Searching for the Grand Canyon Moose

One of the perks of having a blog is being able to take a peek at my audience. No, I don't have a webcam view into each of your homes, it's more a general outline of the individuals who visit my site, purposely or otherwise.

Blogger gives me a rundown that includes daily hits (number of readers), which posts are being read and the electronic trail they followed to get there. Many of you click a link on Facebook, Twitter or Flipboard; I expect to see that since that's where I post my latest entries. Some of you, bless your souls, punch in the actual blog name to check in on the latest goings on here (I really, REALLY appreciate your dedication!) Blogger even supplies a map of the world with green shaded areas that symbolize where the viewers are located, darker green indicating higher numbers. I always get nervous when Russia—land of the infamous hackers—starts to darken. To be clear, it doesn't tell me who you are, just generalities. Blogger hasn't attained NSA status just yet.

"Anasazi" a sculpture in front of the Visitor's
Center at Mesa Verde National Park.
 The sculptor, Edward J. Fraughton,  contacted me for
 permission to use it in a book about his work.

The most interesting category by far (at least to me) is the "Search Keywords" section. It ranges from the expected (camping in Death Valley) to the bizarre (good things always to copy) WTH? I enable this to some degree; I enter keywords with each post, hoping to catch a reader that's searching for a particular park or trail. The blog photos often pop up on image searches too: In one instance an artist found a photo we took of his sculpture. He liked it so much he asked permission to use it in a book he was publishing. Pretty cool.

A keyword search that popped up a couple years ago made me laugh out loud: "Is there a moose in Grand Canyon?" The idea of an 800 lb bull moose tottering along the edge of the Grand Canyon just struck me as funny (and a dangerous prospect for those rafters down below). But then it happened again. And again. Just yesterday, those words appeared for at least the twentieth time.

Don't get me wrong. I appreciate the hits no matter where they come from and even more, the curiosity about nature it displays. But since the question has been asked so often I thought I'd take the time to answer.

Are there moose in Grand Canyon National Park?

In a word: No. (Unless you count the husky guy that offered to take our picture at the Angel's Landing overlook last time we were there.)

Here's why:

It all has to do with habitat. Moose get overheated when the temperature climbs above 60F; they also like to take long, languorous dips in lakes and streams when they start to feel a case of the vapors coming on. The wintertime temps in the park can get plenty cold on the rim, but all the water is down deep in the canyon. During the summer moose would swoon as the temperatures rise to the 80s on the rim and over 100F at the bottom, where the river runs swiftly and surprisingly cold.

An Alaskan moose enjoys lunch in a beaver pond.
Denali National Park

Moose need to eat a lot of vegetation to keep their moose-like proportions; they browse on high grasses and tree leaves because it's hard for them to lower those giant heads to the ground. Their long gangly legs terminate in broad plate-like hooves that help to keep them from sinking in the mud and snow, two things not normally found in the canyon. Moose are equally at home in water and land; they are good swimmers and  enjoy eating aquatic plants, staying submerged for up to 30 seconds while doing so. Another interesting moose fact I ran across: They can store up to 100 lbs of food in their stomachs. Pretty impressive.


North American moose live throughout Alaska and Canada and in the northern-most states in the lower 48 (Washington, Idaho, Montana, parts of the Rocky Mountain range down to Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, Michigan, Minnesota, New England, etc.). They most recently have taken hold as far south as Utah, but only in the cooler northern-most regions there. I don't think they often go down to check out Arches, so don't expect to run into them at the Southwestern Art exhibit in Moab.

Mark displaying the international sign for "No Moose Down There."
North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park

Armed with these facts now, when you visit the Grand Canyon you won't be the least surprised that moose are absent. Both rims have areas with trees and some sparse grassland but it's dry, scrubby pine forest, not ideal if you're a moose. Surrounding the park are vast stretches of barren desert. Water is scarce, so scarce in fact that water rationing is a way of life on the northern Kaibab plains. The most expensive pay shower I ever took was in a campground on the North Rim. Five dollars for three minutes. No cheating and adding quarters once you get started: If you couldn't finish in three minutes you were stuck walking around with soap in your eyes. The toilets were composting, no sense in flushing all that good water away. My point being, moose would be dehydrated wrecks out there, nowhere to drink, nothing to eat and nowhere to cool off. If they managed to survive a hike (or fall) into the canyon, it would be so hot they would just wither away.

