Day 8 – I get an Early Start… Too Early Even

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As I had stated earlier, one of my goals was to get an early start from Havasupai Gardens. Ideally I wanted to get to the Rim before there was too much Sun. But also, if possible I wanted to get some moonlight hiking in. I sort of failed at one and barely achieved the other.

I mentioned in the previous post that I had some reading. I had brought a magazine with me (lightweight and I was behind on it). But while wandering the camp I found box marked “Havasupai Gardens Book Return” I later found the “library” for said book. Inside the box there was a copy of Over the Edge: Death in the Canyon. I had seen it at the bookstore on the Rim, but hadn’t bought at the time (since rectified). This provided the basis of my reading material for most of the afternoon and evening. Each chapter breaks down deaths in the Canyon by cause, such as Falls from the Edge, Falls in the Canyon, etc. Of course the last chapter I read focused on hyperthermia and other environmental causes. At the end of each chapter is a table of all known deaths that fit in that chapter’s topic. This was grim reading, especially when one noted the number of middle-aged men suffering from heat exhaustion or exercise induced cardiac arrest. Need I remind the reader that I’m a middle-aged man. As a side note, environmental related deaths is one of the few metrics where middle-aged men approach the numbers of young men (late teens/early twenties) that tend to represent most other deaths.

Let’s just saying falling asleep, my mind was churning a bit. I wasn’t really too worried, given the trail, lots of water, lots of people (more about that in a bit) and I’m not THAT out of shape, and I know what to look for. But still, the irony would have sucked if I didn’t make it.

Generally when I’m camping, even car-camping like much of this trip, I tend to go to bed soon after the Sun goes down. Even with a good headlamp, there seems little point in staying awake to do stuff. As a result, even with the above on my mind, I was probably asleep by 9:00 PM if not earlier.

Between napping in the afternoon, an early bedtime and a full bladder this meant I woke up at just after Midnight. Or so I thought. I saw some moonlight on the Canyon wall to my west. I debated going back to sleep or starting out. Starting out won. I packed my bag and then took out my phone to take a few pictures (that’s a phrase that would confuse folks a generation or two ago!) That’s when I remembered my watch was still on Mountain Daylight Time. Arizona however is on Mountain Standard Time year-round. I had gotten up an hour earlier than I thought. Since I was too lazy to unpack my sleeping bag to go back to bed, I set out for the Rim at 11:45 on the 15th. I was confident I’d avoid the Sun entirely. So did I fail at avoiding it before there was TOO much Sun? I suppose that’s a semantics question between “too much” and “entirely”. In fact, I figured at 4.5 miles, if I got out in four and a half hours, I’d be content. So I set out. With my trusty headlamp. I knew I had plenty of battery, but even if I didn’t worst case, I simply wait for the Moon to come up more, or the Sun to come up more. Either way I was set.

My first goal was the 3-Mile Resthouse. There’s shade here when needed and water. At some future point I’ll relate two incidents that occurred to Randi and I when we where here 29 years ago. This was 1.5 miles away. On the way I did come across a big Cat in the Canyon. But I was safe.

A big "Cat" I encountered in the Canyon. A 299D to be specific.

I managed to make the 3-Mile Resthouse by 12:37. I had covered 1.5 miles in under an hour. I was making better time than I had hoped. But the steepest part was yet to come.

And sadly, the Moon had not peeked over the Rim yet. I could see walls of the Canyon bright with moonlight, but no direct moonlight in my path. I had left too early for that it appears. I also had not yet encountered any other hikers. It was really early so I really didn’t expect to, but anyone who has hiked this during the day knows exactly how crowded this section of trail can be. And it normally only gets more crowded the further up you go because so many day hikers (smartly) only hike part way down.

I set out for the 1.5-Mile Resthouse. I was plodding along, a bit out of breath, but feeling I was making decent enough time. I stopped for photos and a few rests. At one point I looked at my watch and said to myself, “Ok, in about 15-20 minutes I should hit the 1.5-Mile Resthouse.”

Not 30 seconds later at a switchback I saw a sign for “Toilet”. I was very confused because I didn’t recall any such facility between the two resthouses. I made my way up the switchback I saw a water faucet and a 911 Emergency Phone. I was really confused now.  Then it hit me, I was much further ahead than I expected. I hit the 1.5-Mile Resthouse at 1:50 AM. I was making great time. But knew I was going to face a new problem at the Rim. I’d get up there well before dawn and well before the hiker shuttle from the Backcountry Office would leave at a little after 6:00AM to take me back to my car. I tried to nap a bit here and had almost dozed off when I heard something moving around. At first I thought it was another hiker. But after turning on my headlamp, saw a small canyon mouse interested in my backpack. Fortunately everything was sealed, but still decided I’d best move on. So I set out.

The 1.5 mile rest house sign at night.

I still had not encountered another single hiker. Now I was a bit surprised since I figured at the very least I’d encounter an early-bird overnighter heading out. But I did finally encounter some actual moonlit trail and was able to turn off my headlamp. For about 1 minute. Then I was back into the Rim shadow. I did encounter a few more patches of moonlit path, but that was it. I had left too early to really catch much direct moonlight.

