Raven Travels: GRAND CANYON N. P. VOLUNTEER

30 JUNE, Week 4:

It has been a busy week and hot here the past three days.

A week ago today was the full moon. As the moon was the closest it will get to earth this year it was called the “super moon”. I was doing programs out in the Cape Royal area that afternoon so took my camera gear with the idea of staying out there for the moonrise. After my archaeology talk I went for a hike/rove on the Cape Final Trail and thoroughly enjoyed it. Afterwards I enjoyed a quick sandwich near the trailhead before returning to Cape Royal.

We had a pretty good layer of overcast skies which did not portend a good moonrise. We had a little sunset color to the West and a small opening in the clouds to the East. The moon rose through the opening as a lovely orange orb. The event did not last long as the

clouds prevailed. With all of this activity I did not get back to the office until 2125 after starting the day at 0630. Meanwhile George had a fairly easy day on the North Kaibab Trail (NKT) providing assistance to several hikers but did not have to go down into the Canyon several times.

Monday was a full day starting with a good Nature Walk followed by a nice reception of my stories of the early development here on the North Rim. In the afternoon I spent a couple of hours on the Artist In Residence selection process. I then had my Photo Talk and Walk out to Bright Angel Point. This is my special program for the public and generally is well received. It was quite windy though so

not many people were interested in walking out to Bright Angel Point.

Our weekend (Tuesday through Thursday) was busy as well. We were invited by the Wranglers to join them for a late afternoon trip to Point Sublime. Point Sublime is about 20 miles to the West from our trailer via a rough four wheel drive road. We had not been out there in a couple of years as the road had gotten progressively worse. This Winter/Spring the Park Service actually did some grading on the road. We had a nice afternoon with some good light as well as a great picnic out there. A highlight of the trip was seeing with a spotting scope some Indian ruins out there. Both George and I were able to get pictures of the ruins which included a Kiva. I think George’s picture is the best as he had a longer reach with his zoom lens than I did.

Wednesday saw us off early for Kanab, UT. George needed to have a fasting blood draw done! This meant that he did not get anything to eat until about 1100 our time. To say the least the freshly made bagel with cream cheese, and fresh coffee tasted mighty fine to him. We had not been to town for three weeks so it meant that there was a major shopping spree at the grocers as well as a couple of other stores.

Thursday saw the start of a major heat wave here with unseasonably high temperatures and little wind. We spent a leasurely time at the trailer after doing laundry, and George baking his infamous chocolate chip cookies.

Friday was HOT here with temperatures here on the Rim in the mid-90’s. I had a fairly routine day with VC duty, roving, and the Condor Talk which is always fun, and well received. In the meantime George had three hike outs on the NKT. He finally got out about 1800 after starting at 0715. I was about to head down the trail to take some food and water when he radioed that he was out. I had gotten a ride home with Chuck who works the gas station. I commented to him that I would love some watermelon. Chuck’s response was that he could get some cold sliced watermelon for me. He did and I took it to the trailhead. After giving a couple of slices to the hikers George had assisted, George consumed a slice in

record time.

The heat wave continued through the weekend. I had a another very good Photo Talk on Saturday. George had a fairly light schedule and was able to sleep in in the morning. One of our rangers got sick in the afternoon which meant there was some juggling of schedules. There are plans set up for that as the schedule is generally pretty tight with manning procedures.

The heat wave continues, but life on the North Rim still is good. We are all looking forward to some rain as it appears that the monsoon season is building.

Cape Final and the Super Moon: