Web Album of Pictures

You can go to my Picasa web album and see pics of the places we visited out west this past summer (hope this works)
Picasa Web Albums - scotlauf

An Extraordinary Time

It has been an extraordinary time since we have been forced off the road. We are now back in New York, flew into Rochester on Oct 20 and after visiting with dear family are currently staying in a "barn apartment" at our friends Harry and Muffy's near Oneonta. Kathy got the stitches in her head out last week, there were a little over 30 of them. Now she has to let her neck vertebrae heal and was fortunate to find a doctor to follow up on her healing.

The moments of the accident and immediately following were extraordinary and will leave indelible marks on our memories. We are both grateful to be alive and grateful that Kathy will be ok after she heals, that is our mutual overwhelming feeling. Kathy doesn't remember anything from the time we started going off the road to the point where she realized that she was lying on the ground and a group of people were attending to her. I remember some amazing and rapid events that were unreal and gripping. It was October 7, 4:53 PM. As we were traveling down I-15, I was sitting back and lost in thought when I suddenly felt the trailer swaying behind us. It all happened so quickly. I remember the truck rolling over a few times, someone said it was one and a half times, but I couldn't tell from inside how much we rolled. It just struck me that "this can't be happening." We came to a stop with the truck resting on its side, my side, so Kathy was above me and hanging by her seat belt. I quickly unlatched my seat belt and reached up to get her out of her seatbelt. Then she stood up on the center console, with me holding her legs. All the windows were smashed and she could get her head out the side window. I realized there was a large group of people outside the truck ready to assist us. They were there immediately, what a great display of the best in people, willing to help. Someone yelled "how many are there?" I responded "Two." I think we repeated that exchange. They got Kathy out by assisting her through the drivers window and then I stood up inside the truck. My glasses had come off, so I looked around and found them, still ok. It didn't occur to me at that point to look for Kathy's glasses, and then it was my turn to get out. Some of the helpers were trying to break a lower window thinking that would be easier for me to escape from. I yelled out that I could get out the same way Kathy did and proceeded to pull myself out the drivers window too. They had Kathy lying on the ground when I got out, and instructed me to lie next to her. Two different paramedics were checking us out, one was already talking with Kathy and the other started with me. I learned later that his name was Jonathon and he was two vehicles behind us when he saw the crash. I realized pretty quickly that I wasn't hurt badly. I was covered with blood, but most of it was Kathy's. She had a big gash on her head and I remarked to her that she was going to need stitches. At which I was instructed not to alarm her. Jonathon was seeing if I had any soreness, and I realized I had some sore ribs, at the points where the seat belt would have dug in. I wasn't too bad. Kathy also realized that the fingers on her left hand were tingling, that was not a good sign. The paramedics realized that she could have a serious neck injury and had her lying very still. They soon got her on a back board to keep her immobilized. She was never able to look around the accident scene itself. Even though I was instructed to lie down, I sat up and look around. The place looked like a hurricane had come through. Our trailer was torn apart and all of our stuff was strewn about. What a mess. Later, we would have to go through it, but at the towing company's yard. For now, I knew that we had to get Kathy to a hospital quickly and when the ambulance showed up we were ready to roll. I managed to pick up a sweater that was lying on the ground and my jacket, and a woman police officer held up our laptop still in the case and asked me if I wanted to take that. It would still work. They also located Kathy's purse, and I still had my cell phone attached to my belt, so with only those items, the laptop and no extra clothes we went off in the ambulance to the hospital back to Cedar City where we had driven through earlier.

At the hospital they sewed up Kathy's wound, did a good job with that, and took X-Rays of both of us. When they found out that Kathy had a broken vertebrae, the C7 in her neck, they said they would have to airlift her to the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah - near Salt Lake City. I didn't receive that news so well, but that was our only chance. So off we went in a Life Flight plane - see http://intermountainhealthcare.org/services/lifeflight/Pages/home.aspx/ Kathy was strapped down in the back brace (she didn't like that), I sat in a seat up front, two evac nurses and the pilot Tyler skillfully guiding the plane through the night sky. From the Salt Lake airport they transported us by ambulance to the Medical Center. When we arrived at IMC, another ambulance arrived at the same time. The two crews knew each other well and exchanged pleasant greetings. I found out that the other victim had been hiking down in the Glen Canyon Recreation area and had fallen. He had a broken C2 vertebrae, which was a worse break than Kathy's, but not knowing how badly he was hurt he hiked out a long ways to get medical help. he and other family members were up in a section called the "Hole in the Rock" where back in 1879 some Mormon pioneers had managed get their wagon train down a steep 2000 foot drop to the Colorado River. I met his wife later and she said they had come up the Hole in the Rock from Glen Canyon below and were near the top when he fell. They eventually got to a hospital in Page, Az and like us had to be transported to the IMC for surgical care. see http://www.nps.gov/glca/historyculture/holeintherock.htm

Our hearts go out to everyone who let us know that we were being thought of and cared about and to the whole group of people with Intermountain Health Care who gave Kathy exceptional care and made us feel welcome and cared for. Kathy had her surgery on October 8, was done about 8:30 PM, and we stayed at the hospital until she was released on October 13. We stayed in the Salt Lake area in a comfortable extended stay apartment through Springhill apartments, got a great medical rate of $50/night, and our thanks to the good people there who made sure we had all we needed. We saw Dr. Bauman, her surgeon again on October 19. He told us to come back and hike the Grand Canyon and Utah again and it was then we learned that he has hiked numerous times in the nearby Wasatch range. He and his dog have been up Mt Olympus at least 6 times, since it's right near his house. I got to hike up it on October 17, see photo I took on my hike, the Intermountain Medical Center is the most prominent landmark visible. The building we were in was the large glass sided one to the right. We enjoyed the view from our room looking at the Wastach Mountains, many were snow covered. Olympus is a little over 9000 feet high and did not have snow on it the day I climbed it. There were marvelous views going up it and of course at the top. I told Dr Bauman that we would be back to hike out here, and I hope I'm right.

Finished at Bryce But Now Temporarily Off the Road and More

In response to an inquiry from our friend Tracy who worked with us at Bryce Canyon:
Hi Tracy,I am glad you made it home ok, we have not. We did get to the Grand Canyon and did rim-rim-rim then pulled up stakes at Bryce on Wednesday and started heading to Las Vegas to see my aunt and uncle. We made it south of Cedar City when Kathy felt the trailer swaying behind us then lost it completley and ended up in the median and rolled over, both truck and trailer were destroyed and Kathy ended up with a broken neck vertebrae and a severe laceration on her head. I just had bruised ribs. We were taken to the Cedar City Hospital (an amazing number of people showed up on the scene to help immediately). When they determined Kathy had a broken vertebrae, they airlifted us up to Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City. She got surgery to repair her vertebrae yesterday, which was successful. Now she is recovering, but we expect to leave the hospital tomorrow, I am staying in the same room with her. It has been amazing. Now we have to figure out our next steps, and get back east somehow/sometime. But we are doing things a day at a time, and getting Kathy on the road to recovery has been the most important thing so far. We will get through this, but not sure if we will volunteer again soon. We have accepted a position at Big Bend which we were excited about, starting January 25, but Kathy will probably be in a neck brace for 3 months and will need a full 6 months before she can resume normal activities. So basically, we are alive, that was the first thing that occurred to us after the crash, and anything we lost can be replaced. I am taking the view that this is a bump on our road right now, and we will have many more miles to go before we are done.

Not sure there will be any more updates to this blog for a while, there is so much more to say but this is all I can fit in for now.

Kathy Finally Sees a Moose

We went to the High Uintas Wilderness this past weekend and Kathy finally saw a moose. Earlier attempts to see one in New Hampshire and Maine had been for naught. But we saw this one along the road on the way to Moon Lake, which was actually outside the wilderness. We had spent the day before hiking in the wilderness but never saw much of any wildlife except birds, a chipmunk and a grouse. We did get close enough to see Mt. Emmons, a 13er and the 4th highest peak in Utah. It is a trailess peak and some day we hope to climb it as well as some of the other Uintas. Any of the major peaks are quite a ways in and are normally done as a backpack. We camped and hiked in from the Swift Creek trailhead and got as far as Farmers Lake, about 9 miles in. We met a wilderness ranger who was leading a mule team in to break down two of their work camps and we met one of his workers. Other than that we didn't see anyone else on the trail, and it was a glorious fall day with lots of golden aspens.