I made the Rim by 3:28. (By the way, I’m not normally so anal about time keeping, but I have tagged photographs that are helping me recall the exact times). I had made the 4.5 mile hike up and out in under 4 hours. That included time for photos and a good 10 minute or so rest at the 1.5-Mile Resthouse.

I also achieved something I suspect very few hikers have done. I did the entire uphill climb from Havasupai Gardens to the Rim without encountering a single other hiker! That alone is a remarkable achievement I think.

At the Bright Angel Trailhead after a successful night hike out.

But now I had a problem. My car. I looked at some signs and realized I could hike the 4.5 or so miles to my car, or I could wait for the shuttle. I opted to wait. Fortunately I had brought a lot of extra warm gear in my pack in case it was colder overnight than it turned out to be. I put it all on. I then called my mom for her birthday while standing outside the Backcountry Office. Then I waited. And sometimes shivered. And sometimes did some exercise. And shivered. I guess I didn’t need to worry about heat or exercise induced cardiac arrest after all!

Finally a little after 6:00 the shuttle arrived and took me and several other hikers to the South Kaibab trailhead. I then had to double back to my car. My hike was over a little over 24 hours after setting out. It was good.

But it was also 6:45 AM. I had an entire day ahead of me. Going with the “I have nothing really scheduled” I decided I’d stay another night. So I got in line for the “First Come First Served” reservations at around 7:30. It didn’t open until 8:00. So more waiting. But after talking to folks, I came up with a solution on where to spend the next night, a place called Las Vegas Bay Campground. It’s a National Park Service Campground in the Lake Mead Recreational Area. It meant I could see Hoover Dam at my leisure and not worry about finding a spot to camp that night.

After securing a camping spot I set out to do laundry and shower (showers cost $2.50 for 5 minutes, bring quarters!). This was my first chance to do laundry or shower the entire trip. It was well earned.

After being delayed by the panic of a lost wallet, I headed to a talk on the geology of the Canyon given by one of the Rangers. I was late, but it was well worth it and was able to ask her a few questions and gain some knowledge. It was soon after this that I realized that I had DEFINITELY misplaced my ballcap. Now, sentimentally, it really means nothing to me. I have some that do. This one was simply a vendor one given to me by Microsoft. So in that light, no great loss. However, I use it to keep the Sun off my head and out of my eyes. While later shopping for gifts (and the aforementioned book) I picked up a buff to wear. But I still wanted my hat.

After attending another talk my a ranger, this time on wildlife in the Canyon (she loved it when I showed her the picture of the pink rattlesnake) I tried to pin down where I could have lost it. I checked that I had not left it on the Hiker Shuttle (and I know I had it before I boarded since I had taken it and put it into a pack pocket). So I figured I must have lost it after disembarking from the Shuttle and hiking back to my car. So, another ride on a shuttle bus out to South Kaibab. I figured if nothing else, I’d get some more walking in along the rim. I expected to have really no luck finding it. But not 100 yards into the walk back, along the game trail I had taken I spotted it! I had it back.

So I hiked over to the viewpoint (which the name of is escaping me) and took some pictures and then caught the shuttle back to the Visitor Center. By now it was almost 5:00 PM and definitely getting cool again. A wiser man would have simply headed back to his campsite and made dinner. Not me, I swapped to the village shuttle and then got off at the eastern end of Grand Canyon Village and proceeded to check out some of buildings and hike along the Rim. I ended back up at the Bright Angel trailhead. This time it definitely was teeming with hikers!

Top of Bright Angel Trail around 5:30 PM.

I finally took the village shuttle back to the Mather Campground stop. I got off, walked back to my campsite and finally made dinner around 7:30 or so. (no photos, so no exact time).

After that, I was off to bed. It was a long day. In addition to my hike out, I estimate I did another 3-4 miles on the Rim. I will say my calves were tight and sore! But so worth it.

I’m already thinking about my next hike in the Canyon.

Day 7 – An Early Start and where I Meet Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh

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My goal was to get an early start and beat the heat. After my last hike (29 years ago on my honeymoon with Randi) we failed to do that. In spectacular fashion. But let’s just say if running out of water on the hottest (or nearly so) day of the year in the Canyon can test a marriage and here we are 29 years later, I suppose we did ok.

The Backcountry Office had given me two options. One was to catch a 6:00 AM shuttle to the Kaibab trailhead or to try to snag one of the 12 spots at a small lot just off the road to the trailhead. I figured I’d wake up in the morning and see what my time looked like. Each had its benefits, but waiting for the shuttle meant a possibly later start.

I went to bed soon after dark and so I woke up around 4:00 AM (without an alarm!). I quickly packed and figured I’d risk the parking lot. Sure enough there were plenty of spots available. So after a scramble to grab a last few items from the car (I still forgot some hand sanitizer) I was off. I had to hike to the trailhead (Google says about .7 miles) before I could officially start my hike at 6:15 AM. This gave me about a 20 minute head start over the shuttle bus.

