Sunday, May 30, 2010

What a difference a week makes! Last Sunday was frigid and very windy; most of that day was devoted to moving the RV to the permanent site. Although last night was cold (29*), today was sunny and pleasant with nothing more than gentle breezes. And we devoted the day to enjoying the Kaibab Plateau.


We drove more than 50 miles of gravel Forest Service roads to several viewpoints along the east canyon. The Colorado River flows south through Marble Canyon then makes a 90* turn to the west to flow through ‘the Grand Canyon of the Colorado.’

We saw some typical wildlife—a small group of mule deer, many chipmunks, several kinds of birds and the ubiquitous turkey vultures—very few people and magnificent views. On the road to Saddle Mountain we passed a hotshot team conducting a maintenance burn of debris from previous fires in order to reduce fuel which could be ignited by lightning strikes. 

The very best part of the day for me was revisiting Marble Viewpoint. Here, you can look out over the Cocks Combs, huge humps of rock protruding from the earth in a line resembling the Loch Ness’ monster’s backbone, to the plateau far below split by Marble Canyon and stretching to Navajo territory on the far side. In addition to the magnificent vista, Marble Viewpoint boasts an abundance of fossils.  There are large ones and small ones and they are strewn every where, evidence that this was, millions of year ago, the bottom of an ancient sea.  We found fossilized shells, sand, coral and what might be remains of vegetation and aquatic creatures.

We also found several varieties of colorful, dwarf wildflowers: a brilliant red-orange, a lovely violet-blue and two types of little yellow flowers.  I'm anxiously waiting for the arrival of the Arizona wildflower books I ordered so I can identify them.

We ended the day with a dinner that finished off our entire food supply.  Tomorrow's agenda is a mandatory trip to Kanab for groceries.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Yesterday was uneventful except for the return of the wind--another red flag warning until Saturday.  The sun is bright and the temperature is in the low 60s, so it's pleasant outside unless you're in the path of a dust cloud.

We walked up the ridge behind the store this morning and saw a Kaibab squirrel, a gray creature with a fluffy white tail and large pointed ears which is found nowhere else in the world.  They are very skiddish and photographing them, which we're determined to do, is extremely difficult.  We found a red hawk's tail feather and several types of wildflowers in bloom.  On the way back, we heard a loud cracking sound and looked toward it in time to witness a 70' Ponderosa pine lean, fall and crash to the ground.  [Yes, it did make a sound!]  After that, we increased our pace and kept nervous eyes on the trees swaying above us.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

One perk of our job is the opportunity for meeting interesting people.  This morning, two young men dressed in deerskin rode up to the store on horseback. Curiousity drove me to ask the reason for their unusual appearance.  They are two months into a 3000+ mile journey from El Paso, TX to the Canadian border via dirt roads, trails and private land, avoiding paved roads wherever possible.  They are not only attempting a super-long trek, they are doing it as they would have done in the early 1800's.  Each man not only made his own clothing, he shot the deer and tanned the hides with the animal's brain, as the Indians did. Authenticity extends to using oilcloth tents and bedrolls rather than modern tents and sleeping bags.  Their route took them and their five horses from the South Rim to Phantom Ranch, at the bottom of the canyon, and up the North Kaibab Trail to the North Rim and across the Kaibaba Plateau.

While the trekkers bought supplies, two buffalo hunters entered the store and the two groups struck up a conversation about buffalo, forest trails and conditions.  The contrast between their clothing and modes of transportation was as striking as the convergence of their interests and knowledge.  Shortly, the hunters droved away in a big 4WD pick-up and the horsemen saddled up and rode off.

On Tuesday, an Australian couple on a different sort of adventure stopped in.  They had started their bike trip in Phoenix about two weeks ago, bound for Vancouver, British Columbia by September.  Their visas required that they leave the US by the third week of August.  Both elevation and strong headwinds were providing challenges on this leg of their journey.

Monday. May 24, 2010

Anyone curious about why there are so many posts?  Because it's too darn windy or cold or windy and cold to be outside.  This morning we woke to snow on the ground--not a lot, but this is the third week of May for heaven's sake!  I'm wearing two long-sleeve shirts, a winter jacket and a wool cap while sitting in the RV with the space heater running. 

The temperature had risen and the wind had died down by 10:00 when Randy and MJ picked us up to go into the park. We did a quick walk-through of the gift shop and lodge before going out on Bright Angel Point and the overlook behind the lodge.  Our next destination was Cape Royal where we lunched on a bench with a dead-on view of Angel's Window.   We explored all the 'fingers' of the cape, took lots of pictures and learned about the flora and fauna of a Sonoran desert environment.  On the return trip, we stopped at Walhalla and visited the ruins of an Anasazi seasonal farming community. 

