very sweet), and drove from Buffalo, through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona... in just about 3 days. I spent an extra night in Flagstaff, AZ to pick up groceries and such before driving up to the canyon. It was a long trip, and not a whole lot to see along the way. I did get to see my sister, and a friend in Ohio, but that was just the first day. I did a lot singing loudly to my favorite tunes, and laughing at weird signs. I have pictures, which I will post.
After returning to the canyon I immediately dove back into work, though my job is different than it was when I left. I give programs every day, on everything about the canyon- geology, history, condors, math (yes, math), biology, and nature. I love it!! Every so often I get to help with special projects.
Every time I've had my first day back in uniform something has happened. My first summer when I was in uniform I had to make a call to dispatch because there was a dispute between two visitors. This past summer my first day in uniform I helped on a rescue of a man who had a heart attack in the canyon, carrying him out in a litter. Now returning to the canyon, my first day back in uniform I helped with a body recovery of a gentleman who fell over the edge. Another ranger and I got caught in a huge thunderstorm just after the helicopter took off with the body, and had to wait it out in a low lying area on the rim edge. We were frozen, though thankfully our uniforms kept us mostly dry.
Every day here is different. Some days I give programs on the condors to a group of over 100 visitors, and spend a half hour afterwards talking with folks and pledging in new junior rangers. Some days are quieter and I spend a lot of time out and about just admiring the canyon with visitors. It is getting colder here, and I am very thankful that my winter uniforms have finally arrived. We had one day where the temperature was around 49ºF all day, and I froze.
Yesterday I was called in to work overtime. We had a film crew from Swiss National TV who had a permit to tape at two locations in the park. While they are on site they need to be escorted by a ranger to make sure they aren't disturbing the area or visitors, or putting themselves or their host in harms way just for a cool shot. The group I worked with consisted of 4 Swiss nationals, and 1 American. They all spoke English, but most of the time conversed in German. And I don't think the German song I was taught as a child was really going to help much...
I didn't have to restrict them very much, which was good, but I was able to give them better information on where the sun was headed, what they were looking at, where would be good at a specific location to get the best view, and so forth. Mostly I stayed out of the way. And froze... it wasn't too cold, but very windy. At the end I needed to unlock a gate and I could barely use my hands.
Visitation has quieted down a bit, which is a nice change of pace. I no longer have a sore throat at the end of every day from trying to talk and be heard over the din of construction, or just the massive amounts of people.
On my days off sometimes I'll drive to get groceries, but also sometimes I'll go hiking. Most recently I hiked into the canyon down South Kaibab Trail to Skeleton Point. Let this be a warning to all canyon visitors- Unless you are used to hiking here, at Grand Canyon, with these conditions, at this elevation, and there are no storms on the horizon, NEVER under any circumstances attempt this hike. I am used to this area, and I know what the canyon can do, and I was still in an incredible amount of pain on the way out and for the next few days. Skeleton Point is listed as a 4-6 hour long hike. I was done in 3.5 hours, but that's only because I know what I'm doing (mostly). That and it was cooler down there than in the summer time, so I wasn't combatting the sun. On the other hand, I did get trapped in a rainstorm and froze out there. That's a bit painful. Also, I completed the hike when I hadn't fully recovered from a fever/cold, which brought back the fever in full force that night. Bad idea... bad ranger.
Well my lunch break is nearly over, so I'd best get back out there!! I'll update again soon, and in the meantime post some pictures.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Big News
Currently I'm sitting in a tea shop in Portland, OR after having traveled from Grand Canyon, through Grand Staircase (Utah), to Provo, Utah, to Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming), to Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming), to Boise, Idaho, and then here. I know, I know... why in the world would I travel all that way?! For fun, of course!
Soon I'll hit the road (by plane) back home and then... (drum roll)... I'll be moving to Grand Canyon National Park PERMANENTLY!!! I just accepted a permanent job at the canyon!!
This is huge news, and a really big deal. Permanent park service jobs are hard to come by (incredibly difficult), and to get my first one at Grand Canyon is amazing!!
Though I'm very disappointed to not be able to move to Portland with my love, I am excited for this adventure. Now before I start I need to... get a car, move all my things to Grand Canyon, find a place to live...
Anyway, that's the big news!!
Soon I'll hit the road (by plane) back home and then... (drum roll)... I'll be moving to Grand Canyon National Park PERMANENTLY!!! I just accepted a permanent job at the canyon!!
This is huge news, and a really big deal. Permanent park service jobs are hard to come by (incredibly difficult), and to get my first one at Grand Canyon is amazing!!
Though I'm very disappointed to not be able to move to Portland with my love, I am excited for this adventure. Now before I start I need to... get a car, move all my things to Grand Canyon, find a place to live...
Anyway, that's the big news!!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
AH Elk!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Full moon on my walk to work
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Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Bus driver's granddaughter wanted her picture with me. :)
Monday, August 23, 2010
Beautiful view
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Pretending to sketch
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Sunday, August 22, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
The view from my perch
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Sunday, August 8, 2010
At work
My cousin snapped this shot of me when I was at work one morning talking with a visitor about why he shouldn't try hiking to Indian Gardens and back in one day...
Monday, August 2, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Utah!
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Thursday, July 22, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
FWD:Happy Birthday sunset last night from North Rim. :)
Monday, July 19, 2010
View from my favorite spot
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Sunday, July 18, 2010
Deaf Days!!
Yesterday morning I was working at the main visitor's center here when one of my coworkers asked for my help because the visitor she was assisting was deaf. I signed to him "Do you sign" and he looked immediately relieved! It turns out his car battery was dead and he needed the garage. I called them, arranged for the maintenance crew to come meet us in the parking lot, and then worked as an interpreter for the man, his family, and the maintenance worker. It was so cool!
Coming back in to the visitor's center I no sooner sat down when another coworker asked for my help again. This surprised me. Usually we get at most one deaf visitor a month, so to have two in one day... wow! I was excited. Again, I walked up and signed "Do you sign?" They were so happy, and signed with me for a good fifteen minutes, about the park, hiking, the Skywalk, and so forth. I was elated!! I love signing and I was getting so much practice!
While sitting in the backroom eating my lunch I hear another colleague shout out "hey we need you again!" I dashed up to the front desk to find another deaf couple. By now I was in seventh heaven, being able to sign so much. I quickly answered their questions, and returned to my lunch dumbfounded. No more than 15 minutes later there was yet another cry for my help! Wow! Four groups in just 3 hours!
