by Dana Reid, ’17

We’d just set up our second campsite for the week at the bottom of Colorado’s Black Canyon, along the roaring banks of the Gunnison River. The thousand-foot-tall, sheer cliffs of the canyon towered above us and descended almost to the very banks of the river, allowing for only a narrow strip of vegetation on either side of the rushing waters. Together with Hannah, a program participant from Texas, I followed the rocky trail that meandered away from camp along the riverbanks just to see where it led. Neither of us expected to find what waited around a bend in the river. Not thirty feet above us on the steep, wooded incline that ran between the cliffs and the river was a small black bear. We both immediately froze, then quickly grabbed our cameras and snapped a few pictures. The bear paid us no mind as she went about her business eating acorns off the scrubby Gambel oak trees. It was my first time seeing a bear in the wild, and even though we were only able to watch her amble through the brush for a few minutes, I considered the moment a truly magical experience. My first bear encounter was just one of many unexpected discoveries I made at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

I go camping relatively often, and my parents have been dragging me to our local national parks for most of my life, so I really thought I knew what I was getting into on this weeklong program to Colorado. I had very clear expectations for what my Partners in the Park experience would entail: I’d see some stunning scenery, learn a thing or two about our National Park system, and most importantly just get away from the city. I looked forward to getting out into the wilderness and leaving all the bustle, deadlines, and worries of my urban life behind.

Looking back, I was a bit too focused on this simple goal of escape to really consider what else this trip could offer me. Certainly a pouring thunderstorm, jumping into an ice-cold river, watching a meteor shower from the top of a van, plus a dozen informative and engaging talks with Rangers, haikus, and a fireside presentation from a cowboy poet were not in the original plan for my week in Colorado—but I’m very glad they were.

As an Environmental Science major, I expected the highlights of my Partners in the Parks experience to focus around the natural world. At the start of my trip, I was especially excited to learn about Black Canyon’s flora and fauna, get in a bit of amateur bird watching, and immerse myself in nature. However, I quite unexpectedly discovered that the most engaging parts of the program often had nothing to do with nature at all. While seeing my first bear was certainly a highlight of the trip, on the first day of the program what I found myself enjoying the most was talking about archaeology and history with a grad student from Western State Colorado—our program’s host school. It was an incredibly interesting presentation and I listened attentively as we examined some of the dig sites on top of W Mountain just outside of town, where they’d found artifacts of the Folsom people who had once lived in the region thousands of years ago. Our second day was spent mainly talking with Black Canyon Park Rangers as well as the Park’s superintendent; lectures that I thought would be dry but ended up being extremely fascinating. One of my favorite talks involved a tour of the archives at Cimarron, learning about the history of Black Canyon, and viewing some of the artifacts preserved there from the early days of the Park. Not being a huge history fan, I was surprised by how engaging the Rangers’ presentations were. The week continued in a blur of activities and surprises: spotting our infamous black bear, touring a dam, spying galaxies through the telescopes of amateur astronomers, and being treated to a thunderstorm with pouring rain and flashes of forked lightning that lit up miles of the canyon at a time. Our next to last day included Ranger talks about water management history and invasive species, and we ended the week with a hike and three separate sessions of nature writing. Reflecting on our group’s experiences, I unexpectedly found that what I enjoyed the most had not been the nature-related activities, but our talks with Rangers about history, geology, and park management.

Talking with the Rangers of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park was a fantastic experience, and I greatly enjoyed learning about their passions, goals, and the strength of their belief in the good that National Parks bring the world. Never in my life have I met a group of people more committed to their job and more unified in mission than the Rangers of Black Canyon. Their enthusiasm for what they do, their never-ending energy to talk to us about the parks they love, and their excitement to be working in such a beautiful place was absolutely awe-inspiring. It didn’t take long for me to decide that working at a National Park alongside people like this was something I wanted for my own future. I decided that the most influential part of my trip was not the nature within the park, but the people who protected it.

While seeing my first bear—as well as my first antelope, golden eagle, and sage grouse—is certainly something I’ll never forget, the people I encountered on this trip are really what made my week special. I ended up meeting some amazing Park Rangers, befriending some wonderful students from across the country, learning far more about National Parks and the Black Canyon than I’d ever imagined, and discovering a career path I’d like to one day follow. I’m incredibly thankful for all the unforgettable experiences this program has offered me, unexpected though many of them were.