And So It Begins

Well, folks. Here I am. Arizona - it does exist! This post may be brief and incoherent, since I've been sitting at the library for three hours already, my stomach is growling, and I'm not sure how much longer I can stand it.


On Feb. 2 I arrived at the wonderful Tonto National Monument, around 5pm MST (that's Mountain Standard Time), and was quickly ushered into my humble, 26ft-long abode. I started work bright and early the next morning and proceeded to field a bombardment of information. In the past week, I have learned more about Native Americans, the desert, and the National Park Service than I ever knew possible. But I have to say that Arizona is definitely beautiful. And vast. I've never seen so many cacti in my life! I mean, I know I'm in the desert, but it still seems kind of unreal. Let me break things down for you:

Where

The park is located in an area called Tonto Basin. And "basin" really is the best description - it's a huge open area (I don't even know how many square miles, but a lot) surrounded by mountains, and almost all of it is part of Tonto National Forest. In the middle is Roosevelt Lake, created by the Roosevelt Dam and fed by the Salt River and Tonto Creek. The closest vestige of civilization is the "town" of Roosevelt, which basically consists of a gas station/restaurant, a mobile home park, an RV park, and a post office. The town was created when the dam was being built, and I think most of it is under the lake now. About 20 miles north of the park are the joint community of Tonto Basin/Punkin Center. It's slightly more developed, with a couple of neighborhoods, a school, and even a couple of bars! Big city! This is also where my closest internet access is, at the public library, which is also where I will keep myself steadily supplied with VHS (and maybe even DVDs) since I also have no cable. Another 30 miles past Punkin Center is Payson - an actual town in the modern sense. They have all the fast food amenities, banks, shops, and the crowning jewel - a super Walmart. However, this is 50 miles away from the park, so I probably will only make it there every couple of weeks, or if I'm in dire need of Pizza Hut. Probably more often I will make my way about 30 miles south to the town of Globe. Globe has about everything you would need (except a Walmart), plus a certain run-down turn of the century charm, since it began as a old mining town. I live inside the park gates (a gated community!) in a Conquest camper trailer in a little neighborhood comprised of several other park employees. It's plenty of room for one person and I'm settling in nicely, especially now that I've got some filmic entertainment.

What

My official job title is "Visitor Services Intern." Basically, I'm a tour guide. Or I will be once learn enough about the park and gain some more experience. The main attractions of the park are two Native American cliff dwelling ruins, dated sometime in the 1300s, which are titled the "Upper" and "Lower" for reasons I hope are obvious. Visitors can walk unguided up to the Lower Cliffs and explore or they can reserve a spot on a ranger-guided hike to the Upper Cliffs. My job is to learn everything I can about the dwellings, the people that lived there, how they lived, and the natural history of the surrounding area, so I can then relate all this information to visitors. About half of my time, I'll be manning the visitor center desk - taking entrance fees, answering random questions, answering phones, directing people around - and the other half I'll be stationed up at the Lower Cliffs, to further answer questions (most frequently "How many times a day do you have to walk up here?") and provide information. In my first week of work, I was mostly becoming acquainted with all of this and general park procedures. I read (and am still reading) lots of books, observed other park guides, and did a lot of B.S.ing. Eventually, after maybe 6-8 weeks, I will also be conducting my own guided hike to the Upper Cliffs. This will probably be the most interesting, and undoubtedly the most B.S.ing.

When

I work 8-5 (the park's hours), five days a week, until sometime at the end of April.

Why

Why not? It's pretty easy, I'm learning a lot of random stuff, I get to be outdoors half the time, and the uniform is a lot better than Au Bon Pain.

When I first got here, I started to feel a little isolated, since, well, the park is in the middle of nowhere. I really had nothing to do an nowhere to go after work, and I didn't even have any videos to enjoy in my lovely trailer. Plus I had to work six days in a row. But now that I've had a couple days off to explore and become reaquainted with what civilization there is, I'm feeling a little more at home. I rented some movies, I stocked up on groceries, and I took a break from trying to pack my brain with archaeology.

Week 1 down. Only 11 more to go.

In typical rambling fashion, this post wasn't quite as short as I thought it to be, but also not especially eloquent. Shoot me any questions if you have them. I'll need plenty of practice answering them.

Who knows what Week 2 will have in store?! I'm hoping to ride a mountain lion before the end. Keep your fingers crossed.