Building steps

The metal fold down steps on the 5th-wheel have a 9.5 inch rise, almost 2 inches more than a normal step. Very difficult to reach the door handle while balancing precariously on a tiny platform and then step back down to open the door. So building wooden steps would solve the problem.

MWT - Moving Day

Old water heater in 5th-wheelI was supposed to move out at the end of the month, but I procrastinate. (Read more here.)

Change in plans

So, I’m not going camping because I’m trying to figure out what to do about my just discovered leaking hot water heater. Right now I’m draining the semi-hot water but there doesn’t seem to be a bypass to turn the main water line off to just the tank. Dam it! I’m not a plumber and don’t want to be one. Also very far away from possible repairs. There goes having fun on my days off. Guess it could be worse and the roof could be leaking in a hard rain. But then I’d just throw a tarp over it. Hmmm. What to do?

Lights Working

Since I arrived at Grand Canyon it seems I’ve had no time to really settle in. First training with the hike across the canyon. Then preparing for programs and opening May 15th. Followed by over a week of being sick and finally back to work. Oh yea, I did squeeze in the slot canyon hike and Lake Powell.

The lights work!
Any way my “to do” list was getting long. I am a list maker because it feels so good to cross things off the list. Raked all the pine needles and cones at least 30 feet around my RV for required “defensible space.” Took all four jacks off the camper to lighten the load and keep them from rattling the old beast apart at the corners. Started to look for a water leak under the bathroom sink in the camper but the water tank was empty. Maybe tomorrow I’ll look into that, or not.

Almost all of them
Then I tackled the 12 volt system to get the running lights working on the camper. I’m no electrician, but 12 volt is only two wires, hot and ground, and it doesn’t have much kick if I mess up. Which I didn’t, and now I’m legal after dark.

So I think I earned a day out in the forest tomorrow. Well, after I do the laundry anyway.

My World Tuesday - Lone Rock Beach Lake Powell

After leaving Buckskin Gulch I’d planned to hike the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) Toadstool Trail in Grand Staircase Escalante but it was 2pm and too hot to hike with no shade. Another day.

I continued on to Lone Rock Beach at Lake Powell where you drive right onto the beach to camp. It was still hot and also very windy so I parked nose into the wind and made my own shade.

Wahweap Bay is just one little finger of Lake Powell.

RVs, tents & houseboats line the shore for maybe a mile. I’ll bet they’re stacked on top of each other during the summer.

I sat outside working on my evening program, actually trying to remember and rework last year’s program. I’ll post this sometime.

And watching the world watch me.

To discover life around the world of others visit My World Tuesday by clicking here.

My World Tuesday - Home at Grand Canyon National Park

Life really is all about the journey. But some roads are bumpier than others.

Now I’m going to tell on myself. I have a VERY difficult time backing up my 5th-wheel. In my mind I can back the darn thing right out of the driveway, but when I get behind the wheel there’s no sync. So therefore, every time I leave Yarnell I find someone to back it out for me. My usual guy was out of town, so I found someone else. He wouldn’t be available on Sunday morning when I wanted to leave so I suggested he back it out Saturday and then back it back in so I could spend the night and be ready to pull right out in the morning. OK.

I had everything ready and the truck hooked up when He arrived. I saw Him assessing the situation. I pointed out where the water and sewer are as I’ve seen that cause difficulties before. OK. He gets in my truck, backs up almost to the fence and makes a BIG U-turn, pulling right out of the drive and then back in. Me, I stood in the middle of that U and laughed till I cried. Why didn’t I think of that?

Red Butte near South Rim Grand Canyon
I left Yarnell Sun morning around 9:30 after hugs and goodbyes. I had to drive to the South Rim first to drop off the stuff I’d need there after the hike across this weekend.

San Francisco Peaks
On the way out of the park east I was within a few miles of Hwy 89 when I smelled hot rubber and the battery light went on. So I pulled over on the shoulder and shut it down. I’d blown a belt. No problem, I called Good Sam on my prepaid tracfone at 3:30pm. Then I waited on hold for 30 of my remaining 60 minutes before telling Marie where I was, what I’m driving and towing and recommending Flagstaff as the nearest city, even though I’d wanted to camp in Cameron. She’ll call me back. Two hours later, I call Berta and ask her to call Them back due to my limited minutes. Over an hour later they call to say someone is on the way from Flagstaff to tow me to Cameron, where there are no repair shops, and then in the morning I can have the truck towed to Flagstaff. Pretty stupid huh?

Two and a half hours later Johnsons Heavy Towing arrives and we decide I’m going to Flagstaff. Good Sam told him I was on Hwy 64 east of Tuba City headed to Cameron. That doesn’t even exist. By the time he unhooked me in the JC Penny parking lot, less than a block from repairs, it’s midnight too late for photos.

At 8am I’m waiting for FlagRV to open. And by 12:30 I was on the road again, granted a little poorer because the alternator was replaced also.

Painted Desert
From there a beautiful drive, once again through the Painted Desert, past Vermillion Cliffs and up onto the Kaibab Plateau. Back to my wonderful space under the Ponderosa Pines at the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.

Hwy 67 through the meadows
And tonight I got lucky and connected to my neighbors WIFI.

Park entrance
Tomorrow I’ll unhook the truck and level out the house. Then I can go look in the canyon.

Hwy 67 to North Rim

To see what's happening all over the world got to My World Tuesday by clicking here.

Escalante Earth Day

What better place to spend Earth Day than the Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument, where many amazing discoveries have come from the Earth.

