Crand Canyon NP to Sabino Canyon, AZ

The Grand Canyon is inspiring, not just because of the beauty but also because of it’s massiveness. A short hike out to one of the overlooks and some time spent looking for California Condors was time well spend even if the Condors were not cooperative.

From the North Rim we headed west to Las Vegas for a few nights at Nellis AFB and a show to celebrate our 37th anniversary. We watched the Lion King and the puppetry and the music were everything we had heard. What a great show. Another round of golf for me (46/42 again), a lunch with Angelina Yost, our boss a few years ago at Big Bend and we were back on the road to see the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We camped at another National Forest Campground and spent several days in the area. The views are awesome. We listened to two different Ranger programs – one on geology. We enjoy learning about geology and have developed a real interest in the geological history of the Earth. The second talk was an excellent talk on Condors and right in the middle of the Condor talk one of the huge birds (#33) flew over twice. What an experience. Bird #33 is the last remaining of the original birds released into the wild around 1996. After the talk, and some ice cream, but before leaving for the day, we saw a total of five different condors. With a 9+ foot wingspand they are easy to pick out from the turkey vultures with which they soared. A hike into the canyon is a must. I hiked a short way on the Kaibab trail to Ooh Aah point and then down to the Cedar Overlook. I wish I had considered a rim-to-rim hike. It would have been an awsome accomplishment. Maybe the next time.

We left the south rim and headed toward Tucson. We get an occassional high coolant temperature warning light when climbing up these mountains. A check with both Caterpillar and Freightliner indicates that we need a good radiator cleaning. We’ll get that done in Tucson sometime before heading out again.

We have made to the Sabino Canyon recreational area and are now set up and have good cell phone coverage as well as a good internet connection. The view from our RV of the mountains to the north and the hills covered with saguaro cactus is awesome. We’ll only be here for a few months before we head off somewhere else.

From Yellowstone to Navajo country

A tear comes to our eye each time we pass a wayward bison on our southward journey from Yellowstone National Park after an awesome summer. Our plans are to return as we have been given indications that we are rehire-eligible. This is the first I have worked for anyone but myself since retireing from the USAF in 1997 and I had no idea that returning to employment could be so enjoyable. We had an unblievably exceptional group of co-workers this summer. Over half the team were seasoned rangers with skills and depth-of-knowledge that I can only hope to acquire after more years of experience.
Before leaving Yellowstone we made a quick stop at Grant to visit with a ranger friend, Marilyn Darling, whom we had met in Mexico several years ago. After a quick lunch and some good-bys we continued on.

We headed south into the Grand Tetons and were fortunate to meet up with Jack and Chris, Chapter-8, Mexican Connection, Escapee friends whom we travelled with through Mexico last year. The boat ride across Jenny Lake and the hike to Hidden Falls was a needed outing. We managed to see numerous bull elk, antelope, bison, and finally an impressive bull moose at the lodge. The trip from the campground at Coulter Bay to the one at Gros Ventre was a short ride, leaving enough time to go to Jackson Hole for some touring, gallery cruising (couldn’t afford anything we liked), some icecream, and a visit to the chamber for some recommendations for evening activities. We decided on the Bar-J Chuckwagon and had a great evening of steak, chuckwagon beans and cowboy music. We’ll go there again.

The next day was for relaxation but we still managed to get out for some more wildlife viewing. More bison, pronghorn, two bull moose, and lastly a chorus of bugling bull elk.

We drove onward to Hill Air Force Base in Ogden Utah and had a most interesting drive. The scenery was beyond description. From the Tetons refleciting the morning sun to the Wasatch mountains and the broad hay fields and grazing lands between, the views were breathtaking. A few days at Hill allowed for some grocery shopping, a hair appointment for Sandi and, for me, a much needed round of golf (46/42), my first in about 6 months.

From Hill we headed to Moab Utah for a visit to the Arches and Canyonland National Parks and also the Dead Horse State Park. We stayed in a BLM campground right on the Colorado River. The morning and evening sun on the canyon walls defy description. This is in the “Dinosaur Diamond” so we had to go out and see some real dinosaur bones/fossils. A ranger led hike through the Firey Furnace, and ranger talks added to the experience and gave us a much greater appreciation of the natural stone sculptures and the magnificent canyons.

