I was first supposed to visit Telluride, Colorado sometime in July. Something came up however and my travel buddy couldn’t make it, so I rescheduled for the same weekend with a different crew, which ended up falling through as well. Since then I’ve been within hours of the place a multitude of times, often with the intention of at least a day visit, but some distraction has always come up and sent me in another direction. So a few weeks ago – almost a month ago actually, wow how time flies! – when a friend from home was up visiting, I decided to take the opportunity to show her the diversity of the area, and finally get my butt to Telluride. Continue reading “Telluride, CO”
Fall
Well, it’s happened.
Labor day has come and gone, our German and French visitation numbers have plummeted, retirees and adventure-seekers have taken over the park, and I haven’t sweat in three days.
Fall is here. Continue reading “Fall”
Gooseberry Trail
About two months ago when I had just arrived at Canyonlands and was looking for a hike to do on my day off, one of our generalist rangers, Steve, recommended Gooseberry to me as his favorite hike in the park. I didn’t get to doing it that weekend, and I’m so glad I didn’t, because I think doing Gooseberry by myself, in my first few weeks out here, would have been a very, very bad idea. Continue reading “Gooseberry Trail”
Monsoon Season
Well, it’s been monsoon season for about a month here at Canyonlands. The season runs from late July through September, and it has its pros and cons. For one, things have definitely cooled down (no more 100+ degree days, yay!), and all the gnats have been drowned by the rain (double yay!). Continue reading “Monsoon Season”
Life Decisions: Part 2
Now that the scariest decision is over with, it’s time to decide what I’m going to do with myself once my time here at Canyonlands is up. Technically, my last day here is September 11th, but I’ve recently convinced my supervisors to keep me longer. Ideally, I’ll stay here until November or so, and from there on out things get much fuzzier. Continue reading “Life Decisions: Part 2”
Vote for Canyonlands!
Some of you may have heard about a campaign Coca Cola is running where you can vote for your favorite non-profit idea to receive a grant. They are now doing something similar with the national and state parks! The park with the most votes will receive a $100,000 grant, and Canyonlands is WAY behind. So please go vote! You have until August 31st and can vote as many times as you like. Who knows the kind of things we could do with $100,000! Maybe even hire an extra ranger…. 😉
Thanks for your help!
Vote here: http://www.livepositively.com/#/americasparks/vote
Starlight, Star Bright
One of my favorite memories of my summer here took place on a warm, clear night in early June. We have a giant white telescope sitting in the living room of the trailer, which we were told was broken upon its discovery. Coming back from a potluck dinner, I thought of it sitting there as I found my eyes glued to the sky my entire walk home. The stars were particularly spectacular that night, even for a sky as dark as ours. I just couldn’t make myself go inside, so I climbed onto the top of my car to watch the sky a little bit longer. A few minutes later I heard the crunch of my neighbor’s footsteps making his way down the road. He saw me sitting there and asked if I had ever used the telescope being stored in my living room. I told him no, that it was broken, and he announced that a few weeks before my arrival he had been bored and fixed it. He hadn’t told anyone for fear that they would move it to an inaccessible place. Continue reading “Starlight, Star Bright”
Baby Bro in Canyonlands
I’ve been telling people to come visit me since the moment I stepped foot in this place, more for their sake than mine, and last week in one day I got the news that I would soon have not one but two visitors – a good friend at the end of this month, and my baby brother this past weekend. Continue reading “Baby Bro in Canyonlands”
Unusually Acceptable Behavior
“So there isn’t a lot to see in this area of the park then?” The lady says, her eyes blank. She is completely serious.
I take a deep breath. Patience Mariana, patience.
Her husband slaps her across the arm.
Finally, someone who understands me.
Mesa Verde
My days off have been all over the place lately. Usually they are Sunday/Monday, but due to some seasonal staff rotation they’ve recently been changed to Monday/Tuesday. The past few weeks have been especially strange in addition to this change, as I gave up a day off for a 3-day weekend two weeks ago, and covered for a co-worker this last weekend, causing my days off to be Monday/Thursday.
So as I sat at breakfast Wednesday morning, I pondered out loud to my tablemate what I should do with my odd day off.
“Want to go to Colorado?” he said.
“Sure, let’s go to Mesa Verde.” Continue reading “Mesa Verde”
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