Sensing my services may be most helpful there at the desk I stayed the rest of the day and had two more groups, one of about seven people (all signing at once!). It was amazing!! I knew they weren't all traveling together as the first group was from Texas, the second from Rochester, NY, the third from California and I didn't know where the last group was from... Figuring something was going on locally I googled "deaf convention" and immediately saw there is an International Deaf Expo in Las Vegas from July 18-23!! How exciting!! So it seems that as they are headed to the convention, they are stopping by the Grand Canyon.
Today I was working near the same area and had another three groups. This time there were two people from France and two from Belgium, and everyone was going to the conference. Such a cool job!! Did I mention I love to sign!!
I'm enjoying my deaf days lately. Off to go practice my signing.
Coming back in to the visitor's center I no sooner sat down when another coworker asked for my help again. This surprised me. Usually we get at most one deaf visitor a month, so to have two in one day... wow! I was excited. Again, I walked up and signed "Do you sign?" They were so happy, and signed with me for a good fifteen minutes, about the park, hiking, the Skywalk, and so forth. I was elated!! I love signing and I was getting so much practice!
While sitting in the backroom eating my lunch I hear another colleague shout out "hey we need you again!" I dashed up to the front desk to find another deaf couple. By now I was in seventh heaven, being able to sign so much. I quickly answered their questions, and returned to my lunch dumbfounded. No more than 15 minutes later there was yet another cry for my help! Wow! Four groups in just 3 hours!
Sensing my services may be most helpful there at the desk I stayed the rest of the day and had two more groups, one of about seven people (all signing at once!). It was amazing!! I knew they weren't all traveling together as the first group was from Texas, the second from Rochester, NY, the third from California and I didn't know where the last group was from... Figuring something was going on locally I googled "deaf convention" and immediately saw there is an International Deaf Expo in Las Vegas from July 18-23!! How exciting!! So it seems that as they are headed to the convention, they are stopping by the Grand Canyon.
Today I was working near the same area and had another three groups. This time there were two people from France and two from Belgium, and everyone was going to the conference. Such a cool job!! Did I mention I love to sign!!
I'm enjoying my deaf days lately. Off to go practice my signing.
You may not be able to see them very well but there are condors in this picture
Friday, July 16, 2010
Sunset
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Thursday, July 15, 2010
Shipping container home
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More Adventures of the (not) Rich and (semi) Famous
Secret Point
Last week as part of my duties I had a day of roving in uniform. Basically I go out and answer visitor questions, but I can choose where I want to be hiking around. This week we had a group from the American Council of the Blind coming in for a visit. One of the rangers was coordinating their visit and wanted some touchables from out at a "secret" point in the canyon. It is so secret I refuse to tell you it's proper name! I hiked from Yaki Point out to that point, and found some pieces of Chert, pinecones, flowers, grasses, sage... all things that are touchable and sometime smell delicious! I took a break out at the point (it's about a mile and half hike out there on animal trails), where I met two women from Massachusettes. We had a great chat about the canyon, the history, geology, different points, cultural information and so on. It was a great morning! Afterwards I walked with them to the road, and then hike from the road back to Pipe Creek Vista, from there to the Visitor's Center, from the Visitor's Center to Headquarters, and then worked there until I hiked home. I'm now starting to think that perhaps that is why my knee has been bothering me.
Kaibab
Every couple of days as part of my duties I hike down into the canyon to Cedar Ridge, which is a mile and a half down South Kaibab Trail. Please note: the word is pronounced K-eye-bab, not kabob, or kaboom... Lately I've had this schedule a lot which I love. Actually I had it this morning. Unfortunately my knee has been acting up, popping, giving out, getting really tense, and being in a lot of pain. So hiking into the canyon doesn't last that long. This morning when I hiked in I came across a baby gopher snake! Absolutely adorable! The gopher snake is a constrictor, and has a black and white checkered pattern on it's back. This one was about a foot long, and only about a half inch wide. SO CUTE!!
Navajo
So the weekend before last (keep in mind my "weekends" occur midweek), my love and I went to check out Mesa Verde National Park. We left after work, and drove out to Navajo National Monument where we planned on camping the night. We pulled into the monument right around sunset, so the hills and lands were covered in a golden hue glow, beautifully backlight and just stunning. Making our way to the first-come first served camp ground we drove around to find about 20 campsites, only one of which was occupied. We picked our favorite one (number 7), backed the truck in, and made camp in the back of the car. We slept with the back hatch open, so I was a bit cold, as I was in a borrowed sleeping bag. The stars were phenomenal, and the moon was so bright that when it rose I woke up.
The next morning we explored some of the hiking trails (very short) at Navajo, checked out the ancient ruins. Okay, please keep in mind this is the first time I had ever seen cliff dwellings, it was early in the morning, and I didn't quite understand how things worked. We stood there looking out over the Betatakin, and at first I didn't even see it. When I did I was pretty sure they were big enough for small dolls, but nothing more. After laughing loudly, my love kindly explained to me they were big enough for people, and although it was far away these were large dwellings. After visiting Mesa Verde this made a lot more sense, but at the time I thought there was no way that was true. I'll have pictures up shortly (I've misplaced my USB cable to transfer the pictures to my computer so... hence the delay.) After leaving Navajo, we drove up to Mesa Verde.
Mesa Verde
At the gate of Mesa Verde, after showing our pass, we chatted with the ranger at the entrance. When we told her we were from Grand Canyon she became very excited to be chatting with fellow rangers. We talked a bit, before moving up to wait in line for traffic. They are doing a fair amount of repaving on the one road into the park, so there are long delays. Making our way in we found our campground, picked our spot, and then headed out to explore the park.
At the Visitor's Center we bought tickets for two of the guided tours; one into Balcony House and one into Cliff Palace. Balcony House is listed as the "Adventurous Cliff Dwelling Tour" while Cliff Place is "Mesa Verde's Largest Cliff Dwelling". Each of these tours is an hour. We went on the Balcony House tour that first afternoon. From the website: "This one-hour, ranger-guided tour involves climbing a 32 ft ladder, crawling through a 12 ft. long tunnel, and climbing up a 60 ft open rock face with two 10ft ladders to exit the site." IT WAS AWESOME!! We got to see some great areas, heard from teh ranger about the people who lived there, and best of all CLIMBED THINGS!! I like climbing things. Unfortunately the ranger wasn't always clear in his speech, and if there were other noises I couldn't always make out what he was saying. Thankfully, I had my own personal translator! Of course she liked to throw in her own renditions of what was being said so apparently the Pueboloan People loved to drink coffee, read the newspaper, and start fights with the other groups. Also, they thought white people were really cool, though the whites hadn't settled that aread when they lived there. I think maybe she was tweaking the story a bit...
