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Monday,
May 1, 2006
 South
Rim Transportation - Take IV
- The Park Service is soliciting public comments as part of their
scoping process for the consideration of plans to deal with congestion
at the Grand Canyon. The comment period ends today, Monday, May 1st,
at 12 midnight, and I have submitted three proposals this past week - Take
I, Take II and Take
III. Here is a fourth proposal of mine. If you wish to opine on these matters, you can do
so through the park service's on-line
comment form. [If you go to the form, you can easily
navigate to the various documents that are posted up relating to this
issue.]
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South
Rim Visitor Transportation Plan – Public Comments
Proposal DF-04
Construct a parking
area east of the South Kaibab Trailhead. Due to
the proximity of this trailhead to Mather Point, addressing
the congestion that occurs here should be part of any
integrated strategy to deal with congestion in the South Rim
Village area. As of now, the road to this trailhead, and
Yaki Point, is closed during much of the year, and
visitors are encouraged to take a bus to this
trailhead. An area to the east of the Yaki Point
road is close enough to the trailhead to serve as an overflow
parking area and could easily serve 100 vehicles.
Rationale:
--The
South Kaibab trail is not only one of the great trails of the
Grand Canyon, it is truly one of the greatest trails in the
world. The existing parking, at the trailhead, is
insufficient for the peak demand during many months of the
year, leading the park service to close the road, and parking
lot, to public use, and providing a transit system in order to
access this trail. Creating this dependence on transit
leads to two problems for potential users.
First, hikers must factor in the time
spent using the transit system as part of their hiking
time. A few years ago, I opted to hike from the Bright
Angel to the South Kaibab, and return to the village on the
bus. The transit leg, from the South Kaibab trailhead to
the Bright Angel Lodge took nearly an hour, while driving this
distance takes hardly ten minutes. Time spent in the
transit system is time that could have been spent hiking, and
most hikers are extremely unwilling to make that substitution.
Second, while one can easily plan to
use the transit system at the front end of their hike, it is
much more problematic to rely on it at the back end of their
hike. It is easy for a hiker to spend a lot of time, not
planned for, in the canyon - perhaps for reasons of poor
conditioning, or just because watching the sunset from atop
the Redwall is a beautiful experience. Regardless, they
face the distinct prospect that, when they reach the
trailhead, there will be no more buses serving that
route. Consequently, they might have to walk many miles,
along a dangerous road, in the dark, to reach their car,
parked in the village.
The consequence of these problems
leads many hikers to park in the picnic area near the Yaki
Point turnoff, along the East Rim road itself, or at the paved
viewpoints along the rim. These three choices represent
an inefficient use of existing parking space and an increase
in the probability of a serious accident. The
appropriate solution is to enhance access to this
trailhead. An area just east of the Yaki Point road is
suitable for an overflow parking area, which could be expanded
over time, as conditions warrant.
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The
image shows AZ 64 as it passes the Yaki Point road.
About halfway to Yaki Point, is the South Kaibab
trailhead. The auto icon marks the spot of the nearby
picnic area. [Original image from Google
Earth.] |
Portion
of Grand Canyon Shuttle Bus Map, showing where
the South Kaibab trail is relative to Mather Point.
[The map is not drawn to scale.]
To
see some other park maps, follow this
link.
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Tuesday,
May 2, 2006
South
Rim Transportation - Take V
- The Park Service was soliciting public comments as part of their
scoping process for the consideration of plans to deal with congestion
at the Grand Canyon. The comment period ended last night, Monday, May 1st,
at 12 midnight. I was able to make a final submission just a
couple of hours before the deadline, and that proposal is below.
I had made four earlier proposals - Take
I, Take II, Take
III and Take IV. While the comment
period is over, you can still go out to the park
service site to read documentation on this plan. The next
phase will be the release of an "Environmental Assessment"
which will outline a few different proposals, including one favored by
the park service. Then, we will see if any of my ideas had an
impact.
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South
Rim Visitor Transportation Plan – Public Comments
Proposal DF-05
Add a local bus
express lane at the entrance station, to be used by a shuttle
bus that operates between Tusayan and the major areas within
the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park.
