A River Runs Through It (Part 1)

The Colorado River.  One of the main elements that shaped the Grand Canyon.  Glorious, internationally known, and extremely cold.  Less than 10% of visitors to Grand Canyon National Park are estimated to have seen it up close (Durango Herald), and even fewer have traveled down it on the river.  It was my honor to participate in an NPS employee trip last summer.

Commercial paddle tour (photo: SaintLost)

Something that most people aren't aware of is how expensive it is to get on a commercial river trip of the Colorado.  Here's what I found in my brief research.  Motorized (shorter, full length of Colorado within Grand Canyon) trips run an average of $2,630/person, while paddle trips (usually twice as long in time) are an average of $3,870/person.  The people I saw on these trips seemed very happy, but I doubt I would pay that much to raft down the Colorado.

Commercial paddle tour (photo: SaintLost)

My trip was only the lower half, which seems to typically be about half the full length price on commercial trips.  So, I hiked in to Phantom Ranch, the first time I'd ever really been below the Rim, despite living here for numerous years prior.  While it was a difficult, it was definitely worth the effort.

The Colorado River, immediately off the Bright Angel Trail (photo: SaintLost)

I did run out of water before the end, however. That was the hardest part, but I was rewarded with lemonade at the ranger station!  The afternoon and evening just consisted of hoping the pain in my legs would go away and resting.  A surprising thing, that I'd only heard rumors about in the past, was that one of the Science division employees ran ice cream down from South Rim for us to have that night. She ran down the South Kaibab trail in about two hours, then ran straight back up after having some water! I should mention that this was at night, which is more perilous on the trail.

About to load the boats with our gear (photo: SaintLost)

The next morning, we all rose quite early (for me) and started hauling gear to the boats.  Shoving our things into water-tight bags, getting acquainted with the boats and the crew, and trying to figure out what was needed for the ride itself were among the things we did before shoving off.  Lo and behold, the pain in my legs had intensified (despite extensive stretching the night before), so that will be a recurring theme for at least this entry.

Traveling down the Colorado! (photo: SaintLost)

Starting off on the bigger boat (the S rig), we went through a few smallish rapids before stopping to do some vegetation preservation work.  This basically means that we all worked together to water some saplings that the Science & Resource Division was trying to grow on one of the "sandbars".  I don't have any pictures of it, but the task ended up being most efficiently accomplished via a train of people passing water buckets up the steep, sandy hill. The hard work was a rewarding feeling, and just standing around in the water meant that I wasn't stressing my already cramped up legs.

Employees hard at work (photo: SaintLost)

After this, we loaded back on the boats and proceeded downriver. We eventually stopped to look at a rowboat that was perched up on a rocky outcropping and a story was told, but I couldn't walk up to it, so I stood just offshore in the wonderful, ice cold river water.  One of the boatmen, a friend of mine, stayed down at the bottom with me and we did the normal "gossiping" about NPS Divisional politics, which gets pretty dense, depending on the size of said Division.

Unrelated shot of the Grand Canyon! (photo: SaintLost)

I don't remember where we stopped for lunch, nor do I remember what it was, but I can tell you that all the food I ate on this trip was delicious.  From what I understand, river guides/runners end up as really great cooks from all the practice.  I do think that dinner was chicken fajitas; oh so tasty.  Stopping for the night on a really high sandbar is when I discovered that I had a bad sunburn developing on my feet.  It wasn't until days later that I realized how bad it was, but that's something I'll mention off and on during this series.

In any case, sleep was easier than I thought it would be and I only needed the footprint from my tent to sleep through the night.  You do get a good picture of the consequences of having a solo office job, since I was friends with only one person on this trip and it was difficult to socialize with everyone else, given how socially awkward I am.

A random side canyon (photo: SaintLost)

I will end this first part by saying that while the commercial trips looked low key, the employee river trip was more wonderful than I could possibly have imagined. More stories and pictures to come in Part 2!

The Perks – Part 3

Now that we've covered some of the business side of working for the park service we can return to the fun perks of living in “America’s best idea”. If you can work your way into a skilled position in the Park Service, it is often necessary to work at remote locations. We've covered one method of travel in The Perks – Part 1, but we’ll discuss another one today. Mules.

