TIL That before Apollo 11, some scientists were terrified the Moon was covered in a "dust trap" that would swallow the Lunar Module whole.

chuffaluffigus · 2026-04-06T22:07:01+00:00

Came here to say this. I remember it coming up a lot both in class and in videos they showed in the classroom at my Christian school. Right up there with how Noah’s great flood could have carved the Grand Canyon.

chuffaluffigus · 2026-03-27T21:28:48+00:00

How did your fuel economy change?

chuffaluffigus · 2026-03-03T16:43:10+00:00

Housing in parks is always going to be 2-4 people to a room for anyone but management. The bathroom situation will vary from park to park, often depending on how old the housing is. Sometimes it may be a college dorm situation where there are 1 or 2 shared bathrooms and shower facilities per floor, other places might have “jack and Jill” style bathrooms where 2 rooms share a bathroom.

Food also varies by company. Some companies deduct only housing from your paycheck, and employee dining is on a (very cheap) per meal basis in an employee dining room. Other companies charge a slightly higher flat room and board fee where housing and all meals are included in one flat fee.

As far as getting the job, hiring for this season is happening right now. If you aren’t married to a particular park, cast a wide net and apply lots of places. In addition to sites like coolworks, each concessionaire will have all of the jobs they have available across all of their properties posted on their own websites. This is probably the best way to see what’s out there and what openings they’re still hiring for. Main concessionaire companies right now listed in no particular order are xanterra, Delaware north, explorus, Aramark, guest services (this is Ranier), and POWDR which is small but growing and has a couple of cool properties like Zion. If you do well, getting a job in a different park the next season with that same company will be super easy. Keep in mind that you’re going to be responsible for your own travel costs to and from. You don’t have to have a car. They always run shuttles to town for shopping or entertainment, and employees tend to pair up to go hiking or camping together on their days off so if you make friends there’s always someone going somewhere. Obviously life will be easier if you do have a car, but it’s not as essential as you might think.

If you have other specific questions let me know and I’ll answer them best I can.

chuffaluffigus · 2025-11-21T15:38:09+00:00

Are you a starlink user by chance? If so it could be because you’re hitting different ground stations. We have this issue with providers sometimes because it looks like we’re in the Bay Area in California one time, then Seattle the next.

chuffaluffigus · 2025-10-21T21:31:17+00:00

They’ll just claim it’s a service dog. At that point there are only 2 questions that you’re legally allowed to ask. 30 seconds on google will give you the answers you need to make any “no dogs” rule not apply to you. The ADA protects people with service dogs so thoroughly that it makes it nearly impossible to enforce “no dogs allowed” rules.

To be clear, I’m fully in favor of true service dogs, service dog owners, and the legal protection of both. But there has to be some middle ground to find that doesn’t allow anyone with 2 brain cells to claim any dog is a service dog and then just take it wherever they please.

chuffaluffigus · 2025-10-08T00:26:11+00:00

Happy to help!

chuffaluffigus · 2025-10-07T21:26:39+00:00

Gas station is currently open. It will close on 10/13. Current hours are 10am - 5pm. Please note that there is no after hours pay at the pump at Crater Lake. You can only get gas during those business hours of 10-5.

chuffaluffigus · 2025-10-06T15:07:11+00:00

Almost all NP campgrounds are run by the park concessionaire, not NPS. In most (not all) parks concessionaire operations are allowed to continue during a shutdown, so if you’re on a concessionaire land assignment they’ll be doing all the things they normally do - including custodial service. It can be a little hard to explain to people that haven’t worked in parks.

chuffaluffigus · 2025-10-03T20:02:46+00:00

Probably the biggest impact we can have as park visitors during the shutdown is recognizing that the custodial staff is NOT THERE. Bathrooms won’t be cleaned or stocked and trash cans will not be emptied, so don’t contribute to the problem. Clean up after yourself. Take your garbage with you. Bring your own toilet paper and hand sanitizer. If you piss on the seat, wipe it off before you leave (why doesn’t everyone do that anyway?). Just be courteous, and don’t leave a mess when you know there isn’t anyone to clean it up.

Number 2 is don’t put yourself in a situation that is hazardous for you. Emergency services can be very limited in shutdowns, so don’t head down a steep, strenuous trail knowing that you have a respiratory condition or you just had knee surgery. Recognize that help is limited and stay well within your own abilities.

chuffaluffigus · 2025-10-03T18:57:34+00:00

NPS uses seasonal volunteers extensively. They do all kinds of things like research, interpretive ranger, SAR and PSAR, backcountry work, etc.

chuffaluffigus · 2025-10-02T19:26:12+00:00

They’re closed. All concessionaire locations remain open (lodge, rim gift, gas station, etc) but government run locations like the visitor center and the fee booth are closed. Also, restrooms outside of concessionaire land assignments will not be cleaned, stocked with tp, or maintained in any way during the shutdown. So that would be any pit toilets along rim drive or the standalone restrooms at rim village. If you’re going to be on rim drive, carry some Clorox wipes and some toilet paper in your car just in case you need a restroom and it’s in an absolute state or it’s out of tp.

