Happy 4th of July!

It’s been a crazy and long week filled with GPS training, river rescues, and 4th of July fun! The week started out with a trip to the Delaware Water Gap to learn about GPS units and mapping the park. My housemate Becky and I will be working on a project that involves taking pictures of any man-made structures along the river corridor and recording their location with GPS units. When it’s all said and done, you should be able to go onto Google Maps and basically go on a virtual “trip down the Delaware”. We’re doing a test run this Friday so it should be exciting!

On Saturday I went canoe roving with my other housemate, Will. Since it was the start of the 4th of July weekend, it was extremely busy (not to mention it was a beautiful day). We contacted over 400 people, and had to rescue 3 because they capsized and ended up floating down the river. Since it poured on Sunday, the river was over 6 feet again which meant we couldn’t be on the river. Since I was scheduled to canoe rove on the 4th and couldn’t, 2 other rangers and I went down to the Barryville bridge and watched people pass by. I would look upstream with my binoculars to make sure that everyone was wearing life jackets, and if they weren’t we would inform them that it was mandatory when the water is over 6 feet.


After “spying” on people all morning, I had the opportunity to walk in the Narrowsburg, NY 4th of July parade. Three other staff members and I decorated the van with safety paraphernalia and walked along, passing out safety tip cards with lifesavers attached to them (clever!). I had a blast, and it was awesome to have the opportunity to represent the park service.


I’ve been working on my fishing program and it is pretty much completed, which is good because my first program is next week. I also have a “river reading” next week, which is basically just going to a local library, reading a book to kids, and then doing a simple craft project with them. Summer is flying by and I can’t believe I only have 1 month left here! I’m definitely going to try to enjoy it as much as possible!

Until next time,
Lara