Often when I hike I set two goals: an optimistic one and a pessimistic one. This is even more true when it’s a trail I’m not familiar with or when, like now, I’m not in as good a shape as I’d like to be (and not nearly as young as I used to be!) So, I had an optimistic goal of about 2 miles an hour. That may sound easy, but on a steep trail, much in the Sun, and with a heavy backpack, and given the above age/in-shape factors, I figured I could hope for that. But I’d expect something like 1-1.5mph. My first major goal was the Tonto Trail where it crosses the South Kaibab Trail. There were a few points along the way I’d use to measure my progress.

Well the good news is I did make good time. Based on landmarks, even with stopping to take photos, I was averaging at least 2 mph. I was content. This was my 4th time down the trail, but to be honest, it’s been so long I didn’t remember much, just the general fact that it’s VERY exposed to the Sun and there’s no water. There were some spots that seemed familiar though. Mostly this trail, especially the further you go, is really only recommended for in-shape, experienced hikers who are planning on spending the night. I had two of those three parameters down. So I felt comfortable. And it appears most of the folks I passed on the way down (and I in fact did pass some people who were going down more slowly than me) fit that group. What I didn’t expect to pass was Christopher Robin.

Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it. And then he feels that perhaps there isn’t. Anyhow, here he is at the bottom, and ready to be introduced to you. Winnie-the-Pooh.

I first spotted this hiker from a switchback perhaps 30′ above him and a few hundred yards away. At first I thought he was standing next to some sort of small structure or something that perhaps the Park Service had put there to monitor the weather or something. It looked flat, smooth, and very obviously man-made.

But as I got closer I was even more confused. It was in fact not something the Park Service had put there. In fact I’m not 100% sure they would have approved of it being there at all.

It was… a kayak. Yes, you read that right a kayak.

I asked him what his plan was and it was in fact to hike to the Colorado and put in and canoe down some number of days (I forgot how many he said). I wished him luck and continued on my way.

It was a few minutes later when I took a water break that I could here the thump thump of the kayak as it bounced down the trail behind him. That’s when I named him Christopher Robin and his kayak Winnie-the-Pooh. Strangely, about 30 minutes later I met 3 folks hiking up from the river (or at least the Tonto Plateau) who asked if I had seen a guy with a kayak. I’m not sure if they were friends or had simply heard about him. In any event, I never saw him again and hope he made it.

Once at the trail junction I noticed what I’m pretty sure is a new structure since I was there 29 years ago, a Sun shelter. This is in addition to the composting toilets that have been there for as long as I’m aware. Randi and I could have used this last time.

I got here at 8:15, so I was definitely making good time. After a 10 minute potty break and water/food break I was on my way to terra incognita: the Tonto Trail headed west to Havasu Gardens. This was a trail I had never done before. I wasn’t too concerned. It’s fairly flat and there’s non-potable, but treatable, water along the way if I really needed it. The only concern was the Sun. But off I set. I won’t bore you with details. It was uneventful, I saw very few hikers. And I made good time. I will note it’s very obvious in the Canyon where water is. The Cottonwoods grow.

Again, I was making excellent time and was pleased with my progress. I even managed to find a few stretches that still had some shade. My plan of starting very early was paying off.

That said as I approached Havasu Gardens I was in for a bit of a surprise and disappointment. Due to the trail construction and pipeline work, rather than hiking into Havasu along the contour I was on, I had to turn away from the Gardens, descend, cross back up a steep section. It was both physiologically and mentally draining. So close and this small hurdle.

But I made it, and well in the time I wanted. I was at Havasu Gardens by 10:53. I was content.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, reading, and some photo taking. One of the other hikers spied something that caused the Park volunteer to put out a warning sign. I’ll pause to say, if you don’t like snakes, don’t look at the final picture!

Overall, a great day of hiking and I loved being back in the Canyon again and getting the chance to try a new trail! My only concerns… the hike out. Again I wanted an early start. Which I managed to get. More in the next post.

Day 6 – I’ve Arrived and Have Reservations

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I’ll admit my plans for hiking the Grand Canyon wasn’t too original. It was going to be the same hike I had done before: Down the South Kaibab, stay at Bright Angel Campground, hike ½-way out on the Bright Angel trail to Havasu (formerly Indian) Gardens, spend a night and then the last day out.

And I’ll admit I had some reservations. Well a few. Not reservations for permits to do the hike, which is a good thing with how much my schedule has changed. But reservations about if I COULD do the hike. I’m not as young as I once was and I’m not as in much shape as I’d like to be.  And of course, perhaps it was time to do something different. But, sometimes when playing it by ear, it’s easier to fall back on what you know.