Created in 1996 by departing President Bill Clinton and managed by the Bureau of Land Management this Grand Staircase represents 135 million years of Earth history.

The diverse geology includes many exposed sedimentary layers on top of the Page sandstone seen near Glen Canyon Dam. Tidal mud, windblown sand, lakes, streams and rivers followed by more sand until 94 million years ago when covered by a shallow sea.

About 145 million years ago towards the end of the Jurassic Period, the climate became more humid. Many dinosaur fossils have been discovered in the Morrison Formation from the period.

The visitor center is small yet provides great displays and knowledgeable people.

I’m so blown away by all the beautiful places I’ve visited in the last week. And I’m feeling mentally and physically exhausted. So I don’t feel like this post is up to snuff, and it’s going out anyway. The journey’s not quite over, so I hope you’ll stop by updates.

Glen Canyon Dam - Arizona

End of Echo Cliffs
I drove up through a cut in Echo Cliffs on my way to Page, Arizona.

Page Sandstone
On top of the Echo Cliffs there lies another exposed layer of sandstone, a little different than below. Windblown sand was deposited about 170 million years ago during the Middle Jurassic creating large-scale cross-bedding (angled lines) seen on exposed sandstone.

Coal fired Navajo Generating Station & Navajo Mountain

Page is a place of power, electricity production that is. The dam generates an average of 451 megawatts compared to the generating station's 2280 megawatts.

Glen Canyon Dam
Glen Canyon Dam, built between 1956 and 1966, stands 710 feet high, 25 feet wide at the top and 300 feet wide at the base. The dam provides water, electricity, flood control and recreation to millions of people.

Colorado River
The dam also radically changed the ecosystem of the Colorado River. Below the dam the water temperature dropped at least 20 degrees F causing the loss of some native fish. Without periodic flooding to wash away and redeposit sediments the entire riparian habitat changed, including the establishment of non-native plants.

Lake Powell
Glen Canyon Dam backed up the river 186 miles creating a reservoir called Lake Powell with about 100 major side canyons and five marinas. This flooding buried many Native American ruins and outstanding geologic features.

I continued my journey into the Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument. Please check back for that part of the story.

My World Tuesday - Echo Cliffs Arizona

Sunrise at Bright Angel Point - North Rim Grand Canyon National Park
When I finished last year’s summer season as a Park Ranger at the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park (click here for that story) I drove past Echo Cliffs on Highway 89 south back to Yarnell for this last winter. Well, guess what?

Painted Desert & Echo Cliffs
After yesterday’s post about the Painted Desert I also drove past Echo Cliffs just the opposite direction. Funny how life comes full circle sometimes.

Echo Cliffs lies on top of the Painted Desert as deposits of sand from the Early and Middle Jurassic about 175 to 200 million years ago.

This reddish-orange, cliff-forming sandstone is oftentimes veneered with black or gunmetal-blue desert varnish formed in part by the metabolic process of bacteria on the rock.

I continued on to Page, Arizona where I finally saw the Colorado River and Glen Canyon Dam, which I’ll post about tomorrow.

This series I've written over the winter for My World Tuesday is over. I've brought you to where I've spent the winter blogging, Yarnell, Arizona. To find out where I'm heading for the 2009 summer season, just keep checkin in. I promise to reveal where with a week.

For more glimpses into other parts of the world or to share your own go to My World Tuesday by clicking here.

Painted Desert Arizona

At last I’m posting Joan’s much requested Painted Desert.

Bridge over Little Colorado River
When you cross the Little Colorado River at Cameron on Highway 89 North you enter the western edge of the Painted Desert.

Enter The Painted Desert
During the Early Triassic, about 250 million years ago, the mass of all continents known as Pangaea began to drift apart between North America and Africa.

The west coast of North America subsided into a flat plain and when sea levels rose these plains were covered with seawater. When the level dropped the exposed land was covered with a deposit of Kaibab limestone.

Because eastern North America had the highest mountainous land at the time, rivers flowed westward to the low coastal plains. The slow moving waters deposited mostly red mudstone and very fine-grained sandstone.

At the same time tidal flows deposited gray mudstone and tan limestone. All these layers represent the Moenkopi Formation.

During the Middle Triassic deposition stopped and erosion began possibly due to climate change, a drop in sea level or a slight uplift of the Colorado Plateau region.

In the late Triassic, about 215 million years ago, the region again subsided and stream deposits filled valleys and river cuts with sediment of very coarse-grained sandstone and pebble conglomerate known as the Shinarump Member of the Chinle Formation.

As rivers continued to dominate the landscape mudstones in shades of red, gray, brown, purple, tan, orange and pink were deposited as water flooded over the river banks.

In addition, ash from exploding volcanoes fell on the Chinle river plains and eventually decomposed to clay with oxidized iron and manganese that give the rocks more vivid color.

Echo Cliffs on right, note the tip of the hills on left
The Painted Desert is referred to by some Native Americans as a “land of sleeping rainbows.”
Native Americans sell arts & crafts along the road
Much of the Painted Desert region is located within the Navajo Nation. The Navajo and the Hopi people have lived in the region for at least one thousand years, however the modern name for the desert comes from the Spaniards who named it "el Desierto Pintado" due to its brightly colored landscape.

Vermilion Cliffs in distance & Echo Cliffs on right
From the flat plain of the Painted Desert I continued up Echo Cliffs towards Page and the Glen Canyon Dam. Hope you’ll come back for more of the journey.