Use Tusayan as the staging area, under the control and
supervision of the business interests there, and allow for any
number of licensed firms to participate in this venture.
Rationale:
--If
additional parking is made available in the park, either as
suggested by “Option A” or by the proposals I have put
forth (DF-01, DF-02, DF-03), the need for external parking
would be mitigated. Still, it would be efficient if the
growing numbers of visitors staying in Tusayan had the option
of leaving their vehicles at their hotels, where they can
board a shuttle bus into the park. This would further
mitigate the pressure on traffic in the park.
--The
present plan, “Option A,” calls for a parking area at Long
Jim Canyon. Drop this in favor of parking throughout the
Tusayan area, where any visitor (whether they are overnighters
in Tusayan or not) can board a shuttle into the canyon.
The park would not have to fund these facilities (indeed, much
of the existing space can be used exactly this way), nor would
they have to maintain them. Leave this entirely up to
the private sector. An obvious advantage here is that
park resources need not be used to facilitate this option,
except for the express entrance lane.
--These
trips can be priced however bus operators would like to price
them. I would think that the park could accept some per
person fee in lieu of the park pass or entrance fee for
vehicles. Each person could get a hand stamp, allowing
them back into the park (via shuttle) for the rest of the day.
This could be done by the bus operator, or could be done at
the gate (which would be more time consuming). At the
gate, the driver can make the payment and give a count to the
clerk, and continue on to the CVIP. [Years ago, I took a
bus up to the canyon, and the driver collected the fee from
each passenger and noted down who had a park pass – all in
all, it went smoothly at the gate. Something like this
is what I have in mind for this proposal.]
--To
enhance the desirability of this service, I would suggest that
these buses be allowed a limited number of stops in the park,
so that visitors don’t have to do too much planning to get a
shuttle back to Tusayan – CVIP, the business center, and
Maswik Lodge would seem reasonable choices. Keep these
stops/pullouts separate from the regular park shuttles.
--Although
these buses will be specially marked, to distinguish them from
other buses, there may also be a size limit imposed on them to
keep their presence in the park less intrusive.
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Saturday,
May 6, 2006
A
Merit-less Award
- This past Thursday, a front page story in the Arizona Daily Sun
featured a native American high school student, Alberta Nells, who
received a "moral courage" award from Northern Arizona
University's Martin-Springer
Institute. The award was for her "refusing to be
intimidated during an incident with police" at the school.
The "incident" started with the posting of flyers around the
school that were promoting the screening of a film opposed to
snowmaking at the Arizona
Snowbowl (blogged about in "Cultural
Bigotry"). The flyers were loaded with images that
suggested violence, and the group sponsoring the event had no official
standing with the school. A police officer, who was at the
school on some other matter, noted the flyers and raised questions
with the administration. A SWAT team was sent to the school and
a number of students were questioned. The police admitted that
they overreacted, apologized to the students, and their parents.
The film was not shown. So, what's wrong with this
picture? Plenty ...
Issue
1 - The incident makes a mockery of this award.
The Martin-Springer Institute is dedicated to "Using the lessons of the Holocaust to promote moral courage, altruism and tolerance."
There are huge lessons to be learned from the Holocaust, and every
generation will, hopefully, learn them. But, to equate this
incident with these lessons is unfathomable. Another recipient
of this award was a grade school student that faced down an older, and
bigger, student that was bullying another student. That award
makes sense to me. That student placed himself in physical
danger to stand up for what was right.
But, this "incident" hardly rises
to the level of meriting this award. After the matter settled
down, Ms. Nells, and others, demanded a public apology from the
police, saying that the individualized apologies were
insufficient. It sounds to me like these child-activists are
showing little, or no, tolerance, and, rather than exemplifying the
goals of the Martin-Springer Institute, they mock and degrade them.
Issue
2 - It isn't clear that the film was suitable for this venue.
The group that wanted to show this film ("The Snowbowl Effect")
could have followed the proper procedures for getting this film shown
at the high school. Still, that might not have been enough, as
public school venues are discouraged for controversial issues,
especially ones that are one-sided. There are certainly plenty
of other places in Flagstaff to screen this film, and it was, earlier
this year, shown in the library auditorium at NAU.
Issue
3 - The Columbine Effect.