MJ and Randy departed for Zion National Park then Bryce NP after leaving the North Rim on Tuesday morning.  We enjoyed the time we spent with them and appreciated their making the trip 'up the mountain' to see us.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

What a  day we've had!
Tyler, the owner, told us on Friday he thought the ground would be dry enough to move the RV to its permanent spot on Saturday or Sunday. Sunday is our first day off so we decided we'd move the rig, clean up and wait for our friends to arrive. Repositioning quickly turned into a disaster. Fred got Nate up the short but rather steep incline, then pulled forward in order to back in (so the hook-ups would be on the correct side). When he stopped to shift from drive to reverse, the left rear wheel sank hub-deep into a soft spot. Attempts to pull forward as well as to back up only caused the rig sink deeper. Tyler got his tractor and the owner of the lodge across the road brought his backhoe, two employees, a heavy-duty strap and chains. The strap and two chains snapped and both the tractor and the backhoe dug holes as their tires spun. There seemed no recourse but to call a tow truck. The guys helping us advised us to request that the big wrecker, the one used for tractor trailers, be sent and warned us that the fee is $1000.

Our friends arrived about noon, commiserated with us on the situation and then went to get a campsite in the national park.  A few minutes later, about 90 minutes after Fred's call, the wrecker pulled in.  In 30 minutes, the operator had the RV out of the muck, on solid ground and lined up for final positioning in the permanent spot. We were relieved that our AAA RV policy covered 100% of the towing fee.
The whole experience was extremely stressful but all's well that end's well. We are in the permanent spot, fairly level and with all the hook-ups in place. The RV sustained minor damage but 'interim solutions' should hold us until we return to western NC.
 
The campground in the national park was full and the one across the road doesn't have hook-ups so Randy and MJ found a nice site at Jacob Lake.  We had a leisurely meal together at the Jacob Lake lodge with good food and time to catch up on everyone's activities and adventures. We plan to hike tomorrow and show them the views from 'the other side' of the canyon.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

The wind is wicked up here on the Plateau!  Yesterday the National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for this entire area and the park service closed roads leading to two of the most popular overlooks, Cape Royal and Point Imperial, to prevent people from being stranded out there by downed trees across the roads.

All day, gust after gust sped across the meadows, picking up clouds of dirt and blowing them, at up to 55 mph, toward Jacob Lake.  Walking into the wind exposed bare skin to being stung by bits of sand and eyes being invaded by grit.

The winds continued throughout the night; Mother Nature rocked us to sleep as if the RV were a cradle--more unsettling than than comforting.

The high winds are predicted to continue through Sunday night and we're not sure our friends Randy and MJ will be able to bring their Class A up the mountain under these conditions.

Yesterday was an interesting day at the store.  Some members of a running club from Los Angeles came in to buy food for an early breakfast.  They planned to head down the North Kaibab Trail at 5 AM this morning for a rim-to-rim run. Like most runners, especially long-distance-runners, they had lots of stories which they enjoyed recounting and we enjoyed hearing. 

Just about closing time, a young woman who came in mentioned that she'd just gotten her MSW and was traveling the area as her graduation gift to herself before returning home to Oklahoma City.  She spent a day at Best Friends (aka Dog Town) which went about as well as the day we volunteered there.  She had a much more laid-back attitude toward tornadoes than ours while recently driving through that area. 

Fred talked with a young woman training for an ironman triathalon.  She was attempting to ride her bike the 86 miles from Jacob Lake to the rim and back but the gale-force headwinds were 'killing' her.  She wisely decided to turn around for a quick, wind-assisted trip back to JL.

On Thursday, a customer handed me a WSFS card and I blurted, "You're from Delaware!"  Actually, they live just over the line in Kennett Square, PA and his wife will be the artist-in-residence at the North Rim for the next three weeks.  She's a fiber artist who will be creating a a condor-theme quilt.  I hope to be able to attend one of the workshops she's planning.

Tuesday, May 18th

Monday was a beautiful day though the scene at NRCS looked more like late winter than mid-May--cloudless blue sky, bright sunshine, snow on the meadows from road to woods.  Strong sun and temperatures in the upper 50s/low 60s made a significant dent in the snowpack by the end of the day, though.

We arrived expecting a site with water, electricity and sewer so we purposely had an empty water tank and what the built-in propane tank contained in order to avoid demanding more of the engine than pulling the heavy RV with the Jeep in tow up long, steep grades.

We were disconcerted to learn that the dirt road leading to the RV site is too muddy to use for a couple of weeks.  Therefore, Betsy and Tyler explained, we'd have to temporarily boondock (camp without hooking to utilities) on the edge of the parking lot.

