Lake Mead and heading home

           We knew that our days in the South West were numbered when we set out for Lake Mead National Recreation area in Nevada. Lake Mead is a reservoir of the Hoover Dam (recall that Lake Powell is a reservoir of the Glen Canyon). We visited Echo Bay, Callville Bay, Las Vegas Bay, and Cottonwood Cove on Lake Mead to get a picture of the nutrition offerings available to recreation area visitors. Our visits were a bit strange because the season begins Memorial Day weekend. Some marinas resembled ghost towns when we arrived, but we were reassured that during the summer, these marinas are teeming with fishermen, sunbathers, swimmers, and jet skiers. On a funny note, we got to see the “pets” of Lake Mead—hungry looking carp that beg for food on the marinas.

Sadly, our work is done in the South West. We learned a great deal about what food and beverage options are available to National Park visitors, and how our surveys can be refined to better capture the nutrition environment. We have three days to visit South East parks after a few days of regrouping in Atlanta. Thanks for following our SW adventures J

Marching to Zion

         

           Our first day at Zion was supposed to be our only day off of the South West trip. After sleeping in until 9 am and a leisurely breakfast, we set off to the park. We brought our equipment to survey water fountains and spigots, but left the restaurant and gift shop scanning for the second day. Our real mission for the day was to hike to Angels Landing, one of the most popular hikes in the park. Angels Landing may seem like a frou-frou hike based on its name, but it ended up being the most strenuous hike of the trip. On our way to the top, we walked through Refrigerator canyon which was 10 degrees cooler and unique geologic formations called Walter’s Wiggles. We hiked 1500 feet to Angels Landing, and we finally understood why it got this name. The path is so narrow and steep, that it really does seem that only an angel would be able to land at the top. With mental steel we made it despite the deafening wind and fear-induced tachycardia (actually Aly was cool as a cucumber). Proud of our accomplishments, we made our way down the monolith still awestruck by the beauty of this park.

            For our second day in Zion, we were back to “work” as usual. We visited campgrounds, multiple restaurants, gift shops, and water fountains. We were even afforded the opportunity to meet with members at the Park office to learn more current efforts. Although a little tired from yesterday’s epic hike, we had the chance to take a short hike to the Emerald pools near the canyon. Our time in Zion had come to an end, and that evening we explored galleries in quaint town of Springdale before packing for our next destination.

Bryce Canyon National Park

This morning we made our way into our third state of the trip—Utah! During our drive, we endured yet another confusing change in time (Arizona is on MST, but does not observe daylight savings time, unless perhaps you are on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona) and a dramatic increase in elevation. We now were growing accustomed to the beautifully scenic drives, filled views of snow capped mountains and serene rivers. The drive up to Bryce Canyon was no different. Because we were visiting on a busy weekend, we could not find lodging in the town outside of the park, aptly named Bryce Canyon City. Even the two Best Westerns in town were booked. We prepared ourselves for a long day of driving, surveying, hiking, and sight-seeing.

We passed by Red Canyon, which gave us a little taste of what to expect at Bryce Canyon. The orange-red unique geologic formations certainly piqued our excitement. As expected, there were many visitors at Bryce, despite the threat of rain and 50 degree highs. During the rainy part of the day, we surveyed the Visitor Center, gift shops, a restaurant, vending machines, a convenience store, and some water fountains. Once the work was done, we were finally able to enjoy the enchantment of Bryce Canyon. Unworldly is how we decided to explain it. The canyon is comprised of strangely shaped red rocks called ‘hoodoos’. Parts of the canyon were still covered with snow since Bryce has freezing temperatures 200 days out of the year. From Sunrise to Sunset point we walked amongst the hoodoos, feeling as if we were ants in a box of peculiar red rocks. We hiked on part of the Queen’s Garden and Navajo Trail, which gave us beautiful views of these hoodoos. A high point was Wall Street, where the trail wound us through tall hoodoos. If you looked closely, one hoodoo even resembled the Nasdaq building J

Our time at Bryce was sadly short-lived since we had to continue 2 more hours to Springdale, Utah. Little did we know that in order to get to the town of Springdale we would have to drive through the east side of Zion National Park. What a treat! The mountains on this side of the part were white and gray silk sandstone etched with swirls and spirals. The curvy drive sent us through many switchbacks and even a one mile tunnel through Mt. Carmel. Every turn was an “oohh” and “aahh;” we could not get enough of this place already. We stopped at the canyon because about a dozen photographers decked out with their professional Nixons, Canons, and telephoto lenses were all capturing what we soon realized to be a breathtaking sunset. Simply amazing! We checked in, had some good food at the local yokel spot – The Bit and Spur, before calling it a night.