Well, turns out it didn’t matter. The segment of the Bright Angel trail from the river up to Havasu Gardens is closed. So, with a change in plans I decided to still hike down the South Kaibab trail, across the Tonto Plateau and then spend just one night in the Canyon. It won’t be quite the same as reaching the Vishnu Schist and seeing the Colorado River up close, but it’ll be good enough to get the experience I want. I always joke about the scene in National Lampoon’s Family Vacation where Chevy Chase’s character stands at the Rim by one of the hotels, looks at it for about 5 minutes and then gets in the car and they leave. Many do close to that. Some are pressed for time. Some have been here before. Some will come back. But I do think if one has the opportunity to get below the Rim, even if it’s just down one of the trails for a mile, I think they should. The experience of being in the Canyon is very different from standing on the Rim. I’m not sure how to describe it, but it’s more visceral, more real. You feel both isolated from the outside world, but also more part of the world itself. There’s far less hustle and bustle. It’s quieter, but full of sound.

Having made my hiking plans I realized I had to make plans for tonight. Fortunately I was able to snag one of the few remaining campsites in Mather Campground. Ironically, it was right next to the one I had last night.

After that I headed out. Since I really had no plans, I decided to heed Horace Greeley’s advice and go West. I had never been west of the Grand Canyon Village so decided to head out to Hermit’s Rest and see how far I got. I walked most of, but did catch the shuttle to cut out two segments and then road the shuttle home. I am so glad I did. I had never seen that part of the Canyon before and there are some magnificent views. I think perhaps next time I’ll try to do a hike down to Hermit’s Rest. Taking the Rim trail west reminded me that no one has truly seen the Grand Canyon. They see slices. Some have seen more slices than others, but ultimately it’s truly impossible to see the entire thing.

Tonight I rest before my hike tomorrow. I know where I’m sleeping tomorrow night. The night after that is still up in the air.

That said, tomorrow’s post will obviously be delayed at least one day.

Note: Pictures will be added later, right now tight on bandwidth.

Day 5 – Arrival at the Canyon, After Taking it Easy on some Side Trips

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Again, posted a day late.

I’ve mentioned not being on a strict schedule. Which is good. Originally I was going to leave Monday the 7th, after work. But a car repair wasn’t done by then. So then it was going to be Tuesday morning. Of course it ended up being Wednesday around Noon. My original goal had me arriving at the Canyon on Thursday morning. By postponing my departure by 2 days, I figured I could still make it to the Canyon by Saturday morning.

Well here it is, Sunday night and I just arrived after dark (8:37 local time, 11:37 Eastern time). But I’m ok with that. I even managed to score a campsite in the Park itself (which meant not having to find a place along the way). But why the delay?

Well as the previous post notes, I had some car issues that slowed me down. And of course I ended up visiting and staying at Chaco Canyon. But that’s only like a 6 hour drive from the Grand Canyon and I left there around 10:00 AM MDT. So why so late?

Well for one thing I decided to do a bit of food shopping since the next few days stopping by a restaurant was less likely and I was running out and getting sick and tired of what I had packed when I left New York. While paying for the food, I started to panic since I couldn’t find one of my credit cards. I had just used it 8 miles up the road for gas, so I figured I could call to see if they found it and go back. After a frantic search of the car and my pockets multiple times, I did find it in one of my pockets. So I could breath a bit easier after that.

Back on the highway, I still was thinking I’d make the Canyon, specifically Mather Campground, well before dark. I wasn’t scared.

But soon I was petrified. Ok, no, not really. But I saw signs for the Petrified Forest National Park. My paternal grandparents had had a slice of petrified wood that always fascinated me and as such I had always wanted to check it out. A quick check of Google confused me a bit, since it looked like there was a few spots it was calling attention to. But no worry, the entrance was quite literally off the Interstate. I figured I’d pop in, check it out and 20 minutes later be on the road.

Little did I know that actually that’s the North Entrance and the road takes you about 26 miles south to the South Entrance. Along the way there are pull-offs to see the Painted Desert, Blue Mesa and much more. The ranger warned several of us that it could take a couple of hours. He was right. But it was well worth it.

A side note, at Chaco I had decided to pay $80 for an annual pass for the National Parks (in 5 years I can get a lifetime one for the same price, I guess a perk of getting older). Well Chaco is $25, Petrified is $25 and the Grand is $35. So it’s already paid for itself and I have other parks I want to visit on this trip. I also picked up a Park Passport at Petrified so I can collect stamps. Why not.

Anyway, I still had hope to make it to the Grand Canyon before sundown but another sign caught my eye: 65 miles to Winslow. Yes, THAT Winslow Arizona. Since I suppose I’m trying to take it easy on this trip, I just knew I had to stop. And I did. And of course got pictures. And I was far from the only one doing so. At least two other groups were doing the same.

At this point though, any chance of making the campground by sundown was gone. But, it was well worth it.

I’ll add one more note before ending. Several times on this trip, including in Winslow, I’ve managed to be on bits and pieces of the Mother Road, Route 66. And it’s been both cool and sad seeing some of the old hotels (most now dilapidated), restaurants (closed), and gas stations (abandoned).

Day 4 – Bad Start, Problem Solved, Bad Luck, Some Fun, and Finally Good Luck

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Written yesterday, but no connection to post, so a day late.