On Monday Sept 21 I gave my first evening program at Bryce. It was titled Bryce Canyon National Park: The Early Years and it covered the years 1915 - 1942. 1915 was the first year anyone had a thought about making Bryce Canyon a National Park. J.W. Humphrey, a forest ranger, upon seeing the spectacle of Bryce Canyon thought it merited national park status so all could enjoy it. Largely due to his efforts, Bryce Canyon became a National Monument in 1923 and then a National Park in 1928. I was able to gather lots of old photos of Bryce Canyon and pieced together an entertaining show. This show will be available on special request (I bring it to you).

Our hike in the Uintas was a warm up for a rim-to-rim hike we plan to do in the Grand Canyon next weekend. I tested out my new light weight La Sportiva trail shoes, even on rocky ground they seemed to hold up well and today my feet feel ok, so I think it's a go. The only complaint I have is sand gets in through the mesh uppers but we will only have sand near the bottom of the GC. We are also finishing up our work here at Bryce this week, and our bosses our having a going away party for us tonight. We can't miss that so we hightailed it back here.

.

National Parks: America's Best Idea

This Sunday Sept 27 is the start of a new Ken Burns series on PBS: National Parks: America's Best Idea. Also Saturday is National Public Lands Day, you can get into national parks free that day, plus volunteer. See http://www.nps.gov/september26/ Makes me proud to be serving with the NPS right now. I tell our visitors that it's a good thing we have embraced the idea of making some of our prized natural areas protected, open to all and there for future generations. The natural wonder of Bryce Canyon could last another 2.5 million years if we don't do things that could destroy it. Unfortunately, due to climate change, parks like Glacier and Joshua Tree are more imminiently threatened, but that's another topis for another day. Support your National Parks.

Back to the North Rim! This Time with My Kids

My kids (Katherine, Colleen and Ben) came to visit us and we met up in Las Vegas and after visiting with our Uncle Sam and Aunt Ruby, we took off on Sunday Sept 13 for the North Rim (again). We stayed at the Kaibab Lodge outside the park for two nights and went to Cape Royal, Cape Final, and down to Supai Tunnel on the North Kaibab Trail. It was the first view for Ben, K&C had been to the western part of the GC back in '91 I believe. We had great views, and the 4 mile round trip hike out to Cape Final was worth it. We got to Bryce on Tuesday Sept 15 and were met by our friends Matt & Margie from back home. They brought salmon and asparagus and garlic bread and we all enjoyed it on a

rainy damp night crowded in our trailer. Our friend Tracy who volunteers with us accomodated all 3 of the kids in the spare bedroom in her apartment, what a godsend that was as all the motels/hotels in the area were booked. All of us enjoyed some hiking in Bryce, I led a park-sponsored hike on the "Best 3-mile hike in the world" which my kids, Kathy and M&M participated in, then later that day we hiked along the rim to "Beyond Bryce Point". We hiked from Bryce Point to Sunset Point on part of the Peekaboo Loop the next day. M&M camped out in our little staff compound, it was so cold at night that Matt's head even got cold! After Bryce, they all went to Zion, then to Las Vegas. I am told that Ben got into a picture with a ground squirrel at Zion, he was imitating it, maybe a picture will arise. Ben also did a pretty good imitation of a hoodoo here at Bryce. Kathy and I just hung out at Bryce and nearby after our special guests left. We needed to refrain from much traveling this past weekend, although we did fit in a short trip to the nearby Black Mountains and a bike ride to Panguitch. Two things we never got around to until now. Two more weeks here at Bryce and then we go to the Grand Canyon for a rim-to-rim-to-rim in early October and start heading back east. Oh boy.

Mt. Timpanogos and Delano

Kathy and I climbed Mt Timpanogos and Mt Delano this past weekend. We had thought about hiking King's Peak, Utah's highest mountain, but then realized it would require more time than we had. King's Peak is a 6-7 mile drive from Bryce and is a 29 mile hike, so we decided we would need more than the three days we had. Mt Timpanogos is 11,750 feet elevation and is about 5,000 foot elevation gain from Aspen Grove trailhead. It is the Timpanogos Wilderness, but is also just outside of Provo and gets a lot of urban traffic. Since it was Labor Day weekend, there were many other hikers, I estimated we saw 300, many wearing BYU sweat shirts or t-shirts. We were given a map with distances by the USFS at the entrance gate which said it was a 6.9 mile hike to Emerald Lake then another 3 miles to the summit from there. But since it only took us about 4 hours to hike up, we doubted the distance. There were supposed to be two trails from Emerald Lake (we only saw one), and we took what seemed like a more direct route over a rock fall, so maybe that is what made the hike shorter than what was on the USFS sheet. There are also a few glaciers toward the top. many were using one of them as a fast way down, either on skis, butts, or foot. A volunteer with TERT (Timpanogos Emergency Response Team) told us they do many rescues for people coming down the glacier. We met two guys later who had done it, ripping apart ponchos that they tried to use for sleds and admitting they hit a few rocks on the way down, ouch.

The view from the top was stunning, overlooking Provo and Utah Lake as well as the rest of the wilderness. There was a shelter, but most of the people found a rocky perch to hang out on. We didn't mind sharing the summit with the others, as they had all earned it. There were several families, but most of the people seemed to be college age.

The next day we went to the Tushars and climbed Delano Peak, 12,173 feet high. What a contrast from Timpanogos. We didn't know what to expect from the hike, and never found the trailhead although we came across pieces of the trail, so we bushwacked. It turned out to be a short hike, we were up it in 1.5 hours. We also had the mountain to ourselves, although there were several ATVs and jeeps tooling along the forest road. It was extremely windy on top, but we had great views in every direction. There was a mailbox with a log sheet and we read through several of the entries. Many of them noted the preponderous of mountain goats, but we never saw any. So Kathy wrote that we saw many velociraptors, hah. We attempted to come down the steep side of the mountain, but then chickened out, but still made a wide loop and came down through a herd of cattle, and one bull who eyed us intently. We kept our distance.

There is so much more to do in Utah and the surrounding states than we have time for. We hope to get in some paddling, maybe in Glen Canyon area, hike in the Henry Mountains and get into the Grand Staircase Escalante some more. We are also planning a trip to the North Rim this coming weekend when my kids come out. We're looking forward to that. Meanwhile, families have gone back home so we expect to see more of the "newly weds" and "nearly deads" visiting Bryce in September, that should be a change of pace for us.

Tushar Mountains and Skyline National Rec.Trail

I hiked the Skyline National Recreational Trail in the Tushar Mountains this past Sunday.

