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The seasonal life of a Park Ranger at Grand Canyon 2011

Fall aspen along Hwy 67 North Rim Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

It’s been another amazing season at Grand Canyon from beginning to end. Yet now there is only a week and a half left and much to do getting ourselves, the truck camper, 5th-wheel and car back to our winter home. I reflect on the last five months of the seasonal life of a Park Ranger.

Snow along Hwy 67 South Kaibab National Forest Arizona

Snowy arrival

04 Jessica & Gaelyn at Yaki Point, training, South Rim Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

Training on the South Rim

Mike in Forever Resort uniform North Rim Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

Mike moving to the canyon

Wildflowers North Rim Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

Flowers

Friends collage

Friends old and new

weather North Rim Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

In all kinds of weather

Collage North Rim Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

Sharing the canyon sites

Collage of places in the Southwest

Plus visiting so much nearby beauty

Collage of wildlife at North Rim Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

Seeing wildlife

Collage of sunsets North Rim Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

And watching sunsets

Gaelyn & Mike Cape Royal Walhalla Plateau North Rim Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

Hanging out

Full moon behind clouds from Marble View Kaibab National Forest Arizona

Where does the time go

Morning light in canyon from Lodge North Rim Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

I will miss this Grand Canyon

Rose hips 

 

Arizona, Grand Canyon National Park , 25 Comments

The Gypsy life of a seasonal Park Ranger Spring 2008

During the winter of 20007/08 while living in Yarnell, Arizona I applied for seasonal Park Ranger jobs at several western National Parks even though I could return to Oregon Caves National Monument.
Pin Cushion Cactus flowers Arizona
Pin Cushion Cactus blooms
As spring approached I was offered a seasonal Park Ranger position at the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. A dream comes true. I had actually turned down the South Rim two previous summers because they couldn’t accommodate my RV home.
Snow along SR67 Kaibab NF AZ
Highway 67 to the North Rim
So towards the end of April I hitched up to the 5th-wheel and headed north, a 360 mile drive up to 8,200 feet.
Sign entering Grand Canyon National Park Arizona
The North Rim of Grand Canyon was still closed and there was a locked gate into the Kaibab National Forest just south of Jacob Lake. Fortunately a National Park Service (NPS) employee was coming out and then locked the gate behind me.
Snow around entrance station North Rim Grand Canyon National Park Arizona
Closed entrance station
It was still a 30 mile drive just to the park boundary.
RV home North Rim Grand Canyon National Park Arizona
Home for the summer
Then another 13 miles to the end of the road. I set up the 5th-wheel in a park-like Ponderosa Pine forest amongst other RV employees.
1949 Sing-Away at Grand Lodge North Rim Grand Canyon National Park archives
1949 North Rim “Sing-away” by Lodge staff – NPS archive
I easily walked less than a mile to the developed area at the end of the road where the Grand Canyon Lodge sits perched on the edge of the canyon.
Grand Lodge North Rim Grand Canyon National Park Arizona
Canyon side of Grand Canyon Lodge
This version of the lodge was completed in 1938 replacing the original 1928 version after a kitchen fire. There are also about 100 cabins available for visitors to rent. Call a year in advance for reservations.
Bright Angel Point trail North Rim Grand Canyon National Park Arizona
Bright Angel Point trail
From the lodge I walked ¼ mile out to Bright Angel Point.
Looking south from North Rim Grand Canyon National Park Arizona
My first view of the canyon from the North Rim in almost 35 years
It’s only 10 miles as the raven flies to Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim; by road the same destination is more than 200 miles away. By trail the distance is 23 miles.
Looking south from North Rim Grand Canyon National Park Arizona
And so I began a dream come true at Grand Canyon.
Arizona, Grand Canyon National Park, My gypsy life, North Rim , , 31 Comments

On the road again: an ongoing saga of the gypsy life Fall/Winter 1999

Gaelyn washing bus windows Eagles Cliff Gifford Pinchot National Forest WashingtonGaelyn washing windows, 1974 International bus, Eagles Cliff, Washington

After almost two years of being in one place at Eagles Cliff, Dale and I had itchy feet and wanted to be back on the road pursuing our gypsy life. So we bought a school bus from a church to turn into a home on wheels.

Dale painting school bus at Carson flea market WashingtonDale painting, Carson, Washington flea market

We painted away the school bus yellow with “oops” paint—that’s whatever the hardware store had mixed wrong for someone—Navajo white and Ever green. Dale started building inside and continued working as we journeyed.

Bus home Scomocaway WashingtonAlong the Columbia River, Scomocaway, Washington

We headed to the coast in September then went south. We got to Yucca Valley, California and set up to sell. We needed to get rid of the bus as we couldn’t get insurance so we traded it for what I called the morphodite.

Morphadite camper on trailer Yuma ArizonaThe morphodite

A closed-in cab-over camper on a trailer with a flat house window over the bed. A little small for two adults and their stuff, Carson, and numerous banana boxes of merchandise. (Flea marketers measure by banana box.)

I knew that camper wouldn’t work in rainy Washington where I planned to return for summer. Plus I really needed my own space so I bought a 27 foot Pace Arrow motorhome. Carson and I moved in to what felt like a palace. And come spring I headed back north.

1974 Pace Arrow motorhome Yuma Arizona1974 Pace Arrow near Yuma, Arizona

Selling at flea markets alone proved to be too much work, for very little money, so when I got to Washington I settled my gypsy life for a while and returned to work at Eagles Cliff.

My gypsy life, RV life , , , , 20 Comments

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