The next morning we got up, broke camp (which really meant moved our backpacks from the front seats to the back, closed up the car and drove off), grabbed some breakfast burritos at the cafe, and headed out to Cliff Palace. On the drive back to camp the previous night I had a incredible pain shooting through my knee, and it had only gotten worse over the night and early morning. I limped along a bit, and we weren't sure if I should go on the hike, but I didn't want to miss out, so I "rangered up". On our way to the meeting place for the hike we met the Ranger leading the trip. We talked to her about Grand Canyon and she was excited that we were on the hike. We chatted a while and she was a really interesting person. Apparently she worked park service full time until she retired. Now she just works seasonally, but still at 62 climbs the ladders down into the cliff dwelling and back out 4 times a day!
From the website about Cliff Palace: "This one-hour, ranger-guided tour involves climbing five 8-10 ft ladders, on a 100 ft vertical climb. Total walking distance is about 1/4-mile, round-trip." It wasn't a difficult hike but it was a lot of fun. The ranger we had was an archeologist, and very knowledgable on the people who were there. Thankfully her voice carried quite well, so I didn't need a translator... though it wasn't half as entertaining as the stories I was getting the previous day! On the way out of the cliff dwelling we had to climb those ladders and shimmy through some rock crevices. People were going slowly, so we chatted with the ranger about their visitation, problems they face, her favorite parts of the job, their staff size. It was pretty cool! Since Mesa Verde is a cultural park, with many ancient ruins out in the woods there is no backcountry hiking.
After that hike my knee was pretty well beat, so we took it easy, visiting some of the ruins on the canyon edges, before heading out of the park and heading towards Durango. Arriving in Durango we found a small pub to grab a burger (mine was bison... yum), and then we walked around town. It's a cute little town and we had fun exploring the shops, the view, and the area. It was my first time to Colorado and we were nestled in the San Juan mountains. Unfortunately the card on my camera was full, so I didn't take many pictures. We debated staying in the national forest for another night, but after two and a half days without a shower we decided for the benefit of everyone around us, we'd spring for a room and clean up.
On our way to find a cheap place outside of town we passed by a grass field where there was a plane and a glider ready to take off. We watched them start down the runway, almost run out of room to take off, before the glider dropped the cord and somehow stopped before crashing. We didn't actually see it stop (we were driving) but we think it did... there were large storm clouds in the sky, and we could hear thunder in the distance so we were surprised they even attempted taking off at all!
We found a cheap place to stay, cleaned up, relaxed, and then headed back into the town area to find some dinner. Walking around we happened upon a street festival, with fresh made lemonade, limeade, tea, and there was a portable wood fire oven! So we ordered a veggie and a bruschetta thin crust pizzas. Absolutely delicious!! There was a live band playing, so we listened to them while we ate our pizza, drank our lemon/limeade, and enjoyed the beautiful evening. Afterwards we walked over to Cold Stone Creamery and had some ice cream. I couldn't finish even half of mine, but it was delicious! Heading back to the hotel we enjoyed the luxury of television, only to be reminded after 5 minutes that really there is nothing ever on and we weren't missing much.
The next morning we picked up some delicious breakfast burritos, grabbed some chai tea and coffee, and hit the road. It was a long drive back through the 4 corners region (note: the 4 corners monument is closed for construction...), but we made it home at a decent hour, did our laundry and crashed for the night.
Earl
As part of my weekly duties, I often ride the shuttle buses in the park, giving short programs, answering questions, providing information, and sometimes even doing some song and dance routines with the drivers. Okay, there a really only 2 bus drivers who dance with me, but still... a lot of fun! I was on one bus that is 75 minutes long. In one of the front seats sat a gentleman in his 70s by the name of Earl. He became my special helper. At one point I was talking to people in the back of the bus and I turned around only to find Earl with my ranger hat on his head, and his ball cap on my backpack. I ribbed him and told him to take it off, and he giggled. A bit later I was standing at the front of the bus, holding open the newspaper map showing everyone on the bus where we were, when out of the corner of my eye I see Earl lift his cane and hit my map right where we were. Everyone on the bus laughed. Earl's wife told me I should kick him off the bus, but she'd stay on with me. It was hilarious. Visitors are quite humorous at times!
Hiking
Not that anyone reading this is taking a trip out to the canyon soon (if you are, tell me!), but I thought you should know what we deal with around here. This past week a younger gentleman attempted to hike into the canyon, down to the river, and back out in one day. He did not survive. This is rather common, and was the first of two deaths we had in the past week. Even the seasoned rangers on staff who run miles every morning do not and would not attempt to hike down and back in a day. Every year we rescue 350 people from the canyon, with over 1000 medical emergencies as well on the rim and in the area. This place is incredibly dangerous. Today and through this weekend we have a high heat warning. Just being outside for the 4 hours I was this morning I am beat, and am thankful for the hour lunch break I get to relax and re-energize.
Flagstaff
Today is my Monday. I know it's really Thursday, but it's my Monday. I had Tuesday and Wednesday off, so on Tuesday we traveled down to Flagstaff, explored during the day, and then camped out in the national forest at night. Since we were trying to find a place to set up camp at 10:30pm, we didn't really know what was around us until the morning. We woke to find the San Francisco peaks rising high just beyond our site, beautiful lupines surrounding the car, and a gorgeous sunrise to wake us. It was cold at night, and with my brand-spanking new sleeping bag I was nice and toasty! Yesterday we meandered around town, enjoying the views, checking out the stores, picking up our groceries and driving back to the canyon. In Flagstaff we found the coolest houses! There was a tree house that was big enough to fit my entire room, bathroom, and half my kitchen in, an adobe house that was adorable that my girl wanted to buy and live in, and a house built out of 6 shipping containers stacked next to and on top of each other, with large windows and 3 rows of 6 solar panels on top powering the complex! A wonderful few days.
Food
For any of you who are not members of my family, you may not realize the fascination we have with food. Thankfully my enjoyment of food is only superceded by my girl's love of food! Whenever I talk to visitors I tell them where to go to eat as they are out on their journeys. They always laugh, but it is important to know! This weekend we had quite the festival of food. When we got into Flagstaff we stopped at Mountain Oasis for THE BEST gyros I've ever had. Phenomenal food! We walked around town for a bit, and stopped in at a place that advertised they served gelato. Being picky about our gelato we decided it didn't look that great, so instead we got two very delicious strawberry Italian sodas. Refreshing on a hot day!
