RMVP

Chartreuse leaves have popped out on the sunny sides of the canyons!

“Resource Management & Visitor Protection” is such a mouthful that we’re often called just “RMVP.” Anything to do with keeping the park safe from the people, or the people safe in the park, falls within our department’s jurisdiction. This is different from “Interpretation,” the department for which I worked the past two seasons, whose job is to assist visitors to make intellectual and emotional connections with the resource. That job used skills that come very naturally to me. As I begin this new one, I am learning a lot of new skills all at once. It’s a wonderful feeling of being stretched.

The other day we monitored some riparian (“along a waterway”) trails and then hiked farther into the backcountry to look at historic nest sites of Golden Eagles, Great Horned Owls, and Red-Tailed Hawks. Of course, this is done while shouldering binoculars, camera, GPS, map, spotting scope, tripod, lunch, water, more water, bird book, sunscreen, field note folders, extra clothing layers, first aid kit, radio, and spare battery — at a minimum. I honestly feel as if I need a sherpa, but it is part of the Lean Mean Hiking Machine training regimen.

I’m typing this from the comfort of my bed at 6 a.m. the following day, knowing that I should be springing into action but finding that today my body doesn’t spring as readily as I had hoped. That will come… that will come.