103-Year-Old Junior Ranger
After first hearing this on NPR, I had to share this wonderful, uplifting story.
While Grand Canyon National Park is celebrating its centennial this year, Rose Torphy one-upped the park by celebrating her 103rd birthday and becoming a Junior Ranger this January.
When Rose was born, Grand Canyon wasn’t even a national park but still just a national monument. It was President Woodrow Wilson who signed the Grand Canyon National Park Act on February 26, 1919, giving it the protection it enjoys today.
One bitter note is that due to the government shutdown, there were no park rangers to do the swearing-in ceremony as is usual. A Grand Canyon Conservancy employee had to do the honors in their place.
Read more about Rose and her Grand Canyon birthday on AZ Family’s site.
Private River Trip Permit Lottery Now Open for 2020
After being postponed due to the government shutdown, applications for noncommercial river trip permits are now being accepted for 2020.
Each year, a main lottery is held to assign launch dates for the following year. The results of the lottery are provided in a news release and sent to those who won via email.
A total of 463 permits are available for 12- to 25-day river trips. Applications are being accepted via the Weighted Lottery page until March 12, 2019.
For an excellent, in-depth article on the lottery and application process, visit the National Parks Traveler’s Grand Canyon National Park Noncommercial River Trip Permit Lottery Open For 2020 page.
From Pittsburgh to Grand Canyon – the story of the Kolb Brothers
Kolb Studio has always fascinated me. Perched on the very edge of the South Rim, it seems to defy gravity. And once you learn more about the building, that’s not far from fact!
After Emery Kolb died in 1976, the studio remained empty and forgotten for over a decade. Rodents, birds, and freezing pipes took their toll; the building was a mess.
At the time Emery died, the Park Service viewed his studio as an eye-sore. Fortunately he lived long enough – by two months – that the entire building, which had been built in stages, qualified for the 50-year mark for historic preservation.
Eventually, the National Park Service began to appreciate the contribution the brothers made to the Grand Canyon and the building itself.
In 1990, the Grand Canyon Natural History Association (now the Grand Canyon Conservancy), took over the restoration of the building and maintains it to this day.
The Pittsburgh Tribune Review has a wonderful article online which includes the Kolb Brother’s video here: Pittsburgh’s Kolb brothers ‘brought the world to the Grand Canyon’. Definitely worth reading.
Referenced in the article is author Roger Naylor and his 2017 book, The Amazing Kolb Brothers of Grand Canyon. It is one of the best books on the Kolb Brothers – their history, accomplishments and antics at the Grand Canyon.
It is one my favorite Grand Canyon books, but then I really enjoy Roger Naylor’s conversational-style writing. The book has many photographs not found anywhere else, including a great Photo Gallery of Kolb photographs near the end.
Until next time, Happy Trails.