Week 8 Interpretation Part 2

Week 2 of Interpretation was much different than the first.  It felt like two different positions, within one. I found this to be such a cool thing because everything I did in interpretation this week was nothing like the last. I started the week with an early morning hike led by Ranger Rebecca. It was fun hiking with her because her personality is very entertaining. The hiking program she led was called "off the beaten path." This hike wasn't like the others I have been on at CUVA. This hike was led off the towpath, off social trails, into the woods toward a Waterfall. The hike was fun. I learned that visitors are allowed to hike into the woods off trails and paths; however, the National Park Service wants everyone to stay safe and reminds visitors of this during their time in the park.

During this week, I met Ranger Mike. Mike showed me the art of roving. We went and set up a bald eagle information table near a cool spot within the park where bald eagles nest. It was interesting to learn all this information about bald eagles from Mike and moments later informing the visitors.

Afterward, I worked with Park Ranger Josh who works closely with the volunteer programs within the park. He let me shadow two of his programs.  We took nets and containers and scrapped the grounds of a pond to see what types of water species we could find. We found salamanders, tadpoles, frogs, and snails. This activity was fun, yet muddy. The next program, he took a volunteer group and to redlock, a highly visited area at CUVA. We all stopped Japanese knotweed, which is a invasive species. We did this to help decrease invasive plants and species and increase native plants.

The rest of my time in Interpretation was spent at the Visitor Centers. These places to me are another attraction because they are filled with historical objects and gift shops. In addition, these building are the same ones people worked out of and lived in back when the canal and the towpath were the highways of traveling!! The Visitor Centers are where I meet and assist the most visitors. I have had the opportunity to meet people all over the world here at Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  What a great time it's been!