Ah, 6 AM… great time to blog. Good morning travellers, what’s going on? For those of you already on your Grand Canyon vacation, hope you’re having a wonderful time. For those of you who’ll soon be on your Grand Canyon vacation, hope you’re getting excited!
OK, those guys on that show “What Not to Wear” would probably have a field day with this, but I actually have t-shirts in my possession that are like, 20 years old, some even older. Go ahead, laugh it up…. But hey, some of these babies have been to the bottom of the Grand Canyon for pete’s sake. We’re talking sentimental value, here! The other day I came across one that was so telling about Grand Canyon life that I had to share it with y’all.
Flash back to 1988, I was working at the Bright Angel Transportation Desk at Grand Canyon South Rim. Located inside the famed Bright Angel Lodge, one of Xanterra Parks & Resorts’ properties inside the park, our job was to check in Grand Canyon mule riders, folks hiking down to Phantom Ranch (the lodge at the bottom of the canyon), book people on Grand Canyon air tours, and to help people plan visits in other areas of Northern Arizona. In other words, we answered a LOT of questions.
At the “BAT Desk” (as we called ourselves), our days started early. 5 AM to be precise. That was when we were “technically” supposed to do our opening routine: gather up our paperwork (PC’s had yet to become de rigeur in our neck of the woods), count our cash, y’know, get ready for the day. “In principle,” this was done in private, with the curtain in front of the desk rolled down, away from prying eyes.
Note I said, “in principle.” In reality, what we usually ended up doing at that time was placating a group of about a dozen people who’d been standing in line since 4 AM, hoping, praying, begging, even resorting to bribing, to get a coveted cancellation on a mule ride or a bunk space at Phantom Ranch. My duty was to tell them, sorry, gotta wait till 6 AM, when it was time to pull up the curtain and call the waiting lists.
7 AM, time to call the hikers’ shuttle to the Kaibab Trailhead. Round up the folks out on the rim taking pictures (hey, it’s easy to get distracted with a view like that). 8 AM, last call for the mule ride. During all this hub-bub, we’d typically be dealing with a whole other throng of folks hoping to book a Grand Canyon air tour or bus tour or some alternative to the mule ride they weren’t able to get on. Then another group over here hoping, praying, begging, bribing for a cancellation on the NEXT day’s mule ride…
So by the time the typical American workday rolled round, the ”BAT Desk” crew had already logged a hectic half day on the job! So one day, we all chipped in and got these t-shirts made with the ”bat” symbol from the Batman Show and beneath it, this caption: “The BAT Desk: We Do More by 9:00 Than Most People Do All Day!”
When I talk with folks from “back East,” two things shock them the most. As my colleague Leah referred to in a previous post, the distances between things is probably the main one. The other? How differently we as Southwesterners relate to time. ”Out East” I know you folks think nothing of having dinner at 8pm, 10pm, later. For me that’s unthinkable. Why? It’s past my bedtime, that’s why!
I’m typically up at 4 in the morning, sometimes earlier. For me, getting up at 6 is sleeping in. I’ve personally always been a morning person, and I guess that was one of many reasons I took to living in the Southwest. In this part of the world, we tend to rise early. The weather certainly has a lot to do with that, especially at this time of year when mid-day highs run in the 90’s, 100’s and higher.
Many activities in the area start early, too, like our Canyon River Adventure and the Colorado River Day Float Trip – how early is early? 6 AM. You think that’s early? That’s nothing! Our Las Vegas Grand Voyager Tours have been known to start as early as 3.30 AM. Yeah. THU-REE… THIR-TEE …. AYY…. EMM…. That’s shuttle pickup time, the tour starts at like 5 AM. Yeah. 5….. in the morning…..
But you know what? Look at it this way: would you rather be at the bottom of the canyon when it’s A. 85 degrees or B. 115? Not only will it be somewhat bearable at the bottom of the canyon at that time of day, but B. If you’re from New Jersey, 3.30 AM is really 6.30 AM, which is just about what time you’d be getting up anyway… right? So, when I come out and see y’all in YOUR part of the country and we’re out having dinner at what in Arizona would be some crazy hour of the night, in reality, it’ll be a decent hour on MY internal clock. ….I think…..
In Arizona, time is something we laugh about. See, Arizona doesn’t do Daylight Savings Time, which means that when the rest of the country “springs forward,” we stay put. One of my co-workers at the BAT Desk even went as far as to place a placard by the clock in the lobby saying “THE RIGHT TIME.”
‘Cause when we SHOULD be on the same time as Colorado, we’re actually on the same time as Nevada. Then again there’s the exception: the Navajo Nation, which DOES observe Daylight… then on the Hopi Reservation, which is smack dab in the middle of the Navajo Reservation, they don’t, so, you can theoretically drive across Arizona and change time zones 5 different times. Going into Utah on your trip? You’ll cross time zones again.
Are you thoroughly confused yet? No need to be. A good rule of thumb? “When in doubt, check it out.” So on your Grand Canyon vacation, be ready to get an early start to your days. I know it’ll be hard rolling some of your family out of bed (not to mention you). I’ll bet though that once you’ve seen a sunrise in this part of the country – not just at Grand Canyon, but also at places like Monument Valley, Lake Powell, Zion, Bryce – even the most hardcore of you late sleepers will be hard pressed NOT to become morning people.
The Grand Canyon has that sort of effect on people. It has a way of changing people down to their very core. Don’t be surprised if it has some sort of profound effect on you.
Till next time – Happy Travels!
Alley Kaye, GrandCanyon.com
Recent Comments