Sunday night was extremely uncomfortable.  Having heat required running the generator to produce electricity to power the fan AND  burning propane for the furnace.  We could run some lights on battery power but at the risk of draining the battery.  The RV was at an angle so the water tank, filled by garden hose, registered full at 25% capacity.  Long story short:  We were stressed from 5 days and 2100 miles of traveling, cold (despite two blankets and two sleeping bags on the bed), almost out of water and full of misgivings.

Yesterday morning Fred spoke with the owners and they came up with an interim location.  We are still on the parking lot but close enough to the building to connect to a 30 amp extension cord and a sewer pipe.  Water remains problematic, however.  The store has a 5000 gallon tank serviced weekly by a tanker truck.  The dirt road to the tank is inaccessible due to snow and mud so no water has been delivered.  Tyler estimates there is about 1000 gallons left from last year to supply them, us and the store until the road solidifies.

The North Rim Country Store, Mile Post # 605 Highway 67

We get a trickle from the faucets and are worried about not having any water.  Taking a shower and washing clothes (by hand--the closest laundromat, in the national park, is a 36-mile round trip) have to be post-poned for now.

After settling in on the new site yesterday, we drove to the park.  Seeing the canyon again I felt the same overwhelming awe I experienced the very first time.  We took the short trail to Bright Angel Point and remembered how hot it was when we made that same trek in May, 2007.  This time, the weather was cool and extremely windy.  The wind pushed your body so forcefully it was hard to stay still enough to take pictures!

Wandering around the tourist area, we reminisced at a few favorite spots ('our' little cabin, the picnic table in the woods), noticed some changes and possibly recognized a face or two.  After a quick lunch at that special picnic table, we hiked the North Kaibab Trail as far as Coconino Overlook (1.5 mile round-trip). The view down the canyon toward the San Francisco Peaks was spectacular though too hazy for great pictures.  I was excited to notice some early wildflowers and realized that it's just early spring at this elevation.  I'm excited about finding and identifying new-to-me western species!

As clouds gathered and our energy waned, we hopped in the Jeep and returned 'home', satisfied by a good first day on the plateau.

The Trip West

Day 1--Wednesday, May 12th
Pisgah Forest, NC to Dickson, TN          375 miles         7.25 hours

The day started cool and cloudy but became sunny and quite warm as time and miles passed.

Departure was delayed by our inexperience in hitching the Jeep to the RV with the Blue Ox system.  We were relieved that NCDOT had opened the section of I-40 affected by last year's rock slide prior to our journey.  Their repair of massive damage was impressive. 

No problems were encountered.  We found a comfortable and convenient, if not amenity-laden, campground to spend the night.  After the day on the road, we appreciated the opportunity to stroll down a country lane.

Although we went through Nashville, we didn't see any of the areas flooded by the recent 20" rainfall.  However, the local news provided depressingly detailed coverage of damage, destruction and difficulties resulting from the flood.

Chuckle for the day:  Buck Snort, TN--home of the Bucksnort Motel


Day 2--Thursday, May 13th
Dickson, TN to Checotah, OK         556 miles           9.5 hours

The day started sunny and mild but became chilly and overcast then stormy with rain, lightning and thunder.

We managed to give ourselves two 'learning experiences' in one day:  we left the gas cap at a filling station and we made a wrong turn instead of taking the time to get directions.  The first required an evening trip to Walmart to obtain a close-but-not-perfect replacement.  The second required an unscheduled unhitching of Jeep from RV and turning a long vehicle on a narrow road bordered by trees and ditches.

Once again, I found crossing the Mighty Mississippi, "Big Muddy", a non-event.  Just the sort of disappointing introduction Arkansas deserves.  Its portion of I-40 is deplorable--alternates between roughly-jointed concrete surface and extensively and badly patched asphalt.  Leaving that state was a relief!

The campground we had wanted to use didn't answer either its land line or cell. We later learned it had been damaged by severe storms which accompanied the tornadoes which swept eastern Oklahoma the previous weekend. Our second-choice campground was a winner--nice site, friendly owners and great amenities. The amenity we enjoyed most was the "kampers' kafe" that served warm, homemade blackberry cobbler for dessert and big, fluffy pancakes for breakfast.  Thunder, lightning and hard rain made sleep difficult.

Chuckle for the day:  Toad Suck State Park (TN) and Lotawatah Road (leads to Lake Eufaula, OK)


Day 3--Friday, May 14th 
Checotah, OK to Amarillo, TX    368 miles  7 hours

We treated ourselves to a leisurely start--no alarm clock and the pancake breakfast.  On the road, the weather looked promising at first but we soon encountered heavy rain and strong winds.  There was evidence of last weekend's tornadoes on the approach to Oklahoma City--shredded billboards, downed road signs, skeletons of gas stations, sheared trees.  Fortunately, the rain slackened and then stopped as we threaded through the intertwined expressways through the city. 