Glen Canyon

Another fantastic day in the southwest! We spent a hot, sunny day at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Lake Powell (the body of water in Glen Canyon) is the result of the dam that controls the Colorado River. It’s a crystal blue lake sitting within red/orange rock walls just east of the Grand Canyon. We started the day with nutrition surveys at the Wahweap Marina – and had lunch overlooking the lake (two thumbs up – way better than lunch at my desk). The afternoon was spent at a second marina – Antelope Pointe – where we were greeted at our car by a young man offering to drive us to the restaurant in his golf cart. We thought this was strange, but quickly discovered that all of the employees move around, nearly exclusively, by golf cart. While the dock was very long (from the visitor center/parking lot to the actual marina) – we were flabbergasted by the sheer amount of golf car traffic! We nearly got plowed down trying to walk it. We did manage to dodge the carts – and enjoyed completing nutrition surveys of the world’s largest floating restaurant and store – right here in Page, Arizona.

Just before sunset we finished our work and took a .75 mile walk to a gorgeous scenic overlook called Horseshoe Bend. The Colorado River flows into the area, then turns 320 degrees around the canyon wall and flows in the other direction. The result is a near island of orange-red rock with the beautiful blue river flowing about it. Gorgeous.

Dinner of BBQ chicken pizza (take-out from our new AZ favorite restaurant, Canyon King) was eaten by the pool – and we had delightful conversation with a family (4 girls between ages 7-11!) from Nashville in the hot tub. They’re youngest is a cancer survivor (Ewing’s sarcoma) and we very much enjoyed learning from/hearing their inspiring story. The mom shaved her head to raise money for child cancer research (check out the program at http://www.46mommas.com/ – so cool!).

Tomorrow we’re off to Bryce Canyon – can’t wait!

The Grandest Canyon that ever was…

Sorry for keeping you all in suspense over the past few days. Our time was occupied and internet was sparse during our visit at the Grand Canyon. Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

Day 1: The day it hailed

 

It was strange to wake up in Flagstaff to moisture in the air. Rain passed through that morning, and it was a pleasant change from the dusty dryness of prior days in the desert. We filled up with the complimentary breakfast from the Holiday Inn Express that we had grown to love and headed north to the Grand Canyon.

Some call her majestic, others say she’s heavenly, but when we arrived all we could muster is “Wow….” Despite the low-hanging clouds, intermittent rain, and chilly temperatures, the views of the Grand Canyon did not disappoint. Nonetheless, we were not there to just ogle at the Canyon all day; we had to get to work. Over lunch we surveyed a restaurant in one of the lodges on the canyon rim, which was followed by a short meeting with members of the National Parks Service. This canyon is clearly grand in sense of vast land coverage, but it is also grand by the sheer number of restaurants, snack shops, gift shops, vending machines, and water fountains that are peppered throughout the park. We set up a strategy to hit up all the major spots of the park to capture the healthfulness with our tools. Our work was cut out for us.

We decided to head back to the lodge area to survey all buildings for food offerings. As we walked along the rim of the Canyon, we began to get pelted with small hail at first which was quickly followed by large, gum-ball sized hail. It was pandemonium! People ran in all directions to escape this attack of precipitation. Tourists (some wearing shorts) were shrieking and taking pictures even though the canyon was no longer visible. We were mainly amused to be in a hail storm in May...at the Grand Canyon. Little did we know that this would not be our last brush with unusual May weather.  Not even twenty minutes later, the hail halted and the sun peaked back out. All was well again, and we proceeded to scan more snack shops and restaurants. After a nice dinner, we made our way back to the Albright Training Center--dorm-like rooms sans internet, and rested for the night.