The Grand Canyon Rim. Not a good habitat for moose, but a great place for humans to visit.

I have no doubt there will be more inquiries about moose in the Grand Canyon in the future. I picture a school kid, maybe from one of the southern states, about to leave on his first trip west. Hoping to cram in all the sights he's always dreamed about, he punches into the search bar the two things he really wants to see: A moose and the Grand Canyon. I hope this page pops up next time and is helpful to explain why they aren't going to be in the same place.

I hope you're not too disappointed kid. But hey, the Grand Canyon is pretty cool, you'll like it. Just tell your parents the next trip out you need to hit Yellowstone. They've got some mighty big moose up there.

Now I'm off to figure out what those "good things always to copy" could possibly be.

The End.

****************************
Here are some great sources for moose facts. In fact, I used some of them for this post:
http://www.mooseworld.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/moose/
http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/moose1.pdf

Canyon de Chelly and The Navajo Nation (Part II)

(This post is a continuation of the trip described here)

Canyon de Chelly National Monument might not be as spectacular as the Grand Canyon, and it probably doesn't have the extensive cliff dwellings of  Mesa Verde National Park. But it does have it's own charm; our friend Peter, who has lived in the area for years, described it as an "intimate" canyon. I think that's pretty accurate and in fact, a large part of it's attraction.

The river has carved a
curving path through the canyon.

Cattle grazing at the water's edge, Canyon de Chelly

The park is actually made up of multiple canyons, all converging near the entrance and Visitor's Center. It's unusual in that people still live within the monument, farming and raising livestock as they have done for centuries. Since it's privately owned land, there is very limited access to the canyon floor itself; there is only one trail you can take to the bottom without hiring an authorized guide. There is no entrance fee, but of course if you hire a guide there will be a charge.

Map courtesy of www.nationalparktravel.com

The park is shaped in a rough "V" pattern and has two main roads flanking the sides: North Rim Drive overlooking the Canyon del Muerto and South Rim Drive that looks down on the Canyon de Chelly. The most popular is South Rim; it's the one with the famous Spider Rock formation featured on all the brochures and websites. Consequently, the North Rim Drive is much less crowded. That coupled with the fact that it has the best light for morning photography made it the perfect choice to start our tour.

There are four overlooks on the North Rim. We drove out to the farthest one and made our way back to the park entrance. As it turned out we ended up tailing a school bus full of kids out on a field trip from a local elementary school. Ordinarily it would have been annoying, but it was actually interesting to hang back and listen to the teachers explain what we were looking at, and why each area was important to their history as descendants of the canyon's inhabitants. Besides, watching a bunch of fidgety kids--some excited, some bored to tears--was pretty entertaining, especially since we weren't the ones in charge of keeping them from falling over the edge.

The Massacre Cave Overlook was a bit gruesome; it's situated in (possibly) the very spot Spanish soldiers stood shooting at Navajo people who were hiding in a cliffside cave. The Spanish claimed to have killed 90 warriors and 25 women and children, but according to Navajo accounts most of the men were away hunting at the time, so the actual victims were mostly women, children and old men.

A curve in Canyon del Muerto, Massacre Overlook

From Mummy Cave Overlook you can view the largest ancient Puebloan village preserved within the monument. Over 70 rooms are built into the cliffside on a rock shelf; when it was excavated in the 1920's two mummified bodies were found, well preserved by the dry climate and sheltered space.

Mummy Cave

Water running down the canyon walls leave a beautiful pattern

Antelope House Overlook has a great view of some ruins, but more impressively, pictographs and massive red cliff walls. The short hike out to the overlook was interesting as well, giving us a closer look at the surrounding vegetation and sandstone that make up the area.

Antelope House Ruins. If you look closely you can see pictographs above the ruins on the left.

The Ledge Ruin Overlook is not quite as impressive, but gave another perspective as it nears the confluence of the two canyons.

The canyons converge near the Ledge Ruin Overlook

A lone kiva sits in a small cave.

There are more stops along the South Rim and it's much more popular, thus more crowded. We decided to head all the way to the end of the road and work our way back, hoping to get a good photo of Spider Rock before the crowds arrived there.

Spider Rock: this red sandstone monolith is pretty impressive. It stands over 800 feet tall, towering over a bend in the river. Navajo legend has it that Spider Woman chose the top of this rock as home and one of her many functions in Navajo lore is to keep children in line; they are told if they don't behave she will carry them away to be eaten. The top of the formation is said to be colored white from the children's bones. Just goes to show there have been desperate parents in every culture, all through the ages.