Future posts may also be delayed as I get to more places with limited WiFi.

Today started off fine. I woke up, a bit confused why it was so dark but then remembered my watch is still set to Eastern Time. That was only part of it. Anyone who has spent much time travelling even with a time zone will soon realize that the sun rises earlier on the eastern edge and rises later on the western edge. Conversely sunset is reversed. So not only was I one time zone off, I was rather west in it anyway. I stayed at the Texas Welcome Center along I-40. Most states have their welcome center within a few miles of the border. Not Texas, it’s in Amarillo, about halfway through the state. I suppose that way they only have to build one. That said, it was pretty decent.

I got off an early start and hit the border of New Mexico fairly early. I stopped at their welcome center which is literally right next to the border. However, since I was off to an early start, I decided to get of at Exit 0 in Texas. No, that’s not a typo. It’s right on the border and in fact the merge ramp ends within yards of the New Mexico border. I guess I was going nowhere. (To quote Harry Chapin, “anywhere is a better place to be.”)

Soon after that though the trip hit a snag. My check-engine light came on. Fortunately in my experience with Subarus it’s almost always an O2 sensor so I wasn’t worried. I got off at the next exit with a large enough town and waited for O’Reilly’s Auto Parts to open so I could borrow their OBD2 reader (foolishly I didn’t bring one with me). Sure enough, O2 sensor readings. They claim they can’t clear the codes with theirs so I nursed it until a large town outside of Albuquerque where there was a Walmart. There I picked up a decent reader, reset the sensors and I was off. I also got some Cataclean, I product I’ve had some success with. I used it down the road when my tank was empty enough. So that problem solved.

At this point between my stops and a few “for fun” detours checking out where some frontage roads went (two dead ended, one rejoined the Interstage) I was a bit behind schedule so decided to make for Chaco Canyon National Historical Park. This was probably the first place I visited with my dad years ago. Back then we didn’t have Google. We had AAA Trip-Tiks.

Well, let me go on an aside about Google Maps. One reason I’m not a fan of online maps is because it’s hard to see the big picture, like statewide. This means it’s possible for the online map to take you a way you may want to know and you don’t realize it until too late. This happened to my wife recently in New Jersey (which seems to be particularly bad). Let’s just say in that case there was NO logical reason for Google Maps to suggest anything other than I-95. But it did.

Today, I had a similar problem and it led me to a bit of bad luck. I was following the directions when it suggested I turn off the main road I was on onto a side road. I figured this was a bit strange, but whatever. Well, I should have been thinking more about the speed limit because I got nabbed. Ayup. I suppose I can call it bad luck, but it’s my own damn fault for speeding, regardless of where the map sent me. That said, I’m not even sure if it’ll be a problem (other than the fine) because it was technically on Tribal Land. We’ll see.

But then the fun began. Google Maps continued to take me down slow backroads. I was very careful to follow the speed limit here, despite numerous cars passing me. That said, my general sense of direction was telling me, “this might be the shortest route, but is it the BEST route?” But as they say, in for a penny in for a pound.

So I was thinking right up until Google Maps told me to turn right onto a dirt road. Now, a saner, more cautious person would have continued straight until Google Maps could suggest another route. I am not that person.

Now to be fair, the Subaru of course has all-wheel drive, decent ground clearance, and while I can’t say I have lots of off-road experience, I’m pretty comfortable taking it along roads like this.

Let me just say… it was FUN… bombing along a dirt road in the desert, pausing for the one stray cow. Only a few spots had me worried because they had some rough rocks poking up, but managed those (admittedly I ended up skidding a bit over one rather than steering around.)

I will add too Google Maps said 6.3 miles of unpaved road. Google Maps is a big fat liar. It was about 12 miles.

One of two ways into Chaco Canyon. It was sporting.

BUT, at the end was Chaco Canyon. So it worked. And I had fun.

As I drove in, I saw the sign I was dreading. “Campsite Full”. Actually that’s not entirely true. In the spirit of little planning, I hadn’t confirmed if there even was camping. (If there weren’t there were fallback plans). So I went into the Visitors Center to get a pass (got a season pass as I’m pretty sure it’ll be cheaper in the long run) and asked about nearby camping. He asked what I had. “A car, maybe a tent.” “Well if no-one shows up to take the Accessible spot by 4:00 PM, we release that to general camping.” I checked my watch and realized that was only 45 minutes away. So I filled some water bottles (that was the only thing that really had me nervous on the dirt road, if the car had issues I only had soda for hydration) and then went back inside, watched the 25 minute video on Chaco Canyon, wandered around a bit, setup to use their wifi and then, claimed the site. It does feel a bit weird using an Accessible site, but since they run on reservations followed by first-come, first-served, I assume they figure it’s better to rent it out than not.

After parking I did a short hike up to a viewpoint (where I did get some cell access for a bit) and then came back to my campsite, made a cold dinner of PB&J and set up the tent. I’m writing this in Word to later paste into WordPress because I have no service here.

