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Category: My gypsy life

The Gypsy life of a seasonal Park Ranger Summer and Fall 2006

Weaver Mountains Yarnell Arizona
Moon over Yarnell
My gypsy life and winter in Yarnell was over before I knew it, and it was time to return to my…
Gaelyn in visitor center Oregon Caves National Monument Oregon
Gaelyn in Visitor Center 2006 by S. Gladish
…alter-life as a seasonal Park Ranger at Oregon Caves National Monument. But I did more than lead cave tours.
Wild Rhododendron along Myrtle Creek Trail Oregon
Wild Rhododendron along Myrtle Creek Trail
Spring hiking through the Redwoods less than 30 miles away and on the road to the California coast offers biological diversity because of the unique geology.
Darlingtonia Oregon
Darlingtonia are carnivorous
Metamorphic serpentine—a soft waxy rock used for carving—is characteristic of unusual flora and toxic to many plants due to a lack of essential nutrients and high concentrations of heavy metals.
Chateau Oregon Caves National Monument Oregon
Historic Oregon Caves Chateau
After three seasons learning about the cultural history of the area and monument I felt confident enough to develop a living history program.
Gaelyn in Chateau coffee shop Oregon Caves National Monument Oregon
Gaelyn/Darlene with visitors in Chateau coffee shop
I created a composite character of a woman, Darlene (borrowed from a dear friend of the right age), who presumably worked in the Chateau for Oregon Caves Company, a private concessionaire, in 1953.
Gaelyn in Chateau lobby Oregon Caves National Monument Oregon
Gaelyn/Darlene with visitors in Chateau lobby
Dressed as 73 year old Darlene and in character, I shared stories from the past while encouraging visitors to create their own memories as we toured the historic Chateau.
Gaelyn and Darlene on sternwheeler Columbia River
Gaelyn and Darlene onboard
In September I took a long weekend to visit the real Darlene and we celebrated her birthday…
Sternwheeler Columbia River
The Columbia Gorge
…onboard a sternwheeler on the Columbia River out of Cascade Locks, Oregon.
Stevenson Washington from Columbia River
View of Stevenson, Washington from the river
Tie dying in Oregon
Learning to tie-die
Over the summer a friend taught me how to tie-die (I know, where was I in the 60s) as we increased her stock…
Barter Fair Takilma Oregon
Welcome to Barter Fair
…so we could share space at the fall Hope Mountain Barter Fair where I’d sell my jewelry and other stuff.
Barter Fair booth Takilma Oregon
Barter Fair booth
Giant puppets at Hope Mountain Barter Fair Takilma Oregon
Having fun at the Fair
And when the Fair was over I knew winter was coming to Oregon so I would be moving on to warmer climates.
My gypsy life, Oregon, Oregon Caves NM and Chateau , , 29 Comments

The Gypsy life of a seasonal Park Ranger Fall 2005 and Winter 2006

Ranger Gaelyn at Cliff Palace Mesa Verde National Park Colorado
Me at Cliff Palace Mesa Verde NP
After my 2005 job as a summer seasonal Park Ranger at Mesa Verde National Park  I was feeling a great need for a social life with friends, yet wasn’t sure where to go. I called Darlene and accepted an invitation to Yarnell, Arizona asking her to look for a place for me to park for the winter, preferably not in an RV park. She found a piece of private property with full hookups owned by a local realtor at a great price, and right next door to Berta.
RV in Yarnell Arizona
RV in Yarnell
These retired ladies sure keep busy. Seems like there was something going on every day like going to or having yard sales. Which was a great way to meet my neighbors. Plus we went sightseeing to explore the area.
Jerome Arizona
Jerome, Arizona
Took a trip through Jerome, a mining town full of quaint shops that look like they should slide downhill to the stack of switchback streets below.
Tuzigoot National Monument Arizona
Tuzigoot National Monument
Built by the Sinagua (meaning without water) people around 1000AD. These people were hunters, gatherers, traders, and grew corn, beans and squash.
Montezuma Castle National Monument Arizona
Montezuma Castle National Monument
This Sinagua cliff dwelling was made inaccessible to the public in 1951 for preservation, bummer. But now you can take a virtual tour by clicking here.
Red rocks of Sedona Arizona
Red rocks of Sedona, Arizona
The geologic features around Sedona inspire many photographers, and the natural energy brings awareness, but it can be an expensive place to play.
Gaelyn and Darlene dressed for Halloween Yarnell Arizona
Me & Darlene
For Halloween, Darlene and I helped with a pumpkin festival for school kids sponsored by local businesses.
School Principal in stocks Congress Arizona
School principle
Throughout the day kindergarten through middle school students arrived by bus to enjoy the cake walk (with cupcakes), apple bob, fish tank, haunted house, and gift give away.
Berta, Gaelyn and Darlene at South Rim Grand Canyon National Park Arizona
Berta, Me, & Darlene at Grand Canyon National Park, South Rim
Berta and Darlene gave me the Grand Canyon for my birthday and I just stood in awe at the South Rim saying “I want to work here someday.”
Ed at Disney World Florida
Ed at Disney World
Ed flew me to Orlando, Florida where he lives for a couple weeks visit. We’ve been friends since high school and through several divorces. Stayed in his RV at Disney World for three days while exploring the park. Disney is so cool for all ages.
Seeing double at Disney World Florida
A birthday card I made for Ed, born on Valentine’s Day
Castillo de San Marcus National Monument Florida
Castillo de San Marcus
Also drove up to St. Augustine and toured the fort.
Castillo de San Marcus National Monument Florida
Inside Castillo de San Marcus
From there I flew to Texas to visit my parents.
Congress Cafe Congress Arizona
Congress Café
When I returned home I found myself out of unemployment and low on funds so got a job waiting tables at the Congress Café for a couple months before moving back to Oregon.
Arizona, Florida, My gypsy life, Texas , , 36 Comments