What a great trail, it is only 8.4 miles, mostly above 10,000 feet. I did about half of it but roamed up to the base of Holly Mountain and summitted City Creek Peak (over 11,000 ft elevation) which was not a bad off-trail climb. I saw no one else on the trail or the peaks the whole day, although there was an ATV near the trailhead that went in a different direction. The Skyline trail is open to non-motorized traffic only. I came across a sleeping bag cached near Holly peak, and examined it to be sure there was no body in it. Glad there wasn't. We want to get back to do Delano Peak in the Tushars which is over 12,000 feet. The 'haze' seemed to get worse during the course of the day, and when I got back down I discovered it was from a fire almost 100 miles away in the Pine Valley Wilderness, south of Cedar City. It is not noticeable at Bryce Canyon thankfully. I did get close to it driving down I-15 on Tuesday, there were several noticeable smoke plumes and later that night after dark a bright blaze was easily spotted from I-15. Earlier on Tuesday I led a group of about 30 7th grade boys from Reagan Academy near Provo, Utah and 10 adult chapperones on a hike in Bryce Canyon. They were good kids, a little on the lively side but eager to learn. Our ranger Nova led about the same number of girls, some of them caught up to use even though we had a 30 minute head start. They will be allowed back again if they wish to come

Las Vegas

We went to Las Vegas last Friday so Kathy could get a flight back to Florida to be with her Mom for 10 days. The trip was the best Las Vegas trip I ever had, none of the other drivers on the road were rude and I got around the town pretty well. Kathy's flight was delayed an hour for a technical problem but she got to Florida ok. I had a good visit with my Aunt Ruby and Uncle Sam, who have lived there since 1959 except for a couple years in southern California. Uncle Sam ran circles around me, he was full of energy and excitement and thrilled to hear about our new lives. I also learned for the first time that he witnessed the first test of the hydrogen bomb ing in the Marshall Islands in 1952 under the direction of Edward Teller. Uncle Sam got choked up as he reminisced, it was a major event in the history of the world and there were big questions as to how it would go off, being a thousand times more powerful than the atom bomb. He also told me a great story of my father who had visited Las Vegas several years ago. My father was disgusted with the casino scene and derided "all those Las Vegas people". My uncle pointed out to him that the people who were visiting the casinos were from places like Rochester where my father was from. Hah. My aunt and uncle never frequented the casinos, as is true with most of the people who live in Las Vegas. Have to cut this short, as I am late for dinner, more to come later.

My sore-kneed little sister Cindy, her husband Kirt and youngest son Eric from Rochacha visited us at Bryce Canyon from Aug 11-14. They had been in the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, and were heading to Zion after their visit here. Cindy's knee was even sorer after I had them hike out to "Beyond Bryce Point" and then along the rim to Inspiration Point. They saw all the major sites in Bryce, and several of our wildlife, although we weren't able to see any Pronghorn. They all seem to have vanished, for now. Eric became a Junior Ranger the last morning we were here. Eric: work on the dendrochronology, the key is understanding the overlap of the years (where the tree rings match up), then you can date each tree. Besides seeing Bryce, we took a ride out Utah's Scenic Byway - Utah Rte 12, where it rides on top a high, narrow spectacular spit of land near Boulder. On the way back we were treated to a dazzling lightning storm while traveling, and came across a burning tree near the road where it had knocked out the power line. We also discovered where we can get real good pizza, at the Bryce Canyon Inn, we hadn't got around to checking it out until now. Cindy, Kirt and Eric enjoyed their visit, and Kirt thinks we have some crazy hoodoos. To see pics of their visit, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/lauffer.scott - I will try to put out more pictures when I can.

Kathy and I also hiked in Red Canyon yesterday, on the Golden Wall trail, it was very scenic and we saw only one other person. Did I mention that Red Canyon would be a national park if it were anywhere else? Today we hiked 20 miles in Bryce Canyon, more than half of it in the backcountry and the rest on the "Figure 8" - a combination of trails in the Bryce Ampitheater that I hadn't hiked yet. I'm a little sore now too, and a little crazy like the hoodoos?

Great Basin

Great Basin National Park is gem, and it's a big secret that it's a paradise, shhh. The Great Basin is better described as the Basin and Range, with a series of basins and ranges intermingled. We could see them, one after another, running north-south, as we were driving west from Utah into Nevada. Nevada also boasts that it is the most mountainous state in the U.S. We had no idea. It is based on having the most named mountain ranges, over 300. Great Basin is situated in the Snake Mountains and next to the Snake Valley, Wheeler Peak at 13,060 is the tallest peak in the park and is the tallest peak in Nevada that is totally within the state. Boundary Peak, on the border with Nevada and California in the Sierra Nevadas gets credit for being the state's tallest peak. We climbed Wheeler peak last Saturday after camping at the Wheeler Peak campground, the highest campground in the park at almost 10,000 feet. It was quite cool there but great hiking temperature.

We met a group from Boise, Idaho, and shared the summit with four of them, two were women in their seventies and the other two were a couple getting ready to climb the Annapurna Loop in Nepal this fall. It was cloudy as we approached the summit (see pic), but the clouds cleared after we got to the top. We enjoyed a marvelous hour on top, very calm and we had great views. The hike itself is comparable to hiking up Giant Mtn in the Adirondacks, about the same 3000 foot elevation gain, but Wheeler Peak had more switchbacks making it a little longer at 4+ miles but an easier hike in my estimation. We were above tree line during most of the hike also., which we liked.

In the canister on top was a note written by the daughter and son-in-law of Bill Wheeler. They had climbed the peak just days before as a tribute to him; he had died in 2004. Wheeler Peak was his favorite climb, we don't know if there is any relation to the Major George M. Wheeler who the peak was named after.

One of the woman we met up there spotted a rabbit in a shelter on top, we were in amazement as to how it could have gotten there and what it was living on, there were few alpine plants. Our new friend declared it was a pygmy rabbit, and later when looking into some animal books we realized she was right. But they normally live at much lower altitudes, so what it was doing there defied any explanation. We reported this to the ranger staff at the Visitor Center later and they were perplexed, although someone else had already reported the find. Kathy took a picture and is sending it to their naturalist. Sometimes animals will wander far from where they are supposed to be, maybe they can be like people.

We also hiked to Rock Glacier the first night we were there, and realized the glacier is melting rapidly, it's much smaller than earlier photos we saw of it. That hike went through a Bristlecone Pine forest, where many of the trees are over 2000 years old, one was over 3200 years old. They are the oldest trees in existence. Back in the sixties there was a very old Bristlecone that was allowed to be cut down, and it was learned that it was about 5000 years old. The tree was given the name Prometheus, a cross section of it is on display in one of the park's two visitor centers. (Senator Harry Reid saw to it that the park has two VC's) What a shame that the tree was allowed to be cut down. Another tree, named Methusaleh, is also about 5000 years old and lives in the White Mountains of California, it's exact location is kept a secret.

On Sunday we took a tour of Lehman Cave, and it was a wonder. The original owner of the cave, Absalom Lehman, took people on tours by candlelight. We were given a demo of what the cave looked like by candlelight, and didn't see much. The original tourists also had no idea of the size of the cave. Although it has several passages and rooms, they felt it seemed smaller when they came back later and saw it under better lighting conditions. When you are in the dark you get the illusion of space being much larger, try it sometime.

The Most Incredible Day

Last Tuesday was the most incredible day I have had at Bryce. I was involved with two rescues, the first ones for me this summer. They were both late-middle age women, the first I helped walk out (with her husband) after giving her water and M&Ms. They had underestimated their ability, and should not have tried to do the 3-mile hike they were attempting. It took us the better part of an hour to get up, but we did get there and the woman and her husband were extremely grateful. The second woman bcame dizzy, she had a medical problem of which we were uncertain of. But by the time we carried her out on a litter her vital signs were good, although she still felt dizzy. We left her with her family, her husband thanked us several times profusely: they were taking her to a hospital to be checked out. Earlier in the day there were two medical emergencies right outside the Visitor Center. The first was a young boy who had fallen, hurting himself and then felt nauseous. He was alright. The second was a young girl who had fallen out of her family's van. She had a painful knee injury, and since the family didn't speak English very well it was hard to figure out what happened. Our EMT's pieced it together by seeing tire marks on her leg. The van ran over her, but the leg did not appear to be broken. They were going to take her to the emergency room. The day ended with a disturbance in our campground. A large group of young French people and a few adults (chaperones?) pulled into the campground late. The next thing I know they had a huge bonfire and were making a loud crescendo. I yelled for quiet but after getting no response went down with Kathy to talk with them. The language barrier probably prevented full communication, but I was able to convey that quiet was in order, since the 11:30 time was well after the 10:00 quiet hour. One of the adults who could speak broken English some wanted me to understand something, but I didn't give him the chance to explain, as it wasn't me who needed to understand anything. The next day they were written up by our law enforcement and were moved to a different campsite. One of the adults came into the VC the next day and showed Kathy a ticket that was written up, he thought they would have to pay something there, Kathy directed him back to the campground where payment was due. She also noted that they had violated about every rule in the campsite. The ticket had a separate note that stated: Quiet hour at 10:00 - NO EXCEPTIONS. The campground was quiet the next night, good.

