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Grand Canyon Is No Disneyland

It takes 6,000 workers to keep park visitors safe

By Victoria Floethe,  Newser User

Posted Jul 1, 2008 6:15 PM CDT

(Newser) – Every day from before dawn until around midnight, a staff of thousands unites to keep the Grand Canyon in good condition and its 4.4 million annual visitors safe. NPR travels to the iconic destination to see how it works. "I hope that you are not imagining a pony ride at Disneyland," warns a mule manager about the steep trip down the canyon.

Indeed, only 1% of visitors make the mile-plus trip to the bottom, where temperatures reach 110 degrees. Staffers patrol crowded roads and lead search-and-rescue missions. "We get a lot of people who are unprepared for the elements, who don't go in with enough water, enough food or enough preplanning to know how hot it's gonna be," says one ranger.

John George Verkamp stands by his tent and souvenir shop in what is today Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona in this 1897 photo provided by the Grand Canyon Museum Collection.
John George Verkamp stands by his tent and souvenir shop in what is today Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona in this 1897 photo provided by the Grand Canyon Museum Collection.   (AP Photo/Grand Canyon Museum Collection)
Tourists stand at Bright Angel Point facing the Grand Canyon's North Rim in this April 7, 2005 file photo in Grand Canyon, Ariz.
Tourists stand at Bright Angel Point facing the Grand Canyon's North Rim in this April 7, 2005 file photo in Grand Canyon, Ariz.   (AP Photo/Matt York, FILE)
With the North Rim in the background, tourists hike along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in this Feb. 22, 2005 file photo in Grand Canyon, Ariz.
With the North Rim in the background, tourists hike along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in this Feb. 22, 2005 file photo in Grand Canyon, Ariz.   (AP Photo/Rick Hossman, File)
Views from the Rim of the Grand Canyon
Views from the Rim of the Grand Canyon   ((c) raygunb)
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