From Canyonlands we headed to the North Rim of the grand canyon. Passing through Monument Valley and the Navaho Reservation, we had to stop and see Navaho crafts that are available in open air stands along the highway. We stayed in a National Forest Campground and went to a several-hour-long talk on the Navaho and their crafts – primarily the woven blankets. They use no patterns, just make the pattern as they go. Since the length of the finished product is determined with the set of the first threads, the symetry of the blankets is almost beyond belief.

Last big visit for the year

Coming to realize that we were less that three weeks from our departure date and the end of a fantastic summer in Yellowstone, we decided to take one final look at one (if not our most) favorite places. The road between Madison and Norris is closed in the park which means that from our RV site in Madison, our only option to see the park requires travelling from here, to Old Faithful, Grant Village, Hayden Valley, and Canyon. Beyond that would take an additional day so we limited our adventure to a trip from here to Canyon and back.

The road from Madison to Old Faithful took us through the three most spectacular geyser basins in the world. The drive along the Firehole River is spectacular even though a few herds of elk impeded our movement. Seeing so much wildlife is such an inportant part of any trip through the park so we just enjoy even though it may be a bit of an inconvenience. At the Fountain Paint Pots we saw (and smelled) the boiling mud of the paint pots and saw all four types of thermal features that can be seen in more exagerated forms elsewhere in the park.

Our next stop was Great Fountain Geyser. Though it only erupts every 12 +/- hours, our timing was good and we saw one of the Park's most impressive predictable geysers put on a great show. This may be one of our favorite geysers, but picking your favorites in Yellowstone is as difficult/impossible as picking your favorite child or grandchild. Each and everyone is special.

From Great Fountain we travelled the short distance to the Midway Geyser Basin, home of Grand Prizmatic Spring, the largest hot spring in this hemisphere and the third largest in the world. No words can describe the majesty or beauty of this special place.

We stopped at the Black Sand Basin, a place that we do not visit often, but a place that we find very special. There is a very active geyser there, some spectacular pools, including the famous handkerchief pool (where travellers long ago would toss in their dirty handkerchiefs, only to have them emerge from the abyss thoroughly cleaned) and a certain undescribable solutidude and beauty. A juvenile bald eagle made a pass, stooping downward toward the treetops only to soar upwards, then fold his wings and ballistically soar over the top in a sine-wave-like curve which he repeated numerous times. The eagles have just fledged and this one was certainly enjoying the fact that he can "slip the surly bonds of earth and dance on laughter-silvered wings".

Old Faithful, our next stop, is still Old Faithful and about every 90 minutes puts on a show for those who watch this event and miss the many other much-more spectacular eruptions around the park. We had our ice cream, saw the Inn (largest log structure in the world) and continued toward the Continental Divide. The Divide, as all geography students know, is the backbone of North America where rain falling either flows eastward to the Atlantic Ocean or westward to the Pacific, At Isa Lake, located on the divide, the water flows both ways during peak snow melt season. The one end of the lake has water flowing to the Firehole River, thence to the Madison, Missouri, Mississippi, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean. Water from the other side of this lake (more like a pond) flows through Shoshone Lake, the Snake River and eventually into the Pacific Ocean. There are only two such places like this in North America- both in Yellowstone National Park. God only knows how much I love this place!

We continued down to Grant Village for a short visit with a very special friend who is a ranger at Grant--probably Yellowstone's ranger with the longest history in Yellowstone National Park. Marilyn was a 5 month old baby when her father served here as an interp ranger many years ago (I will not say how many). He is featured in a life-sized mural at the Ranger Museum in Norris. They lived in a tent that was heated with a wood stove. I wonder how many of today's rangers would be willing to live like that. I only hope I can bounce up mountains like she can after I have logged as many miles as she has.

From Grant we headed northward into the Hayden Valley. Past Sulphur Caldron, a hot spring with a pH that nearly compares to battery acid, we entered the broad valley and were drawn to the large mass of vehicles at the second roadside pull-off. This is Yellowstone's indicator that there is either a wolf or bear in the open. This time it was a huge black Grizzly bear. A carcass of a bison, now just a broken up skeleton, lay at stream side. The Grizzly, still gorged from his last meal, woke up from his napping place in the higher grass, moved a few yards and then laid down at streamside for another nap. Earlier in the day that same bear shared the carcass with three other bears and three wolves. Now even the ravens could not find enough pickings for a decent meal. A coyote approached the carcass cautiously but decided that the risk was not worth the reward and crossed the Yellowstone river and headed to parts unknown to the East.

