The Big Ditch

It's been eleven years since we have been there and since we stopped in Williams, AZ it was time to go back to the Grand Canyon. Things have changed some. There is more. More people. More parking. More buildings. More shops just outside the park boundaries. But one thing stayed the same, the canyon. It is still there. The trees still stand on the edge of oblivion. Twenty different languages are in the air at one time, but the people look the same. Busses go where once cars could, shuttling to and fro trying to stay ahead of the hordes that come to camp, come to hike, come to see.

The other thing about place is that the whole time we were there; we saw people, lots and lots of people. The visitors of course, there are always going to be visitors, and the staff. Bus drivers, construction workers (there is always something being built in a busy place like this), clerks in shops selling t-shirts and Navajo rugs and sandwiches. Grand Canyon is a village. I don’t know what the population of the place is but one of the bus drivers told me that the school there has 300 students. What was missing was the presence of rangers; park personnel. During our day at GACA we saw three people in Park Service uniforms. One was giving a ranger talk along the rim trail near the Hopi House. The other two were standing behind a counter at the visitor center with visitors standing in line to talk to them.

At Gila everyone you came in contact with, except the person who ran the gift shop, was in a uniform, either as a volunteer or employee of the park. Not so at GC. There were lots of uniforms, of sorts, just not Park Service uniforms. I was disappointed about that.

I mentioned previously that I had spoken with a bus driver who happened to be on his break. The shuttle buses are owned by the Park Service, but driven and maintained by a contracting company. The drivers need one year of bus driving experience to apply for these positions. They work five days a week, 8 hours a day. The busses are inspected before and after each shift for safety and operational items and also for dings and scratches, even tire rubs. They want the busses to be close to the curbs, but not too close. In my opinion, the bus drivers have to be saints to perform their jobs. They have their rules to follow and then have to remind us of the rules that we must adhere to. In addition, there are the unlimited numbers of questions that they are asked everyday. All of this is done with courtesy and calmness. Saints, I tell you

And still, with all the pomp and hurrah, it still is a magic place. The air is cool and clear. The forest is here. The canyon separates and yet brings it all together.