Farewell for now

I had a fantastic summer at the park. I did some teacher work like creating a student research page for the kids section of the SNP website. I also got a taste of what it might be like to be a park ranger through leading some Junior Ranger Programs. The park rangers are so similar to teachers in their passion for their work. They are committed to educating the public and protecting our cultural and natural resources through their interpretation. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to learn and be a part of the SNP team this summer. Shenandoah will always hold a special place in my heart. I will return to school refreshed and renewed and ready to do some new things with my students. We have already planned a field trip to Big Meadows and Byrd Visitor Center with 250 sixth graders. I am working on building a collection of books in the library about the natural and cultural history of the park. I can't wait until National Park Week in April. I will wear my uniform to school and teach my students about the value of one of our countries most precious resources our National Parks.

NOVA Camp

I finished out my Park Ranger experience with a bang! My last 3 days were spent with some awesome middle/high school kids from Falls Church in Northern VA. They came for a summer camping experience and I helped out along with my ranger friends Kathy, Georgette, Holly and a few others. Day one- we met the kids at camp and they worked on a service project removing the invasive Japanese Stilt Grass. Day two-we went on a 2.5 mile hike on the Appalachian Trail. The kids were great and really enjoyed the hike. We stopped midway and did a leave no trace campsite rehab. with the help of a few of the back country rangers. Day three-was spent in Big Meadows doing a GPS activity and studying man-made and natural disturbances.The kids also created video productions to promote the park. These will be posted on the Shenandoah National Park website.

Junior Ranger Program...take two!

The visitors at Shenandoah National Park are awesome! I did another JR program and had about 25 people in attendance. Before I started the program one little boy asked me, "Is this gonna be like boy scouts?" Yep, I told him. It sure was like boy scouts that day. It was a cloudy day and I told the group that we would continue unless it began to thunder. Well, it didn't thunder , but it began to sprinkle.By the time we got into the meadow it was pouring down rain. The kids were great they just wanted to keep going because they wanted to get their JR badges. The wind began to blow and we were all dripping wet. I offered to finish the program under the canopy at the visitor center. The group said that it would be okay to do that as long as they could still get their JR badges. Everyone seemed happy and had a good time. I tallied this as a success!

Big Meadows Wandering

I wandered through the meadow the other night after my duty and lost track of time. I love the meadow and it makes me happy to be there. When you stand at Byrd Visitor Center and gaze out on the meadow you cannot see all of the diversity that inhabits this space. You have to get closer, walk slowly and observe. I stumbled upon a wild turkey in the brush, an array of butterflies and other insects, wildflowers, tons of blueberries and a deer. You might ask" blue berries and a deer what's the big deal here?" Ahh...but feasting on blueberries from the same bush with the deer, now that is a privilege. I was reminded of the connection I felt with the animals I was physically close to when I visited the Galapagos. The deer did did not seem to mind sharing her dinner with me.

Junior Ranger Program

PHEW...nearly 40 people attended my first Junior Ranger Program. One family was from Holland and did not speak very much English. My mentor and friend Ranger Kathy was a great help to me on this day and helped me deal with the logistics of managing this many people. The program was titled "The Mysteries of the Meadow". The TRT that worked at Shenandoah last year wrote and implemented the program. It is a very cool program that uses GPS to uncover how Big Meadows has been impacted by man-made and natural disturbances. Big Meadows has remained a meadow for the last 10,000 years. The meadow in the park is a unique place because the majority of the park is hardwood forest. The meadow is home to many rare plants that don't grow anyplace else in the park. It is also home to the rare Smooth Green Snake. The disturbances that have occurred at Big Meadows have prevented the process of succession(a field progressing gradually to a forest) taking place. I enjoyed sharing my knowledge and love of this unique place with the park visitors. Everyone seemed to enjoy the activity and have a good time. P.S.-You will have to come attend the program if you want to find out the mysteries of the meadow!

Leave No Trace

We continue to prepare for students to visit us from Northern Virginia. I am really looking forward to nurture these students with nature! In the meantime I participated in a backpacking trip with a focus on Leave No Trace training. This is a concept that I have always tried to practice, but never realized that there is so much more I can do to Leave No Trace when I visit wilderness areas. There are seven principles practiced and you can find out more about them here-Leave No Trace. The backpacking trip was great! We camped out overnight and I made some more new ranger friends. We hiked the Rose River trail, which is a nice hike with plenty of water views. This is the first wilderness trip that I've been on and the first time that I camped out without a tent. We had these really cool sleeping nets that we used to keep the bugs at bay. The rangers continue to amaze me with their wealth of knowledge of history, plants and animals.

NOVA Camp

One of my other duties here this summer is to help out with a camping program for teenagers who will visit us from Northern Virginia(NOVA) in August. I am pretty excited about this because I have some strong feelings about getting children out in nature. I think that many kids do not have enough opportunities to enjoy nature. To prepare for this event I have been working closely with one of the other rangers. We will be taking the kids on a hike and doing a GPS activity with them in Big Meadows at Byrd Visitor Center.

The Hike-
We did a preliminary hike the other day to prepare for our visitors. We will be hiking about 2 miles from the AT Trail head at Spitler Knoll Overlook to Big Meadows Campground.The weather that day was foggy and misty. This made for an amazing hike! It was like walking in the cloud forest of Ecuador. My ranger friends, Kathy and Georgette, taught me about rock formations, lichens, rock tripe and mushrooms. We saw a lot of plants like columbine, blueberries, raspberries,(YUM) common mullen, wild geranium, witch hazel, milk weed, sassafras, and cone flowers. We think we even saw some coyote scat! We saw Eastern Hemlock trees on the trail that were killed by the Hemlock woolly adelgid. Specialists in Shenandoah are currently trying to treat the remaining trees. The hemlocks play an important role in the forest ecology.Historically, Hemlock bark was once widely used in the tanning of hides, a tea was made from the leafy twig tips and inner bark. This was sipped for a variety of ailments or used as an external wash. The bark is astringent and was used as a poultice on bleeding wounds. There are some fascinating discoveries to be made on this trail and I think the kids are going to love it!
The GPS
Ranger Georgette and I had fun exploring Big Meadows, while doing a GPS Mystery Meadow Activity. Big Meadows is an amazing place full of hidden secrets waiting to be uncovered. We have several waypoints marked on a GPS for the kids to find. These points will show some historical features, like the old CCC camp. We want the students to be able to investigate the impact of natural and human activity on Big Meadows. The best finds of the day in Big Meadows were the blueberries and the brilliant orange spattering of butterfly weed throughout the meadow.