It's August Already

We can't believe that it's already August, summer is sliding by quickly, as is our time at Bryce. That makes us aware that we have to start thinking seriously about where we will go after Bryce. We know we want to spend October doing some more touring out west. We have a permit for backcountry in the Grand Canyon towards the end of October, then there are numerous other parks/forests we want to visit. Plus we need to get back to NY for a visit sometime and Kathy needs to get down to Florida to see her Mom. We got to the Nankoweap area of the Grand Canyon last weekend, the trail there kicked our butt, and we only did 5 miles before we turned around, but probably did close to 2500 feet elevation gain. Again, we didn't see any Condors but saw a Golden Eagle (our second). Yesterday we visited and hiked in the Fishlake Forest near the Beaver Lakes Recreation Area. That trail was recently maintained and was easy, there were several long vistas in high meadow areas, but didn't see the elk we were hoping to see. Earlier today we took Mike (who was here for the past week running a survey) to Willis Creek, a canyon in the Grand Staircase Esclanate. See photo.

Things have been hopping at Bryce, visitation is up and we were given extra assignments handing out visitor surveys as well as the work we did with fire displays. This past week, we 'went out' three nights in a row, amazingly enough. We checked out the western show at the new Ebeneezer Barn & Grill, the food was good and the music by the Bar-G Wranglers was excellent. Then there was a meal put on by our big boss Dan in appreciation for the help we gave on the survey and a 23rd birthday party for one of our SCA's. We're sure the birthday party went on long after we left, they were mostly a bunch of young people.

August is a traditional vacation month, especially for Congress, therapists and Europeans. We will see how that affects the visitation at Bryce. Vacation can be a stressful time for many people. We just heard Garrison Keillor say that vacations are usually the low point of the year for Norwegian Lutherans. We hope we don't get too many of them here at Bryce, no offense. So a word of friendly advice: enjoy your vacations and make them stress free, it will help the workers and volunteers at the parks.

Bryce Canyon Resort

We get a kick out of seeing this sign along Route 12 just outside of Bryce Canyon. To my sister Cindy: if you see this post, we will try to reserve you a room in the deluxe accomodations, hah!

Fire!

Bryce Canyon had a slow burning fire in the backcountry which had started back on June 15 with a lightning strike. Due to fire management policy, they allowed it to burn, which provides numerous benefits to the health of the forest. However on July 14, due to high winds and very dry conditions, the Bryce fire suddenly doubled to about 3500 acres, and jumped the main road in the park. The road had to be closed to the south, and 50 vehicles had to be evacuated, those with high clearance were led through a forest road and the rest were led through the burn area after it was controlled enough to allow that. When the fire had spread into a non-prescribed section, it became necessary to change course. The main part of the park remained open, but the southern end was closed for five days as 275 fire fighters and some helicopters and a plane were deployed to actively suppress the fire. It has left a scar in the southern end of the park and in our beloved Swamp Canyon area but will return to gandeur in a few years.

We were enlisted to work with educating the public on the fire management policy as now practiced by the NPS and other government agencies. We have ascribed to no fire or reduced fire in natural systems for so long that we now have a tremendous buildup of fuel. That fuel must be managed to reduce the danger of catastrophic fire. Most animals make it safely away from fires and in a few years the ecosystem rebounds and becomes more diverse and healthy. Wildland fire has been a natural cycle, and studies of tree rings from years ago show that fires were common as frequently as every three years, and forests had prospered before we started interfering. So in the long run it is better to let fires burn when there is no danger to people's safety or property.

Kathy and I also were able to check out a few nearby areas during our time off, Hell's Backbone in the Dixie National Forest and the Burr Trail which runs through the Grand Staircase Escalante and into Capitol Reef National Park. Hiking in the Hell's Backbone area reminded us of hiking on the Finger Lakes Trail back in NY. We hiked through a lush forest and hit a couple muddy areas. We got to a section of the Great Western Trail, and saw no other hikers during the whole trip. The section of Capitol Reef that we entered was spectacular, we descended part way down a long stretch of road that switchbacked a few miles down to the Notom-Bullfrog Road next to the Waterpocket Fold, and we had a good view of it all the way down. We decided not to descend all the way as we had a dinner reservation at the Hell's Backbone Grill.

A couple other interesting enounters we had at Bryce: I met a 97 year old woman hiking up the Queens Garden Trail with her 95 year old husband. They had made it all the way down, and looked pretty good on the way back up. She may be the oldest person to hike the trail. Kathy met a nine year old girl who had 178 Junior Ranger badges. Every year her family takes a six week trip to the National Parks. Her eyes lit up when Kathy told her there was a thirteen year old girl who had 235 JR badges. We may have a new record holder in the making.

Days Like These ....

It's days like these last few that remind me how great it is to be in a wonderful place meeting wonderful people. So far, every hike I have led included great people. Last week a young man named Bryce came with his parents. They were treating him to a National Parks vacation as a reward for getting his Masters degree at the U. of Virginia. He is now applying for medical schools, I hope he gets in and then I reminded him to take care of his parents in their old age. I think he will do both. I also had a MD who taught cardiology at the Wake Forest Medical School. His wife, was from Binghamton, but I didn't get to meet her unfortunately. Yesterday I had two couples from Hendersonville, NC, the one woman was from Binghamton. I also had the pleasure of hiking yestrday and today with Bob and Sharon from Kissimmee, Fla. They are educators and are taking the summer off. Sharon is an elementary counselor and Bob helps students improve their SAT and ACT scores. See http://www.maxthetest.com/ . This time they are touring the west without their kids. They had brought them the last time they were here when their kids were teenagers. Nothing against teenagers, but I think Bob and Sharon are enjoying their trip better this time. Bob or Sharon, if you see this and can amend anything I said please feel free with a comment.

Lsst week Kathy and I had a 'backcountry day' on our schedule instead of the usual day. So we spent Thursday and Friday hiking the Under-the-Rim trail again. We were able to do the 23 miles in two days this time because I went to our camp site the night before and cached water as well as our tent and thermarests. It made our packs much lighter for the trip. Brilliant! The only drawback was there were a few bugs here and there, but nothing like what we have experienced back east when bugs are at their worst. Bugs are a necessary part of the food chain though. We went up to our favorite point near Swamp Canyon on Thursday and made dinner and watched the wonderful evening settle on the serene backcountry from our perch. See image of the point.

Saturday night after a bike ride in light drizzle to nearby Red Canyon we saw a riveting slide show of the photography of camp host Charlie. Charlie set up a screen outdoors and ran the show from his laptop after dark. Seven of us volunteers watched it with him. He has taken aerial pictures from his ultralite of here at Bryce and surrounding areas as well as from Baja California. We want to go to Baja now! see http://charleschandlerphotography.com/

Sunday we took a drive down past the Tropic Reservoir to Crawford Pass in the Dixie National Forest. We hiked near the Pink Cliffs on the hiking trail there. We had the whole place to ourselves. We also spotted a forest fire that is being managed by the fire fighters here. On the way back there were lots of flames, a tree had probably ignited, they go up fast. A larger fire is raging to the west of here near Panguitch, it is now encompassing over 2600 acres and is threatening homes, so they are working at containing it. The most thrilling moment came when we were following a forest road in our truck that we thought would lead back into the park. I saw tire tracks so figured the road would have to lead to somewhere. Wrong, after going over a few miles (2 or 3?) of very rough road it came to an abrupt end next to a steep dropoff. There was no turnaround. I sort of went beserk, Kathy suggests my trail name should be Beserker, I also can get that way when I am fending off attacking bugs while hiking. Anyway, I had to back the truck up at a severe angle in a K-turn maneuver to get turned around. Kathy thought I was going to roll the truck, but good old Silver came through ok. We were glad to get back to saner roads and then I could feel saner. Lesson to self: don't take forest roads like that one anymore.

