AWESOME!!! Our first day volunteering at Denali was GREAT! We got our general schedule, met a number of enthusiastic rangers, and (one of Matt's highlights) we wore uniforms!
I pinch myself; this is truly a dream-come-true! I hope we will have experiences in MANY national parks. For now, I am over-the-moon about our time at Denali National Park. (Yes, Matt too!)
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| Volunteer Ranger Matt |
Our general schedule:
(We are also able to garnish the schedule with additional opportunities/experiences--ranger talks, ranger-lead hikes, ice cream lunches, and guest-artist programs...notice how I snuck in the "ice cream"--SMILES)
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday:
Mornings--research to prepare for "chats", and reading-up on Denali to better answer visitors' questions.
Matthew and I are preparing information and props to "chat" about wolves in Denali. We are also trying to set-up a "chat" about various animal track casts. Additionally, we want to have a "chat" about ASL signs for the various animals seen at Denali.
"Chat"= setting-up somewhere at the Visitor Center compound and talking with a small group of interested people.
Noon to mid-afternoon--We walk our sled dog, Lucor! Matthew and I don our orange vests and walk, Lucor, for an hour. We will also have enough time to brush him (and possibly some of the other dogs) and change-out water.
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Lucor and Matt!!!
He is an awesome dog! (Heck, I will just say it; he is the BEST one!!! Please don't tell any of the other dog-walkers...they erroneously think their sled dogs are the best....silly people!) |
Afternoon until 6:15--We ROVE!!! Meaning, we walk trails; answer question about "bio-diversity and bus schedules"; and monitor people/animal interactions.
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| Roving the McKinley Station Trail |
Friday and Saturday:(Our weekends are Sunday and Monday.)
All day (8:45-6:15)--We rove the trails at Savage River (mile 12.8 to 14.something), and pick-up trash in the parking lots and on the trails.
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At Savage--Mountain Vista Trail.
White Spruce in the transitional zone. The tundra, higher up, has no trees. |
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Mt. McKinley (or Mt. Denali)--the impressive white mountain in the background.
Fewer than 30% of Denali visitors see the mountain. |
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| Shrubby Cinquefoil--the wildflowers are abundant! |
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| Savage River |
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| Arctic Ground Squirrels |
Oh Sue and Matt! Missing you both but feeling great about what you are doing in Denali. Matt, I bet Lucor is like all the other dogs who love you when they meet you. If I'd known you also like to brush dogs, I'd had you brush Spencer, he is in the middle of his summer "blow-out" of fur/hair. The videos add a great dimension to your blog, it's also nice to hear you breathing (and speaking). Like your screen tent addition, very cool. You remember the hail storm you experienced while here? We are just getting the insurance information regarding repairs, looks like this summer will be spent monitoring those repairs and not traveling as we'd hoped. Think of you both often. Smile and each other and say it's from me!
ReplyDeleteGlad both you had great time with volunteer day. Keep going ;) Enjoy ice cream :)
ReplyDeleteLovely pictures!
The pictures are awesome. So happy you are both having the "times of your lives" volunteering at Denali.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Cindy, love the videos and hearing your voice makes me feel like you are in the room telling me all about the trip.
Glad Matt is having dog time - fear it will never be enough - you may have a dog before you know it (Matt, no sneaking the dog into the RV - grin)