Fire and Flowers

Tuesday was a big day for this intern.  It was the first day of summer programs that Yvette (the woman I'm working with) and I put together.  Every week for the remainder of the summer we will be putting on several programs for kids and adults.  For our first program we focused on fire safety and first aid.  The ranger and I led the program for the most part, with some help from Yvette.  We had 21 kids show up, from ages 3 to 10.  Quite a bit more than I expected.  But I think we handled it great!  The kids were, well...kids; loud and fun, all over the place, but I think we taught them some good information.  I think after having this program the ranger and I realized what should be done for next year's program.  This one was more about getting our feet wet and learning what it is that we should be doing during a program, and how we can gear it to the interests of the kids.  It was pretty overwhelming at times.  I'm not the most kid-friendly person, so it was definitely an experience.

But setting up for the program was great!  I moved all the tables and chairs in the visitor center to the sides, and set up kids craft tables.  I put up posters and important reminders about first aid, and I set the stage for our discussion.  Perhaps I'm better at behind the scenes stuff...

After the program finished up, we got calls from the parents telling us how much their kids liked the program, so we must've done something right.  High five Ranger Chris!

The next program was all mine.  It was my Guided Falls Trail Hike!  I was pretty nervous about the first one, as I've only done the hike once before, but I was optimistic.  I only had 3 participants, which I was just fine with.  A little bigger group, maybe 5 or 6 would be the maximum for this type of walk.  I started out by talking to the folks about where they're from and such, and we started the walk.  Along the way to Tanalian Falls we encountered a lot of native flora that I was able to talk about.  It was great; the people that came on the hike didn't know much about the area, so I was actually the expert!  It was great to have that base knowledge that I could share with others.

Just up the trail (there's quite the incline) you can see Lake Clark and the mountains.  We had a beautiful day for a hike.  Warm and sunny!

 Tanalian Falls (the namesake of the trail).  Isn't it spectacular?  This is the base of the falls, a popular fishing spot for grayling!

 In an adventurous moment, we headed to the top of the falls, where we climbed out onto the rocks.  To my left is the head of the falls, one false move and I was going swimming!  You just can't beat the sun coming down that day though.  A mist of water hitting your face, it was paradise. 

This is Tanalian Mountain.  We have another trail that heads up to its peak, but it's not for the faint of heart (or me for that matter).  It is said that even for the most fit person it is an all day trip.  Maybe I'll get up there towards the end of the internship, for now though, I'm sticking to the falls trail. 

I plan on putting up here what I talk about during the hike in the next few posts, so watch for them!  Alaskan flora is super interesting, and there are so many uses!  Maybe you'll all learn something new!