Denali National Park & Preserve – Alaska

Denali National Park & Preserve
Alaska
https://www.nps.gov/dena/index.htm
Junior Ranger – Senior Friendly

Completed: April 19, 2020

When I visited Denali National Park and Preserve in June 1998 I was not doing Junior Ranger programs, nor were they possibly available at that time. We camped at Riley Creek campground and took the tour bus into the center of the park. My husband and I drove up to Alaska, spent 5 weeks on the road, and overall the weather was wonderful. During our visit to Denali it was cold and rainy, which prevented us from seeing the full view of Denali, which is is fairly common. It is reported that only 30% of visitors see the top of the peak. The pictures posted are scanned from snapshots I took with a film camera and appear sharper than the originals do now.

A couple of years ago a friend of mine visited Denali and sent me their Junior Ranger booklet. I put it away, while cleaning up my files during #StayHome April 2020 I decided I would complete the booklet. Luckily I could complete enough of the activities, over 20 years later, to earn the badge.

The program is Senior Friendly as the upper age group is listed as Ages 12+. All ages groups need to complete 2 Park Explorations and either 5, 7 or 9 Book Activities depending on your age. My Park Explorations included; ride a bus into the park, attend a ranger program, visit the sled dog kennels and explore the Denali Visitor Center.

The book activities I completed were; Denali Natural World Bingo, Big Five, Your Five, Denali’s Dinosaurs, The Athabaskans, What Type of Ranger, Go Sled Dogs, Go!, Leave No Trace, Detecting Denali’s Changes, Poetry in the Park, Wilderness Word Search and Measuring Up.

By going back and reading my travel journal and looking at my photos I was able to confirm that I saw all 5 of the Big Five mammals while exploring the park; grizzly bear, wolf, dall sheep, caribou and moose. I enjoyed writing a poem about camping in the park. Doing the math to determine the height of the White House, Old Faithful, Statue of Liberty, a redwood tree and the Washington Monument in relation to Denali at 20,310 feet was interesting.

I mailed my completed booklet to the park and soon received the booklet back with a nice letter and their attractive wooden badge. While I always prefer to complete a Junior Ranger program during a visit to the park, I really enjoyed looking at my photos from the visit in 1998, as well as reading my travel journal and reliving the trip. Great memories and now they have been extended by completing their Junior Ranger program.

City of Rocks National Preserve – Idaho

City of Rocks National Reserve
Idaho

https://www.nps.gov/ciro/index.htm

Junior Ranger – Senior Friendly

Completed: April 14, 2020

After six visits from 1998 through October 2019 to City of Rocks National Preserve, I finally finished their Junior Ranger booklet in April 2020, while staying home during the covid-19 pandemic. While organizing my junior ranger files I found the almost completed booklet. Luckily anything I needed to do while onsite I had completed, I just needed to finalize a few pages.

This park site is in the southern section of Idaho and is managed in conjunction with Idaho State Parks and Recreation. On previous visits we have camped within the preserve at NPS campgrounds and state park campgrounds. The beauty of this park can be experienced by camping or just on a day trip. I love the rocks; the variety of shapes, composition and groupings. The Native American history, as well as the California Trail route adds to the visit.

The program is considered Senior Friendly as the booklet is designed for ages 10 & up. There are thirteen activities, and seven are to be completed to earn the Junior Ranger badge. I completed ten activities, and partially did a couple of others. There is a nice mix between geology, natural features, history, map skills and art activities.

Rocky Scavenger Hunt provided excellent background on nine different geologic properties found in the preserve and an activity to match pictures to the terms. Matching animal characteristics, as well as animal tracts were done in the Who Am I? and Name that Track activity. The Map Search page made me realize there is more for me explore on my next trip to City of Rocks Preserve.

After contacting the staff by email I was told to take photos of my completed pages and email them to a designated ranger. I received positive feedback about my work and within a week I received their attractive wooden, enhanced badge.

Kootenay National Park – British Columbia, Canada

Kootenay National Park
British Columbia, Canada

Completed: July 2017

Senior Friendly

Tucked into the Rocky Mountains, not far from the ‘rock stars’ of Jasper and Banff National Parks is Kootenay. After spending a couple days dodging the crowds of those parks I thoroughly enjoyed exploring this park. Shortly after entering from the eastside we stop at the roadside monument where the Great Divide Trail crosses the main highway through the park. This is a continuation of the Continental Divide Trail which is the US portion of a trail that connects the southern border of New Mexico to the northern border of Montana, and into Canada. It rained most of the afternoon and into the evening, limiting the opportunity to take landscape photos.