Only a few miles further up the valley and we encountered the herds of bison who migrate here annually for the rut. When the rut is active, bulls grunt, groan, roll in the dirt, and fight in fatal engagements, for the cows of their dreams. Seems all the bulls and cows are already paired up, but seeing the vast expanse of sage with hundreds of bison was still a rewarding and moving experience.

Our last stop was Canyon where the Upper and Lower Falls look much like they have for thousands of years. On one of Yellowstone's earliest explorations, one of the explorers, approaching from the upstream side, was distracted by his pack horse and looked up to suddenly see the canyon only after his horse stopped. His partners soon came up from behind and all were so overtaken by the majesty of the sight that not a word was spoken for over five minutes. I get the same feeling every time I witness the falls and the canyon.

This has been an awesome summer. Since I was but a grade school student, I always wanted to be a ranger. I even started my college years in a forestry program but was side-tracked by a war in a far off country in the far East. Now I am a ranger, and it is everything I had imagined. Sandi and I have had a special summer here this year and expect to return in 2010. For now we are but a few weeks from packing up and heading Southward before the cold weather comes and freezes us in place.

About half way

We are about halfway through our summer here at Yellowstone National Park. I think our ages, the altitude, and the 40 hour a week schedule is having an effect on us and sleep comes easy every night. We are thoroughly enjoying ourselves here this year which has been almost perfect. We have a group of co-workers that is exceptional. Except for one problem worker every one else is super to work with. I sure hope our supervisor realizes the significance of this dream team. Sandi and I have already decided that we want to return next year if we have the opportunity. Next year would be better that this year because I would already have programs developed for presentations. In the begining of this summer I spent nearly every waking hour developing my programs

Sandi works three 8-hour days one week and four 8-hour days the next. Two years ago, we split that schedule between us which gave us lots of time off. We got in a lot more fishing and hiking that year. I work five 8-hour days with every Wednesday and Thursday off. I have prepared a total of seven programs. There are four programs for youth at the Madison Junior Ranger Station, one Explore Yellowstone program to give visitors an idea on how to plan their visit here, one afternoon talk that I give at either the Museum of the Yellowstone or Grizzly Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, and an Evening Program. I have put in a lot of time into preparing these programs and most are developed to the point that I am quite happy with them. There are two that I think still need a little work.

This sure is a rewarding position. The pay leaves a bit to be desired. I'm a GS-5. Can't get much lower than that, but if I was looking for better pay, I'd be doing something else. If you have seen the recent CNN coverage on Yellowstone, the 77 year old ranger that they interview at Old Faithful Geyser says it very well. This is a labor of love. The kids and even adults that give us a sincere thanks for helping plan their trip, or after programs, is warming. We often come home after work on cloud-9 knowing that we have made a difference for someone. The appreciation they show is often quite moving and we have even received small, but meaningful tokens of appreciation and even letters of thanks. We love this place.

We now have a Skype acount and are able to communicate with our grandkids with both sound and video. What a treat! We will not get back to visit everyone until December, but until then this Skype should help considerably. It sure helps me.

Fishing has been wonderful. Catching has been a bit tough at times. The Madison, Firehole, and Gibbon Rivers are all fished very hard and the trout in them have seen a lot of flies drifted across them and are well educated. I tell people that the fish can not only tell that the fishing flies are not natural food but they can actully identify who tied the fly. We have only had one meal of fresh fish and my largest fish this season is only 12". I did miss a large fish a few days ago but we all know that it is the big one that always gets away.

Today is a relatively easy day for me although the 2:45PM - 11:45PM hours are a bit strange. I will probably try to put some polish on the two programs that I am not completely satisfied with and may try to tie some additional flies so I can match wits later in the week with these challenging fish.

With the season half over, we also need to start preparing for our next tour of duty in Sabino Canyon near Tucson, AZ. We will be volunteering there for about two months (october and November) and are really looking forward to that. Tucson is a wonderful town and Sabino Canyon is absolutely beautiful. Sandi will man a visitor information station and I will be doing nothing but kids programs - Have we gone to Heaven or what? I really do not know what we have done do deserve this life we are living but we sure have been blessed.

Live sure is good!