Grand Canyon NP Closed

[AZBuck]

Today, after a park employee tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the National Park Service announced that it was closing Grand Canyon National Park. Parks will continue to be closed on a case-by-case basis, and could close without notice.

Stay safe, all.

AZBuck

[Midwest Michael]

Honestly, it's pretty disappointing that any of the parks are open right now. It's really just putting park employees at risk and encouraging people to disregard health safety guidelines.

If we close parks for a government shutdown, closing them for a national health emergency should be an easy call.

[Southwest Dave]

I agree Michael. Partial lockdown doesn't work. The UK government tried to trust people to act responsibly and instead of heeding the warnings and take social distancing measures they treated it like a holiday and swamped beauty spots, beaches and parks causing overcrowding and traffic jams like that of a National holiday.

Dave.

[Rick Quinn]

I agree as well! Sadly, here in Arizona, at least where I live, they've been slow to take the shutdown seriously. Traffic on city streets and area freeways has barely slowed down, and photos of the crowds at local parks and on popular hiking trails have been all over social media and even national media. Our governor is pro-business to a fault, so he was in no hurry to issue any statewide directives, preferring to stick with "recommendations" based on publicized CDC guidelines. A formal Stay at Home order finally came out on Monday, with exceptions for a very long list of "essential businesses" that includes hair and nail salons (how the heck do you stay six feet away from someone while cutting their hair?), as well as golf courses!? Is it any wonder that they were in no big hurry to close the Grand Canyon?

The National Parks should be taking their direction from the National Park Service, and there should be a single consistent policy across the country. ALL park facilities should be closed to the public, period, no exceptions. "Stay at Home" means exactly that, so unless you live in a National Park, you shouldn't be there. Leaving them open, even without staff, is quite literally tempting fate. (IMHO!)

Rick

[DonnaR57]

Here where I'm at, our city shut down the parks and trailheads that were very popular. I understand there are still a few that are open, but not many. I've gone in to my workplace (to set up long distance learning) and every day, both directions, is a sheriff's vehicle sitting by one of the most popular trailheads in our area -- Mt Woodson (the trail to Potato Chip Rock). Two days ago, judging by the number of cars along CA-67 at the trailhead, I don't think the sheriff must have had much success. But today, almost no cars.

The other thing I've noticed is that the lack of cars on the streets and highways have meant the people are driving faster. That could have been the other reason that the sheriff was sitting there. I know when I saw him, I immediately checked my speedometer!

Our doctor, whom hubby had a "teledoc" type appointment with yesterday, stated that getting outside for a neighborhood walk should be okay as long as you practice social distancing. The doctor also stated that our statistics DO look low in San Diego County, but they don't have nearly the amount of testing kits that they should have. She agreed that the closing of the parks, all kinds, is needed. Folks DO treat this like an extended vacation!


Donna

[BillyGr]

Seems like people just don't know about the options that exist in many areas. For instance, in our local area, when I passed a small nature area the other day there were 7 cars (which normally you are lucky to see 2 or 3, sometimes none there). But, then after thinking about it, it takes me around 40 minutes to do the big loop there (of which only about .1 miles from the parking area to where it splits to form the loop do you have to walk both ways on the same trail).

So, even though that 7 cars seems far higher than normal, even if you had 8 vehicles, they could show up about 1 every 5 minutes and start the loop and always be close to 5 minutes apart (which is well beyond the 6 foot range recommended elsewhere). You could even accommodate twice as many cars without having much, if any, interaction.

Thus while some of those "popular" places get overloaded, if people took the time to find out other options in their areas, it's quite likely many could still enjoy and get their important exercise while keeping a safe margin of room.

[AZBuck]

Yes, most people are easily within walking or very short driving distance of some small, so underrated, outdoor venues. In my own case I can step out my door and walk for about a mile and a half in any of four or so directions, and see maybe three or four people along the way - with plenty of room for 'social distancing'. With schools closed (I've got three in my immediate neighborhood) that's even fewer people and cars plus more open space. A few blocks away, I have access to 'The Loop', a system of paths and bikeways that completely encircle my hometown, Tucson. There's also an historic old cavalry fort site about a half mile away. And residential streets, that were never that busy to begin with, are now quieter than ever.

The point is not that I'm so fortunate to be living in the area I do. In writing this I also recalled larger cities I've lived or worked in such as Baltimore and Philadelphia, as well as medium-sized ones, and the truth is that in most cases, and with far less planing than goes into a RoadTrip, you can plan a nice local outing from your own home. And you don't even have to pack.

AZBuck

[Mark Sedenquist]

Probably the thing that I enjoy the most about road trips is "driving neighborhoods." I have driven in thousands of neighborhoods over the years. No particular goal other than to see what's there. I've done it in small towns and large cities all over the globe.

In these days of "Stay-At-Home-No-Matter-What" I find myself still exploring neighborhoods -- albeit these days I am afoot. Each day, my "reach" is a little farther as I endeavor to walk through every neighborhood near my house.

Megan joins me on most of these forays -- and we've chatted with dozens and dozens of people -- all at least 10 feet apart -- mostly in English versions of "Namaste."

The funniest participants are the dogs we meet -- who seem to marvel at seeing so many humans walking on their blocks.

Soon this pastime will be more challenging as the daytime temps exceed triple digits.

One of the delights we have found on our walks is the Fairy Stone Gardens that some people have created in the front yards of their homes.


Megan has painted and contributed more than a dozen of these painted rocks to this fairy garden.

So, road trips sans vehicle is the preferred mode of transport these days.

I hope wherever you are -- you remain safe and well and healthy!

Mark

[keithg]

The walking sounds like a great idea Mark. I will be able to roll soon. love the painted rock idea. Margaret has rocks she has painted like that. I will take a pic of them.
Hope everyone is safe and ok. At the moment all we can do is keep planning that next roadtrip. When it happens, it will be a beauty and well planned. Stay safe everyone.

Keithg