Day 2: The day it snowed, a lot

 It was a brisk start to the morning, but the sun was shining, and the canyon was still quite grand. We set out to find all of the water spots on the Rim Trail, a flat path skirting the top canyon. Our walk was very pleasant from the lodge area to Yavapai Museum. Here we got to glimpse the Colorado River which runs through the canyon. During our search for a water fountain, it started to lightly snow. It was still about another mile to the main Visitor’s Center where we needed to visit for our project, but we decided that since we had rain jackets and Aly lived in Boston recently, which added to her winter weather cred, we continued the walk as opposed to taking the bus in hopes that the flurries wouldn’t be too much of a bother. Famous last words! About ¼ mile in, the wind started to pick up as did the density of the snow/wintry mix. We had to lean into the wind, occasionally looking up to make sure that we weren’t walking over the rim (just kidding, we weren’t that close to the edge). We were cold and wet, but we finally made it to the Visitor Center to defrost before resuming work. Many outdoor water fountains and vending machines later, we were still cold but now very hungry. Our late lunch was welcomed, and gave us fuel to scan more restaurants, gift shops, and full grocery store (Trader Joe’s eat your heart out!).

Figuring that we could walk back to the Albright Center, we set out on foot for a few more miles. Mind you, the temperatures did not get much above 39 degrees, and neither of us brought a heavy winter coat. It was certainly an adventure but overall a successful project day.

Day 3: The sun will come out…Today!

Hip hip hooray, the sun came out to stay, today! After days of hail, snow, and wintry mix, we were elated for a sunny, albeit windy day. We headed out to Hermit’s Rest, one of the scenic areas accessible by bus. Again, we opted to walk part of the way to Hermit’s Rest to catch some views of the canyon and look for water spots along the way. It took some time to get out to Hermit’s Rest and back, but after we decided that we needed to take one hike into the actual canyon to check out what water was available to hikers (and because it is awesome).

We set out to do the Bright Angel Trail; the three mile round trip hike. It was a beautiful hike, and tough on the knees going down. Insightfully, Allison noted that a canyon is really just the opposite of a mountain. She blames the altitude for stating the obvious. We encountered many tired folks hiking out of the canyon as we were descending. We figured they did the eight mile hike and tried not to get worried. We stopped half-way down to take in the views, eat a snack, and prepare for the ascent. A persistent squirrel tried to swipe Allison’s almonds to no avail. We checked out the water spigot and made our way up. It was certainly a hike, but once we made it back up to the rim we were rewarded with views of about three California Condors! They were frolicking in the sky, almost as if they were putting on a show. They are such graceful creatures that made a miraculous recovery after almost becming extinct. The evening got even better as we enjoyed a sunset like no other.

Day 4: The day we said good-bye

The Albright Training Center was simple, clean, and conveniently located, but the best part was FREE laundry. By this time, we had dirtied enough socks and clothes by hiking around these parks that it was a much appreciated amenity. We spent the morning searching for water at the South Kaibab trail head on the east side of the park. Our GC visit would not include the North Rim of the park since it doesn’t open until May 15 due to snowy conditions, but we were able to go to Desert View, which was about 25 miles east of the main South Rim attractions. Here we evaluated a store, gift shop, a restaurant, and vending machines. We got to say good-bye to the GC from the top of the Watchtower. We left just in time to avoid the bombardment of some very excited middle schoolers on a class trip. We headed out on another pretty drive to Page, AZ, a quaint town next the Glen Canyon. We enjoyed some delicious dinner and warm welcome from the host at Canyon King. We rounded out the night enjoying the cool air desert air by the pool.

A Windy Day in Petrified Forest National Park

It was sad to say goodbye to our third Holiday Inn Express, but it was time to visit our first National Park (prior we have visited National Monuments and a Trading Post). So we loaded up the car and backtracked a few miles east to Petrified Forest. We started our visit at the north end of the park near the Painted Desert Visitor’s Center. We introduced ourselves to the park service personnel and watched the 20 minute introduction video. Fueled with knowledge, we got to business. We confidently assessed drinking water spots, a vending machine, a store and restaurant for our project. After some lunch, we made our way into the park for a little exploration.

