ADVENTURE 27: The Hardest Sedentary Activity

Thursday, 15 September 2022, Grand Canyon Lodge

The new day dawned bright on the rim, with few clouds marring the sky and a cool 46° on the thermometer. Luckily our pants and shoes had dried overnight.

The restaurant in the Lodge opened at 6:30 a.m., with us in line and waiting. (Crusty had already claimed his seat at the mule desk, ready for another day of taking no guff.) The rosy morning rays of the sun peeked over the horizon, slowly illuminating the slopes of the canyon. Beautiful!

At 7:30, they mounted us on the mules: I had Moonshine, Bill mounted on Bert. The wrangler led six of us down the North Kaibab Trail into Roaring Springs Canyon. He cautioned us to stay balanced on top of the mules (don't lean upslope!) and keep our feet in the stirrups with the toes pointing up. (After an hour of toe-pointing, my knees were screaming.)

The surroundings quickly chased any sleep from our eyes. Morning light set the rock cliffs aglow as we descended the forested trail. The sure-footed mules easily stepped down the steep path, nimbly turning around the switchbacks.

For over an hour we went lower, dropping 1400' in the two miles to Supai Tunnel. At 8:40 they stopped at the tunnel for a long break, letting us stretch our legs and slake our thirst before heading back.

By the time we returned to the corral, three hours had passed.

My lower back and legs rejoiced to once again stand on stable ground. For an activity requiring no muscle power, my muscles sure felt it.

Probably the toughest sedentary activity I can recall. (Of course, many people might say public speaking - e.g., my interview later - is also sedentary and much harder.

Back at the Lodge, we had a whole day to fill. After walking over to the campground, we wandered back on the Transept Trail,

a mostly flat path with views into the (cloud-free) canyon to our right.

Once again, the scenery begged me to exercise my camera.

Lunch called next - our chance to splurge sans reservations at the Lodge restaurant. (We both ordered bowls of elk chili.)

After lunch came more photography, admiring the views from the Lodge's lounge

and then meandering back out to Bright Angel Point.

The contrast from yesterday amazed me - no clouds rolling through the gash, just unlimited views into and across the expanse.

At 2:30, we settled in at the amphitheater. Nothing to rush off to, no pressures of time, just a blessed hour to lean back, breathe in the fresh air, people-watch.

Lauren arrived at 3:15, as scheduled. We idly chatted for 15 minutes as a crowd assembled - 30 people (2/3 of them older than us) coming to hear the presentation. They enjoyed the talk, laughing at my experiences in Congaree and Cuyahoga, impressed by how far I'd come. I recall one excellent question from the audience: "Is there any park that caught you by surprise?" That would be Petrified Forest, a park with a 'you can see it in 3-4 hours' reputation, but which I thoroughly enjoyed for two days.

After we finished, I turned the tables on Ranger Lauren, interviewing her on her time with the NPS:

How many years have you been working with the National Park?

This is my second season here. I work here while the North Rim is open, from April to October, then spend my winter skiing at Beaver Creek.

How did you get started with NPS?

My partner has worked with them for a while, and that gave me a glimpse into this lifestyle. I never knew it was a career option! I started at Perry's Victory Memorial in Ohio in 2016, volunteered full time there one year. Then for a few years I concentrated on video and photo freelancing, specializing in capturing endurance races/charity races as well as landscape photography. Now I do that part-time.

What brought you to Grand Canyon?

Well, my partner tends to procrastinate. He was delaying applying to parks a few years back - see, you have to apply in November for seasonal positions opening in April - so I made him help me come up with a resume. Government resumes are different from applying to businesses - you have to put EVEYTHINNG on it. Then we both applied together to several parks, and Grand Canyon liked his background. Once he got in, they came to me - this park is very amenable to hiring couples, unlike many parks. The person who hired me liked my background in digital media and wanted me to bring that to the team.

Some parks just give a '1st Amendment' speaker a soapbox and say, 'Go for it!' How did this Q&A format develop?

It started in 2020 with Covid, when we could no longer do in-person talks. At that point, the park started a podcast series, and had our interpreters do Q&A sessions (remotely) with people like the superintendent. We found that worked real well, and set up this style as a template. Often we will invite scientists - like geologists - in from the community to speak on a given topic. We call this our Community Speaker Series.

Is there any interviewee you found particularly fascinating?

Yes! Our Artist in Residence in May, Imma Barerra. She talked about Dark Sky parks, and how the least bit of light can affect photography in the park. We're officially Dark Sky here - with no real light pollution. However, if you go out to the point and look across the Canyon, you can see the lights from South Rim and from a wind farm near there. She showed samples of her work, demonstrating the impacts of light pollution.

What is the best part of your job?

Meeting the visitors and learning from them! I'm often stationed right at the place where the visitors first get out of their cars and see the Canyon, and I watch their faces light up. Every day I learn something new.

Where is your favorite part of the North Rim?

That's hard - it's all so great. I would say the scenic drive, Cape Royal. However, I spend a lot of time here with ranger talks, and you know? Every day it looks different - the light, the clouds. It changes constantly.

I had a mystical experience when I saw the Fingers of God in Redwood park last month. Have you had any ethereal experiences here?

Oh, it would have to be lightning. Between the two rims, the park gets 25,000 lightning strikes every year. They are impressive, and people don't get how dangerous they are. This past August for Heritage Days, we had celebrations going on. When it started to rain, we moved everybody inside the lodge for safety. Suddenly a lightning bolt hit the lodge - hit the lightning rod - and the BOOM that followed was so loud, I almost threw myself to the ground. On a less-scary note, last year we had a snowfall in early October. It made everything so beautiful, with white everywhere contrasted by the gorgeous yellow aspen trees.

After the interviews, Bill and I hung around to watch the changing light over the canyon as the sun dove toward the horizon,

before returning to our cabin.

Later, we took our deli dinner and retired back to the lounge to watch the day's last rays set the high edges of the canyon on fire,

with the San Francisco peaks mere blips far across the canyon to the south. (Quite often, haze will obscure those peaks, but Kay had cleared the air, bringing them into focus.)

I'll miss the serenity of this place.