4th of July Parade

We participated in a 4th of July parade here at Bryce. A group of us volunteers marched together. We represented hiking trails: Kathy dressed up as Fairyland and I dressed up as Peekaboo. It was a lot of fun and the surprised visitors got a good show.

We also went to Kolob Reservoir (just north of Zion N.P.) with our new neighbors and co-volunteers Jim and Jan. We had hopes of seeing California Condors but had no luck. We did however talk with others who had seen some and were able to find out that morning or evening are the best times to see them. There was a condor day there a couple weeks ago and about twenty condors were spotted that day. Condors can have a nine feet wing span look as large as airplanes when they are flying. A number on them is often visible as they are all tagged. About 300 are now in existence, they are coming back from near extinction. We will have to get back to Kolob or to the Grand Canyon to see them.

Powell Point

We see Powell Point from almost everywhere on the rim of Bryce Canyon. It is 15 miles away (the way the raven flies) and at over 10,000 feet elevation stands 2,000 feet taller than the rim of Bryce. It often catches the late evening sun and looks shiny and magnificent during those moments. We have been anxious to get there and finally did this last Sunday. The trip wasn't long and was pleasant enough up a pretty good forest road, but we got a flat tire from a sharp rock on the way up. That wasn't such a bad thing though as we got to figure out how to replace it with our spare under pleasant circumstances. I would hate to be changing a tire along a busy, noisy highway on hot pavement. We also saw our first Golden Eagle who was feasting on some road kill. It seemed annoyed and reluctant to leave, but then flew off and we lost sight of it in some distant trees.

Once up on top the Table Cliffs Plateau, we walked for about an hour along a jeep/ATV trail and came to the trailhead, which was only 3/4 mile and took us to the point. The views were as good as we had hoped for, looking to the west to Bryce's rim, to the south to the Grand Staircase Escalante, and to the east to more of the Grand Staircase and what could have been Boulder mountain (which is acutally a mesa). We had the whole place to ourselves, a little different than places in the National Parks usually are in that regard. Two guys who sounded like Aussies were coming in as we were going out, and then they had the whole place to themselves. We stopped to visit Pine Lake on the way out and took a little stroll along the lakeshore. We read a memorial erected there to honor a former campground host 'Smitty'.

This past week two more volunteer couples arrived to work with us at Bryce. We are thrilled to have them, there are now more people available to work and we are also given an extra "backcountry day" which we will gladly use. A moment that I can look back with humor from working at the Visitor Center this past week was some overreacting and distraught father. His teenage daughter had a nose bleed, and his poor English compounded the whole incident. When I looked at her nosebleed I could see that she had been successful in stopping it, but he persisted nevertheless to make sure she was alright. I suggested getting some more tissue paper from the restroom but his response was hard to decipher. He shook off the use of the tissue paper and said "fresh water, fresh water!" Again I pointed to the rest room for that but he continued with frantic gestures, before I interpreted his flailings to indicate that maybe he wanted to know the basic treatment for a nose bleed. No, fresh water won't help unless it's needed to clean up blood on the face. I held my head back in an effort to show them how to help stop the bleeding (although by now this should have been a moot point). They headed for the rest room after this. We often don't know if we are communicating enough with some of our international visitors, as even though we try to speak slowly and use gestures, if they have limited understanding our words can get lost on them. But we will keep trying and see the humor in the two-way attempts.

Telluride Bluegrass Festival

I went to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and volunteered, with the urging of my son Ben. We both worked at the gate checking bags (for glass and alcohol) or monitoring the exits and entrances. In return, we got our admission paid for. Even though I didn't get much sleep and drove for about 8 hours there and back, the festival exceeded my expectations: the music was great, the event was very well run, the setting was marvelous, the food and beer were wonderful and reasonably priced, and the residents were very welcoming and friendly. What a great place it would be to live year round. In the summer, they have a music festival every weekend but one. The area is also committed to sustainability, it has formed The New Community Coalition, focusing on energy efficiency, renewable energy, green building, food security, resource recovery/recycling, education, and economy. Composting collection is done at the festival and is used by a local organic farm, even the plates and plastic ware were compostable. As a bag checker, I was amused and amazed at the number of beer cups that people were reusing, this was encouraged by a reduction of $2 from the price. Telluride is in a box canyon, it is a unique setting and very beautiful with snow still visible on the surrounding peaks. We rode the gondola on Saturday to nearby Mountain Village, and Ben and I took a hike on Sunday to the base of Bridal Veil Falls, see pictures. We were also joined on the weekend by Ben's friends Andy and Jason, Andy's 4-year old son Cameron, Andy's Mom Nancy and Andy's friend from NC David who ran (and finished #53!) a 50 mile race at Lake City, over ten miles of it was along the Continental Divide during a blizzard. I stayed the first night in the Umcompaghre National Forest because I didn't have a camping pass in town with Ben and his friends, but then stayed the next three nights with them. The highlight was going to the Greensky Bluegrass "Nightgrass Concert". I amazed the young people by staying up until 2:30 AM to the conclusion of the concert. Thanks to my partner Kathy for covering for me back at Bryce during their Astronomy Festival and kudos to her for what she did on Saturday: a 24 mile hike in Bryce Canyon and then staying up until 1:30 AM to help with the barbecue after the astronomy show ended. What an amazing double extravaganza on her part. see www.bluegrass.com and www.lakecity50.com

Kolob Canyons

We had the pleasure of hiking to Kolob Arch in Kolob Canyons this past weekend, see photo. Kolob Arch and Landscape Arch (in Arches N.P.) are competing for "World's Longest Arch" - they are within a foot of each other, depends on how they are measured. That still has to be worked out. May the best arch win!! The hike was about 14 miles round trip and in the rain on the way out and under mainly clear skies on the way back, mostly pleasant cool temps compared with the hot spells that can happen this time of year where both the heat and the bugs will take a toll on you. We decided to do the hike as a day hike rather than a backpack, which most people opt for. I am still waiting for good weather so I don't have to lug the 6.5 pound tent and we can get by with just the fly. We also got to explore some areas of the Dixie National Forest and car camp there, both near Kolob Canyons and Cedar Breaks. Our second night was the best, had a great view looking south back towards Kolob Canyons and a stack of firewood which we felt obliged to partly use. We checked out some forest campgrounds, which are nice enough but we like to camp in the primitive areas, they are free and more peaceful. Cheers to the Virgin River Rim Trail also which we hiked a couple different portions of, although we never saw the Virgin River but knew it was down there somewhere.

The past week at Bryce saw us each lead hikes and do our customary work in the Visitor Center. It still amazes us that people try to hike down the Navajo Loop in flip-flops and don't know what is in the brochures they receive on entry into the park, but we try to help in both cases. Both Kathy and I had Emma, her two sisters and Mom on our hikes. Emma is seven and the only time she doesn't talk is when she is asleep. She and her sisters were likeable so we could tolerate the chatter and appreciate their enthusiasm, may they thrive in their new environs of Utah after moving here from California. I also had an interesting couple from Germany on my hike, they are both physicists working at GCI in heavy ion research. see www. gci.de - he said they have been studying minute particles in atoms, quarks and stuff, but have had no breakthroughs in ten years. A different project in the facility however has developed an effective treatment for brain cancer, so their work has produced some benefit. According to my German friends, physicists like to hike as a general rule, there must be something with studying the atom and feeling the need to explore our world on foot.

Cathedral Valley

We went to Cathedral Valley Friday and Saturday, it is in the northern part of Capitol Reef N.P. A magnificent place. It requires driving down a rough road for almost 30 miles, but we went out a shorter route of 12 miles to the west through the National Forest. We had the campground to ourselves until a couple of guys pulled up later Friday night. They were friendly potato farmers from Idaho, and we had an interesting talk with them. They got their planting done and needed some getaway time. Saturday we did some exploring from the campground, found out that it is a loooooooooooong way down to get to the floor of the valley. We tried going down a side canyon a ways, but them it had a steep drop. Author Edward Abbey probably would have jumped down it, but we decided not to go down anything we couldn't get back up; getting seriously hurt in the attempt is another deterrent. We got up to some great viewpoints, and the 'nearby' peaks called but were a bit too far to reach.