          We learned a great deal about what makes Petrified Forest such an interesting place. About 225 million years ago, in the Triassic period, fallen trees were covered with sediment from volcanic ash and the cellulose in the wood was slowly replaced with silica. This “petrification” process mineralized the wood, forming quartz crystals. When the Colorado Plateau was pushed upward, there was increased erosion and exposure of the layers of sediment and petrified wood that comprise the park today. Lots of the petrified wood was removed by visitors prior to being protected by the National Park. Many signs in the park warned about fines and/or imprisonment if petrified wood was taken from the park.

It looked as if the north of the park was painted with red and orange hues, whereas the south was splashed with grays, blues, and purples. We stopped at many scenic vistas, including the Painted Forest Inn which was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. At points on our drive we were in disbelief that we were actually still on the planet Earth since the scenery looked so unusual. After walking around the Blue Mesa and Crystal Forest, we ended at the Rainbow Forest Museum on the south side of the park. Here we found a small snack shop in a gift store and a few water points to evaluate. During our visit, we met a charismatic store manager who insisted on showing the beauty of the petrified wood in the sun and providing us with unsolicited advice about how to play roulette in Vegas. It was an amusing end to a blustery visit.

On our way to Flagstaff, we passed the Historic Route 66 and raced freight trains across the massive stretches of land while listening to a Glee soundtrack.

Final Note: Ode to the Chevy Aveo

Albuquerque (5/4) to Flagstaff (5/8)

We had to say goodbye to our trusty Chevy Aveo since a significant crack in the windshield has been “growing” over the past few days. Although reassured that the windshield would likely not implode, Aly was able to negotiate a replacement car since we are in the largest town since Albuquerque. While at dinner in cute downtown Flagstaff eating delicious Thai food, the trade went down. Welcome to the team, Chevy Malibu! Here is a final haiku for our little Aveo.

Great turn radius.

Thanks for getting up the hills.

We will miss you so!

Canyon de Chelly (pronounced Canyon de "Shay")

We began today in Chinle, Arizona – a tiny town in Navajo Nation just outside of Canyon de Chelly National Monument.  Our initial work (surveying water fountains and spigots) was thankfully finished quickly and we headed into the park for a hike.  At the first scenic overlook we met a lovely native woman, who has been designing jewelry and silver-smithing for over 50 years.  She told us stories of her travels (selling jewelry) and her great and great-great grandchildren.  Her friendly words and kind smile reflect the peaceful nature of many of the Navajo people that we’ve met. 

We descended into the canyon on a 2 hour hike to the white house ruins (estimated from 1150 AD).  The panoramas were phenomenal – and made us feel teensy tiny small.  Along the way down we saw cacti, lizards, and tumbleweed (Allison loves the tumbleweed!).  The ruins themselves are the remnants of a house/settlement carved into the base of the canyon wall.  Near the ruins we found more Navajo vendors selling jewelry and rock paintings.  After checking out the canyon basin, we began the 500 foot ascent!  Though exhausting (and dehydrating) – we so enjoyed the activity and phenomenal views. 

The Navajo people really enjoy sharing and teaching about their culture and history – including their historical connection to the earth and farming.  Sadly, because of hundreds of years of cultural and physical oppression, many rely on cheap processed foods and unsustainable practices for farming and livelihood.  We observed so many native people eating chips and sweets – and many confided in us that they know that healthier foods should be sold and eaten – but there just isn’t the access to and market for healthy nutrition.  Sigh.

We had a shockingly delicious Italian meal tonight at Mesa Italiana in Holbrook, AZ – and are looking forward to another day’s adventure at Petrified Forest National Park tomorrow.

