Social Activities and Excursions
Photo courtesy of Weatherford Hotel
The opening reception for the conference will be held on Tuesday evening, June 14, at the historic Weatherford Hotel, located in downtown Flagstaff at the corner of Leroux Street and Aspen Avenue. In 1887 a young deputy sheriff, Texas-born John Weatherford, rode into the Wild West town of Flagstaff to investigate rumors of killings among the posse that had been trying to settle the Graham-Tewkesbury feud. Later, in 1900 he opened his new hotel about which The Coconino Sun claimed, “There is no finer hotel in the whole southwest.” The Weatherford has been restored and retains the look and feel of the old west. The reception will be held in the Zane Grey Ballroom and the adjoining balcony, which overlooks the center of town.
On Thursday, June 16, the conference participants will be transported by buses to Grand Canyon National Park. We will leave at noon with box lunches; the drive takes about an hour and a half. When we arrive at the park, the staff of the Science and Resource Management Center will give a presentation about the management of the natural resources within the park. They deal with a wide variety of issues, including forestry, water resources, wild life, plants, etc., often applying quantitative models. Several scientists will discuss their research and management approaches.
Grand Canyon. Photo courtesy of Flagstaff
Convention and Visitors Bureau
After the presentation at the center, there will be about three hours for individuals to sightsee, shop or hike. We will be on the South Rim of the canyon, a part of the park that is quite developed as a tourist center with a number of lodges, shops, a museum and a visitor center. The park service operates a free shuttle throughout this area serving the commercial activities and providing access to the various trails. There are two trails that would be especially rewarding for the time available, the South Kaibab Trail, which leads into the canyon, and the Rim Trail, which follows the rim of the canyon.
Our trip to the Grand Canyon will conclude with the conference banquet, which will be held in the dining facility associated with the Maswick Lodge. The banquet will be timed to enable individuals to go to the rim of the canyon to view the sunset. We then will return to Flagstaff.
If there is sufficient interest, short excursions on Tuesday, before the conference, can be arranged to Walnut Canyon and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monuments or to Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona. For those who would like to extend their visit to the area, many commercial trips are available, including one-day or several-day trips through the canyon on the Colorado River.
Read more about outdoor activities at or near the Grand Canyon. Click here