Another day in paradise

Working as a camp host is not exactly a job you would call a "grind". Our days on duty are long with a split shift starting at 7:00am until 11:00am and then from 6:00pm to 10:00pm. Although we never really stop being on duty between shifts. There are always campers that need assistance and projects that need done. But never a grind. And the days on duty are over quickly and suddenly you have three or four days on you hands for, whatever.

With recent record breaking rainfall we have had some erosion right through the front of our campsite. The little Polaris ATV has a bed on the back that holds the buckets and tools we use for campsite maintenance. But a feature it has that not everyone realizes is that the miniature pick-up bed has an electric motor on it that makes it dump! And in my exploring I have also found a mountain of mulch just waiting to be spread.

I thought I was done with landscaping projects when we sold the house and started full timing. Guess I was wrong.

I made two trips to the mulch pile about a mile away and spread about 500 lbs in two of the worst spots as an experiment. Before I do any more shoveling of mulch I want to see that my efforts are going to hold through another rain. If you can believe the weather forecast I won't have long to wait. There is supposed to be a big storm coming up from Mexico. We have been pretty rain-soaked for the past couple of weeks and campers are getting discouraged and pulling out. For the first time since we have been here there are numbers of empty campsites for nights in a row. I don't blame them for leaving, trails are impassable, lightning is wicked scary and there is little alternate things to do except hole-up in your tent or camper. The folks in the tents are in the worst way, they have become soaked and can't get dried out.

Our neighbors and co-hosts, Don and Anne have battened down the hatches on their class-C. I have no doubt that the furnace is running as the temperature has just barely climbed into the 50's. The ponderosa's are a whole other kind of pretty when rain soaked.

Our tenting neighbors just outside the back window of our camper have been dodging the intermittent thunderstorms. They have made several trips to the General Store where it is warm and dry.

During a break in the rain they jumped on the chance to put up a shelter over their picnic table.

They got that shelter up and then left, probably to go hang out at the lodge. Nice shelter, it's a big'n.

It is not all cold and rainy. On the days when the air is dry and overnight temps have not dropped below the high 50's I will take full advantage of my early rising (5:30am) and move to one of my "offices" to write on this blog or research volunteer jobs.

With the sun rising behind me and a bubba-mug of orange-spiced tea I am all set for a blog writing session. This is my "home" office, above, and below is my Administration Building office, sitting on the porch in a wicker rocking chair with ottoman and view to the employee cabins.

The admin building, about a mile away is where we have to go to get a secure and high speed connection to the internet. It is also the only place that we can access email via the internet. The connection in the camp ground General Store blocks all interface with email servers. I don't know why, but it does.

We had heard from another volunteer, an arborist, that there was a really nice drive down a national forest road that we should try out. So on one of our days off we decided that our "whatever" thing to do would be to check out that back-road.

We had to drive the twelve miles north to the park entrance gate and then go about another four miles down the road of the Kaibab Plateau, through the great meadow I have spoken of.

The meadow is only a couple thousand yards wide but almost 15 miles long. Deer are abundant and this is the home range for the Grand Canyon Bison Herd. It has really greened up from all the rain and the prairie grasses have gotten tall.

On this day we noticed that the grass had headed out and given a yellow cast, overlaying the green beneath. Summer is showing signs of waning here on the Kaibab Plateau.

Looking north towards Jacob Lake with the entrance to the North Rim just behind me.

The meadow as seen from Winchester's Kaibab Lodge parking lot.

Forest road 16 is accessed just a short distance south of the Country Store and Kaibab Lodge. The National Forest maps cleverly mark the road as "unpaved". With purpose it does not say; "dirt road". To call it that you would have to have some dirt and there is none on this road, it is just a massive layer of razor-sharp rocks.

Forest road 16. These aspens are going to be brilliant yellow in a couple of weeks.

Our goal was Saddle Mountain, 14 miles ahead. But first we had to make some elevation. The tree-lined road rose and narrowed with each mile. The GPS in Big Gulp was registering a little over 9,000 feet in a short while. After following a bee-line south back towards the Grand Canyon , the road turned and started winding itself along the boundary between the Grand Canyon National Park and Kaibab National Forest. For ten miles we bounced and jostled along this ever narrowing and rougher road. I was beginning to hear rattles in Big Gulp that I have never heard before. I could not make up my mind if I was imagining new noises or if they were real.

Regardless, our speed continued to slow as we got on down this strip of rocks. Before long our GPS was registering an average speed of 8mph. 14 miles on a paved road that would have taken 14 minutes to traverse is now taking us over an hour. But just as it appeared that the road would close in too tight for Big Gulp it suddenly broke open into a large clearing and a small sign declaring we had arrived at our goal.

After having been in the highly controlled environment of the North Rim where access to views and overlooks were strictly controlled to foot traffic, it was a shock to just drive right up to the rim.

As I was taking in the view and walking around Big Gulp I discovered that it was not my imagination about the new rattles. I noticed that the mud flap on the passenger side was hanging by a thread. About ten mounting screws had been jarred completely out of the base material they were affixed to, stripping out all threads. One single mount on the frame was all that remained in place. Thank goodness I had my tool box with me. I got the appropriate wrench out and removed the mud flap, throwing it in the bed of the truck for later attention.

It was pretty spectacular seeing Big Gulp right there on the edge of the Grand Canyon. The knoll we had ascended to was pretty spacious. There were a number of spots carved out where people could pitch camp and stay until they had their fill.

The view from Big Gulp's grill was impressive.

That's Saddle Mountain to the left.

Way off in the distance is the South Rim and its plateau.

Currant growing wild on the edge of this 9,160 ft overlook.

While poking around on the rim to get the above shots I stumbled across an established trail. Like the road we drove in on, it was paved of sharp, boot-eating, ankle twisting rocks. But it lead to a rock outcropping that promised some nice shots of the canyon. Off I go. Cyndee opted to stay with Big Gulp.

It was worth the climb.

What would a post from me be without a panorama or two?

The day was getting long in the tooth and it was time to head back. Another hour-plus to jostle our way back to the Kaibab Lodge alongside highway 67 and just across from the Country Store. We are letting someone cook for us tonight. We have heard that this little lodge does a pretty good supper at prices more reasonable than the dining room at the North Rim Lodge. Cyndee is jonse'n for a big greasy hamburger with all the trimmings.

The dining room was classic "rustic lodge". There were also a lot of photographs from the early days of the development of the North Rim. Cyndee had her burger and I had a grilled chicken salad, both were pretty good.

Remember an earlier post where I featured a truck that had been built by a year-'round maintenance guy? Well, we were looking at all the goodies that the Kaibab Lodge had to offer in their gift shop and came across a display case with these hand-made knives. We both started reading the plaque and simultaneously said; "That's our John McFarland!" The same guy that built the truck.

It seems our John is multi-talented. Expert maintenance man, builder of custom trucks and flint knapper. Check out the Kaibab squirrel carved into the handle of the knife on the left. The blade in that one is obsidian and the one on the right is flaked red glass.

As we walked to the truck we came across this little fellow. He was gnawing on a mushroom cap and oblivious to our presence. I'm pretty sure I saw his glassy eyes roll back in his head a couple of times.