Grand Canyon

First, the canyon. It is enormous, not only the main channel of the mostly invisible Colorado, but every side stream has made its own contribution. The high points are raw rock, and farther down eroded sand spreads like skirts, pale green and then almost ruffly then dropping off steeply. There is no where near the colors of other great rock spectacles , some dull reds, and high up paler. The layers are visible, but there is a lot more vegetation than I expected. Perhaps in sunrise or sunset the colors would be stronger. The sheer size is monumental, and the drop off is terrifying. The standard short walk out to Bright Angel Point is a nice paved path, with what feels like thousands of feet of drop on each side. I make it halfway out and decide no view is worth the terror. To my chagrin, lots of others go on by, immune to the call of the deep.




At first look, from the open deck of the Lodge, it seems it must be painted on a scrim. Too familiar to be real, so iconic that when we are faced with the real thing it is some how less real , sort of faded. Several prescribed fires are burning on the South Rim, 14 miles away, and the smog of pollution make most of the distant walls of the canyon a misty blue. Maybe the old photos are what I remember, taken before the air was so dirty.

The Lodge sits right on the edge of Bright Angel canyon, somewhat to the north of the main channel, at 8280’. Only the stone work is the 1928 original, a disastrous fire in 1930 took the rest and one or two of the rustic log cabins. In 1936 the lodge was reopened, rebuilt in classic NPS rustic style, big logs, big stones, local material. Iron work is bold and hand wrought, and the inside has enormous Indian rugs. Outside, around a central court are shops and food, and beyond that, the log cabins that are the only lodging available.

We are here to work. It has been over a year since we were gainfully employed. We understood that we might do almost anything, and so far I have learned to run the telephone switchboard and radio base, then the next day, to work the computer check in check out at the Front Desk. Gasping for breath from altitude and too many new things, the third day I ended up in the Post Office, with a whole nother pile of things to learn: forms, procedures and heavens, making change! How did I get this old and never have to make change? I was exhausted for the first week, tense from trying to get things right, especially the complicated accounting rigmarole. Now, two weeks later, I’m feeling reasonably relaxed and competent.

Although this side of the canyon is quieter than the South Rim, there are still plenty of people coming to see the big hole. By car, and by bus loads, sometimes just for the day (madly rushing from one must see to the next) and sometimes for the night or for two. I would guess that at least 1/3 of the folks are European. That’s only based on the post card stamps I sell, nothing scientific. We have 218 cabins for them, no TV, no Internet for them, and only one nice gift shop. The cabins pretty much date back to the era when people came here in open touring cars, swathed in protective veils as though on safari in deepest Arizona. I get the impression that people are a little surprised by having to live rustic. We are almost always booked solid, and at the desk we get a constant stream of people who drove all the way out here, a good 50 miles south of another motel, without checking first.

It’s 150 miles to Walmart in St. George, UT, and other forms of civilization, so although there are plenty of people here, 200 +/- employees in dorms or RV’s, it is still pretty remote. They run a shuttle bus for us to go shopping, although I am still on supplies from Price UT. Don’t want to waste a day off doing that.

We like working here, the majority of the other workers are still cheerful and pleasant even though they have been here, dealing with the public, since April. This maybe a corporate personality, as this is run by Forever Resorts now, who got the NPS concession here away from Xanterra, a not so pleasant outfit. We are actually considering coming here for next summer to work the whole season. It’s a good fit for our skills and lifestyle, and we need to watch our pennies for a while.

There seem to be two classes of workers at this and other NPS resort facilities. There is us, the retired RV crowd who have the management and guest handling jobs. The physical work, housekeeping, bag handling, cooking jobs seem to be college age drifters who often have no car and go from one park job to another with the seasons. They live in dormitories and eat at the EDR (employee dining room). Many of them are smart, and well educated, but prefer this lifestyle. At the bottom of the ladder, locals and imports who do the most menial work. Many of the lower two groups are from overseas, here on a work visa, and here a number of Navaho. Judging by the number of workers who have moved on from the lower ranks (I have to forward their mail), there must be a pretty high turnover. Many of those who go from park to park have adapted to the isolation, which we like, but for some the lack of shopping or anything to do is a problem.

Until today, the weather has been perfect, high 60’s and sunny during the day, low 50’s at night. Now, in the first week of Oct, it has turned chilly and wet, high of 44 today and rainy, and more for tomorrow. At this altitude, snow is a very real possibility, but we only have two more weeks and then we bolt for sunny southern CA.