Window Rock, Hubbell, and Rez Dogs

We awoke Friday morning to the beauty of the Sandia mountains and arid desert of Albuquerque. Sandia means watermelon in Spanish, and these mountains take on the beautiful pinkish hue at sunset. Aly and I gathered our many copies of survey tools and protocols, sunscreen and pop music CDs, and hit I-40 towards Arizona. Along the way we encountered breathtaking views of rock formations and nestled adobe-style buildings. We made a stop at one such formation at Window Rock, which also happens to be at the capital of the Navajo Nation (see picture). We attempted to hike up to the “window” itself, but we were sadly met with a dead end.  

After a lunch of tacos and “Christmas” red and green (Allison likes the red chile, Aly prefers the green), we headed to the Hubbell Trading Post. This trading post is very quaint. Imagine tumbleweeds and scarecrows and old town charm. For our survey, we were able to evaluate the nutrition offerings in the small convenience-like store. During our scan, we engaged in an interesting conversation about the woeful state of nutrition in our country, particularly among the Navajo people, with one pleasant and impassioned shopkeeper of the trading post. He shared with us many insights about nutrition habits among the Navajo people in the area; shedding light on the complexity of achieving access to and acceptability of healthy food. It was inspiring to hear his stories, and get a sense of the urgency and determination to make a change within the community.

Our visit to Hubbell was a success. We pumped up the music for the drive north to Chinle, Arizona where we will stay for the night. So far, we have encountered a few “rez-dogs” (lingo for roaming dogs on the reservation), numerous tourists, and lots of dream catchers. Gearing up for a day at Canyon de Chelly tomorrow…stay tuned!

Day 1: Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Bandelier

We began our trip in Albuquerque, New Mexico today.  We met up with our contact at National Park Service who drove with us to Sante Fe.  We did a brief tour of the NPS regional headquarters building (Pueblo architecture - originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1940s under FDR) and then met up with the NM state epidemiologist to describe our project and get feedback.  Several epidemiologists (former EIS officers, like Aly) took us for lunch at a New Mexican restaurant (like Mexican food, but with different sauces – I tried “Christmas” style, with a mix of green and red chile; the sopapillas, sweet bread pockets with honey, were amazing!).  We then drove north to Bandelier National Monument, about an hour from Santa Fe.  We did our first park assessment there – which overall went well, minus some small hiccups with the protocol for our snack shop tool (e.g. does a side salad with a little bit of cheese count as healthy when you don’t have access to any of the nutrition facts?).  We made some slight modifications to our snack shop survey tool – and did some pilot tests of a water access survey (if we want people to drink water instead of sugar-sweetened beverages like Coke, then people need to be able to access free drinking water!).

Bandelier was quite beautiful.  The red rock mountains drop suddenly into the gorge in which we followed the nature trail.  The path led us to some cave dwellings, brick ruins of structures, and deep kivas (round dug-outs carved long-ago for unknown purposes).  It then wound around into a beautiful old forest in which streams wove around the path.  The sounds of the trickling water and rustling leaves was incredibly peaceful.  Our hour-long walk ended sadly and we headed back to Albuquerque.  We enjoyed a delicious dinner on a roof-top deck in “Old Town” – then headed to bed in preparation for a long day of driving to Arizona and our next stop, Canyon de Chelly! 

Aly and Allison embark on an Epi-Aid!

Our Epi-Aid (the term that CDC uses for urgent field investigations) of healthful nutrition offerings in National Parks has begun!  To give a bit of background: the National Park Service (NPS) is starting an initiative called Healthy Parks Healthy People (first started in Canada) – which includes the use of parks as places for promotion of healthy nutrition, physical activity and mental health.   NPS contacted our supervisor at CDC to assist with a baseline assessment of the healthfulness of food and beverages served to visitors at national parks (over 280 million visitors per year – one of the biggest tourist attractions in the US!).  Based on other survey tools of the nutrition environment (for use in restaurants, stores, etc) – we created instruments that can be used at stores, restaurants, snack shops and vending machines in the parks.  The surveys are completely observational (we don’t have to talk to anyone – making them simple to perform) – and only take 10-30 minutes per survey.  Once we test the tools on this 3 week pilot study, we plan to use them in a survey of 50+ parks in September.  The pilot study that we just started includes 12 national parks in 7 states (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina). We hope that you enjoy our stories from this Epi-Aid adventure.