As always, the morning started with breakfast (The sun was already out, so I'd assume the time must have been around 6). I'm not sure what we had that day, but I'm pretty positive that all of us were tired.
To get us moving, Bryan introduced a new game - called "This is a what?".
The objective is to pass an object around and say, "this is a ... (insert object name here).". So if I were to have a rock, I'd say " this is a rock". The person next to me would say "a what?" to which you reply "a rock.". Then, he/she would say "oh, a rock!". The objects are constantly passed around the circle. The goal, then, is to not get confused and have good reflexes in keeping the constant pace of the game.
Early that afternoon, we had visitors come who checked out our work. I was responsible for talking about the ranger cabin with Janelle and Matt in my team. Overall, I felt that we did a great job on it - since we deboarded the windows, painted both sides brown, and screwed the windows back together. I also made the visitors do an experiment: I gave them my cane and let them take turns using it with their eyes closed. For a start, they did a great job!
Once the visitors left, we all had fun doing a scavenger hunt, obstycle course, and "magic carpet". Magic carpet is where we all stand on a tarp and somehow we have to turn it over without anyone stepping off on the ground. It was probably the most challenging of the games - but also the one with the greatest fun.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
day 4: The condors
I'm going to rewind a little bit, before our hike and tie this post in with the hike at the same time.
On our fourth day still, Laura talked to us about the Condors. They became endangered in the 80s. Scientists tried saving the bird species by breeding them in safe environments.
The eventual result was that the Condors slowly grew, to the point where there are at least 80 in the canyon today.
After we dressed Landon up as a condor (which was a hilarious event in itself), Laura talked about the radios which each condor has. I guess after a new condor is born, a radio gets attached to their wings which allows the park service to track their location. There are receivers which can pick these signals up if a condor is near by.
Laura had one of these. It was very cool looking, consisting of a receiver and an antenna. You would wave the antenna around like a wand and push the next button to switch to the next channel. On the hike, we took turns with waving the antenna or pushing the scan button. Sadly, we did not find any Condors flying around in the area - but it was still fun!
Bryan also had his bat detector. There were many bats in the canyon, and you could here their thin "ceek" sound as they flew overhead. Since Bryan was very much into researching bats (he did a very interesting study on them in the past), he had a bat detector. Towards the end of our hike, he took it out and let us use it.
That was more of a success, since there were many bats flying by. The radio would make small clicks as their ultrasounds scanned the area.
On our fourth day still, Laura talked to us about the Condors. They became endangered in the 80s. Scientists tried saving the bird species by breeding them in safe environments.
The eventual result was that the Condors slowly grew, to the point where there are at least 80 in the canyon today.
After we dressed Landon up as a condor (which was a hilarious event in itself), Laura talked about the radios which each condor has. I guess after a new condor is born, a radio gets attached to their wings which allows the park service to track their location. There are receivers which can pick these signals up if a condor is near by.
Laura had one of these. It was very cool looking, consisting of a receiver and an antenna. You would wave the antenna around like a wand and push the next button to switch to the next channel. On the hike, we took turns with waving the antenna or pushing the scan button. Sadly, we did not find any Condors flying around in the area - but it was still fun!
Bryan also had his bat detector. There were many bats in the canyon, and you could here their thin "ceek" sound as they flew overhead. Since Bryan was very much into researching bats (he did a very interesting study on them in the past), he had a bat detector. Towards the end of our hike, he took it out and let us use it.
That was more of a success, since there were many bats flying by. The radio would make small clicks as their ultrasounds scanned the area.
day 4: The Wonderful Nighthike
I believe it was the night of our fourth day. Our group decided that we all should go on a few hour hike down a trail.
The trail itself was not bad - there weren't any obtrusive rocks in the way of our hike. We actually hiked to the point where we could see the rim of the canyon and look down into the depth.
We actually watched the sunset over the canyon. The sighted people in the group described it as very colorful, since the sun illuminated the rocks in the canyon.
What I found interesting, however, was what people call "the breath of the canyon". As the wind slowly blows, the air goes down into the canyon and creates a sort of breathing sound, making it appear as though the canyon were breathing.
We sat at the rim for a few minutes quietly journaling and enjoying our time.
Our hike back to camp was all the more interesting, however. Perhaps the first amazing event was when Kelly saw the stars for the first time in her life.
Generally, the stars in the city are covered by pollution and other lights. In the grand canyon, the air is much cleaner and thus the stars are more visible. Kelly was one of our visually impaired students. Since stars in the city are not as clear, she was able to see them for the first time in the canyon.
Our mentors also decided that we, the blind students, should lead the sighted. This also was an interesting experience. I myself never would have thought that I could lead people back to camp by myself and take the leadership of letting them know what is ahead. Since there were only 5 blind students, we got into groups and the sighted people formed a train behind a blind person. I had 3 people in my train - Robbie, Steffie, and Megan. As I ran over small rocks or trees, I let them know, "tree ahead.".
Overall, it was a great hike and it allowed all of us to open up more and show our "true side". :)
The trail itself was not bad - there weren't any obtrusive rocks in the way of our hike. We actually hiked to the point where we could see the rim of the canyon and look down into the depth.
We actually watched the sunset over the canyon. The sighted people in the group described it as very colorful, since the sun illuminated the rocks in the canyon.
What I found interesting, however, was what people call "the breath of the canyon". As the wind slowly blows, the air goes down into the canyon and creates a sort of breathing sound, making it appear as though the canyon were breathing.
We sat at the rim for a few minutes quietly journaling and enjoying our time.
Our hike back to camp was all the more interesting, however. Perhaps the first amazing event was when Kelly saw the stars for the first time in her life.
Generally, the stars in the city are covered by pollution and other lights. In the grand canyon, the air is much cleaner and thus the stars are more visible. Kelly was one of our visually impaired students. Since stars in the city are not as clear, she was able to see them for the first time in the canyon.
Our mentors also decided that we, the blind students, should lead the sighted. This also was an interesting experience. I myself never would have thought that I could lead people back to camp by myself and take the leadership of letting them know what is ahead. Since there were only 5 blind students, we got into groups and the sighted people formed a train behind a blind person. I had 3 people in my train - Robbie, Steffie, and Megan. As I ran over small rocks or trees, I let them know, "tree ahead.".
Overall, it was a great hike and it allowed all of us to open up more and show our "true side". :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