After running errands, hanging around downtown, and going to check out Eclipse, we stopped at Pato which is Thai food. I had a bowl of Tom Ka soup (oh my goodness gracious... amazing), and a plate of spicy noodles accompanied by a tall glass of Thai Iced Tea. I could barely walk out of the restaurant, and I slept like a rock.
Wednesday morning we started with breakfast bagels at Biff's, with chai tea for me, then lunch at Beaver Street Brewery (Beaver Street Burger- 1/2 lb burger with garlic and spices, cheddar cheese for me, and great fries) and a round of pints of hard cider, then dinner at Hiro's Sushi. Though all the sushi looked amazing I was still stuffed to the gills with burger, so I did not participate. You see food is amazing... if you know where to go!
Alright, now that I've made you all ravenous... I'm signing off!
Last week as part of my duties I had a day of roving in uniform. Basically I go out and answer visitor questions, but I can choose where I want to be hiking around. This week we had a group from the American Council of the Blind coming in for a visit. One of the rangers was coordinating their visit and wanted some touchables from out at a "secret" point in the canyon. It is so secret I refuse to tell you it's proper name! I hiked from Yaki Point out to that point, and found some pieces of Chert, pinecones, flowers, grasses, sage... all things that are touchable and sometime smell delicious! I took a break out at the point (it's about a mile and half hike out there on animal trails), where I met two women from Massachusettes. We had a great chat about the canyon, the history, geology, different points, cultural information and so on. It was a great morning! Afterwards I walked with them to the road, and then hike from the road back to Pipe Creek Vista, from there to the Visitor's Center, from the Visitor's Center to Headquarters, and then worked there until I hiked home. I'm now starting to think that perhaps that is why my knee has been bothering me.
Kaibab
Every couple of days as part of my duties I hike down into the canyon to Cedar Ridge, which is a mile and a half down South Kaibab Trail. Please note: the word is pronounced K-eye-bab, not kabob, or kaboom... Lately I've had this schedule a lot which I love. Actually I had it this morning. Unfortunately my knee has been acting up, popping, giving out, getting really tense, and being in a lot of pain. So hiking into the canyon doesn't last that long. This morning when I hiked in I came across a baby gopher snake! Absolutely adorable! The gopher snake is a constrictor, and has a black and white checkered pattern on it's back. This one was about a foot long, and only about a half inch wide. SO CUTE!!
Navajo
So the weekend before last (keep in mind my "weekends" occur midweek), my love and I went to check out Mesa Verde National Park. We left after work, and drove out to Navajo National Monument where we planned on camping the night. We pulled into the monument right around sunset, so the hills and lands were covered in a golden hue glow, beautifully backlight and just stunning. Making our way to the first-come first served camp ground we drove around to find about 20 campsites, only one of which was occupied. We picked our favorite one (number 7), backed the truck in, and made camp in the back of the car. We slept with the back hatch open, so I was a bit cold, as I was in a borrowed sleeping bag. The stars were phenomenal, and the moon was so bright that when it rose I woke up.
The next morning we explored some of the hiking trails (very short) at Navajo, checked out the ancient ruins. Okay, please keep in mind this is the first time I had ever seen cliff dwellings, it was early in the morning, and I didn't quite understand how things worked. We stood there looking out over the Betatakin, and at first I didn't even see it. When I did I was pretty sure they were big enough for small dolls, but nothing more. After laughing loudly, my love kindly explained to me they were big enough for people, and although it was far away these were large dwellings. After visiting Mesa Verde this made a lot more sense, but at the time I thought there was no way that was true. I'll have pictures up shortly (I've misplaced my USB cable to transfer the pictures to my computer so... hence the delay.) After leaving Navajo, we drove up to Mesa Verde.
Mesa Verde
At the gate of Mesa Verde, after showing our pass, we chatted with the ranger at the entrance. When we told her we were from Grand Canyon she became very excited to be chatting with fellow rangers. We talked a bit, before moving up to wait in line for traffic. They are doing a fair amount of repaving on the one road into the park, so there are long delays. Making our way in we found our campground, picked our spot, and then headed out to explore the park.
At the Visitor's Center we bought tickets for two of the guided tours; one into Balcony House and one into Cliff Palace. Balcony House is listed as the "Adventurous Cliff Dwelling Tour" while Cliff Place is "Mesa Verde's Largest Cliff Dwelling". Each of these tours is an hour. We went on the Balcony House tour that first afternoon. From the website: "This one-hour, ranger-guided tour involves climbing a 32 ft ladder, crawling through a 12 ft. long tunnel, and climbing up a 60 ft open rock face with two 10ft ladders to exit the site." IT WAS AWESOME!! We got to see some great areas, heard from teh ranger about the people who lived there, and best of all CLIMBED THINGS!! I like climbing things. Unfortunately the ranger wasn't always clear in his speech, and if there were other noises I couldn't always make out what he was saying. Thankfully, I had my own personal translator! Of course she liked to throw in her own renditions of what was being said so apparently the Pueboloan People loved to drink coffee, read the newspaper, and start fights with the other groups. Also, they thought white people were really cool, though the whites hadn't settled that aread when they lived there. I think maybe she was tweaking the story a bit...
The next morning we got up, broke camp (which really meant moved our backpacks from the front seats to the back, closed up the car and drove off), grabbed some breakfast burritos at the cafe, and headed out to Cliff Palace. On the drive back to camp the previous night I had a incredible pain shooting through my knee, and it had only gotten worse over the night and early morning. I limped along a bit, and we weren't sure if I should go on the hike, but I didn't want to miss out, so I "rangered up". On our way to the meeting place for the hike we met the Ranger leading the trip. We talked to her about Grand Canyon and she was excited that we were on the hike. We chatted a while and she was a really interesting person. Apparently she worked park service full time until she retired. Now she just works seasonally, but still at 62 climbs the ladders down into the cliff dwelling and back out 4 times a day!
From the website about Cliff Palace: "This one-hour, ranger-guided tour involves climbing five 8-10 ft ladders, on a 100 ft vertical climb. Total walking distance is about 1/4-mile, round-trip." It wasn't a difficult hike but it was a lot of fun. The ranger we had was an archeologist, and very knowledgable on the people who were there. Thankfully her voice carried quite well, so I didn't need a translator... though it wasn't half as entertaining as the stories I was getting the previous day! On the way out of the cliff dwelling we had to climb those ladders and shimmy through some rock crevices. People were going slowly, so we chatted with the ranger about their visitation, problems they face, her favorite parts of the job, their staff size. It was pretty cool! Since Mesa Verde is a cultural park, with many ancient ruins out in the woods there is no backcountry hiking.
