Travel, Tech, Thoughts…

The project we were supposed to do on Monday that was scrubbed because of the rain was moved to Thursday.  Near the Nature Center in the park are several vegetation “islands” (surrounded by concrete curbs) that the rangers wanted to reclaim from the invasive plant species that had taken them over and replant with native…

I was very impressed with our volunteer coordinator, Jessica, for choosing this volunteer opportunity.  While Zion National Park gets lots of people offering to volunteer every year (Jessica said about 450), smaller parks and monuments don’t get as many offers from people wanting to volunteer.  Since there are other National Parks around the Zion area,…

The first few nights in Zion were very, very cold.  With the rain falling, the temperatures dropped to the low 40s.  A few students were cold at night, but once it was explained to them that the easiest solution was to layer on clothes, most slept okay.  Even so, getting up in the morning before…

Monday was our first day of volunteering.  The day dawned wet and cold, which scuttled the original plan (though we ended up doing it a few days later) and instead headed to the east side of the park to pick up trash at various turnouts.  We spent the morning picking up trash, wrapping up around…

I just returned from a week of volunteering (and hiking) in Zion National Park.  The trip was arranged through the University of Tampa’s PEACE office.  Eleven students, one staff member, and myself made up our group (13 total).  Here’s a rundown of what we did. Our first day began before “bright and early” – we…