Darkness is precious to Bryce Canyon ranger

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK — No, he doesn't leap hoodoos in a single bound.

Kevin Poe isn't fond of tights either, but you will find him leading tourists on a quick trip across the galaxy three nights a week.

As Bryce Canyon's head "Dark Ranger," Poe is somewhat of a superhero to more than 30,000 people a year who come to the park not only for the dramatic day vistas, but the spectacular night skies.

"It's one of the darkest places in the country you can drive to and expect to have telescopes waiting for you," said Poe, 38, who received his nickname 10 years ago when he was hired as a ranger and started an annual astronomy festival at the park.

From today through July 10, festivalgoers this year will be treated to rocket building and launching and speeches by astronomers. But the highlight, says Poe, is always the sight of 7,500 stars on a clear night.

"It's mind-boggling how many there are," he said. "But we're in danger of it disappearing if we don't take better care to maintain our darkness. No dark ranger will tell you that light is evil, but too much of it really can be a bad thing. I always tell people, 'Darkness is not something to be scared of. It's something to celebrate.' "

Hoping to share that message with everyone who leaves a porch light on at night (motion detectors are the best way to go, says Poe), the affable ranger wanted to join me for a Free Lunch chat during a break from setting up telescopes in the Bryce Canyon overflow parking lot for this year's festival.

"On a clear, dark night here, you can see 2.5 million light years, all the way to the Andromeda Galaxy," says Poe, who points out the Milky Way and the Whirlpool Galaxy with the enthusiasm of a boy who has just unwrapped his first telescope.

With such a breathtaking canvas outside his door, "I've learned to be nocturnal," he said. "We usually don't wrap up our public presentations until after midnight, and on my days off, I've been known to go out with some of the staff for an all-night viewing. If I had to choose between sleep and stargazing, well, that's easy. The stars always win."

It's a habit that Poe developed early on as a boy raised in the quiet beauty of numerous national parks. The son of a park ranger, he spent many late nights counting stars from the Cascade Mountains, islands on the Great Lakes and the red cliffs surrounding Lake Powell.

After following his dad into ranger work, he ended up at Cuyouhaga National Park, an urban green space squeezed between Cleveland and Akron, Ohio.