After that hike my knee was pretty well beat, so we took it easy, visiting some of the ruins on the canyon edges, before heading out of the park and heading towards Durango. Arriving in Durango we found a small pub to grab a burger (mine was bison... yum), and then we walked around town. It's a cute little town and we had fun exploring the shops, the view, and the area. It was my first time to Colorado and we were nestled in the San Juan mountains. Unfortunately the card on my camera was full, so I didn't take many pictures. We debated staying in the national forest for another night, but after two and a half days without a shower we decided for the benefit of everyone around us, we'd spring for a room and clean up.
On our way to find a cheap place outside of town we passed by a grass field where there was a plane and a glider ready to take off. We watched them start down the runway, almost run out of room to take off, before the glider dropped the cord and somehow stopped before crashing. We didn't actually see it stop (we were driving) but we think it did... there were large storm clouds in the sky, and we could hear thunder in the distance so we were surprised they even attempted taking off at all!
We found a cheap place to stay, cleaned up, relaxed, and then headed back into the town area to find some dinner. Walking around we happened upon a street festival, with fresh made lemonade, limeade, tea, and there was a portable wood fire oven! So we ordered a veggie and a bruschetta thin crust pizzas. Absolutely delicious!! There was a live band playing, so we listened to them while we ate our pizza, drank our lemon/limeade, and enjoyed the beautiful evening. Afterwards we walked over to Cold Stone Creamery and had some ice cream. I couldn't finish even half of mine, but it was delicious! Heading back to the hotel we enjoyed the luxury of television, only to be reminded after 5 minutes that really there is nothing ever on and we weren't missing much.
The next morning we picked up some delicious breakfast burritos, grabbed some chai tea and coffee, and hit the road. It was a long drive back through the 4 corners region (note: the 4 corners monument is closed for construction...), but we made it home at a decent hour, did our laundry and crashed for the night.
Earl
As part of my weekly duties, I often ride the shuttle buses in the park, giving short programs, answering questions, providing information, and sometimes even doing some song and dance routines with the drivers. Okay, there a really only 2 bus drivers who dance with me, but still... a lot of fun! I was on one bus that is 75 minutes long. In one of the front seats sat a gentleman in his 70s by the name of Earl. He became my special helper. At one point I was talking to people in the back of the bus and I turned around only to find Earl with my ranger hat on his head, and his ball cap on my backpack. I ribbed him and told him to take it off, and he giggled. A bit later I was standing at the front of the bus, holding open the newspaper map showing everyone on the bus where we were, when out of the corner of my eye I see Earl lift his cane and hit my map right where we were. Everyone on the bus laughed. Earl's wife told me I should kick him off the bus, but she'd stay on with me. It was hilarious. Visitors are quite humorous at times!
Hiking
Not that anyone reading this is taking a trip out to the canyon soon (if you are, tell me!), but I thought you should know what we deal with around here. This past week a younger gentleman attempted to hike into the canyon, down to the river, and back out in one day. He did not survive. This is rather common, and was the first of two deaths we had in the past week. Even the seasoned rangers on staff who run miles every morning do not and would not attempt to hike down and back in a day. Every year we rescue 350 people from the canyon, with over 1000 medical emergencies as well on the rim and in the area. This place is incredibly dangerous. Today and through this weekend we have a high heat warning. Just being outside for the 4 hours I was this morning I am beat, and am thankful for the hour lunch break I get to relax and re-energize.
Flagstaff
Today is my Monday. I know it's really Thursday, but it's my Monday. I had Tuesday and Wednesday off, so on Tuesday we traveled down to Flagstaff, explored during the day, and then camped out in the national forest at night. Since we were trying to find a place to set up camp at 10:30pm, we didn't really know what was around us until the morning. We woke to find the San Francisco peaks rising high just beyond our site, beautiful lupines surrounding the car, and a gorgeous sunrise to wake us. It was cold at night, and with my brand-spanking new sleeping bag I was nice and toasty! Yesterday we meandered around town, enjoying the views, checking out the stores, picking up our groceries and driving back to the canyon. In Flagstaff we found the coolest houses! There was a tree house that was big enough to fit my entire room, bathroom, and half my kitchen in, an adobe house that was adorable that my girl wanted to buy and live in, and a house built out of 6 shipping containers stacked next to and on top of each other, with large windows and 3 rows of 6 solar panels on top powering the complex! A wonderful few days.
Food
For any of you who are not members of my family, you may not realize the fascination we have with food. Thankfully my enjoyment of food is only superceded by my girl's love of food! Whenever I talk to visitors I tell them where to go to eat as they are out on their journeys. They always laugh, but it is important to know! This weekend we had quite the festival of food. When we got into Flagstaff we stopped at Mountain Oasis for THE BEST gyros I've ever had. Phenomenal food! We walked around town for a bit, and stopped in at a place that advertised they served gelato. Being picky about our gelato we decided it didn't look that great, so instead we got two very delicious strawberry Italian sodas. Refreshing on a hot day!
After running errands, hanging around downtown, and going to check out Eclipse, we stopped at Pato which is Thai food. I had a bowl of Tom Ka soup (oh my goodness gracious... amazing), and a plate of spicy noodles accompanied by a tall glass of Thai Iced Tea. I could barely walk out of the restaurant, and I slept like a rock.
Wednesday morning we started with breakfast bagels at Biff's, with chai tea for me, then lunch at Beaver Street Brewery (Beaver Street Burger- 1/2 lb burger with garlic and spices, cheddar cheese for me, and great fries) and a round of pints of hard cider, then dinner at Hiro's Sushi. Though all the sushi looked amazing I was still stuffed to the gills with burger, so I did not participate. You see food is amazing... if you know where to go!
Alright, now that I've made you all ravenous... I'm signing off!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Grand Canyon Update
It's about time for an update I'd say!! As it turns out I don't have internet at my residence, so to update this blog I came to work, and I'm sitting in the courtyard with a friend, as I update you all about my life as a Park Ranger in the Grand Canyon!
