Learning a New Landscape..

Galena Creek Visitor Center, Mt. Rose Highway, Reno Nevada

 

 

Well, today was our first day of work at the Galena Creek Visitor Center and we survived it well. While the bulk of the information we are providing to visitors is completely new to us (history, geography, geology & general information about the area, wildlife, trails, flower and fauna, etc.), the basics of visitor services and interpretation are basically the same skills we were introduced to and grew proficient at last summer during our Big Bend National Park experience and are hugely useful here in our new role.

Today was a basic introduction day where we learn how to open and close, make sure we have all the appropriate keys, learn how to turn on all of the video screens, bird sounds, computer, etc.  We spent a good amount of time looking at the exhibits, reviewing the park calendar to familiarize ourselves with past and upcoming presentations and events and thumbing through the many reference brochures on the counter and on the walls and also organizing some of our new workspace behind the counter. I also spent a good amount of time taking sign-ups over the phone for the summer day camps and residential camps that the Great Basin Institute (the non-profit that we work for) runs here over the summer months at nearby Camp WeChMe.



Here are just a few of the displays in the Visitor Center

As you can see, we are in another heavy "birding" destination

Although we have much to learn about the area, we have learned to make use of all of the resources available to us including maps, field guides, web research, as well as absorbing as much detail as possible through questions and observation of those with greater expertise here in the visitor center.

The most common question today was about hiking conditions up on the peak of Mount Rose, a popular hiking destination in the nearby Mt. Rose Wilderness. Basically whether there was still snow (Yes!) and when we expect it to be clear (maybe when the snow plows get there???). Actually, my resources said that the snow pack is usually melted and the trail clear by mid-June so we should probably only get the question for a few more weeks!  Here is a beautiful photo I took from the Visitor Center Parking lot when I was out scouting for trash in the lot and on the adjoining trails. 



 You can see the snow still atop Mt. Rose in the distance

The visitor center is a joint effort between the U.S. Forest Service,
 Washoe County, and the Great Basin Institute

This is a beautiful area and we have taken the opportunity to do some hiking on some of the pretty hiking trails that basically leave from the back of the Ranger House that we are living in!  It's a half mile hike to the visitor center in the morning (and the evening), and we are enjoying arriving on foot, rather than having a commute.  I've taken some great photos that I will continue to post over the next few days to show you more of the area.