When people think of mules they often imagine the western expansion of the United States, complete with wagon trains and farmers working to clear and prepare new land for crops. To many people living outside of rural areas the idea of using livestock for everyday tasks seems alien. What could a living, breathing animal do better than a machine? Well, for one, they’re darn good at dealing with the harsh and undeveloped terrain that is a core feature of our National Parks.

Mules, like the lovely Skinner posing here, are a crossbreed between horses and donkeys. While they don’t have the speed and grace of horses, they also don’t have the ornery nature of donkeys. As explained by a friend who manages livestock “A mule won’t like going up a mountain, but will do it because you ask. A donkey will sit at the bottom and won’t go a step further until it’s damn well ready.” So, when you need to go rugged places, and don’t want to argue with your ride every morning, a mule is your best choice. They may not be the fastest ride, and they may not be the smoothest ride, but they’ll get you there in one piece, and are smart enough that they won’t walk of the edge of a cliff, even if you tell them to. (Which I've heard can be an issue with horses, though always as an anecdote). 

So, if your two-day plan includes 17.5 miles of difficult trails, 9,028 feet of elevation change, 3 people, and 200 pounds of gear, you go make friends with your friendly local wrangler. (Or Packer, as they tend to be officially titled).

Once you've made friends with your packer, AND convinced them that yes, you really do need to haul all that stuff down with you, AND woken up at the crack of dark to get to the corrals on time, you’re treated to the most effective way to get to the bottom of the Grand Canyon! It’s a bit slower than the helicopter (about 4 hours instead of 20 minutes) but doesn't require any fossil fuels, aerospace grade metals, or thousands of dollars of running costs per hour. Congratulations, the hard work is now done. You can now sit back, hold on, and enjoy the view as the study and sure-footed animal carries you through some of the most scenic areas on earth!

On the way down you get time to really enjoy the scenery. Normally when you’re hiking you've got to keep an eye on your feet and the trail ahead so you don’t end up eating dirt. When you’re on the mule you can just let the animal do the work, and besides the occasional bit of direction to keep them from stopping to enjoy a nibble on any vegetation that catches their eye there’s not much you need to do. You can keep your head up, your eyes on the scenery, and occasionally try to snap a picture. (Note to those with cell phone cameras, HDR or High Dynamic Range works by taking multiple pictures in a row, then combining them. If you’re bouncing around on top of a mule and try to take one it will end up blurry, hence the lack of amazing action shots in this post >.< )

Once you've let your majestic ride carry you to your destination you can start the real work. And, because you're not tired from hiking 10 miles before you even started your actual task, you can complete it and still have the energy to snap a couple pictures of the beautiful location you have the pleasure of working in.

And, now that all of your work is done, and you've had a good night's rest in the lovely NPS-managed bunkhouse, complete with a hot shower and a bed, instead of sleeping in a tent on the ground, you can get up early the next morning to head out, and enjoy the real perk of mules; Not having to hike UP! 

While getting a ride down into the canyon is a pleasant perk, not having to hike OUT of the canyon is something that people would kill for. Imagine, you've had all of the enjoyment, all of the scenery, and none of the effort. This is not to say that hiking is bad, or the effort is not worth it, (Even with perks like these I do my best to go on a long hike in the canyon at least once a month.) but there's definitely some enjoyment in being able to enjoy the canyon without the work. And it lets you have the energy to take pictures like this on the way out to share with the lovely readers of this blog.

~With much enjoyment (and a very sore butt),  CBD.

The Perks - Part 2

In The Perks – Part 1 I talked about some of the NPS specific perks, like living in beautiful locations and having experiences like helicopter rides that don’t come with a “normal” job. I’ll continue the discussion of the perks of working for the park service, but today I’ll focus on federal benefits. These aren’t limited to the Park Service, but are still a major component in the trade off of higher income for a higher quality of life.

Federal employee benefits break down into four primary categories:

• Heath and insurance

• Pay and savings

• Leave and work

• Retirement

Source: http://www.usa.gov/Federal-Employees/Benefits.shtml

A complete list is far too in depth for something like this blog, so I’ll just provide an overview of the primary benefits that affect daily life for employees of the Park Service.

1. Health Insurance: NPS employees and their family members are eligible for Health, Vision, Dental, Life, and other insurances at subsidized rates. The general calculation is that the cost is split around 65/35 with the Fed paying the majority. There are different plans to choose from, and an eligible employee may choose or change plans when they are hired, and every yearly “open season” thereafter. Rates are very reasonable and coverage options are good. My rates for good coverage for myself only (no dependents, no family) are about $140 per month.