Fajada Butte from a viewpoint accessed via a trail from the campground at Chaco Canyon.

In about 30 minutes I’ll join the Ranger led talk at the campfire and relax.

That’s the journey of today. I have more thoughts, but I think I’ll end up posting those as separate side posts.

One more thing to add, my new phone apparently does do great night shots with a full Moon

Day 3 – An Unplanned but Fruitful Side Trip and More

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Took two sleep breaks last night, the last one at Buc-ees. It’s an interesting place and exactly what I expected. I did splurge and get a breakfast burrito. It started out well, with brisket I think, but by the end, well it wasn’t worth it in my opinion.

Was making some good time when a sign with the distinctive brown and white of the National Park Service caught my eye (side note, does that brown have a special name? I’ll have to find out!): George Washington Carver National Monument.

I’ve always been interested in him, if only because I love peanuts and a good PB&J (which I did make myself later in the day). So I figured why not.

Sadly, Google Maps was NOT helpful here. It couldn’t give me directions. It simply suggested what I assume came from the website. Normally I wouldn’t care, but on the way I almost missed a turn because I only saw the sign in time.

To say the monument is off the beaten path is an understatement. It’s literally a back road off a back road off a side road from the Interstate. That said, I’d say it’s worth the stop!

George Washington Carver National Monument building

So, while not on any of my bucket lists, I’m glad I took the detour.

My next stop led to another unexpected stop. I stopped in Tulsa to take a photo of a place that shares the name of a friend. (sorry, I’d share, but not currently uploaded to my cloud account). While there I decided to put in my contacts. I had been driving all morning with my glasses and figured it was time. Well, my left contact had other ideas and is currently somewhere in my car. Fortunately there was a Lenscrafters not far out of my way so an unplanned stop there got me a replacement for the sinister lens that left me.

From there, a few stops at roadside attractions, but nothing of note.

For the end of the day I decided to make a “run for it” and get to Texas before getting gas. It was close. I wouldn’t say I was on fumes, but my tank was empty and my bladder overfull! But I made Texas.

Next was a few stops trying to find a place to eat and here I am at Backstreet 200 in I believe Panhandle Texas.

I do need to figure out how to get my phone to correctly upload photos over a data connection and not wait for a Wi-Fi one.

That said, I have to say, been thinking a lot about my Dad today. My Mom and Dad probably introduced my wanderlust before I even had memories. This included a trip across country including apparently an unfinished section of I-80 through Colorado where my Mom had to drive while fearing she’d drive over the edge into the Colorado River.

But the first cross-country trip (or nearly we didn’t make the Pacific) that I actually recall was with my Dad, his then girlfriend and her daughter. We took much this same route, especially the last 1000 miles or so. I’ve been this way via car at least twice since then, but that was the first time. I’ll have more thoughts on the matter in the future I’m sure.

But enough for now. Time to eat.

Day 2 – a Side Trip and a Nope Trip

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Going without a fixed plan or schedule has its advantages and disadvantages. I experienced both today.

After two overnight stops to sleep, I was well on my way. I had really only one goal today: to make it to the St. Louis Gateway Arch and ride it to the top. The first time I went west, with my dad, his girlfriend and her daughter we arrived after it had closed, so we only saw it from the outside. The past couple of times I was passing through St. Louis, either I again arrived too late or was on too tight of a schedule to stop.

Back to the Arch in a moment.

As I said, there are advantages to no fixed schedule or plan. When I see something that interests me, I can go see it. Today was that day: the Air Force Museum or more accurately: National Museum of the United States Air Force. A quick glance at my phone for the map showed I could give myself about 2 hours there and still make the Gateway Arch. I’ve wanted to visit this museum for years because of my interest in aerospace and because it has a few unique exhibits.

I ended up spending a bit more time here than planned, and far less than I would have liked.

There are three HUGE hangers full of aircraft and some missiles and more. It was well worth the visit. And the cost was in my budget: $0

When I got back to my car I panicked at first thinking I had miscalculated the time and I’d arrive in St. Louis too late. Then I remembered it’s in the Central Time Zone and I in fact had an hour and twenty minutes to spare.

So I set out. I had to make one stop for gas (well two, turns out the first place was actually closed, despite the signs still advertising it being open!, so that set me back 10 minutes.

Finally I arrived close to the Arch, only to discover Google Maps assumed I could simply park in the middle of a street. It took me about another 10 minutes to find legitimate parking.

So between the one gas station and parking, I was down to an hour before closing, which was 6:00 PM.

As I walked down the ramp to the entrance I saw a sign: Last tram runs one hour before closing. It was 5:00 PM. I rushed to the desk hoping against hope I’d sneak in under the window.

Well dear reader, I am sorry to say I was foiled again. The last tram of the day had left. I actually was nearly in tears.

That said, I was able so console myself with the fact that apparently tickets had sold out hours previously. So arriving 10 or 20 minutes earlier would have made no difference, and in fact arriving 3 hours earlier wouldn’t have made a difference.