Today we hiked from our trailer to the nearby town of Tropic. It was a 13 mile round trip, leaves Bryce Canyon into some BLM land. We ate lunch and did some grocery shopping and walked back. The weather has been up and down, high winds and some rain this weekend caused us to curtail our original plans to backpack Kolob Canyons, but today turned out to be splendid.

Afraid of Heights

I'm actually a bit afraid of heights, but that doesn't stop me from being in majestic places like Bryce Canyon (nothing there has really scared me) or the Grand Canyon. But after this picture was taken, I realized we were about 3000 feet directly above the Colorado River and I felt the sudden urge to move back from the precipice a little. I have heard that you can usually survive a fall of twenty feet, but not thirty feet, and I was not willing to test that. In any case, Toroweap was a special place and I was glad we made it there.

Toroweap

This past weekend we drove down to Toroweap, a remote part of the Grand Canyon on the north rim. The 61 mile drive in is on a gravel road, good going for most of the first 55 miles, then at the NPS boundary it turns very rough. It was the roughest road we have taken so far in our truck, and were told by two different people to expect a flat tire. We had a spare, but fortunately didn't need to use it. The highlight of the weekend was the Lava Falls Trail, the toughest 3 mile hike we ever took. It dropped 2450 feet to the Colorado River over 1.5 miles, much of it over loose rock and scree. The lower part was the worst, I would not have thought we could have done that, but we did and it only cost us our sunglasses as we lost them on the ascent somewhere. We didn't feel like going back down to look for them. My quads weren't quite up to that trip, were sore for the next two days. We did get to the Colorado River above Lava Falls, the biggest falls on the river where the rafts go. We were hoping to see some rafts when we were down there, but didn't. We saw them the next day, but they looked like dots from the top of the rim. We met another VIP named Steve, who was working at Pipe Springs N.P. We sat up Saturday night talking with him and then did a little more hiking around the area with him the next day.

The highlight of the previous week at Bryce was listening to NASA Ambassador Patrick Wiggins talk about NASA and other missions currently going on in the solar system. He is hoping that some form of life will be found elsewhere in the solar system, either on Mars, Jupiter's moon Europa, or icy Enceladas, a moon of Saturn's. Maybe we are not alone? Then we were treated to a view of the International Space Station as it raced across the sky 220 miles up. It looked like a very bright plane, except without the blinking lights. The crowd gathered outside gave it a big applause as it streaked across. Expedition 20 wias to start the next day with the arrival of three more astronauts, marking the first time all five partner agencies have a presence on the ISS, and the first time a six-person crew will be on board. You can find out how to see the ISS at http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/index.html In checking, I find that sightings aren't available currently from either Binghamton or Bryce now, but eventually I think it should be visible again. We tried to see it from Toroweap the next night but couldn't sight it there.

This evening I led about 20 people on a 'rim walk', filling in for an ill co-worker. It went well, I was able to fill them in on some of the interesting aspects of Bryce: things like how once we were even with the Table Cliffs Plateau, rising 2000 feet higher to the east, how the 'pink cliffs' here are the highest step on the 'Grand Staircase', a little history of how it became a national park (in 1928), a little history of John Wesley Powell and geologist Clarence Dutton, both instrumental in exploring the west and mapping it, lightning here at Bryce (yikes!) and fortunately none tonight, the Ponderosa Pine, the erosion process that continually reshapes the scenery here, and a few times I made intentional mistakes to see if any of our Junior Rangers were paying attention. Plus much more, I think our friends from the UK and Michigan enjoyed it immensely as I left them wanting more, that's what you want to achieve.

Kathy worked a 'double shift' today at the desk, also filling in for our ill co-worker. She is a bit more tired and sacked out on the couch as I write this. We had a long-awaited mild and pleasant evening, not too chilly and were able to sit around outside and enjoy our dinner. We expect more evenings like this as we progress into the summer. The weather will hopefully get better and more predictable. I am getting weary of the 30% chance of t-storms and telling visitors that it could happen, but who knows? We need the rain though, the west is still very dry, although this year things are better than years past. So wear sun screen, drink enough water and keep on eye on the sky for storms wherever you are.

Mossy Cave and More

This past week, we led our first hike for the visitors at a place called Mossy Cave. It was not so much of a hike as it was a walk and learn session (interpretative hike). Fifteen people showed up, and they all stayed to the end, so that suggested we held their interest. Kathy talked about the plant life that could be found there as well as the main feature - running water, and I talked about the geology. We also may have spotted the smallest 'window' in Bryce Canyon - see if you can see it on the formation in the center of the picture. The week went fast, and this past Memorial Day weekend has had crummy weather, until today (Sunday). This part of Utah is not supposed to get prolonged "soaking rains", but that's what we had since Thursday night. I told visitors at the VC that the rain would be over pretty quickly as that's what it usually does. I hope they're not looking for me now to explain. We had a 3-day weekend and made the most of it. We made our first trip to the big city of Cedar City. I got a haircut, we did some shopping, and checked out the 'historic' part of the city where we picked ourselves up with some coffee. The ride over on State Route 14 was very interesting, we noted several National Forest spots and made a quick stop at Cedar Breaks. We hope to get back to the forest some more. We managed to fit in a hike on Kathy's favorite trail - Fairyland Loop yesterday. We also pulled off a side trip up Boat Mesa, had great views and called our friends HarunMuf from the top. We got to talk with Muffy but Harry was in the middle of a dog fight, more on that later I'm sure. Last night we had our neighbor and camp host Charlie over for dinner. Charlie winters in Baja and was working on getting us interested in going there, we shall see. Charlie is in the midst of getting his new ultralite plane ready for flight, Kathy hopes to be able to go up in it some day. Me, I'm not so sure as I'm a bit scared of heights but am fascinated with flying anyways. At this point, we have hiked all the trails in Bryce Canyon except for the Riggs Spring loop and a couple connector trails to the Under-the-Rim trail. If anyone needs any info on hiking here, we are establishing oursleves as the go-to people. Today we made another ride up the road on our bikes to Rainbow Point and checked out the Bristlecone Pine trail. We identified where some bristlecones were, they were mainly on the winward side of the point where no other trees want to grow. We also saw a 1500 year old Bristlecone that had died but is still standing. The poor Bristlecones, they have it rough. You all reading this need to start making your plans to come out of you haven't already. Hope to hear from you on that soon.

Down Under Weekend

Here is a report we provided to the Ranger in charge of the backcountry in Bryce:
Kathy and I hiked the UtRim trail Fri-Sun, from Rainbow Pt to Bryce Pt. We stayed at Natural Bridge and Sheep Creek campsites. As you had noted, the trail was passable, with some blowdown in areas, mostly to the south. One large tree had branches cut off beneath. There was also 3 areas where rain runoff threatened the trail. We can provide more detail or pictures if you want. We tore down 2 of 3 illegal fire rings, all in the 3 Yellow Creek sites. The guys we met at YC group site said they would tear their's down. A camper had alerted us to them and wondered why the park would be encouraging fires and trash by their presence. They had packed out the trash they found from one of the fire rings. Intermittent streams were running in many places, one most notable was just south of Iron Springs, this would be a better water source than the spring itself when it's running. Two more interesting notes: we met a thru-hiker of the Hayduke trail (900 miles) and 2 different reports of mountain lion tracks near Yellow Creek group site, one guy told us there were both adult and baby tracks. We couldn't spot them for ourselves as we hiked out. We encountered 16 other campers, including 3 of the group of 8 staying at YC group site, all had permits although we didn't inspect them, and all seemed to be knowledgable about handling things in backcountry. We enjoyed our trip, it was a great weekend and will be interested in doing it again.

