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.
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