The Gypsy life of a seasonal Park Ranger – Summer 2005

Sunset over Montezuma Valley from Mesa Verde National Park Colorado
Sunset over the Montezuma Valley from Mesa Verde National Park
While in Texas visiting my parents during the winter of 2005 I accepted a job as a seasonal Park Ranger from Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. So I had about 1200 miles to go. Mesa Verde translates as green table in Spanish.
Friends in Roswell New Mexico
Friends in Roswell
Along the way I stopped in Roswell, New Mexico to visit friends.
Museum Mesa Verde National Park Colorado
Mesa Verde museum
Occasionally I worked in the museum yet more frequently gave tours at three cliff dwellings and roved at Spruce Tree house.
Spruce Tree House Mesa Verde National Park Colorado
Spruce Tree House from behind museum
Spruce Tree House Mesa Verde National Park Colorado
Part of Spruce Tree House
The Ancestral Puebloan people—also known as Anasazi—occupied the Mesa Verde area as far back as 8,000-10,000 years ago. Once a nomadic people, they settled to dry farm around 450 AD with the introduction of corn, beans and squash that came from Mexico. Anthropologists believe some of the people moved from the mesa tops into the cliffs around 1200 to free more land for farming and perhaps for defense purposes.
Collared lizard Mesa Verde National Park Colorado
Collared lizard photo by Jo Schrock
The Puebloans lived off the land in a severe environment of contrasts. The mesa tops out at 7,000 feet in elevation supporting a juniper and pinyon high desert forest. Heavy winter snows and summer monsoons brought sporadic water to the land. Yet the land provided fruit, nuts, acorns and wild onions. Plus the yucca, which I call the Wal-Mart of the mesa, with an edible flower and fruit, leaves made into fibers for weaving, and a root boiled and mashed into soap. Their meat diet included bear, elk, deer and mountain sheep, but mostly rabbits, birds, rodents and even lizards.
Cliff Palace Mesa Verde National Park Colorado
Cliff Palace from tour starting point
First discovered by John Wetherill while searching for stray cattle in December of 1888, Cliff Palace is the icon of Mesa Verde with 150 rooms. These amazing apartment-like structures were built with mortar and the local sandstone, block by block using levels and plum bobs, adding new rooms as needed. However, this tour is not for the faint of heart. First we descend about 100 feet on uneven steps carved into the stone. We will follow a trail along the front of the alcove making a couple stops along the way. Then we’ll climb the far stairs and a small ladder to gather by the big square tower before we leave the site by climbing five 8-10 foot ladders for a 100 foot vertical climb back to the mesa top.
Ladders out of Cliff Palace Mesa Verde National Park Colorado
Ladders out of Cliff Palace
An even more adventurous tour awaits us at Balcony House. There is a 120 foot descent on stairs to a short level trail…
Trail to Balcony House Mesa Verde National Park Colorado
Trail to Balcony House
…before climbing up a 32 foot, double ladder …
Ladder up to Balcony House Mesa Verde National Park Colorado
Visitors climbing into Balcony House
…and squeezing through a crack to enter a much smaller site than Cliff Palace with 38 rooms.
Entering Balcony House Mesa Verde National Park Colorado
Balcony House Mesa Verde National Park Colorado
About half of Balcony House
The remaining walls continue to deteriorate without the Puebloans annual repairs. Upright metal reinforcements have been added by park archaeologists to slow the element’s and public’s impact. The protruding beams, called vegas, are original timbers which provided tree ring dating for the site at 800 years old. The semi-circle in the foreground is from a kiva believed to be used for weaving, teaching and spiritual activities. This circular pit would have had a flat roof entered through a hole by ladder. And speaking of ladders, to leave this site we will first crawl through a 12 foot tunnel about 2×3 foot square, climb a 15 foot ladder, walk on steps carved from the face of the mesa with the help of a chain handrail, and finally climb one more 15 foot ladder.
Ladder and trail out of Balcony House Mesa Verde National Park Colorado
Ladder and trail out of Balcony House
My favorite tour site is located on Wetherill Mesa called Long House. Only a few short ladders in the site, yet you must ride a tram about 10 minutes to the trailhead and hike the switchbacks about 150 feet down—and back up. You can really walk into and through this site and get a sense of what it might have been like to provide for and raise a family here. Sit quietly and listen to the children’s laughter, women grinding corn, men singing for rain.
Long House Mesa Verde National Park Colorado
Long House
After many years of drought the People began to leave and by 1300 they were gone from Mesa Verde. Their descendents live on as the Hopi, Zuni, Acoma, Laguna, and in 18 Pueblos along the Rio Grande River.
Native American dancers Mesa Verde National Park Colorado
Native dancers performed representing deer and eagle
It was an outstanding place to work yet there was no place for me to park my RV home in the park. The first month I lived at AAA RV Park in a gravel lot, which Carson didn’t like. I drove 40 miles a day for work. Then I got lucky as a fellow Ranger had a full hookup site on the five acres where she lives, 80 miles round trip from work, which I didn’t like. But, oh the view.
Hummingbird Colorado
At the end of the season I journeyed to Arizona for the winter.

 

Colorado, Mesa Verde National Park, My gypsy life , , , 39 Comments

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