Spider Rock, with a sprinkling of children's bones on top. Or possibly bird poop.

The short trail out to the Spider Rock overlook is lined with wildflowers

White House Ruins Overlook and Trail: this is the only trail leading into the canyon that doesn't require a guide. The trail follows switchbacks for a 600 foot elevation change down to the valley floor, where you can view the White House ruins nestled at the cliff bottom. It's called the White House not for it's governmental function, but for a white plastered room discovered in the upper tier of the collection. The hike is beautiful; it gives you a close up view of the many layers of rock that make up the canyon and even leads you through a couple of tunnels burrowed through the sandstone. At the bottom, you cross a bridge over the river, skirting a farmer's field (that was being planted the day we were there.) The ruins are behind a cyclone fence to keep people from doing what people tend to do; they are also guarded by a line of vendors hawking handmade jewelry, stone carvings and other offerings.

The White House Ruins

Sign on the gate protecting the White House ruins.

Faint petroglyphs carved into the cliff face above the ruins

The White House trail zig zags down into the canyon

Mark makes his way through one of the tunnels on the trail.

The trail follows crevices along the cliff face.

Flowers stand out against the red sandstone cliff base.

The bridge

A farmer plows his field in the shadow of the canyon wall.

Although I was a bit annoyed at first by the constant presence of vendors in the park, I must say they were not as bad as in some other areas of the world we've traveled (Jamaica comes to mind, where I was under a constant barrage from women grabbing my hair offering to braid it.) They might call out to you, but for the most part the vendors wait for a show of interest before trying to sell their wares. With unemployment being so high on the reservation, the sale of these items is often the only income available to some of the people.

A thunderstorm was gathering as we made our way back up the trail.

The wave patterns in this sandstone monolith stand out against the darkening sky.

We stopped at most of the overlooks along the canyon, but after a while they all start to look the same. We had tried to line up a guided canyon tour before we left for our trip, but when that fell through--coupled with the windy weather and a brewing thunderstorm--we decided we were satisfied with what we were able to see from the road and trail. If we pass through again we will definitely hire a guide to get a more personal perspective of the canyon. (Note: There is an office in the Cottonwood campground that can arrange for a guide; it's my understanding that you can hire a guide with a vehicle, or have them accompany you in your own vehicle.)

Overall, I liked the park very much. It was nothing like any of the National Parks or Monuments we have visited before, but once we adjusted our expectations it was an enjoyable experience. I admire what the Navajo Nation has undertaken; trying to share a beautiful natural feature and preserve a way of life while maintaining a bit of privacy is a tricky undertaking.

"The Road Home" Canyon de Chelly

2013: A Year in Review

 The year is coming to a close and as is our tradition around here I ask: 
Where the heck did it go?

To remind myself, I've been flipping through our photos from the past year. The nice thing about digital photography is having the time and date stamps that accompany them; we don't have to pick up a photo and turn it over to discover we (yet again) forgot to mark it, wondering aloud "when was this again?" Some of my favorites aren't necessarily the most artistic or well composed shots, but the ones that bring back the best memories.

Here are a few along with the stories behind them:

We started the year with our annual trip out to Point Reyes National Seashore. Our first date was a trip to the lighthouse there, and every year we make the trek down all 300 stairs to watch for whales off the western-most point in the contiguous US. We got lucky this year with marvelous weather and some whales that were in the mood to be photographed. It was a great trip, beautiful blue skies and clear air cooperated to mark the 25th anniversary of our first date.

Down the 300 stairs leading to the Point Reyes lighthouse.

Red lichen decorates the signal house at the base of the cliff.

Gray whales on their annual migration to Mexico.

