Your Questions Answered

Behind the Scenery

You ask - we find the answers together! After google-ing what were the most common questions people ask about Grand Canyon in online searches, rangers Kate and Brendan chat about common interests in the park.

---

TRANSCRIPT:

---

Kate: [00:00:00] My name is Kate and I'm a Canyon District Interpretation ranger. [00:00:04] Brendan: [00:00:04] My name is Brendan notes and I do the exact same thing as Kate. [00:00:08]Kate: [00:00:08] How many years have you been at Grand Canyon? [00:00:12] Brendan: [00:00:12] Well, I tell everyone that I couldn't hike out, which is why I had to get a job down here. But that wasn't true. I've been here for since 2014, so six seasons cause I leave in the winter. [00:00:25] Kate: [00:00:25] Nice. Same sorta, like I only worked the summer season basically. And then I'm gone in the winter. This was my first season in the Canyon and I was on the North Rim last year. [00:00:34] Brendan: [00:00:34] I think a big part of our job, especially since we're interpretation rangers or education Rangers is to answer questions. And how many questions do you think you get in a day? [00:00:44] Kate: [00:00:44] Maybe like a hundred right now because it's quiet. I bet, like when I was at the visitor center on the North room, I probably got like 500 to a thousand today. [00:00:52] Brendan: [00:00:52] Yeah. I think on the South RIm, like on the holiday weekends, I think I got probably like tens of thousands of questions, but it's more like you get the same three questions, but just like thousands of times, but what is the, what's the most common question you, you have gotten? [00:01:09]Kate: [00:01:09] In the Canyon, I think the most common question is like, is the water on Oh yeah. Like the trans Canyon pipeline. Yep. Yeah. And that, one's always really difficult to answer because I really don't know it was on when I walked by, but that doesn't mean it's still on. Cause it breaks so much. [00:01:25] That one can be a little tricky to answer. [00:01:27] I also think [00:01:28] Brendan: [00:01:28] we get a lot of like logistical questions because we do spend a large amount of our time down here. So I think people don't think we leave, which isn't true, but yeah, [00:01:40]Kate: [00:01:40] I definitely, I think that might actually be one of the most common questions I get is like, how, how does your work life work? [00:01:46]Brendan: [00:01:46] Or how do /you eat? [00:01:50] So Kate Hensel, if you could help me out because I went on the internet and searched for all the most commonly asked questions on various websites. And this is what the internet wants to know. And I was wondering if you could help me answer this. So I just punched it in Grand Canyon and like question Mark into Google and then I just let it auto populate. [00:02:15] So this is what we came up with. So the first one, Kate Hansel, are you ready? [00:02:20]Kate: [00:02:20] I'm ready [00:02:20]Brendan: [00:02:20] What is grand Canyon? [00:02:22]Kate: [00:02:22] Grand Canyon is a big drainage ditch that goes from. Well, like kind of the border with Utah to the border with Nevada just across Northern Arizona. [00:02:37]Brendan: [00:02:37] And what is grand Canyon made of? [00:02:40] Kate: [00:02:40] Rock? So many are rocks old rocks and then kind of older rocks and then crazy older rocks at the way [00:02:48] Brendan: [00:02:48] bottom [00:02:50] when ranger told me and I asked him. Something similar. He said grand Canyon is rocks with dirt and dirty rocks. That's in a way that's not an incorrect. Yeah [00:03:01] Kate: [00:03:01] so it's a lot of sedimentary rocks from, I think the Precambrian era, the most part, I think the top gets into the Cambrian era. [00:03:09]Brendan: [00:03:09] Old Rocks, kind of young Canyon. [00:03:12] Kate: [00:03:12] What are the oldest rocks at grand Canyon? [00:03:14]Brendan: [00:03:14] Well, the oldest one, well, grand Canyon is like stack of pancakes where the oldest and coldest pancakes on a stack of pancakes would be at the bottom. And as you go higher up the stack of pancakes, you have the newer and fresher pancakes. So the oldest rock would be the basement rocks at the bottom. [00:03:29] This is my favorite one grand Canyon. How big? [00:03:32]Kate: [00:03:32] Depends on where you are, but at the North rim and South rim where they. Look across the Canyon to each other. It's 10 miles across as the bird flies or 21 miles to hike. [00:03:43]Brendan: [00:03:43] What if I wanted to drive from the South, from, to the north Rim [00:03:46] Kate: [00:03:46] 200 some miles, [00:03:48] Brendan: [00:03:48] despite it only being 10 miles? [00:03:50] Kate: [00:03:50] Yeah. It's the river length of grand Canyon. So how long green Canyon is, is 277 miles. [00:03:58]Brendan: [00:03:58] And how do I get to Grand Canyon? [00:04:00] Kate: [00:04:00] You can drive to the North Rim and, South rim sides of it, and pretty much drive almost right up to the rim. It's in Northern Arizona, right below the Arizona strip. So you can like come into Flagstaff and then drive North from there, or drive from Las Vegas, which how long has that drive? [00:04:19] You can also get here on the Colorado river or coming from the green river. You're doing a big river trip. Yeah. [00:04:26]Brendan: [00:04:26] Well, you do have the dam in the way now. [00:04:27]Kate: [00:04:27] Oh, that's true. I mean, you can just jump to the dam [00:04:31] Brendan: [00:04:31] if you get enough speed and just like launch yourself [00:04:35] Kate: [00:04:35] Like a Glider on your boat. Cool. [00:04:37] Brendan: [00:04:37] I think was like one of the sweet, like ramps, like a big like evil Knievel style ramp and just hit it. [00:04:45] Kate: [00:04:45] Yeah, please don't do this. (Laughing) Disclaimer, do not do that. This is kind of a segue from the dam jumping thing. And I think I get this question a lot but it is a tad morbid. How many tourists die at Grand Caynon? I think I get that. [00:05:02] You know? I tried to like look up numbers for at one time and I couldn't get something that was like accurate. [00:05:08] It seems like anywhere between like 10 and 20 is normal for a year. [00:05:11] And I think a lot of people have the misconception that everyone's falling off the edge, which really isn't [00:05:16] true. [00:05:16] , no, that's not, I wouldn't say that's even the majority of them. [00:05:19] No, that's kind of a fraction. I think the, the river is I think a major contributor, cause it's a really big, really cold, really remote river, normal problems like car accidents and things as well. [00:05:33] Heart attacks are fairly common, [00:05:35] especially. Yeah. Grand Canyon overall is a pretty safe place. Yeah. Yeah. But stuff happens for sure. [00:05:42] What is grand Canyon West? [00:05:44] Brendan: [00:05:44] We have grand Canyon national park, which is what we're in right now. And then we have grand Canyon, which is the whole Canyon and green Canyon West is not the national park it's owned by the Walapai tribe. [00:05:56] Kate: [00:05:56] Yeah. So that is closer to Las Vegas, kind of towards the very end of grand Canyon. And then they also have the grand Canyon skywalk, which I think is another question we get it's this really big class walkway. But a lot of people don't realize , like grand Canyon West is five hours away from Grand Canyon national park. [00:06:18] Brendan: [00:06:18] So I think we get where's the glass and we have to tell them that they are nowhere near, near the skywalk, [00:06:28] [00:06:28] Sorry, man. Yeah, but I've never been on the skywalk. I've only seen it. [00:06:33] Kate: [00:06:33] I've also never, I've never been anywhere over in that area. [00:06:37] Brendan: [00:06:37] So yeah, it is interesting. Cause it is, it looks very different from this section of grand Canyon. Like kind of you get, Oh, a little bit different rocks, but you also kind of get different animals and different plants in different desert. [00:06:51] Kate: [00:06:51] Speaking of animals, what's the most dangerous animal at grand Canyon? [00:06:54]Brendan: [00:06:54] Humans. Yeah. , but if you want it, but if you want it to go more in depth, statistically, it's the squirrel, the Grand Canyon rocks squirrel, because we have at least one person bite on the hand because they're trying to feed the squirrel. [00:07:07] But I was looking up the record is 30 bites in one day. [00:07:11] Kate: [00:07:11] Whoa! [00:07:12]Brendan: [00:07:12] Yeah. And I, I'm assuming it's from multiple squirrels, but I could not confirm. [00:07:16] Kate: [00:07:16] Yeah. Maybe just a serial biter squirrel. [00:07:18] Brendan: [00:07:18] Yeah. Just go. And just malicious. Yeah. What are some other animals that you've had encounters with? [00:07:27]Kate: [00:07:27] Instead I've had encounters with, I guess they could be dangerous that they weren't cheap, especially when they're like running or in mating season. [00:07:35] And when the males are. Butting heads. Like I bet if you got too close to them, you could have a really bad day. [00:07:41]Brendan: [00:07:41] I think that the biggest danger, well, I don't think one's going to like challenge you to like a headbutting competition, but I've get kicking rocks off is probably the biggest danger that they pose. [00:07:51] Kate: [00:07:51] Yeah. Was the