Around the Park

Yesterday I took some sick time--my husband's cooking?--but not the whole day. I went in a little late because I had someone planning to come to the office to buy her annual pass. I also wanted to check restrooms in the campground, go out to Bellview for garbage, and check on the two areas on the south side of the lake--the Wetlands and South Beach. I always pick up a lot of cigarette butts at South Beach for some reason. I tell myself that each one I pick up is one less the park visitor has to see. I'm thinking of planning a Facebook post about cigarette butts--how bad they are for wildlife, how they pollute, and how long they take to biodegrade.

I like checking our equestrian areas. Most of the horses are friendly and so are the dogs. The other day when I was out there checking fee compliance, etc, I saw a couple of people riding their horses back to the parking lot. I overheard the woman talking to her dad (she addressed him as her dad later), saying that I (as a ranger) had my role here too. I'm assuming he had said something that wasn't very nice because I was checking for fees, but I was also there to empty the garbage and clean the restrooms. I know a lot of people expect parks and other areas to be free, but cleaning supplies, gas, and garbage bags all cost money and the facilities aren't cheap to maintain. One of the hardest parts of our jobs is helping people to see that, and to understand why they do have to pay for these park areas.

On Sunday, I cleaned up the equestrian group use area after our last group of the year. There is an informal group using the area, including the arena, next weekend but they didn't make a reservation. They just called to make sure there were no groups scheduled when they were planning to come out, because they would plan around those groups.

As I was cleaning campground restrooms yesterday, a magpie was watching me and chirping at me as I worked. I think they like to supervise!

Jack is our solar-powered office cat. He is in charge of catching mice and keeping them out of the park office. He was actually abandoned at the park around 5 years ago and is now very spoiled. He soaks up the sun, has a cat door so he can come and go as he pleases, regular cat food, a litter box, and treats. Our volunteer buys his food and I buy his treats and cat litter. I keep telling him it's a good thing all of that is cheap!

Programs and Other Excitement

Yesterday I had an animal program at Dayton State Park and I had six people! For Dayton, that's pretty good... I talked a little about the Great Basin and the Carson River Watershed, read an excerpt from Adventures of a Nature Guide by Enos Mills about woodpeckers building their nest, showed my Northern Flicker nest, and some pictures of wildlife from Dayton, Washoe Lake, and Fort Churchill. We also took a short walk down to the Carson River to look for wildlife and signs of wildlife.

The Fremont cottonwoods along the river are at the peak of their fall colors right now!

We talked about bat boxes and cottonwood galleries.

Today I had a guided hike scheduled for 10 a.m. The route I chose was to the gazebo above Deadman's Creek, and then into the hills above, in the Virginia Range. The hike is 2.6 miles long, with an elevation gain of approximately 620 feet. 

I was in the office getting ready for the hike, about to leave, when a visitor came to the office at 9:30 saying the dump station was clogged and he wanted to use it...I'm thinking Of course the dump station is clogged right now. I followed him down, unclogged it, and made it to the parking lot (meeting location) with 15 minutes to spare! Is it weird that I'm proud of myself when I get it unclogged and ready for people to use? (hahaha)

There was a person already waiting to use the dump station when I showed up and he asked me questions about the park the whole time I was trying to get it open. It was a little distracting, but today the clog wasn't that bad so it wasn't hard to answer questions while working on it. Sometimes that's not the case....the first time I had to work on it this year, my allergies were killing me, hornets were swarming around the water, and both my supervisor and a park visitor were watching me, waiting for it to be open. After 20 minutes or so I had to give up and we ended up calling our maintenance specialist on his day off to come work on it. The visitor had to go somewhere else for her RV. 

Our maintenance specialist, Dave, told me I probably did not have enough upper body strength to use the hand snake to unclog the dump station...and that's all it took! I was determined to not have to call him on his day off (or anyone else) to do it for me. It worked...the next few times it was clogged, I was able to get it back open! I even had our volunteer tell me it's not my job and that I should call him, but it really is my job--especially when I work alone on Sundays and that's the busiest day for it. People are heading home from camping and come into the park to use the dump station before they make the drive. I figure it uses less gas because their vehicle is lighter afterwards!

This time of year it clogs more than normal because there is a cottonwood tree in the island beside it. The leaves get washed down and build up. We think...know...there is something blocking the pipe between the main hole and the leach field. There is at least one power snake "head" down there and maybe a cap or something from the RV hoses. We have baskets installed now to prevent more from going down there--the dump station at Dayton State Park had to be dug up and cleared out because someone put a plastic "red cup" down there full of rocks, which succeeded in blocking and clogging the whole thing! The plan is to dig ours up this spring and see why it has been clogging so much and fix the problem. I'm definitely in favor of that plan!!