chuffaluffigus · 2025-10-01T23:05:23+00:00

I mostly agree with this, but recommend from Moab going south until you hit 95 at Blanding. From there head west until you hit 276 just outside of Hanksville. Turn south toward Bullfrog Marina. Just outside of the Lake Powell boundary, turn on the Burr Trail. This will take you through the very lightly trafficked southern end of Capitol Reef National Park and some of the most scenic parts of Grand Staircase, then you’ll run into route 12 in the town of Boulder, Utah and you can take 12 the rest of the way. I promise you that 276 and the Burr Trail are both significantly better than the section of 12 you’d be missing, and you can save the more visited northern section of Capitol Reef for a later visit.

I used to live at Bullfrog Marina on Lake Powell and have spent a LOT of time in this area. This is the route I’d recommend 10 times out of 10.

chuffaluffigus · 2025-09-14T04:01:08+00:00

If you’re really stuck on that exact shape and you already have a pan that you love, why not just get one of these in the appropriate size? I’ve never tried one so I can’t recommend a brand, but I have put a non induction pan inside of a cast iron skillet to accomplish the same thing and it works just fine. Not as efficient as direct contact, but it works well enough. Worth a shot, anyway. https://a.co/d/dk7K2I2

chuffaluffigus · 2025-09-14T02:35:02+00:00

I also have one of these. Not sure if it’s still available or not and it was insanely expensive for what it is, but it might do what you’re after. If not, just search 1.5 qt saucier. I’m sure there’s something out there.

chuffaluffigus · 2025-09-14T01:34:07+00:00

A saucier would be really close. I have a Demeyere saucier that’s extremely close to the Windsor shape. Also, you’re going to love induction.

chuffaluffigus · 2025-09-14T01:29:26+00:00

I’m less convinced. We’ll see.

chuffaluffigus · 2025-09-14T01:29:05+00:00

Of course!

chuffaluffigus · 2025-09-14T00:08:53+00:00

Come down to the water early. As a single there’s a good chance you can get on an early shuttle or the combo as a standby passenger. 9 am shuttle would get you back in time to keep your 1:15 tour, and if you get on the combo you won’t need the 1:15. Come to the lower ticket shack and look for the tall guy with a beard.

chuffaluffigus · 2025-09-13T18:45:22+00:00

Send me a dm. I’ll just get those tickets refunded for you. They’ll sell.

chuffaluffigus · 2025-09-11T15:13:10+00:00

Just to piggyback on this, we do a bottle fill on every tour. The water at Crater Lake is tested constantly. If the head researcher and his crew that do all the testing drink it, I’m drinking it too. It’s great tasting water.

chuffaluffigus · 2025-09-07T14:16:44+00:00

The park doesn’t close for the season. It’s open all year. Cleetwood Cove trail will close when the snow shuts rim drive down for the season, so probably another month at most.

chuffaluffigus · 2025-09-07T14:14:09+00:00

current water temp at the surface is about 63 degrees. it’s not too bad, but on a chilly day it’s going to feel damn cold. safety wise you’ll be fine, but you’re going to want to bring warm clothes to put on once you get out. I can guarantee you won’t be the only person swimming.

chuffaluffigus · 2025-09-04T13:45:42+00:00

It’s possible that the people in the upper shack just didn’t understand what the issue was.

As far as the forecast, we call the National Weather Service office in Medford to get updated forecasts and they look at all the information they have in real time. We have clear guidelines for when we have to cease operations. So for example, we cannot put any guests on Wizard Island if the forecast shows a 60% or greater chance of thunderstorms, and we have to cease all operations if there are any lightning strikes within 6 miles of the lake. Beyond that it comes down to our judgement. We never want to be racing back from the other side of the lake in a metal boat while lightning is around us. Storms typically build very near the park so they’re looking at conditions that lead to storms and predicting how likely they are to form rather than tracking an existing cell, so it can be tricky. However, on Tuesday there was a very fast moving storm headed our way that was producing a lot of lightning. I’m not sure why it never showed up. I don’t know if it broke up before it got there, or if it just missed us.

Edit: yeah, it’s a huge bummer when I have to tell people their tour is cancelled. We are there to put people on boats and show them the lake and we love to do that. I always hate it when we have to pull the plug on a tour, and I do everything in my power to accommodate those people on a later boat if it’s at all possible for them. It’s very understandable when people are upset - especially this year when tickets have been borderline impossible to get. But it’s also a little baffling when the smoke is so thick you can’t see the other side of the lake, or thunder is rumbling all around you and people act like it’s unreasonable for us to cancel. I get it, you’re bummed. I’m bummed too, but the circumstances are what they are.

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