Parking (Creatively) in the Grand Canyon

It was a privilege to get to go to the Grand Canyon on a service break through CALUE. During our time at the Grand Canyon we worked in parking services. Some of us would be in the parking lots helping direct cars, and others would be located at key points in the canyon to help guide people where they needed to go. I helped in the parking lot. During our time working in the parking lot there were an estimated 10,000 cars coming in but only 5,000 parking spots. This means that creative parking is a must in order to fit people in. Creative parking includes parking on the side of the road or parking in places in the parking lots that would normally not be for parking.

However, this could lead to bus routes being blocked, habitat destruction, car accidents, or routes for EMT and fire trucks being blocked. The parking lots usually reached full capacity around noon. Due to this we dealt with an array of different drivers. Some drivers were angry with us because they had been circling the parking lot and could not find any parking spots, and no matter what we tried to do they seemed to stay angry. Others were happy to get assistance in finding a parking spot, and others were somewhere in between.

Our supervisor was Ranger Perri Spreiser. Every morning she would take us to an educational program before we started working. Some of the programs included a fossil walk, where Ranger Perri talked about the fossils that can be found in the canyon and showed us some of the places where rocks had eroded and revealed some of these fossils. We also got to go to the Archives where we met Colleen Hyde, who taught us about the different animals and civilizations that used to live in the canyon.

Overall it was an amazing experience, and I would definitely do it again. I would highly recommend visiting the Grand Canyon at least once since trying to describe the views you see are impossible without seeing them in person.