This program is considered Senior Friendly, as no age levels are given. Only five*activities are required to become an Xplorer. The activities include; check it Out, Create Your Own, Go Investigate, Join In, Figure it Out, Take A Walk, Try it Out, Take A Look, Go Play, Use Your Senses, Take it Easy, Go Meet, and Remember.

Check it Out – Your Destinations: While visiting I was able to go to Marble Canyon, Continental Divide, Vermillion Crossing, Olive Lake and the Kootenay

Try it Out – Haven off the Highway: while exploring Olive Lake I counted 14 bird sounds, which I identified as Baried Thrush.

Take A Look – Traveling Tracks: Matching six animals with their tracks.

Go Play- A Pathway to Paint: Using ochre (watercolor pencil) paint I ‘painted’ some animals seen in the park.

Use Your Senses – Natural Noise in the Park: Listing the natural and man-made sounds

Take it Easy – Natural Noises Word Scramble: From Tweet (wtete) to Growl, six animal sounds to unscramble

Remember -My Favourite Trip Tale: a short written memory about camping at Marble Canyon, experiencing an afternoon thunderstorm.

The next morning we enjoyed a delightful breakfast of fresh baked scones in the Kootenay Mountain Lodge at Vermillion Crossing before continuing west to Radium Hot Springs and the visitor center for the park. After reviewing my completed booklet the staff presented my with the dog-tag style award as a Parks Canada Xplorateurs. I guess I got the French language tag for this park.

*current web page indicates six activities

https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/bc/kootenay/activ/interp

Glacier National Park -British Columbia, Canada

Glacier National Park
British Columbia, Canada

Completed: July 2017

Senior Friendly

In the heart of the Rocky Mountains is Canada’s Glacier National Park, just as spectacular as the one a bit further to the South and across the U.S. border. The glaciers, peaks and rushing rivers were magnificent! I was fortunate to be able to camp at Mount Sir Donald campground along the Illecillewaet River. Besides giving me some extra time to work on the Xplorers booklet I was able to explore along the river.

Dwarf Fireweed

Some of my favorite photos of the trip were taken here. Dwarf fireweed (Chamaenerion latifolium) was blooming in the riverbed, a gorgeous backdrop to Mount Sir Donald. Also while wandering along the riverbed I watched an American Dipper make trips between its nest, under the highway bridge and down to the river.

American Dipper

This program is considered Senior Friendly, as no age levels are given. Only three activities are required to become an Xplorer. The activities include; Find It, Take A Look, Go Investigate; Become a Tracker and The Scoop on Poop, Join In, Figure it Out, Find It, Use Your Senses, Get Moving, Try it Out, and Find It.

Completed Activities:
Find It – Bingo! I completed one full diagonal row to include Park Staff, Cedar, Mosquito and Red Squirrel, as well as Creek or river, Steller’s Jay, and Fireweed

Take A Look – Eye Spy Through The Park; some of sights I saw as we drove through the park includes; Canada Park, Trans-Canada Highway, Steller’s Jay, An avalanche path,Glacied National Park West Entrance sign,Waterfalls, The Rogers Pass Discovery Centre, The Robers Pass Summit Monument, Loop Brook Pillar, Train tracks, A Raven, and Mount Sir Donald (from our campsite).

Go Investigate – The Scoop on Poop! Matching seven animal’s scat description with the animal. I learned that bear scat floats because of all the wood they eat.

Figure It Out – Glacier’s Animals, a crossword puzzle based on the animals found throughout the park.

Find It – Scavenged Hunt; found a rock, moss, pine cons, fern (something alive), stump and (something dead).

Find It – Mountain Maze; follows a maze route through the Selkirk Mountains.

After a night of camping at Mount Sir Donald we stopped at The Rogers Pass Discovery Centre where my book was reviewed and I was given the dog-tag style for Glacier National Park.

https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/bc/glacier/activ/~/media/46569C22CC844D3C9209C58D7CF31D81.ashx