Farewell to Our Co-Hosts of the Grand Canyon North Rim Campground

Typically the summer season of the North Rim Campground (May 15th thru Oct 15th) is divided into two halves for campground hosts.  Last year we had the second half, August until the end of October.  But the government shutdown cut us short almost 30 days.  This year we were asked to work the whole season, and then some, coming in early May and staying until the end of Oct or until snow falls, whichever comes first.

But our co-hosts, three year veterans of the North Rim, signed up for the first half and the time has come for them to return to southern Arizona and their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  To wish them bon voyage the rangers in the fees group (the group that the camp hosts work for) put together a pizza and roasted marshmallow get together.

The monsoon had begun on the 4th of July and the weather had been pretty sketchy for these last days of the month.  We were not sure if we were going to get rained out or not but we planned our outdoor/campfire party as if the weather was going to be perfect.

Cyndee and I were on duty the evening of the farewell party but our supervisor said we WILL take time out for a slice and s'mores.  It was our night to work the closing of the camper registration desk, she had us shut down an hour and a half early.  She even closed the entrance station, fifteen miles away, early so the ranger out there would be able to get to the pizza before it was all gone. The skies were darkening as they had a tendency to do this time of day but we pushed on.

When the time came the campfire was burning perfectly, the pizzas were hot and fresh (from the Deli in the Pines, a mile away at the lodge) and marshmallows at ready.

Our co-hosts; the Santa Claus in the T-shirt and shorts and his wife, closest to the camera in the green jacket.

That's Cyndee, standing in uniform.  Everybody else was off for the evening so no other uniforms to be seen.

In the pictures above, for the time of day it should have been bright shafts of light streaming in from the west with the ponderosas casting long shadows.  Instead, we were bordering on needing a flash to take the pictures.  Clouds were darkening and the temperature was dropping.  Cyndee was poking me to come on and go get all the late arrival permits posted lest we end up doing it in the rain.  I complied but not soon enough.

We had no more started hanging the first permit than the skies opened up.  We made a short loop around the top of the campground and passed by where we had been roasting marshmallows moments before.  As best we could tell, eight people had piled into our co-hosts 5th wheel and continued the festivities.  Or as much as you can in less than 400 sq. ft.

We had a larger number of late arrival permits than usual because we had closed the registration desk early.  By the time we got done we were soaked to the bone but we were also still basking in the glow of a delicious slice of pizza and perfectly roasted marshmallow and fond farewell to our partners in camp hosting for the last 10 weeks.