North Rim
I arrived here almost a month ago (wow, it doesn't feel like that long!) and the day after flying in I drove a 15 passenger van of my staff and my boss up to the North Rim for training. Along the way we stopped at Lee's Ferry to put our feet in the water and hear about the history of John D. Lee, a Mormon who was blamed for the Mountain Meadows massacre and sent to the ferry crossing in exile. We sat on the shores of the frigid Colorado river eating our lunches, soaking up the sun. Actually the tops of my feet burned and since I was wearing my Chacos, I have a nice "zebra" tan. I'll try and take a picture sometime.
From Lee's Ferry we traveled north up to Jacob Lake where we stopped for delicious cookies. I was going to get a milkshake, but they are so thick there was no way I could eat it and drive. In the morning when we left South Rim it was a decent 60 degrees. Lee's Ferry was toasty, and in Jacob Lake I had to put back on my sweater.
The North Rim sits 1,250 feet higher in elevation, and is therefore quite a bit colder. The mountain meadows appeared to be lakes from the melting snow. Hidden under the tall aspens, ponderosa pines, and fir trees were small piles of snow still clinging to the underbrush. After getting settled in our cabins for the night, we all met down at the North Rim Lodge and enjoyed a condor talk. With the cold wind blowing at our backs I snuggled up close to my love... so good to be back in her arms again! The view was magnificent and I found myself feeling at home again. The Grand Canyon in all her glory is a sort of second home to me now.
For dinner we devoured pizza, and then sat on the rim enjoying the beautiful sunset. On the way back to the South Rim the following day we stopped at Vermillion Cliffs and looked through a scope up at the condor release site. We spotted two condors hanging out on the cliffs, but were unable to see their numbers in order to identify them. The road to Vermillion Cliffs is gravel and washboarded. Have you ever tried to control a 15 passenger van while fishtailing... believe me it's a blast!!
From V.C. we drove to Page, AZ where we gorged ourselves on delicious mexican food at a restaurant whose name I don't remember. I was in a slight food coma, and just wanted to nap, but alas! Instead of a nap we went to visit the Glen Canyon Dam. We had a "dam" good time! Two of our staff went and earned their junior ranger badges, and then we all took a tour down through the dam. It was amazing, and I have pictures. I posted them I think, but if I haven't I will shortly!
Training
During the remainder of the first week, and through the second week here my staff and I were in training. We are trained how to identify plants, animals, about the geology of the canyon, customer service, radio protocol (no "10-4 good buddy"s), CPR/AED/First Aid, and a variety of other topics. It's a lot of information but it is fascinating to me. Even though I went through similar training last year there are always things you forget or new tidbits of info that strike your fancy.
Last year when President Obama and his extended family came to visit I was on his detail, working as a information officer. As part of my job I talked with the thousands of people standing where they were waiting to see the president, and basically keeping them uninformed about his whereabouts, but well informed about the park. As most of you know, the bus drivers here all call me "Special K" and in the audience that day was one of the drivers. Since he knew me he asked me to talk to them about condors. From there a new type of program was born! The "mini-talk". That day I gave mini-talks for a good 4 hours, just based on the information I had in my head on condors, snakes, history, geology, culture, and so on. Basically I'd create a short 5-10 minute presentation based on a story or a fun fact and educate those standing there. Imagine me running back and forth down the road trying to explain to 4,000 people how the Colorado River cut through the layers while the Law Enforcement rangers stand there stone-faced obviously dumbfounded... it was great!!
After my boss heard about what I did last year he wanted the rest of the staff to do this as well. So this year I led training on how to present mini-talks, and gave some examples of ones they could use. Now we have a specific duty where we stand at one of the busiest bus interchanges and give information as well as keep people in line. No literally... there's a line, and they have to stand in it. Do you know how often grown adults act like misbehaving kindergartners and push and shove each other? Seriously?!
Visitor Comments
As a spin off of the popular "Kids say the darndest things" I'm starting a new television show called "Visitor said what?!". Here are some of my recent favorites...
Headquarters Telephone:
"Grand Canyon National Park, this is K, how may I help you?"
"Hi K. My name is B----, and I'm a total idiot."
Well alright then, at least you admit it!
Older gentleman sitting waiting for the bus. I asked him if he didn't mind waiting ten minutes for the next bus. His response: "If you sit next to me, talk to me, and blow in my ear." Sorry sir, that falls out of my services!
There is something about people being on vacation and knowing they'll never see you again, some visitors can be rather bold... one gentleman walked up to me and said in a low voice "there's just something about a woman in uniform". Tell me about it!
This one didn't happen to me, but to a colleague of mine. A gentleman walked up to him with his pant legs rolled up to his knees. Pointing to his high water pants he asked the ranger when he could walk in the river. The ranger explained the river is at the bottom of the canyon, a day's hike away, or a 4 hour drive to Lee's Ferry. The gentleman became frustrated and asked again when would the river fill up the canyon so he could walk into it. Thinking the gentleman was kidding, the ranger paused a second and seeing no signs of a joke he explained again just how far away the river was... apparently the gentleman thought that the canyon flooded once a day and he could put his feet in the river then. Made me wonder if he actually even saw the canyon...
Hiking
As part of my daily duties I do a lot of hiking. Sometimes it involves going into the canyon a little ways. Sometimes I stay on the rim. I'm pretty sure my family thinks I don't actually work with all the pictures I send them of my hikes. But it's a huge canyon, and there are a ton of visitors. They need rangers to walk around and give people information, keep people from going too close the edge, and just check the area.
The other day I hiked from Hermit's Rest down to the Village. It's about an 8 mile hike and took 2.5 hours to complete. It's a beautiful hike, moving in and out of the forest, paved and unpaved sections, along the edge. I love it. Just two days ago I hiked another section of the rim and probably put in a good 10 miles solely in the hiking I did in the morning. It was awesome! On that section there is no marked trail, so you're doing a bit of trail finding and basically following animal paths. I love it. Out and one of the points I met a couple from Boston. We had a long conversation about the area and just a great time hanging out in the sun, enjoying this beautiful canyon.
I meet people from all over the world, all coming to this one location to see such an amazing view. I love it. I love my work here. Every day interacting with people, getting them to laugh, see the canyon in a new way, enjoy their world, and care about the place I live... feels good.
Western PA School for the Deaf
Last week we had a group from the Western PA School for the Deaf come in with some kids and some adults. They contacted the park ahead of time, and another ranger and I were assigned to hang out with them all day. Actually we volunteered. We wanted the opportunity to sign with them, and thought it would be a lot of fun. It was a blast!