Added note: The long distance hiker we met went by the trail name "Dogwood". He chuckled when we told him ours were Tenderfoot and Brownie D. (D for dropout). When we first encountered him on the trail, we asked him where he was headed, he replied "Zion". We thought he was joking, but then found out that he was doing the Hayduke Trail (name comes from Edward Abbey's character in "The Monkeywrench Gang"). Before he gets to Zion though he dips down into Arizona and goes to both the north and south rims of the Grand Canyon. He started his hike on April 11, and encountered deep snow in the Henry Mtns. He also got sidetracked near Capitol Reef by going into the wrong canyon, he is only traveling with topo maps and compass, which can be tough in canyon country. He bemoaned the fact that his error cost him a full day. All he wore on his underside was hiking shorts, he admitted it was tough when he was postholing. He also wore light weight low cut trail shoes. He had a 7 ounce wool bivvy sack, he said it was very warm. He had a tarp but rarely used it. Sometimes he has to carry 25 pounds of water, he noted that Utah is very dry. So he can't always travel light. We talked with him at length about lightweight backpacking options. He has done all the other major long distance hikes, and said that not many more than ten have thru-hiked the Hayduke. We later met two other guys who had camped with Dogwood the night before. They spent the evening talking with him, said he was very interesting and since he had not talked with anyone in nine days he was very keen on talking. We wish we had been there, but hopefully we get a chance to spend time with another l.d. hiker, they are an interesting lot. We helped Dogwood with what to expect with water on the UtRim trail, and later I wish I had offered him the rest of our trail mix that never got eaten that day. We wish him well as he continues on his journey, finding water will be his biggest concern but he will complete it we have no doubt.

P.S. Today we were back at work, although our supervisor Jan counted our time on the trail this past weekend as 'time served'. The number of volunteer hours = $$ at the parks. But today I thought that some of the visitors at the VC seemed to be a little more annoying than usual. I guess those days happen. Jan felt the same and said yesterday was similar. I expect not all days will be so, just some. Tonight we heard 'Dox' talk about migrating birds at the Evening Program. Birds are amazing, wherever they are. Dox says that any day can be a good (and amazing) day, just go out and see what the birds are doing.

A Whirlwind

It's been a whirlwind and some time since we updated the blog. Larry B. reminded me of that. All I have time for right now are some random thoughts and incomplete sentences. Thanks for understanding. We are having a ball. Now working instead of training. Turns out we know more than the visitors. The Visitor Center (VC) is a very busy place, lots of excitement and unexpected events. Cars colliding in the parking lot, keys locked in car, woman weak and about to faint, French and German spoken in spades. We also get to 'rove' the trails half the day and talk to people, Kathy saw a person in a wheel chair down below the rim, that's ok but then she also saw a baby in a stroller who wasn't buckled in and was squirming. The good stuff: new Junior Rangers (not us, we swear them in), lots of smiles and appreciation, backcountry permits are picking up (we are going out ourselves today through Sunday) , the weather is always sunny and pleasant, my brother visited us for 2 days and I got him to go down a trail under the rim - wasn't sure he would get back up but he did, Wes Ernsberger, Gerri Wiley and her son Michael have been here the last two days and we have had a great time together. We have been doing a lot of hiking, a full moon hike, and once biked up to Rainbow Point. We have also managed to check out Grand Staircase Escalante (GSENM). We camped near some ancient dinosaur tracks last weekend, did a slot canyon (Zebra), hiked up to Calf Creek Falls and saw some 'rapellers' coming down on ropes - 120 feet, Kathy told them she hoped it was as good for them as it was for us. Also been to Kodachrome State Park, but need to get to Powell Point, Glen Canyon, other places in GSENM (but not slot canyons!), Boulder Mtn, Mt. Dutton, and so much more. Other random tidbits: Kathy got fingerprinted to be able to use the govt. computers, she doesn't have much of a print left (they may not be good enough - for govt. work), sunrise is popular at Bryce Point - Gerri got us out there, the wind blows a lot here but no bugs, 'Vive La France' gets a big cheer from the rowdy French group I ran into, we get asked to have our pictures taken a lot (even though we're just volunteers - must be the uniform), the night sky was great last night, a Utah Prairie Dog came right up to us and posed - oh oh, looking for handouts, that's not good, BUT THEY ARE SO DOGGONE CUTE AREN'T THEY? We rented our first NetFlix DVD over a week ago but haven't even had a chance to see it yet, season will be in 'full swing here' starting Memorial Day weekend, a tragedy involving one of our co-workers has sobered us all but also shown the best of our ranger staff, need to find a dentist soon - anyone know a good one within 80 miles? also anyone know a good free (or cheap) register cleaner for our laptop? We miss Bingo area, when friends visit, it especially reminds us of that, but so far everything we are involved in is exceeding our expectations. We have pics galore but our attach bug is back, sigh.

Junior Rangers

This week we have been participating with Bryce Canyon seasonal and volunteer staff training. They have been throwing a lot of stuff at us, but it's been invigorating, rewarding and fun. The ranger staff here is great, and everyone is making us feel like we are a real part of the park. Our supervisor, Jan Stock, is a very inclusive and people-oriented person, and we look forward to doing anything she tells us to do. We have been learning what it takes to be a park interpreter, which involves helping visitors to the park understand and assimilate universal themes that the park has to offer. Our instructor Kevin likes to say that after our interpreting, we leave off where are visitors 'will go onto the rest of their lives'. We have also been struggling over the Junior Ranger book, it isn't easy! We found out that anyone (including adults), can become Junior Rangers. Yeehaw! But the program is targeted to kids twelve and under, with the underhanded intention of getting their parents involved too, so that they can learn a thing or two. We have been issued a set of keys, given use of the staff laundry, and soon will get radios and uniforms.

Today we have the morning off, but will participate in the "Dark Skies" program tonight, which we are looking forward to. Astronomy is very big here, so is geology. Kathy and I are both trying to prepare some geology talks. Right now I am contemplating using a sandwich as a model of rock layers, then show what happens to it as it is cut (faults) and one side is uplifted from the other, as can be seen here between the fault separating the Aquarius Plateau (higher) and the Paunsaugunt Plateau where Bryce is. I will also take some bites out of it, representing the formation of ampitheaters, which is what is happening here at Bryce. Eventually, the sandwich will be gone (yum) as will the rocks forming all the spectacular scenery here (sob), but that will take another three million years.

The most amazing scenery here, and what makes Bryce so unique are the multicolored hoodoos. There are hoodoos in other areas (including the country of Turkey), but none to the extent that exist here. It's the freezing/thawing cycle here that is the predominant erosion activity forming the hoodoos. Bryce gets 200+ days per year where the temperature goes both above and below freezing. We have had four out of five days like that so far, last night was the first night it didn't drop below freezing. By contrast, the Aquarius Plateau, which is from the same rock formation, stays below freezing a lot more because it is 2000 feet higher. Therefore, it doesn't get the erosion factor that Bryce gets and has no hoodoos.

On Monday Ernie & Heide Mahlke showed up and greeted me "Hi Scott" at Rainbow Point. I was taken off guard and didn't recognize Heide at first, but then I saw Ernie and she said "I'm Heide" and my recognition returned. They are the first visitors from back home who looked us up. We went out to dinner with them that night and had a good time visiting. They had just been to Zion and are continuing their travels on the 'loop' in Utah which takes one to several other magnificent parks. So the rest of you reading this, make your plans now to get out here and either surprise us or not, but just get here.

We feel that we are acclimating to the 8000 foot elevation here. Last night we did a 20+ mile bike ride, and notice we didn't feel as winded. But now I have a flat tire to attend to. (another one!) Kathy hiked down into the canyon today (as I sit here on the computer) and already encountered a ranger assisting a woman with a broken ankle. Falls and injuries are very common here. Not too many people die here, fortunately, but lightning has taken 3 lives and injured many others, including taking off the scalp and pony tail of Kevin Poe's friend. It is already pretty busy here. Many of the visitors are from foreign countries, mostly European, so we can have a European experience as well as a spell-binding hoodoo one right here in Bryce.

We Made it to Bryce!