Waves roll in on North Beach, Pt. Reyes National Seashore

We spent a lot of time out at the family vacation house in Bodega Bay this year. It's the best place to go when you want to take some time off but don't have the time or money to go far. There's no cable or internet (for a while there was no cell service), so there is no excuse not to relax and have fun. We like to hang out and read magazines and, of course, practice photography. Here are a few shots from over the last year:

Salmon Creek, Sonoma Coast

Rosette succulent in the sand

Snail shell on the sand dune in black & white

Naked Lady against an old fence, Bodega Bay

Waves on the Sonoma Coast

April brought the most traumatic experience of the year. Our dog Tiga spied a cat through a crack in the fence in the backyard, got overly excited and smashed through a loose board. Off like a shot after the cat, she raced through our neighbor's yard with me on her tail, then decided she'd really rather not go back home. I chased her through the neighborhood for blocks, almost catching up to her several times just to have her lunge away as soon as I was within collar grabbing distance. Having more stamina than I, she raced around to one of the busiest streets in the city, rounding the corner and disappearing from view before I could catch up. At some point in those few seconds she must have run into the street and gotten hit by a car. When I rounded the corner she was limping and bleeding on the sidewalk, one of her hind legs hanging off at a weird angle. It was then that she finally decided to obey me as I yelled "Wait! WAIT!" (which is our command to stop.)  She did allow me to carry her home and from there, take her straight to the emergency vet. A four day hospital stay and over $3000 later she was home and on the mend, a dislocated hip surgically repaired with artificial ligaments to hold it in place. The lucky bugger didn't have any internal injuries aside from the dislocation, just scrapes on her legs. She has now topped out as the most expensive mutt we have owned to date. She was up and running on three legs within the week, against doctor's orders.

Stupid dog...
(She has since fully recovered, with some minor stiffness on cold mornings.)

Happiness for us is finding a new place to explore, and May was chock full of new places. Our annual Overland Expo trip started out in the Mojave National Preserve at Hole in the Wall campground. We must have passed right by the place twenty times before finally choosing to stop this year. What a spot! The perfect first night of the camping season; great trails, empty campground, beautiful weather. Decompressing from the winter/spring rainy season has never been better:

Along the cliff sides on the Rings Trail

Mark looking through one of the many holes in the wall.

One of my favorite photos of the trip. After a cold, wet winter and spring Mark is finally able to relax,
beer and snacks in hand in front of his custom built adventure vehicle. 

The sun sets on the Mojave Desert Preserve.

Not that it was a surprise, but Mesa Verde and Sand Dunes National Parks in Colorado were a few of the highlights of our May trip. The cliff dwellings were spectacular, and the quiet grandeur of the sand and surrounding mountains of Great Sand Dunes were enough to make us want to return every year. We had a great time touring the cliff dwellings and were pleasantly surprised at how uncrowded all the parks were at that time of year.

Spectacular sculpture in front of the Visitor's Center
at Mesa Verde National Park

Gambel Oaks in Morefield Campground, Mesa Verde NP

Inside a Kiva at Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde NP

We must have spent an hour staring at the creek along the base of the sand dunes, mesmerized by the ebb and flow through the fine sand in Sand Dunes National Park.

While we were dreading the long drive across the plains to get to Omaha, it turned out to be a wonderful place to visit. The Midwest sometimes gets a bad rap from the rest of the country; I've heard it referred to as white-bread, boring and flat. While it is a bit more homogenous than the Bay Area, and it's certainly not mountainous, it has a beauty all it's own. We had a great time visiting with our friends and getting to know the middle part of the country a little better. I really enjoyed the long vistas and never ending fields of corn and soybeans--we have those in the central valley of California, but not quite to that scale. And the Omaha Zoo was a big surprise; what a great place to visit!

We knew we were on the Great Plains when we saw this giant plow.

Turtles line up for a place in the sun, Missouri River

Who knew? Jellyfish in Nebraska at the Omaha Zoo.

A chimpanzee rests on the viewing window at the Omaha Zoo

A panorama of the fields surrounding Blair Nebraska

Summer wouldn't be summer without our annual trip to Yosemite National Park. Just as there's no bad time to be there, there are no bad pictures from that magical place. We've been there at all times of the year, in all sorts of weather, and we will never get tired of it. Here's a few of this year's shots:

Wallpaper in the Ahwahnee Hotel

Yellow flowers growing alongside the Merced River

Mirror Lake

Fall came around quickly this year and we decided to get away to the mountains one more time before the snow started. A trip to Tahoe capped the end of the camping season for us and the mountains didn't disappoint. We had a great time roaming the shores of Tahoe with the dogs.

Rocky beach along the shores of Lake Tahoe

A dog's perspective

A sign outside an exhibit cabin at Tallac Historic Park

With the camper tucked away for the winter, we're in planning mode now for the year ahead. 2014 is just a few days away and before you know it I'll be asking Mark: Where the heck did it go?

Happy New Year from the Running From Moose Team:

The Troublemaker

Mark and Kelly

The Good One