Needles Internship

It's been almost a month now, so I think it's just about time to finally post something about my current life. I took a semester off from school to complete an internship as an Interpretive Park Ranger in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park 75 miles south of Moab, UT. I started February 20th and will be done June 10th.

What does that mean?


I get to wear a cool uniform, talk on a radio, drive government vehicles around, manage the campground, collect entrance & bookstore fees, answer questions, answer phones, go on hikes, create and present a campfire program, represent the U.S. Government, and live in one of the coolest places on earth with some of the neatest people.

No, it's not all sunshine and the romantic "National Park Ranger" ideal - sometimes I don't know the answer, sometimes the visitor center hours drag on, sometimes I feel smooshed under the bureaucratic policies, sometimes I miss my family and friends back home and even feel lonely out here in the desert...


...but then a little kid rushes up and asks me a question about coyotes, "Ranger, Ranger!" or I wake up before the sun and watch it paint an ever-changing liquid masterpiece across the sky, or I stand at the edge of a canyon mid-way through a run and listen to my own heart beat in the contented silence broken only by wind and birdsong, and I realize how lucky I am to live out here in the land of glowing rocks. I mean, I live in a National Park! When am I ever going to get this opportunity again? That's all the motivation I need to savor it.

Besides, it's not hard to love this place. Every hike is refreshing. It seems like there is no end to the trails or the things you can learn about this area- and no end to the questions, either. I spend a lot of free time/slow visitors center hours/project time just reading up about the natural & cultural history of the area, the whims and ways of the desert and life itself. It's like school, but so much better because I'm not doing it for a grade, and the parameters are so wide and the interest so keen!

I don't know if this internship will lead me to my life's mission or just help me become confident in my ability to manage a cash register, but either way I aim to help other people out, have grand adventures myself and learn as much as I can about this amazing place. :D

Same River Twice

Explore a new trail, or revisit an old one?

Quite a dilemma on any given weekend that is remotely sunny enough to head outside. However, one of the coolest (haha, pun intended) things about winter is that it changes familiar trails so you feel like you're exploring something new on a familiar backdrop. Winter paradox: frozen implies stuck, unchanging, but really the features of winter change often and dramatically. Think of an icicle, or eight inches of snow that fell overnight.

Big difference, right?
And it could be g o n e the next day.

Culvert Canyon is one of my favorite places to explore. We went twice this past week, and it changed so much just in a matter of days. We retraced familiar routes for a time and then stepped off into the unknown: we explored up a side canyon and found a cool trail that loops high above the wash all the way back to the start.
Another thing that adds variety: different people. If you've ever been a member of a group, you know that each group has a different dynamic, different personality mix, different goals and experience levels and abilities. Hiking with kids, you go slower and play more. Hiking with older adults, you hear all kinds of stories. Hiking with a few friends, you can cover a lot of ground and goof off. Hiking by yourself, you find solitude.

And even if you go on the same hike by yourself twice, it's different because you have changed since you last laced up your boots. That's another paradox: same person, different person. This idea's been around for a while:

"No man steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man."

(Heraclitus, Greek philosopher 500 B.C.)

Now, back to wondering. I won't be wandering far for a while. I'm home. :)

Why is the cold so intimidating?

It's no fun to be stuck inside all day, but it takes such effort to bundle up and brace against the frost.

However, yesterday I went running. It was exhilarating! I've realized that that's one of the times when I feel most alive: charging up a hill, watching my breath fall beside me, feeling the ground below and the muscles pushing me higher and farther. Heating up, breathing in, breathing out, going on.

In the cold, you have to keep running if you want to stay warm. You can't stop. You can't slip. You've just gotta go----->

I've decided that I like winter after all. The still, the stark, the frozen. The sharp contrasts of red rock, white snow, clear sky. The soft landing and biting cold. Icicles reaching down imperceptibly, stiff branches clawing the sky. The flush of red nose and cheeks nearly buried in insulating layers, laughter ringing through the clear, frozen air.

Once they've shed their lush, bright summer garments and all is quiet, bare landscapes reveal their true colors. Pastel rocks glowing in the weak winter sunlight. Colors intensified by a backdrop of white and grey. A single snowflake on an old leaf.

People, too, show their true colors when all is cold and quiet.

Winter beauty is subtle, but real.

New Year, New Post

So here's one New Year's Resolution I should probably make: update my blog every once in a while! Yup, this is my first post in... well, too long. Lots has happened since then!

I won't fill you in; I'm starting fresh with 2011.

But first, a few pics from Christmas Break! (These are the later ones that didn't make it onto Facebook. I have dozens more if you're interested!)

Hanging out in the New House (SOOO many movies- what else can you do when it's cold & dark starting at 5:00 pm?)





Hiking/Scrambling Ice Box Canyon with Chris & Joseph. River Road to the Slickrock Bike Trail in just over an hour of near-vertical ascent. At points, we had to use ropes, NRS strap-belt harnesses, or climb on railroad spikes someone pounded into the rock. Awesome!




Christmas Eve Nazarene Feast ("hippie food" courtesy of yours truly ;)






Slush & Shanghai: a Hazlett Holiday Tradition








A fun visit by the 5 crazy Coleman cousins :)







Snow on the red rock (view from the Sand Hill where we went sledding & even got the Andrews' van stuck!)





Two cutest baby sisters. Check out Holly's dance moves! ;)







New Year's Eve party w/the Singles' Branch








I have rather goofy (but attractive!) best friends ;)









And a very cute baby sister who loves to play outside in the snow with me!

So basically, LIFE IS GOOD! And I love being home.

BYU Winter semester classes started today, but I am kind of not missing it at all. I needed a break from school and the Provo bubble, to be honest. Now I am excited to spend time with my family & friends at home for a few weeks before heading out into the wilderness to explore a potential career option and get some real-world experience.

Besides, see what I would have had to leave behind?