North Kaibab

Seven weeks from today is the last night that the North Rim facilities are open. The last two weeks have been the slowest of the summer, but past year's numbers show that Labor Day through the end of September are very busy. The visitors without children like to come in September.
We are working on our rim-to-rim hike in October, but we are having trouble finding a spot to spend the night in the canyon. We did not realize that reservations need to be made up to 13 months in advance. We will keep working on it and hopefully we can get a campsite.
Friday we went down the North Kaibab Trail to Supai Tunnel. This is the fourth time this summer that we have hiked to at least Supai Tunnel. Each time we go the light and conditions are different. This time Sherri took a picture of me on Coconino Overlook:

This is monsoon season in the southwest and shortly after we started our hike the clouds began to build. We saw lightening in the distance and heard thunder echoing around the canyon. Some ominous clouds were building overhead:

By the time we hiked to the tunnel most of the storm had moved off toward the south rim.

We did have a couple showers, which felt good. A ranger on the trail told us that a little earlier in the day the temperature was 98deg. at the tunnel, which is 1,400' below the North Rim. When we got to the tunnel the temp. was in the low 80's. I took a neat photo out of the tunnel toward the rim.

By the time we hiked back up to the Coconino Overlook the skies were clearing and we were fortunate that we did not get hit with a heavy rain and hail. Here is a final view from the Coconino Overlook, in a different light, which is named such becauses it looks over the Coconino Plateau on the South Rim.

This was a relatively short hike of four miles, but the hike up is a heck of a climb. We hope we will be ready for our rim-to-rim in six weeks.

Tiyo Point

Another fun week at the North Rim. Wednesday evening we had a six team double elimination volleyball tournament. There were 4 on a team and each team had to have one woman. The woman on our team was Karma, so our team name was Instant Karma. Our average age was 52 and we were playing against 20 somethings. We held our own by winning our first two, but we ran out of gas and lost two 15-13 and 15-14.
Thursday Sherri and I hosted a picnic on the rim. Anthony, the Gift Shop assistant manager had his 23rd b-day and Lexci, our superstar associate in the Gift Shop left to go back to school. Lexci will be missed. Here is Sherri serving up another Chile Cheese Dog to Justin, also an associate. We had 20 people come by to say Happy b-day and goodbye.

Friday was our hiking day. We drove out 4.5 miles on the Point Sublime road and then set out to hike to Tiyo Point, 6.5 miles one way. The wildflowers were magnificent the entire hike.

The hike to Tiyo Point is on an old road which has been closed off to vehicle traffic. In many places the aspens and wildflowers are taking over the trail. Here are Sherri and Ryder emerging from a grove of Aspens.

It was a warm day, for us, close to 80deg. so hiking in the woods was nice. We reached the point in 3 hours, had a snack and rested a while. I also took some photos, no place along the rim has the same views and we were rewarded with beautiful vistas. Tiyo point has views to the west which we had not witnessed yet. Here are a couple of photos from Tiyo Point.

We were a little sore and tired after our 13 mile hike, but it is always a good feeling to finish a nice long hike.
The number of visitors to the North Rim are starting to wane as it is back to school time. We are still busy and we lost three associates this past week, so it becomes a struggle to cover all the shifts since we are open 13 hours a day. I have a great crew and we will get it done...if we don't loose anyone else before seasons end.

Heritage Days

This week has been dedicated to learning about Native American culture and heritage. On Tuesday Sherri and I along with two other couples drove 47 miles to Jacob Lake. The owner John Rich is a descendant of the family that founded the small rest stop back in the 1920's. It is the last place which is open through the winter in the Kaibab Forest prior to reaching the National Park. Jacob Lake has a beautiful gift shop full of Native American rugs, jewlery, and pottery. Three nights a week John gives a presentation on Navajo culture/history and how it relates to their rugs. We had a good dinner in the restaurant and the talk lasted over two hours. It was a fascinating presentation and we did not get home until after 10:30pm, late for us early risers.
Thursday and Friday were Native American Heritage Days at the North Rim. There were dancers, drummers and artists; many of which we carry in the gift shop. The pictures below are of the Hopi Dancer's, the gentleman is a world champion hoop dancer.

The drummers are a couple of young men from Taos Pueblo. They were passionate and entertaining.

Tonight is Symphony on the Veranda, which is where the drummers and dancers were. I will leave you with a picture from the veranda as the drummers were finishing their set. There is a benefical fire about 10 miles south of the South Rim.

Nankoweap

This weak was Hump Week at the North Rim, we are now past the half-way point. To celebrate Hump Week we had competitions all week between the different departments. The Warehouse-Accounting-Gift Shop (WAGS) which I was the coach of, easily won the most points for the week. We played kickball, volleyball, had a poker tournament, Gong Show competition, Fear Factor eating contest, and many other events. I am now the North Rim Ping Pong champion, not bad since I have not played much in the past 30 years.
Sherri and I did get away for a nice but tough hike yesterday. We drove 30 miles to the trail head in the Kaibab Forest which leads to the Nankoweap trail head. Since the trail is in the forest and not the National Park we were able to take Ryder, the dog. The trail goes through the Saddle Mountain Wilderness and is not maintained like those in the National Park. From where we started the hike is 3 miles and drops 1,200' in elevation, so that means coming back is 1,200' up. Most of the trail is not in switchbacks, it goes straight up and down. Going both ways was tough because of the steepness of the trail. I was a dummy and forgot new batteries for the camera, so we used Sherri's cell phone for pictures. I am posting a few of those pictures and I hope they came out okay.