After leaving the Mittens and other monuments we moved on towards Jacob Lake (North Rim, Grand Canyon). Driving by Marble Canyon, we reminisced on our first trip through in 2005. Then, as now, the wind was raging. That trip, we spent the night at the Marble Canyon Lodgeto avoid setting up a tent at 11pm in the National Forest, worrying the whole while about 40 mph winds sending a towering Ponderosa Pine into our tent. This trip, we decided to make a stop at Lee's Ferry, having missed it the first time through. Plus, the beautiful blue "Rio Colorado" would be eye candy after so much dry dust While trying to figure out the payment procedure - you'd think by now we would have these things down pat - we met and chatted with a couple from Mesa, AZ. They had been bringing kayaks to Lee's Ferry for several years and sang the praises of the Lee's Ferry campground. Apparently, you can kayak upstream the 15 miles to Lake Powell in quiet water. The current is minimal, and camping is allowed enroute if you choose to make a multiday trip. Coming back down would seem a cinch - but if the wind is being wicked, watch out! The camground offered no hookups, but it was worth a night's stay, having a splendid view of the Paria Riffle and towering canyon walls. The Paria Riffle, by the way, sure looks like a RAPID to me. But, of course, I am viewing it through Eastern eyes. We biked up to Lee's Ferry proper and happily watched rafters scurrying about like ants on a food gathering mission. After an easy hike along a River trail, we returned to see what kind of progress had been made. Still at it, apparently it is quite a time consuming process. I caught conversations regarding proper placement of liquid refreshments - a most important part of the supply chain. A lab puppy happily bounded from boat to boat - we never figured out which of the several trips belonged to him. After checking permits, a Ranger stopped and explained the difference between commercial and private trips. Private trips must have a licensed boatman for each boat. Other than that - they are on their own. Commercial trips must meet other requirements, as well. In the morning, after plumping up on pancakes, we headed up a small side canyon just next to our Rocky. We were able to make it to the head of the canyon and were rewarded with a purposely placed pile of petrified wood. Oh, I was so tempted to pilfer a piece - but was able to hold the impulse at bay and walk away empty handed, but full of self rightousness. Hiking up the side of the canyon on a little "explore" we came upon the Lee's Ferry "dump". This is where old toilets, dumpsters and signs go to die. Not pretty. Since it was nearing time to vacate the premises, we walked down to the "beach" to photograph the Paria Riffle and put our feet in the 47 degree waters, freshly released from the bottom of Lake Powell. Scott called "Rafters coming!" and we were treated to a show. This is the first turbulance they encounter after casting off from Lee's Ferry. I can imagine the thrill of the newbies as they cascade down this first "riffle". So, again, we will head to Jacob Lake, only 50 miles up the road. As it turns out, no campgrounds are in operation yet, until the North Rim opens in mid-May. But national forest abounds, so we found a secluded spot on forest road 248. I was truly itching to get on my bike and ride up the access road to the North Rim, even though that danged, infernal, eternal wind was still with us. Since we are on the Kaibab plateau, the road is generally level, with gentle ups and downs. And the huge trees sheltered us for the most part. We road a couple miles on the dirt forest road, then 10 miles up the North Rim road, which is still closed to all but local traffic. About halfway up we encountered a huge pine down and blocking the whole road (I guess our fears of four years ago were well founded). Apparently the "local traffic" knows how to get around using the forest roads, as a few cars passed us, but there were no tire marks in the ground around the tree. We are now at Bryce Canyon, cozy in our campsite. Located in a small loop of Sunset Campground, reserved for employees,two sites are occupied by Charlie and Carol. They share the campground host duties. One other site will be occupied sometime in June. We have met Carol, and her two friendly dogs, but have not yet laid eyes on Charlie. Last night we took a short walk along the rim to Sunset Point and then over to the Bryce Lodge. Kevin Poe (who will be conducting our orientation/training) was presenting a program there, "Dark Skies", which we decided to stay and watch. He had amazing photographs of galaxies/stars/planets/nebulae from Hubble, next to photos of the same he had taken. This was, to me, the most extraordinary part of the program. Leaving the Lodge, we encountered a bit of precipitation (mixed?snow? - hard to tell). Today reminded me much of the Southern Tier in terms of spring weather, a cold front charged in along with us, I'm afraid. Two thingsare certain, we are happy to be settled and no longer towing Rocky, and the results of a frequently bad thing - erosion - are stunning here!

We are now in Monument Valley, our second night at Goulding's Campground. We just completed an exhilarating hike up the mesa near the campground. A friendly woman who raised five kids here had told us how to get up it this morning. She and her husband had come here 38 years ago intending to stay about three years and they are still here. We never would have figured out how to get up there without her instructions, but we went behind the Seventh Day Adventist school which she is active with and climbed up a rock fall. It was great up on top, we could see a long ways. Earlier we had biked up to the fee area of Monument Valley and hiked around the West Mitten, the one hike they allow you to take without a guide. We had trouble staying on the trail though, but with the Mitten and it's two cousin buttes in sight the whole time, we always knew where we were.

We will get to Bryce Canyon this weekend, which we are excited about. We can finally set up a real home, with 'porch', outdoor shoe rack and get things in proper order inside the trailer. Our supervisor touched base with us and said our 2 week training period starts this Monday.

While we were staying near Mesa Verde, we also went over to Durango and did some shopping and hiking. There is a neat set of trails starting in the city limits called the Animas Mountain Trail. We had views in every direction, it was in a wonderful mountainous setting. The San Juan Mountains were snow covered, and the Forest Service employee we talked with at their office said the access roads to the forest were still closed for the most part. The Colorado Trail starts (or ends) there also but we were told it was pretty muddy with the spring runoff. I expected to see signs of gas drilling around Durango, but never did find any, must not have been in the right place for that. We did see plenty of oil drills on our drives though.

Today is Earth Day, I note that we are seeing some of the best the Earth has to offer. Monument Valley is recognized as a World Heritage Site as an example. We hope places like this remain protected and revered for generations to come. If humankind ever decides that these places aren't worth saving, then the planet is doomed.

P.S. We got our computer problem fixed by getting the latest version of Spybot and running it. We were using our computer for a few weeks without enough spyware and antivirus protection, not a good idea. Anyways, now we can upload pictures again, yippee.

I did not realize until waiting for a room at the Holiday Inn during the blackout (immediately following the duststorm "brownout" which followed the flat tire on Rocky), that Tony Hillerman was such a prolific writer! They had all (?) of his books in the lobby. Cool. I have read a couple and enjoyed them. This is his country for sure. I was admiring a beautiful photograph of a Navajo girl in full ceremonial dress looking out over Canyon De Chelly, when I heard a little "that's me" from over my left shoulder. She was justifiably proud of both the picture and her beautiful robe. We joined another couple driven in by the dust for dinner that night - the Navajo Taco was quite tasty . A combination of pizza, taco and chili. We took a 3 1/2 hr hike down into Canyon De Chelly the next dustfree day, with a Navajo guide named Ben. He had grown up in the canyon and told us quite a bit about his family Navajo tradition and life in the canyon. He wandered far and wide - what a place to be a kid! About half the hike was back and forth through Chinle Wash, which was running with 35 degree (my feet told me) water. The tiny, tepid mud puddles felt like heaven. We sure could have used the San Francisco River hot springs right about then. We moved on to a waterless, powerless campground the next night, but, hey, it was free. In the morning, after another Navajo taco at the Thunderbird Inn - we were hooked by then - We drove out the North Rim in "rainflakes" as Susie, one of our dinner companions called them (actually, "rainballs" would be more appropriate, as it was more like tiny hail). Anyway, we have since taken in the Petrified Forest, The Painted Desert at sunset, The Four Corners Monument and Mesa Verde, as well as surrounding environs on our bikes today. And we have heat and lights and water and laundry and hot showers, not to mention a gorgeous view. We also have been watching a pair of Mountain Bluebirds enjoy their reflections in Silver's sideview mirror each morning.
Best to all,
Klean and Squeaky (no longer Dusty and Sandy)