Hey, a connection!

This may be short.  What little internet connection we had is now virtually gone.  Anything we do via the web requires us to find a public broadcast by driving 85 miles to Kanab or getting to the park service administration building, sitting on the porch (it is getting cold here) and hooking up for a brief period.

But boy has a lot of things happened since my last post.  We continued to get inundated by rain.  Two tropical storms made back to back appearances and merged up with the local monsoons.  The campers, the ones in tents especially, looked like a bunch of drowned rats.  There was simply nowhere to go and be dry.  The most common form of transportation for a few days was the backstroke.

One poor fellow from Israel climbed out of his tent about 6:30 in the morning and was headed for the water spigot to get water for cooking breakfast and something hot to drink.  He never made it, keeled over in the road, dead from a massive heart attack before he even hit the ground.  Our co-hosts were on duty that morning and helped the family break camp and get all their gear in their vehicle so that they could follow the coroner's vehicle to Flagstaff with the body.

On a lighter side, I came across a lady (probably in her late sixties) this morning as I was running the traps.  She approached me to tell me what a terrible campground this was.  This took me by some surprise as I can't tell you how many people have tracked me down to say how fantastic they thought this campground was.  I didn't know what to say and as I searched for words the woman filled the silence with why she thought it was so terrible: "It gets dark here at 7:00pm, I'll never come back here because it gets dark so early".  "But Ma'am" I said, "It is mid September, the days are getting shorter now."  She replied; "You mean it gets dark at a different time during another part of the year?  When is it daylight longer around here?"  Now, I don't have a very good poker face so I am sure that my amazement was showing when I replied; "Same as when it is daylight longer everywhere in the northern hemisphere, June and July."

"Oh" she said.  "I'll have to plan my trip for that time of year next time." and walked off.

Since the last post Cyndee and I have made a grocery run to Kanab.  It is a pretty drive every time.  Rain, no rain, clouds, or clear blue sky it always feels shorter than its 85 miles because of the scenery. 


Arizona Highway 67 just as we are leaving the campground.



Going north on a rain-soaked highway 67



While we can enjoy the fog-shrouded woods of highway 67 now, it will be under 12 feet of snow soon.



About eight miles north of the campground.  We were wondering if the whole 85 miles going to be like this.

 

As we broke over the last ridge and into the 15 mile long meadow the fog got thicker.



About four miles into the meadow and the fog lifted just enough so that we could drive normal speed.



On AZ 89A approaching the edge of the Kaibab Plateau.



AZ 89A, down in the valley, looking north towards Bryce Canyon.

While in Kanab we had this feeling of POWER because for the first time in weeks our phones were showing five bars and 3G.  We were downloading email, making orders online and catching up on phone calls.

One call in particular was a response to the volunteer supervisor at Big Bend National Park in Texas.  Our application to be volunteers there for winter had been accepted and we were to call for an interview.

The interview went very well and we now have a confirmed position as visitor center guides in the Chisos Basin of Big Bend.  Big Bend is a truly large park, it encompasses an entire mountain range, spanning nearly 800 square miles.  There are several visitor centers scattered throughout the park as well as widely spaced lodges (we are talking 25 to 40 miles apart) and hundreds of miles of trails through mountains and the Chihuahuan Desert.  We will park our camper at the headquarters facility in Panther Junction and they are going to give us a car to drive to work in the Chisos basin about a half hour away.

But there is still plenty going on here at the North Rim.  During the split in our shift one day, Cyndee and I took a walk on the Transept, an activity we have done many times.  But this time we spotted a side trail that got out on a rocky point.  So here is a canyon we have been looking at every day since we got here and all of sudden we see it look different than we have ever seen it.

 

 

The other day I posted a picture that was a view from my "office".  That was back when we still had a WiFi connection.  A couple of days ago I caught Cyndee as she was texting a photo to our daughter saying that we had reported to work this morning and this was our office for the day.