No one visiting due to the federal government shutdown at Grand Canyon. It is eerily quiet except for the wind in the tree tops.
This morning the parking lot was almost empty. Visitors still had until noon to leave. Campers had been told they had to stay in camp or leave. I miss the amazed looks of people from around the world seeing Grand Canyon for their first time. And even their second or twentieth. I never tire of looking into the canyon.
Cabins were being cleaned for perhaps the last time until next year. The North Rim cabins typically close after October 15th but it doesn’t look like they’ll make it due to the shutdown. The North Rim would typically attempt to stay open for at least day use until December 1st, unless the snow flies first. Then reopen May 15th, still weather dependent.
And surprise, no hiking on trails. All trailheads were barricaded. Plus the scenic drive was closed. These closures extend to visitors and staff, furloughed or not. With very limited ‘essential’ personnel safety issues are being taken into consideration.
This US government shutdown effects Federal lands, and not all because there’s too many access points to many National Forests and Bureau of Land Management lands, but not State, County or City parks. Of course the shutdown also effects all surrounding community businesses and all the people that had planned to visit during this time.
Where did everybody go?
Just like you, I am still waiting to hear if the US government will reopen along with the National Parks. Please let your representatives know how you feel about the shutdown. www.whoismyrepresentative.com/
The House, The Senate and Obama all acting like little children. No compromise—my way or the highway. Hey ladies and gentlemen can’t we discuss—NO___ and I will pound my shoe on the table. MB
And knowing how the gov often doesn’t work on Fridays we continue to wait for the children. So silly and sad.
I agree Gaelyn, a very sad state of affairs ( or shouldn’t I mention “state”?) 🙂 Love all your pictures though but for myself I would of course love all the peace and quiet there.
I’m sure the few of us left will enjoy the peace and quiet yet for how long we don’t know.
I think the last picture tells the story of a popular world renown attraction which is hauntingly empty due to bickering politicians. The thought of this happening is beyond me yet there it is.
It’s certainly not like being here before we open in the spring. This is a time when visitors should be here enjoying the fall colors and the canyon.
This shut down is very frustrating indeed. We had plans for National Forest camping all this month and now we’re not sure what to do. This is prime season for fall travel. It hurts the public lands and those who work on them for no good reason.
Nina
You might still get lucky with National Forests as there isn’t enough enforcement around to patrol entire forests.
Man, it sounds like the perfect time to visit a friend:) Quiet forest trails that just happen to be on the North Rim sans tourists:)
But the gate is closed and locked. 🙁
Paul Craig Roberts has a good article about the ‘Shutdown & Debt Ceiling Crisis’. In it he says the following:
If the shutdown persists and becomes a problem, Obama has enough power under the various “war on terror” rulings to declare a national emergency and raise the debt ceiling by executive order. An executive branch that has the power to inter citizens indefinitely and to murder them without due process of law, can certainly set aside a ceiling on debt that jeopardizes the government.
Under the present circumstances, the deficit is too large to be closed. The Federal Reserve covers the deficit by printing $1,000 billion annually with which to purchase Treasury debt and mortgage-backed financial instruments. The use of the printing press on such a large scale undermines the US dollar’s role as reserve currency, the basis for US power. Raising the debt limit simply allows the real crisis to continue. More money will be printed with which to purchase more new debt issues needed to close the gap between revenues and expenditures.
I agree that the President could ‘fix’ this immediate problem tonight if he wanted to but nothing will fix the basic problem until the Federal Government’s spending deficit is eliminated. The tax burden to do that would be so great that the public will revolt if it is attempted, it will not happen, so the crisis will continue until it can’t. The politicians in office NOW only want to move the pain into the future so that is ‘Not on My Watch’.
Good points Ed.
I don’t get it. Maybe because I’m Canadian, but how can you shut down the government? How can a system allow that? At worse we can shut down the parliament, but not the whole government apparatus…
Plus I’m in Palm Springs right now and one of the main reasons was to go to Joshua Tree again…. Gaaah!
Our system is broken. Sorry about not being able to visit Joshua Tree, yet the landscape around the park is quite nice.
Perhaps we need to spin off the national parks like we did the postal service. After all, they are still working.
If only the Park Service was allowed to make a profit and not need funding from Congress they’d have the option like the postal service.