The guided hike went well. There were three people willing to do a "strenuous" hike in November. The weather has been perfect lately. Today I think we had a high of 60 or so. (Yesterday my husband and I drove to Reno after work and there was a convertible with the top down--it was 75 degrees!) My supervisor and I debated whether to call the hike "moderate" or "strenuous" because it's not really a strenuous hike, but I know that people have very different definitions of strenuous. I had a guided hike to the gazebo this spring, a wildflower walk, and had people who were unable to finish the hike (turned around early), and some who did do the whole thing complained that they thought it was going to be an easy walk instead of a hard hike. I decided that the more description I could give, the better, so I used my Strava app on my phone to measure the distance and elevation gain this time, so I could be exact in the hike description. I think it worked this time. I only worried about one person, a man who showed up with a large energy drink can instead of water, but he didn't seem to have any problems on the hike at all.

We saw a lot of deer from a distance, and this guy showed up as we were heading back to the parking lot. It's a Jerusalem cricket but I have also heard them called "potato bugs." I got to point out a couple of long-eared owl nests along the way. The visitors were interested in seeing the wild horses, but they didn't show up today.

Carson River Snapshot Day

This morning I went to Dayton to help with the Carson River Snapshot Day. The Carson River is a terminal watershed, meaning that its water will never reach the ocean. It starts in Alpine County, California, and ends east of Fallon, NV in the Carson Sink. Each year, volunteers meet on one day, from 9 a.m. to noon, and sample the water. We take several samples that get sent to the state lab for testing. This happens throughout the watershed, beginning to end. We also write out observations, like water color, odor, drainages, inputs, pollution sources, and more. I think this is the fourth year I have been involved and this year I got to work with a representative from the Dayton Valley Conservation District. We had nine high school chemistry students plus their teacher.

Sometimes the river is low enough to walk out to the middle for the sample. This year there is a lot more water so we needed a pole dipper and waders.

The sample comes from the middle of the river, collected upstream from the volunteers so its not polluted with sediment or material washing off waders, etc.

Estimating the width of the stream.

Another shot of measuring the width of the stream. I loved being there surrounded by the fall colors!

Group of volunteers with the site locator--MCR-DAYT (Middle Carson River, Dayton Bridge)

Rob from the Dayton Valley Conservation District talking about water quality and why it's important.

Nevada Day Parade Part 2

Here are the pictures from the Nevada Day Parade:

This is what I was so excited to see. The truck with the ranger hat, eyes, and mouth. This is what everyone saw as the float came their way, and this is what people stopped on the street to pose in front of! We ended up tying for 2nd place.

The outhouse had to be my favorite thing on the float (except maybe my husband). A veteran stopped me on the street and explained that outhouses for women were marked with a moon. These outhouses had hooks on each side for women to hang their skirts and petticoats out of the way!

This is the timeline featuring each state park. I don't have a better close-up picture but I can find one later of the stamp designs.

All dressed up and official for the parade! I've never worn my official "flat" hat, but I have worn the tie before, when the governor and his crew came to the park to talk about the drought (what's a better location for that discussion than a dry lakebed?).

Nevada Day Parade

October 31 is Nevada Day and every other year or so we have a float in the parade. This year the theme was Nevada--Then and Now. I missed a lot of float building and meetings because days off and other activities but I still got to be in the parade! The float turned out pretty awesome. Our mechanic, Kevin, built a giant ranger hat to top the truck, and a mouth like Mater from Cars to go on the front. It even had eyes!

People walking by had to stop and pose with the truck. I think it looked great!

The siding is a timeline of when each state park was designated as a state park. Thanks to our passport program, each park has its own individual stamp, so the stamp designs were used to represent each park along with its date.

Also on the float were camping scenes. This is the "then" side with an old canvas tent, wooden canoe, and Dutch oven over a campfire.

When I upload my pictures, I will add one of me all dressed up for the parade, complete with ranger hat (matching the truck's hat), and a tie!

My job this year was to walk alongside the float and hand out candy, free day passes, and dog-tag necklaces with the Nevada State Parks logo. I was trying to hand the items to the kids and adults when it would have been faster and much easier to throw them at their feet or "sprinkle" them over their heads like my co-workers were doing! Two years ago I was on the float, standing and waving, and it felt like the parade took forever. This year because I was walking and focused on the people, it went by a lot faster! I was sore from the speed walking the next day but during the parade, I really didn't notice how much or how fast I was really walking!

My husband even made it in the parade, on the float as a fisherman dressed in old-fashioned fishing gear, and keeping an eye on the three little girls sitting in the canoe!

We got great comments and reviews of the float, but I haven't heard whether we placed or not. I heard that our floats usually get 1st or 2nd place...so we'll see!