1. Retirement: Federal employees are broken down into different categories. As a new Park Service employee you would probably be in the FERS retirement system.  FERS is a three part retirement system. Parts one and two are a basic benefit plan and social security which I’m not well versed with. Part three is the Thrift Savings Plan or TSP, which is similar to a 401K account. The government automatically deposits 1% of your base pay into the account per pay period; an employee can then elect to deposit more and is eligible for matching up to 5% of their total base pay. The TSP matching layout for FERS employees is below.
   
   

1. Work schedules: These are one the perks that really make working for the Service an enjoyable experience. First, let’s start with work schedules. NPS uses many schedules, but the primary types are “Straight 8s”, “5-4-9s” or “lieu days”, and “Maxi-flex”.  Straight 8s are a “standard” work schedule.  5-4-9s or “lieu days” are a schedule where an employee works longer days, but gets one additional day per pay period (2 weeks) off. Maxi-flex allows an employee to set “core” hours that they will be available, but the rest of their scheduling is completely flexible, as long as their supervisor approves it. All of these schedules come out to 80 hours per pay period for full-time employees. The benefit of these schedules is that if you need flexibility in your life NPS tends to be very good at accommodating it. Need to pick your child up from daycare at 2pm? Start work early and finish your day to fit the schedule. Have to schedule around reoccurring responsibilities? We can make something work. I should note that this flexibility is not available to all employees, or at all locations, or all the time, but generally the Park Service is a very understanding place about personal needs.

1. Paid Leave: This is a major perk, and one that grows over time if you choose to build a federal career. When you start working for the Park Service you receive 4 hours of paid vacation and 4 hours of paid sick leave per pay period. This means that the first year you work for a park you will have 13 days of paid vacation available throughout the year. You will also have 13 days of paid sick leave, and 10 federal holidays, for a total of 36 PAID days off your first year!  Coming from the private sector this was a major surprise! The longer you work for the government the more paid leave (annual leave) you earn. Sick leave never grows beyond 4 hours per pay period, but the amount of annual leave you earn increases the longer you are in federal service.
   
   
   
   These numbers look pretty good compared to the national average of only 104 hours (13 days) per year. Many NPS employees spend their vacation time visiting other parks. So, not only do you get to live in America’s most treasured places, you can arrange your life so that you get PAID to go see more of them. For an avid outdoorsman and fan of the Park Service, this made the choice easy when deciding to work for NPS.

This list only scratches the surface of the benefits federal employees receive. Many of the little perks can add up as well, but these tend to be the biggest players in determining the balance between the high-pay, low-quality of life, and low-benefit private sector and the low-pay, high-quality of life, and high-benefit public sector.

As always, I’m happy to answer any questions anyone has and I’d love to hear your stories about life in the NPS. I'll leave you with a Grand Canyon picture from the holidays to lighten up the experience.

-CBD

Sources:

http://www.usa.gov/Federal-Employees/Benefits.shtml

http://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/fers-information/

https://www.tsp.gov/planparticipation/eligibility/typesOfContributions.shtml#agencyMatching

http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/leave-administration/fact-sheets/annual-leave/

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100769597

The Perks - Part 1

Choosing a career with the National Parks requires trade-offs in your life. Some are small, like having limited housing choices. Others are large, such as realizing that the highest pay many NPS employees will ever be able to reach is a GS-11(around $50,000) or GS-12 (around $60,000) if you work in a technical or administrative field. If you work doing something else, like maintenance, it's likely to be even less. Different jobs have different tweaks to the pay scale, but the overall situation is that you'll never make as much working for the Park Service as you would in the private sector.

In exchange for low pay you get certain perks for working for the Service, the biggest of which is living and working in the most beautiful places in the country. If you choose a skilled or trade career, you occasionally may be called upon to perform work in remote locations. These remote locations are often faster (and cheaper for the taxpayer) to access via a helicopter, as opposed to driving. This gives you, as the employee a “free” helicopter tour of an area, something that tourists pay hundreds or thousands to experience. 

The video below is from a recent flight from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to the South Rim. Finding a way to work your position to get perks like this is one of the main reasons I work for NPS.