Imagine, if you will, the response if the police had just ignored
these signals, and true violence had broken out on the grounds of the
high school. There would have been no shortage of condemnation
for the local police. They have to react and respond to threats,
without necessarily knowing to what extent these threats can be
realized. They used overwhelming force in this instance, and
decided that poor communications were to blame. But, I don't
blame the police for this. The activist groups involved in this
were likely quite happy with the windfall publicity this incident gave
them. That probably sounds more like a Goebbels' propaganda-ploy
than it does as evidence of "moral courage."
Issue
4 - Reform education.
This incident also offers up further evidence, like we really need
any, for the separation of school and state. Let schools be
perfectly private institutions, establishing their own rules and
regulations. I have noted this before, in "Deregulate
Schooling."
And, now for the unexpected ironic twist here. On the same day
as the newspaper touted this "award," Rick Krug had a letter
published, in which he defended himself from the attacks of others,
for his use of his money to help promote his opinions concerning the
on-going election, with regard to the dubious "workforce
housing" proposition (see more about the props in "Flagstaff
- Baby Leviathan"). Krug spent many hundreds of his own
dollars to have a recorded message sent to random households in
Flagstaff. I am not convinced that this is really going to
convince people, but I was under the distinct impression that this is
a free country. The city is investigating him for violating free
speech campaign finance laws. No word on whether the
ACLU will be helping Krug, and I wouldn't hold my breath on that
one. This issue also appeared on the front page of the Daily Sun
(4/26/06). And, he was even rebuked by an NAU professor, who
runs a polling lab on campus, who questioned Mr. Krug's ethics.
Talk about pots and kettles! Do you think that Krug will be a
recipient of the Martin-Springer Institute's award for "moral
courage" next year? No, I don't either.
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Wednesday,
May 24, 2006
Random
Fragments - The
end of the school term always leaves me exhausted - long days, lots of
papers to grade, and exams to prepare. And, then, I am in a
semi-vegetative state for a while as I decompress. One nice
feature of the academic lifestyle is the fact that every 15 weeks
everything is absolutely, positively, over. Well, I am likely to
see a few students repeating my class in the fall. But, still,
the finality is, I think, quite unique. That is, in many
businesses, you work on various projects that have completion
dates. But, those completion dates usually overlap start dates
for other projects. Otherwise, in other jobs, it is a case of
some continuity of tasks. Anyway, I find that I am quite
tolerant of working long days, getting short changed on sleep, and
sacrificing more nights and weekends, as the semester winds down,
because I know I will soon be free of those duties and
responsibilities.
I am not, however, free of things to do, work/school related or
otherwise. I have research projects that must be continued,
insofar as my professional health goes. In fact, after turning
in semester grades, I was finally able to wrap up a research paper
that has been hanging around for quite a while. And, there is
another paper that I have worked on, which really must be completed
this summer. In August, it all begins anew (no summer school for
me, which hasn't always been the case). A fresh beginning, and
the knowledge that it will only last for one semester. I have a
theory that this work pattern helps me to be better cognizant of the
passage of time. If anyone has some input on that, drop me a
line. Well, enough on that score. Time to get back to more
regular blogging. Today, some random fragments...
Why
can't drivers merge?
My daily commute takes me to the interstate twice a day. I find
that far too often, I am behind someone that moseys up to on-ramp,
reaching the highway traffic, by the time they are doing, oh, say 45
mph. Then, oblivious to the consequences of impacting metal
boxes that are hurling along at 65 mph, they just move over into the
traffic lane with nary a care in the world. Doh! I
learned, many years ago, that the purpose of the on-ramp was to speed
up to the prevailing speed of the highway traffic, so that you could
merge easily between two vehicles. What is it that other drivers
learn? I don't see this characteristic in big cities, but 99
times out of 100, it seems to me that this laconic driver is not
local. It must really drive truckers nuts, as I am always
observing that they move over, into the left hand lane, to avoid
impending disaster. So, down in Phoenix, they are experimenting
with cameras to catch speeders (and, then, mailing them their
ticket!). How about setting up cameras along on-ramps - if you
aren't going at least 90% of the highway speed, you get a
ticket. And, the lower your speed, the more you pay? I
would exempt semis, but include RVs.