It was a beautiful hike with fabulous views of the Canyon and Marble Plateau to the east, that would be the second photo from the top. Marble Plateau is where the Grand Canyon begins to form.
Many of the employees are getting restless and some are back to school soon. The remoteness of the North Rim has many wanting to move on. I hope the Gift Shop and the rest of the departments can hang on until closing October 15. If any one knows of someone looking for a couple months of work have them contact me and I will forward their information to HR, it truly is a beautiful location and with fall coming soon it will be spectacular. The best way to contact me is email: rorik.rivenburgh@gmail.com

Kanab Shopping

Sherri and I switched our days off to Thursday and Friday because the manager's meeting is supposed to take place on Wednesdays which we previously had off. Unfortunately, the past two weeks the meeting has been moved to Thursday mornings so this has cut into our hiking and time off.... working on a day off, one of the responsibilities of management.
We did get away on Friday for a shopping trip to Kanab UT and a trip to Best Friends Animal Society. We turned in our passport applications. Can you believe that neither Sherri or I have had a passport? We need to get out more. We will be volunteering on the Arizona/Mexico border this winter and want to make sure we can get back into the country if we stray to far. I got my watch fixed and we had lunch at a decent Mexican restaurant, being from NM we need a chile fix once in a while. The last stop is the grocery store to stock up for 3-4 weeks.
Before we started shopping we went up to Best Friends for the Wild Friends and Parrot Garden tour. The two tours are back-to-back in the same area and are fascinating. I love all the birds and their different personalities. Most of the birds have been injured in some fashion or their owners could no longer keep them. The only pictures I took this week were of birds so I will close with bird pictures. The guy in the tye-dye is the tour guide. I like how his shirt blends in with the birds.
If you can, donate to this organization they do great work for thousands of sick, abandoned or surrendered animals.

Cape Final

This week we were supposed to go on a hike Thursday and the weekly manager's meeting was scheduled for Wednesday. On Wednesday morning I found out the meeting had been moved to Thursday. I was upset at first, I do not like a change in plans, but we quickly got ready and set out for a hike to Cape Final, which is a short two mile hike with eastern and southern views. Here is Sherri ready to go:

The trail goes through the woods and comes out along the rim with some beautiful views. The Cape Final, Cape Royal areas are the only places you can see the Colorado river from the North Rim.

The Cape Final area has many rim views and overhangs; Sherri is standing on one of those overhangs and it makes my knees weak just looking at this picture.

We had a great day...despite the change in plans.
Friday we had a pizza party in the back room for Liya. Liya is from Singapore who came over for half the season and is leaving the North Rim Today. She is very smart and funny, and was a great asset to the Gift Shop. We got along great and I will miss her.

Last night we went with our Friends, Ken and Karma, to dinner at Kaibab Lodge. The lodge is just outside of the National Park, about a 25 minute drive, in the Kaibab National Forrest. We had a nice dinner and it was good to get away for something different. Just inside the National Park boundary a large heard of Buffalo were grazing in a meadow. In the early 1900's settlers tried to cross bread buffalo and cattle. The animals are mostly buffalo but DNA shows they still have traces of cattle and they are also called beefalo. People are encouraged to keep their distance as bulls have been known to charge folks who get to close. So I did stay back and zoomed in on a portion of the heard.

It's been a good as we settle into another new routine. As the Gift Shop manager my hours vary and my responsibilities have grown. I am enjoying the position...so far.

Point sublime

Thursday we set out to drive the 18 mile primitive road to Point Sublime. The road is okay for stretches but much of it has large rocks and deep ruts. We made it 8 miles in 1 1/4 hours and decided we did not want to beat the truck up anymore. A small stretch of road:

We found a spot to turn around and went back to a beautiful meadow; there was an old road that was closed off which turned out to be a nice hike through the meadow and forest. Ryder was able to join us on this day since we were not hiking on any dog restricted trails. Here is the meadow and Sherri and Ryder on the Hike:

On Friday night we went up to Cape Royal for a cook out and sunset. Some of our co-workers cooking hotdogs and having a good time:

The sunset was of course magnificent, in one of the pictures smoke can be seen. This fire is 10 miles west of the Lodge and started on July 4th by a lightning strike. We have had enough rain to keep the fire in the underbrush, so far it is a beneficial fire burning only dead wood.

The big news this week is I am now the Gift Shop Manager. Zac who was the manager dropped a bombshell on us Monday morning, he does not want the continued stress and responsibility of running the Gift Shop. On Wednesday the GM asked me if I wanted the manager position and I accepted. I now manage the Gift Shop and warehouse which employee a total of 15 people. It is an honor to be chosen manager; when we came up to the North Rim for the season this was a challenge I was not anticipating but one I am looking forward to.