Decent weather stayed with us as we left Oklahoma and entered Texas.  Along the route, we spotted some familiar landmarks--the wind turbine 'farm' outside Weatherford, OK; the Largest Cross in the Western Hemisphere!; the leaning water tower; and the rest stop/tornado shelter, a spot I always wanted to investigate.  We did stop there but not to sight see.

Bad weather had returned with a vengeance--pelting rain and near-gale force
wind.  I was the driver but barely able to drive because visibility was about 10' and gusts rocked the RV like a boat.  We pulled into the dual-duty rest stop to take a break and change drivers.  The storm let up a bit and Fred navigated us the last 75 miles to our campground in Amarillo.

That was a pleasant surprise.  We had a pull-through site, lots of amenities we couldn't take advantage of and decent WiFi in the clubhouse.  We got a good night's sleep (no sound effects from Mother Nature) even though the temperature dipped into the low 40s.  We woke to a chilly day with thick clouds but no rain and minimal wind.



Day 4--Saturday, May 15th
Amarillo, TX to Holbrook, AZ    527 miles   9.25 hours

The further west we traveled, the brighter the sky became.  Shortly after crossing into New Mexico, we rejoiced to see sunshine, blue sky and fluffy white clouds.

Because we'd gone less than 400 miles and Day 1 and Day 3, we needed to cover a lot of territory today.  Heaven smiles on us because we had nice weather, good roads,light traffic, a 75 mph speed limit and an extra hour of driving by moving from Central time to Mountain time.

Just before leaving Texas, the landscape changed from boring to dramatic; our spirits lifted and our excitement increased.  We felt that we were finally 'out west'!

We pulled into the New Mexico welcome center just after a large cadre of motorcyclists arrived.  They were Vietnam veterans making a "Support our Troops" ride across the state.  The welcome center hostess' estimate was at least 30 bikes and 40-45 riders.  In their honor, she had prepared popcorn, iced tea and coffee and invited everyone to share the snacks.  Good timing!

Even though we've traveled this route twice in each direcction, we found the New Mexico landscape as spectacular as if it were new to us. 

We checked into a campground in Holbrook, AZ and stepped into a warm, windy desert environment--a complete change  from the previous night in Amarillo.  As soon as we stepped out of the RV, our neighbor introduced himself and explained why an RV mechanic was working on his rig.  We listened long enough to be polite then excused ourselves to begin the set-up routine.

All went smoothly until we tried to extend the slides.  Pushing the switch brought no response; reading the manual (what a joke!) provided no help.  Fred brought the RV mechanic over and they finally identified the problem:  the slides will not operate unless the parking brake is engaged.  Neither the manufacturer nor the dealer had shared that information with us.  We were rather disconcerted by that but relieved that nothing was broken or defective.


Day 5--Sunday, May 16th
Holbrook, AZ to North Rim Country Store    277 miles     7.25 hours 

Chilly overnight temperature rose as the sun came above the surrounding mesas.  We pulled up stakes, gassed up and headed to the Super Walmart in Winslow ("It's a girl, my lord, in a flat-bed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me").  With a full tank and a full pantry, we embarked on the final leg of this journey.

Arizona scenery is even more beautiful and awe-inspiring than we remembered.  The azure blue sky, adorned with puffy clouds, served as a fitting backdrop for the varicolored cliffs.

Poor Nate (the RV) struggled up steep elevation gains, the last one rising from 4000' to 8300' in elevation.  After gaining the top, we stopped at Jacob Lake for their famous cookies, which didn't deserve the hype.

For about half the distance between Jacob Lake and the North Rim Country Store the road was bordered by trees burned in the 2006 Warm fire.  The damage seemed more extensive than we recalled from our 2007 trip.  Another surprise was the amount of snow on the ground.  The melting snow has saturated the ground making access to the RV site impossible for several weeks.  We tried boondocking last night but we're not prepared for anything other than a full hook-up; it didn't go well.

Betsy and Tyler, owners of NRCS and our bosses, are starting their third season as proprietors.  They seemed happy to see us and down-right thrilled when we offered to start working a day ahead of schedule.

Why are we doing this?

Although we wanted to return to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for the 2008 season--we enjoyed the three months we spent there from April through July, 2007--various events and circumstances delayed that dream until now.

Instead of working in the national park for the concessionaire as we did last time, we will be employed at the North Rim Country Store, six miles from the park's entrance and eighteen miles from the actual rim of the canyon.

We've been in contact with the owners and have received a brief job description and rudimentary information about our living arrangements.  Our first day of work will be Wednesday, May 19th.  In order to set up and settle in before reporting for duty, we left home on Wednesday, May 12th with arrival scheduled for Sunday, May 16th.