We met them coming off the train from Williams, took them on a bit of a hike along the rim, to an awesome talk on ravens, down Bright Angel trail a little, and then back around the village... while signing the whole time!! I wore my hearing aid and the kids asked me about it. I could sign with them and relied on the interpreter only once when I was giving some safety information before we went hiking and I wanted it to be clear. Such an amazing experience. I'm looking forward to taking some more classes. Though I can carry on a conversation without an issue I learned a lot from the kids in such a short time. No... I didn't just learn swear words... I promise!
Well I'd better get back to my duties. Sorry for the long post. I'll try and post more frequently. Special K signing off.
North Rim
I arrived here almost a month ago (wow, it doesn't feel like that long!) and the day after flying in I drove a 15 passenger van of my staff and my boss up to the North Rim for training. Along the way we stopped at Lee's Ferry to put our feet in the water and hear about the history of John D. Lee, a Mormon who was blamed for the Mountain Meadows massacre and sent to the ferry crossing in exile. We sat on the shores of the frigid Colorado river eating our lunches, soaking up the sun. Actually the tops of my feet burned and since I was wearing my Chacos, I have a nice "zebra" tan. I'll try and take a picture sometime.
From Lee's Ferry we traveled north up to Jacob Lake where we stopped for delicious cookies. I was going to get a milkshake, but they are so thick there was no way I could eat it and drive. In the morning when we left South Rim it was a decent 60 degrees. Lee's Ferry was toasty, and in Jacob Lake I had to put back on my sweater.
The North Rim sits 1,250 feet higher in elevation, and is therefore quite a bit colder. The mountain meadows appeared to be lakes from the melting snow. Hidden under the tall aspens, ponderosa pines, and fir trees were small piles of snow still clinging to the underbrush. After getting settled in our cabins for the night, we all met down at the North Rim Lodge and enjoyed a condor talk. With the cold wind blowing at our backs I snuggled up close to my love... so good to be back in her arms again! The view was magnificent and I found myself feeling at home again. The Grand Canyon in all her glory is a sort of second home to me now.
For dinner we devoured pizza, and then sat on the rim enjoying the beautiful sunset. On the way back to the South Rim the following day we stopped at Vermillion Cliffs and looked through a scope up at the condor release site. We spotted two condors hanging out on the cliffs, but were unable to see their numbers in order to identify them. The road to Vermillion Cliffs is gravel and washboarded. Have you ever tried to control a 15 passenger van while fishtailing... believe me it's a blast!!
From V.C. we drove to Page, AZ where we gorged ourselves on delicious mexican food at a restaurant whose name I don't remember. I was in a slight food coma, and just wanted to nap, but alas! Instead of a nap we went to visit the Glen Canyon Dam. We had a "dam" good time! Two of our staff went and earned their junior ranger badges, and then we all took a tour down through the dam. It was amazing, and I have pictures. I posted them I think, but if I haven't I will shortly!
Training
During the remainder of the first week, and through the second week here my staff and I were in training. We are trained how to identify plants, animals, about the geology of the canyon, customer service, radio protocol (no "10-4 good buddy"s), CPR/AED/First Aid, and a variety of other topics. It's a lot of information but it is fascinating to me. Even though I went through similar training last year there are always things you forget or new tidbits of info that strike your fancy.
Last year when President Obama and his extended family came to visit I was on his detail, working as a information officer. As part of my job I talked with the thousands of people standing where they were waiting to see the president, and basically keeping them uninformed about his whereabouts, but well informed about the park. As most of you know, the bus drivers here all call me "Special K" and in the audience that day was one of the drivers. Since he knew me he asked me to talk to them about condors. From there a new type of program was born! The "mini-talk". That day I gave mini-talks for a good 4 hours, just based on the information I had in my head on condors, snakes, history, geology, culture, and so on. Basically I'd create a short 5-10 minute presentation based on a story or a fun fact and educate those standing there. Imagine me running back and forth down the road trying to explain to 4,000 people how the Colorado River cut through the layers while the Law Enforcement rangers stand there stone-faced obviously dumbfounded... it was great!!
After my boss heard about what I did last year he wanted the rest of the staff to do this as well. So this year I led training on how to present mini-talks, and gave some examples of ones they could use. Now we have a specific duty where we stand at one of the busiest bus interchanges and give information as well as keep people in line. No literally... there's a line, and they have to stand in it. Do you know how often grown adults act like misbehaving kindergartners and push and shove each other? Seriously?!
Visitor Comments
As a spin off of the popular "Kids say the darndest things" I'm starting a new television show called "Visitor said what?!". Here are some of my recent favorites...
Headquarters Telephone:
"Grand Canyon National Park, this is K, how may I help you?"
"Hi K. My name is B----, and I'm a total idiot."
Well alright then, at least you admit it!
Older gentleman sitting waiting for the bus. I asked him if he didn't mind waiting ten minutes for the next bus. His response: "If you sit next to me, talk to me, and blow in my ear." Sorry sir, that falls out of my services!
There is something about people being on vacation and knowing they'll never see you again, some visitors can be rather bold... one gentleman walked up to me and said in a low voice "there's just something about a woman in uniform". Tell me about it!
This one didn't happen to me, but to a colleague of mine. A gentleman walked up to him with his pant legs rolled up to his knees. Pointing to his high water pants he asked the ranger when he could walk in the river. The ranger explained the river is at the bottom of the canyon, a day's hike away, or a 4 hour drive to Lee's Ferry. The gentleman became frustrated and asked again when would the river fill up the canyon so he could walk into it. Thinking the gentleman was kidding, the ranger paused a second and seeing no signs of a joke he explained again just how far away the river was... apparently the gentleman thought that the canyon flooded once a day and he could put his feet in the river then. Made me wonder if he actually even saw the canyon...
Hiking
As part of my daily duties I do a lot of hiking. Sometimes it involves going into the canyon a little ways. Sometimes I stay on the rim. I'm pretty sure my family thinks I don't actually work with all the pictures I send them of my hikes. But it's a huge canyon, and there are a ton of visitors. They need rangers to walk around and give people information, keep people from going too close the edge, and just check the area.
The other day I hiked from Hermit's Rest down to the Village. It's about an 8 mile hike and took 2.5 hours to complete. It's a beautiful hike, moving in and out of the forest, paved and unpaved sections, along the edge. I love it. Just two days ago I hiked another section of the rim and probably put in a good 10 miles solely in the hiking I did in the morning. It was awesome! On that section there is no marked trail, so you're doing a bit of trail finding and basically following animal paths. I love it. Out and one of the points I met a couple from Boston. We had a long conversation about the area and just a great time hanging out in the sun, enjoying this beautiful canyon.