elk on the South rim. They freak me out a little bit. Cause like, they'll just hang out right next to the road and then step, step into it. Cause they're so used to having cars around, they don't care at all. . Yeah. And then they can get pretty aggressive during the rut or when calving season. [00:08:07] Brendan: [00:08:07] Yeah. Yeah. And I also think with grand Canyon, everyone's like super aware of like snakes and Mount lions and scorpions and herbivore. You're like, whatever, like I'm going to put my kid on the elk. [00:08:19] Kate: [00:08:19] Yeah. And then we have the bison on the North rim. We haven't had any like bison verse human incidents, but we have had a Car versus bison on the North rim and the deer and the cattle [00:08:31] Brendan: [00:08:31] The Road from Jacob Lake to gGrand Canyon. North rim is also known as the deer slalom, which is accurate. [00:08:40] Yeah. I always try to avoid driving on it at dusk or dawn last year. Cause it was always like a white knuckle drive. ] that freaks me out. Just thinking about it. All right. Moving on. Who owns grand Canyon? That's a tricky one, because as you mentioned before, there's grand Canyon national park, which is owned by the U S government native American reservation land as well. [00:09:05] Kate: [00:09:05] So you mentioned the Haulapai Tribe in Grand Canyon and then the Havasupai have land in Grand Canyon as well. But the Grand Canyon is also affiliated with 11 different tribes who have historically or culturally have significance at grand Canyon. So really who owns it is not a simple question to answer. [00:09:29] Brendan: [00:09:29] Does grand Canyon have trees? [00:09:31] Kate: [00:09:31] Yes. [00:09:31] Brendan: [00:09:31] Does grand Canyon go through Colorado? [00:09:34] Kate: [00:09:34] No. [00:09:34] Brendan: [00:09:34] Does grand Canyon have water? [00:09:36]Kate: [00:09:36] Yes. So much water. [00:09:38] Brendan: [00:09:38] I think people come down here and they're like, there's water everywhere. Cause they're in like Bright Angel Canyon and you have bright angel Creek and you have the Colorado river, but then you get on Tonto and you can look at the river, but you can't get to the river. [00:09:51] Kate: [00:09:51] Yeah. It's just their view. [00:09:54] [00:09:54] Brendan: [00:09:54] I have drank out of some questionable potholes where there's like green scum and man. After we're hiking on the Tonto all day in summer you're like this pothole, is amazing [00:10:06] delicious [00:10:07] Kate: [00:10:07] scum water, [00:10:08]Brendan: [00:10:08] Grand Canyon flavoring. [00:10:10] Kate: [00:10:10] How much time do you need at Grand Canyon? [00:10:13] Brendan: [00:10:13] I think the average visitor not counting, driving spends less than 10 minutes on the rim, but that's understandable. Cause they usually have a lot of places to go to. We're also people are just driving down the road and they're like, see Grand Canyon, like. 70 miles and then just like turn off of route 40. [00:10:33] So I think it's totally up to you. I would say at least a couple hours at least, but very famous thing. And this wasn't here. This was where someone went to a visitor center in Yosemite national park. And they say, Oh, we only have two hours at . What should we do? And apparently the ranger said, you see that rock over there, go sit on that rock and wheat, because he only have two hours at you, 70 national park. [00:10:59] So I would say as much as you can any length of time you can afford a Grand Canyon is worth it. Even if it is just like 10 minutes. Yeah. Alternatively people have literally spent their entire lives. So, you know, it's up to you really? [00:11:16] Kate: [00:11:16] Why is Grand Canyon called Grand Canyon? [00:11:19] Brendan: [00:11:19] It had a bunch of different names for a while. But I think John Wesley Powell, who did an expedition via the river through Grand Canyon was kind of credited naming for it. But I think it had a bunch of different names way before Grand Canyon, but that's the name that just kind of stuck? I don't even think John Wesley Powell is like a hundred percent confirmed with naming Grand Canyon, but yeah. [00:11:44] Kate: [00:11:44] Why Grand Canyon famous? [00:11:48] Brendan: [00:11:48] Cause it's very big. I think that's it right? [00:11:54]Kate: [00:11:54] Like, look at all those layers, [00:11:57]Brendan: [00:11:57] but I guess it's also famous because the miners didn't make any money here. They're like, Oh yeah, giant hole in the ground. We're going to find the gold and then didn't find gold, we're going to find trying to silver and they didn't find any silver. So, and they did find a lot of copper, but