Why
do bums have pets?
Well, the "pc" term is "transient" and not
"bum." However, whenever I see someone with their
cardboard sign, panhandling at various intersections, they look
employable, so I think it is more accurate to call them bums.
So, what is the deal when they have a dog with them (I can't recall
ever seeing one with a cat)? I suppose it is a ploy to further
appeal to our "humanity." But, I just think that if
they can take care of an animal, they can take care of
themselves. And, if they can't take care of themselves, they
shouldn't have an animal. Anyway, when I see these people, with
pets, I just imagine that they are really saying, "Hey, I don't
want to work - give me some money." Another question, do
they make new signs at each stop? Or, do they recycle? I
think the former. Which means, they must carry a magic marker
with them. I wonder if anyone has done any research on what
possessions bums do carry around with them? I bet they almost
all carry magic markers.
Tax
money well spent?
A few weeks ago, I went to a concert featuring Los
Lobos. Great band, although they seemed to be traveling
light - maybe, when they play smaller venues, they don't bring a brass
section. Too bad, as that is part of why I like this group so
much, and have for, ... what, 20 years? I guess so.
The concert was at the new Pine
Mountain Amphitheater, located just a couple of miles south of
Flagstaff. It was the first such show in this brand new
facility. And, who paid for this? Taxpayers. Indeed,
to kick off this afternoon of festivities, the announcer rallied the
crowd with, "Do you think
this is a great way to spend taxpayer's money?"
Apparently, I was the only one to reply, "No." I
can't, in my wildest imagination, fathom the rationale for using
taxpayer funds for such a bizarre purpose. Clearly, the rest of
the crowd could care less about the proper role of government - they
like to receive personal benefits from taxpayer monies. So,
what's the difference between these people and Jack
Abramoff? Only the scale of their ability (but, not
willingness) to rip off the public sector, it would seem. I
overheard more than a few concert-goers comment about how it was
"about time" that Flagstaff finally got a facility like
this. The ironic cap to all this was a bumper sticker on the car
of someone attending the concert. It was a symbol and
abbreviation that is meant to be read as, "Don't Phoenix
Flagstaff." Apparently, many people actually do believe
that you can have your cake and eat it, too!
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Wednesday,
May 31, 2006
Natural
Bridges National Monument
- The Memorial Day weekend found the nuclear family up at the Natural
Bridges National Monument, in southern Utah. Eric and I had
stopped by, for about a half hour, on a long road trip through Utah
early last summer. We thought we might go back for a camping and
hiking trip in the fall, but time flies by when one is busy! So,
as Memorial Day approached, it seemed like a good opportunity to do
this trip. The park has only 13 campsites, but the facilities
are rather low grade - pit toilets. Water is available, 24/7,
outside the visitor's center, which is just about a half mile from the
campground.
This is the oldest national monument in Utah, and it isn't all that
big. There are three natural bridges here, all easily visible
from the nine mile loop road, and all within less than a half mile
hike of their respective overlooks. What intrigued us was the
idea of hiking from bridge to bridge to bridge, covering some six to
seven miles in these neat little canyons, and another five to six
miles of hiking across the mesa to reach our car. You can kind
of make it out on the map, to the right, or click on it to see a
larger image.
The hiking was fantastic. We decided to split it up over two
days, hiking down to Sipapu Bridge, and down White Canyon to Kachina
Bridge, and out, on the first day. The hike back to the car was
tiring and it was hot on the mesa. So, on the second day, Eric
and I dropped Cara Lynn, and our packs, at the Kachina Overlook, drove
the car to the Owachomo Overlook, and hiked back at the start of our
day. Then, we hiked down to Kachina Bridge, up Armstrong Canyon,
and out at Owachomo Bridge. Both days, we encountered neat ruins
and petroglyphs midway along these canyons, which was like frosting on
the cake. The only downside was the fierce wind on Saturday
night, which forced us to drive to nearby Blanding for dinner (rather
than serve up a tasty portion of chili mac with grit!). I don't
think any other people stayed as long as we did - three nights.
Mostly, the campground emptied out early in the morning, and filled up
late in the afternoon.
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