I meet people from all over the world, all coming to this one location to see such an amazing view. I love it. I love my work here. Every day interacting with people, getting them to laugh, see the canyon in a new way, enjoy their world, and care about the place I live... feels good.
Western PA School for the Deaf
Last week we had a group from the Western PA School for the Deaf come in with some kids and some adults. They contacted the park ahead of time, and another ranger and I were assigned to hang out with them all day. Actually we volunteered. We wanted the opportunity to sign with them, and thought it would be a lot of fun. It was a blast!
We met them coming off the train from Williams, took them on a bit of a hike along the rim, to an awesome talk on ravens, down Bright Angel trail a little, and then back around the village... while signing the whole time!! I wore my hearing aid and the kids asked me about it. I could sign with them and relied on the interpreter only once when I was giving some safety information before we went hiking and I wanted it to be clear. Such an amazing experience. I'm looking forward to taking some more classes. Though I can carry on a conversation without an issue I learned a lot from the kids in such a short time. No... I didn't just learn swear words... I promise!
Well I'd better get back to my duties. Sorry for the long post. I'll try and post more frequently. Special K signing off.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Adventures Old and New
I spent 3.5 weeks in Hawaii this past winter and had an amazing time adventuring through the Big Island, mostly Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. I learned to hula, play the baritone ukulele, and the history, stories, and geology of the Big Island. It was an amazing time, and I'll post pictures of my adventures soon. And hopefully some stories! Nearly every day I hiked from the house I was staying at to the park, equipped with water, my backpack, and ukulele. Most days I'd hang out at the visitors center, jamming on my ukulele with some of the volunteers, answering questions (I guess visitors thought I worked there), and enjoying the sun. Some days I'd borrow a car and head into the park to do some hiking or adventuring. It's a beautiful park with some incredible stories! I absolutely loved my time there.
After having such an amazing time last year in the canyon I've decided to return to my park ranger uniform and spend another season in the park. I'll be there in about 10 days, and I am thoroughly excited!! I'll have more stories about my adventures as well as pictures as soon as I get going there.
After having such an amazing time last year in the canyon I've decided to return to my park ranger uniform and spend another season in the park. I'll be there in about 10 days, and I am thoroughly excited!! I'll have more stories about my adventures as well as pictures as soon as I get going there.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Aloha!!!
Hi Everyone!!
First, my apologies. No, I have not fallen off the side of the canyon. No, my computer did not cease to exist, and yes I have been remiss in keeping this blog up to date! My time in the canyon was absolutely amazing, and in my joy in exploring everything I no longer was able to keep up with my blog. Pathetic, I know!! Soon (I hope) I'll post stories from the rest of my summer. Believe me... there's a lot to tell!!
Right now though, I'm standing in the kitchen of a beautiful home in Volcano, Hawai'i!! A bit different from both back home and the Grand Canyon. My adventures in Grand Canyon led me here to the Big Island, where I have been for a little less than a week, and where I will continue to be for about 2.5 more weeks. It's been absolutely amazing, and I don't want to forget this time. So I'll share with you my adventures, as best I can! Pictures will be posted soon, but as I'm not using my own computer, that may have to wait until I get home.
Day 1: Flying...
Tuesday morning, December 29th, I arrived at the airport at around 4:45am. A bit early, as I had only slept one hour the night before, but I was excited. I'd been counting down the days to this trip since October. Flying nearly 7,000 miles I knew it would probably be a long day. Arriving in Honolulu I was beat after 9 hours flying from Chicago. The final leg of my flight took me from Honolulu to Hilo, On the flight over to the Big Island my friend pointed out all the islands she could identify, as the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. My first time seeing this ocean, sitting on a plane bound for Hawai'i, with the smell of fresh tuberose filling my senses, as the peaks of Mauna Kea, and Mauna Loa stand above the purple-blue haze of clouds and poisonous volcanic gases (yeah, that part looked beautiful until my friend told me what it was), as the ocean crashes along the shore of the Big Island, a blue I'd never seen before... an amazing first trip to Hawai'i!! Driving in to downtown Hilo we were parked along Hilo Bay and walked down to Cronies, where we met another friend for dinner. It was about 7pm (I think) by the time we got there, which to me meant it was about midnight back home. I was surprisingly awake, and after a delicious burger (wow it still makes my mouth water), we made the 30 minute drive back up to Volcano.
More soon!!!
First, my apologies. No, I have not fallen off the side of the canyon. No, my computer did not cease to exist, and yes I have been remiss in keeping this blog up to date! My time in the canyon was absolutely amazing, and in my joy in exploring everything I no longer was able to keep up with my blog. Pathetic, I know!! Soon (I hope) I'll post stories from the rest of my summer. Believe me... there's a lot to tell!!
Right now though, I'm standing in the kitchen of a beautiful home in Volcano, Hawai'i!! A bit different from both back home and the Grand Canyon. My adventures in Grand Canyon led me here to the Big Island, where I have been for a little less than a week, and where I will continue to be for about 2.5 more weeks. It's been absolutely amazing, and I don't want to forget this time. So I'll share with you my adventures, as best I can! Pictures will be posted soon, but as I'm not using my own computer, that may have to wait until I get home.
Day 1: Flying...
Tuesday morning, December 29th, I arrived at the airport at around 4:45am. A bit early, as I had only slept one hour the night before, but I was excited. I'd been counting down the days to this trip since October. Flying nearly 7,000 miles I knew it would probably be a long day. Arriving in Honolulu I was beat after 9 hours flying from Chicago. The final leg of my flight took me from Honolulu to Hilo, On the flight over to the Big Island my friend pointed out all the islands she could identify, as the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. My first time seeing this ocean, sitting on a plane bound for Hawai'i, with the smell of fresh tuberose filling my senses, as the peaks of Mauna Kea, and Mauna Loa stand above the purple-blue haze of clouds and poisonous volcanic gases (yeah, that part looked beautiful until my friend told me what it was), as the ocean crashes along the shore of the Big Island, a blue I'd never seen before... an amazing first trip to Hawai'i!! Driving in to downtown Hilo we were parked along Hilo Bay and walked down to Cronies, where we met another friend for dinner. It was about 7pm (I think) by the time we got there, which to me meant it was about midnight back home. I was surprisingly awake, and after a delicious burger (wow it still makes my mouth water), we made the 30 minute drive back up to Volcano.
More soon!!!
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