I did spend some time in the museum itself and took some photos, so it wasn’t a complete waste.

And then headed west.

I’m typing this from a Mexican restaurant somewhere on I-44. I’ll remember the name later.

All in all, a day with some plusses and minuses. Next, find a place to sleep for the night and then figure out my plans for tomorrow and how many miles I want to put in.

Day 1 – Off to a Late Start

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Well, things didn’t “go as planned“. Turns out the car wasn’t ready until after 7:00 PM and at that point I figured I’d do another night and dinner with the family and get a start the next day. But, paradoxically, I decided to NOT try to get an early start. Or rather I told myself, if I wake up at like 4:00 AM, I’ll leave then, otherwise, I’ll take my time. So, sometime around 12:30 PM I was finally off.

This was of course after stepping in some cat vomit I had to clean up. Then nearly falling down the last steps into the garage. And then, I must have left a door ajar for too long, but a weak battery I had to jump. Was the Universe trying to tell me something? If so, I wasn’t listening.

I decided for a few reasons to take a trip through the Southern Tier of New York with a stop or two along the way. Well it was more of a “roll-by” of SUNY Cortland, my wife’s alma mater. I had only been there once so I sort of wanted to see it again and take a photo or two. But given I know nothing about the campus and it was cold out, simply took photos from the phone mounted in the car.

From there it was backroads to I-86. Which is where I am now, at a Burger King in Seneca nation. I’m real close to a casino and tempted, but I think I’ll get more miles under my belt tonight.

I’d post some photos, but so far they haven’t synched to my cloud account. I’ll work on that.

So, 8+ hours into my journey I still haven’t left New York yet, but… I’m ok with that. I’m really trying to relax and so far it’s mostly working.

Freeing Myself

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If all goes as “planned”, sometime this afternoon I’ll hop in the Subaru and head “west”.

Why the scare quotes and what is the plan?

Well the plan is sort of no plan. I have some goals, but not a strict schedule. This includes even when I’m leaving.

But let me back up a bit.

I’ve kept mum for various reasons, but now I’ll give the details on the PA program I accepted an offer to attend. I’m proud to say that on May 27th, I will be starting my orientation with my fellow PA-S1 (that’s the lingo for first year PA students) at the Christiana Delaware campus of Arcadia University. I already met a few of them at the open house a few months ago, but on the 27th I’ll meet the rest. On 28th, we buckle down and start classes. I mention specifically the Christiana campus because Arcadia is one of the few (may be only) schools to run to simultaneous programs in a parallel manner. The other cohort of PA-S1s will be at the main campus in Glenside, PA (outside of Philadelphia).

Now, the savvy reader who is hip to their geography have probably figured out that I won’t be easily commuting on a daily basis between Delaware and upstate New York. The solution is that I’ll be renting a place for most of the duration of my time in PA school. This is an unfortunate added expense to deal with. So, one of the things I have planned before the 27th is to sign a lease (I have an apartment complex picked out already).

So what to do between now and then?

The biggest step was putting in notice with my current employer; Albany Medical Center. May 8th will be my last official shift as a full-time equivalent. I am looking to continue in a position where I’ll be able to pick up a few shifts over my rare breaks but that’s just to keep my skills sharp and for the enjoyment of it.

In the meantime, I’ve decided to take a bunch of my banked vacation days and travel a bit.

The original plan was to start yesterday morning right after my shift. A delay in my car repairs and because they really needed techs last night, I moved my start to later today (after I pick up the car and pack it.) The goal, to see some of the country, visit some national parks, hike, relax, etc.

Those who know me well would understand when I say that at times I can be a control freak, even over myself (perhaps a better way might be “self-disciplined”?) If I set a goal, I do my best to meet it, or often to exceed it. This can be good if I’m setting a goal to study or exercise. But it can also add stress when I’m attempting to reach a goal I set for no specific reason.

As I planned my trip, I initially set out specific goals for each day’s travels etc. Very quickly I realized how unappealing that was becoming and how rigid it would be (as shown by the fact that I’ll already be leaving probably 32 hours behind schedule!)

So I decided, since my next 2 years will be rigorously scheduled for the most part to turn my vacation into a loose set of goals with a loose timeline.

The biggest goal, get to the Grand Canyon and ideally do an overnight or two in it. And visit Bryce and Zion canyons.

After that, we’ll see. I’ll probably head north, but who knows how far. I’ll probably check out a few more national parks. Eventually I’ll have to head back east in order to make my May 1st scheduled PA shift. So how long will I spend “out west”. We’ll see.

I’ll post updates as I see fit. But no promises. Again I want to relax for a change.

mRNA Vaccines

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I was planning on writing a more detailed post, complete with images and citations, but I’ll be honest, I don’t have the energy or time right now, so this will be simpler than I’d like.

One of the claims some people have made about the mRNA based Covid vaccines is that they alter your DNA. This basically isn’t possible. But I want to delve a bit into why.