they couldn't really make any money off it, but then they had all these sweet trails. I think they were just really good promoters of the grand Canyon. So that could be another way. [00:12:23] Let me know if you've got the sun before grand Canyon coins kill you. [00:12:28] Kate: [00:12:28] I actually haven't gotten that one. [00:12:30] Brendan: [00:12:30] It's a weird question. [00:12:33] Kate: [00:12:33] From the Condor signs? I typed in grand Canyon. And then the third one was the coins. Kill you. Question Mark. I think that might be referencing cause there's a couple of signs, like at Mather point and then plateau point has it as well in the Canyon, we're talks about how if you throw coins into the Canyon, so sort of wishing, well, California Condors will eat them cause they like to eat shiny things and then it's super bad for them. It can kill them. [00:12:59] Brendan: [00:12:59] I always thought it was like an empire state building thing where grand Canyon so big. If you Chuck a penny off the ramp, it's going to like accelerate and then like hit someone in since it fell so far. It's like traveling at like the speed of a bullet, which isn't true because think, I don't think 5,000 feet like a penny. It would probably hurt, but it wouldn't kill you. [00:13:19] Kate: [00:13:19] I don't know. [00:13:20] Brendan: [00:13:20] But also grand Canyon. Isn't like a straight pit in the ground. No, there's a few spots where you could maybe get it to go fast enough, but like most of the times it's going to hit rock. What about it? Two weeks, probably a thousand feet, 2000 feet to the river. [00:13:33] That's pretty good. That's no higher than like the empire state building. I actually don't know how tall the empire state building. [00:13:39] So I have a book from a former river guide and park ranger, and this is some of the. Questions he's been asked. So let me know what you feel about these. So grand Canyon, when do they turn the lights on in the Canyon? [00:13:58] Kate: [00:13:58] I'm trying to come up with a funny answer [00:14:02] Brendan: [00:14:02] how many undiscovered ruins are there in the Canyon? [00:14:08]Why did they build the Canyon so close to the hotel? [00:14:12] Kate: [00:14:12] It's better for the tourists. Yeah. [00:14:15] Brendan: [00:14:15] Why is the department of the interior, which is what we work for in charge of everything outside, [00:14:21] because naming has to be difficult. How old is a mule deer have to be before? It turns into a mule, a hundred years old, a hundred years old, but I've also gotten when what elevation do the mule deer turn into elk. [00:14:34] Yeah. Yeah. 7,000 feet, I guess. [00:14:40] What type of uniform does a cattle guard were asked by a passenger on a tour bus after seeing a cattle guard sign? [00:14:47] I think, well, we did talk about like dumb questions, but I don't really think there is a dumb question, your grand Canyon, because this is a truly strange place. [00:14:56] And I think despite like, there is like dozens upon dozens of books written about it. There is a lot that I don't think is really recorded well or like something you really can't just look up on the internet. So I think the only real place to learn about grand Canyon, it's just asking tons of questions, even if they're really, really dumb. How do you, how do you feel about that? [00:15:21] Kate: [00:15:21] I definitely feel like there are some questions that you pause and go like, huh? I wonder how you came to that conclusion, but ultimately yeah, if you've never been here before, it's really hard to understand the scale of this place. Hmm. And even just like, for me, who hikes in the Canyon quite a bit, I still don't understand the scale of this place. [00:15:39] Really. So a lot of questions just come from it being so different from anywhere else a person can go. Yeah. [00:15:47] Brendan: [00:15:47] So Kate thanks so much for answering some questions with me. [00:15:52] Kate: [00:15:52] Yeah. And we'll have to keep track of other questions we get. If you have any questions about grand Canyon, You can send them our way and we'll answer them in the future. [00:16:01] Brendan: [00:16:01] Yeah. We encourage really obscure and really weird questions and we will, and if you send them to us, we will try to answer them to the best of our ability. [00:16:09] Kate: [00:16:09] It'd be cool to do like a prize for somebody who sent the most out there question. [00:16:13] Brendan: [00:16:13] Yeah. Well, I think the common game that we know is like stump the ranger, or if you stumped the ranger, you like win. So yeah, if you can stump the ranger, well, we'll send you a condor sticker.