We’ll start with something often called the Central Law or Dogma of Molecular Biology. I’m going to paraphrase it at first: Information passes from DNA to RNA to Proteins and never in the opposite direction. I’ll explain why this is mostly true and why it is vitally important to understand when it comes to the mRNA based proteins. But first, some definitions.

We’re all probably familiar with DNA, the double-helix first observed and described by Rosalind Franklin and later better described by Francis Crick and James Watson. This is where genetic information is stored. In computers, we think of data as stored as bits, 1s and 0s. DNA is similar, each “lattice” in the ladder is made up of a pair of AT (Adenine/Thymine) or GC (Guanine/Cytosine) molecules know as base pairs. Whereas in computers we’re often dealing with bytes which is a group of 8 bits, DNA is grouped as three base pairs at time.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

But what’s the purpose of these three base pairs? I’m going to overly simplify, but an entire strand of them makes up a chromosome. (Humans have 46, 22 “identical” strands and then a set of XX or XY strands. Identical is in quotes because sometimes when replicated, errors can creep in creating a mutation. And of course some people have more than 2 of each, such as Trisomy 21, aka Down Syndrome, or even XXY, or can be missing one of the pair, such as X0. But that’s beyond this post.)

But three base pairs together can encode later for amino acids. Amino acids make up proteins.

Within each chromosome are multiple genes. Genes are what make you look like you and be human. You have genes for example that control your blood type, hair color, and more.

That said, two things can happen to DNA: Replication and transcription.

Replication is necessary when a cell divides and basically the entire chromosome is duplicated so each cell has a copy. This is extremely interesting in and of itself, but again, beyond the scope of this article.

What we care about here is transcription. This is when part of the chromosome, specifically a specific gene is accessed in order to make a protein. This can get fairly complex and honestly, we’re learning new details about how genes can be activated and used all the time. (For example, so called “Junk DNA”, i.e. areas that don’t encode for genes, turns out that can be very important too and it’s not junk.)

So, before I can get into why mRNA vaccines can’t alter your DNA, let’s dive into a bit more how a protein is made and how this related to vaccines.

An important detail to keep in mind here is that in what are called eukaryotic cells (which is what makes up almost all multicellular creatures, including you) chromosomes are within the nucleus of the cell. It’s difficult for anything to get in or out. Basically there’s a wall around them with closely guarded gates.

That said, the nucleus receives a signal that a particular protein is needed. So, the particular chromosome, which is normally very tightly wound unwinds at the location of the gene needed for that protein. Then a special enzyme (and they are different between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells i.e. single cell bacteria and the like) called RNA Polymerase that starts to “walk” the gene and create what’s known as Messenger RNA or mRNA (see we’d get to this eventually).

When it’s done reading, this new strand of mRNA leaves the nucleus and goes into the cytoplasm of the body of the cell. There, “molecular machines” known as ribosomes will latch onto it. These actually come in two sizes, large and small. You have millions of these in each of your cells. When a piece of mRNA is floating around a large and small ribosome will clamp to the “start” end and start to read it. As they read it three base pairs at a time, they will attach the amino acid that matches that 3 base pair encoding. This amino acid is brought to the ribosome unit via something known as Transfer RNA or tRNA. Once the end of the mRNA is read, the ribosomes come apart and the mRNA may be read again or destroyed. (I won’t get into the signaling factors that control this, but the key part is eventually all mRNA gets destroyed and its base pairs typically used for other purposes.)

The created protein may undergo other transformations and be moved to other locations within the cell, to the surface of the cell, or even ejected from the cell.

And that his how a protein is made. Notice the direction matches what I said above DNA->RNA->Protein. It’s one way.

But what keeps it from going the other way? That’s really the question here.

Let’s start by stating up front that your DNA DOES in fact contain genes that apparently came from viruses. So that central law obviously has an exception. But what makes that exception?

Specifically it’s an enzyme known as Reverse Transcriptase. Humans sort of have a form of this, but it’s used for a very specific (controlling telomere length during replication). There are a few other weird things that could do something like this, but basically for the mRNA Covid vaccines they don’t. The simplistic reason is that the mRNA vaccines don’t include the encoding that is required for Reverse Transcriptase to start its work. It’s sort of like a guard asking for the password to get into a military base. If you don’t have it, you’re not getting in.

Moreover, an mRNA vaccine encodes for a specific protein or proteins. That’s it. It doesn’t contain enzymes like Reverse Transcriptase, nor do the mRNA segments contain the encoding to allow for any form of reverse transcriptase. Even if somehow DNA was formed from them, it would then have to make its way into the nucleus (which is very difficult to do) AND the be incorporated into an existing chromosome. This just beyond the point of believability.

But, let’s say somehow it DOES happen. You know what the most likely result is? Nothing. Your body has no reason to activate such a gene. It would sit there like other inactive genes doing nothing.

So, for those who read this far, or who skipped the end, your cells and the mRNA vaccine for Covid simply does NOT possess the mechanisms to incorporate the the vaccine into your cells and even if it did, the net result if anything would be nothing.