Training Days for Death Valley

 

October 9, 2024

Today begins our first of two days of training.  We're getting fire hosed with lots of information and issued our radios, uniforms and given a large tote-full of a variety of things we will use doing our camp host job.  It's plenty hot, above 100, but not the temperature seen in my headliner photo.  However the two rangers facing the camera are our trainers.

Training is taking place in a conference room located in the Furnace Creek Visitor Center.  The air conditioning is working great and there is a pretty good spread of snacks and drinks.  Even homemade bagels by one of the rangers.

Furnace Creek is a large oasis in an even larger desert.  Death Valley encompasses a good part of the Mohave Desert as well as mountain ranges on either side of the valley.  All-in-all Death Valley National Park is the size of Connecticut.  While being famous for being up to 200 feet below sea level it also spans vertically up to more than 7,000 feet above sea level.  It's possible to go from a bright summer-like day on the valley floor to blizzard conditions up one of the mountain trails between breakfast and lunch.
Death Valley's Furnace Creek Visitor Center.
There is also a community/conference/training room inside.
Death Valley may be the hottest place on earth but it has a surprising amount of water.  Although the vast majority is subterranean.  A perfect environment for palm trees and tamarisk trees, both invasive species.
The Ranch and Desert Inn, private properties embedded in the national park and operated by a concessionaire, are heavily vegetated.  Lots of palm trees, shrubbery and grass.  There is even a date grove at The Ranch.
Desert Inn at Furnace Creek
The campground we are going to host is adjacent to the Visitor Center and the Visitor Center is adjacent to The Ranch.  The ground that each of these facilities sits on is pretty large so we are not as close quarters as it may sound.
Furnace Creek complex.
Furnace Creek Campground (yellow stick pin).  150 campsites.
Visitor Center and Headquarters to the right of campground.
The Ranch and golf course (large green area)
October 10, 2024

Day two of training is another data dump and the finer points of our job procedures with a field trip to get familiarized with the facilities.  An important place to be familiar with is Cow Creek.  How it ever got that name I can't imagine.  No cow would last a day in this environment.  But that's what it is called and we were told to just go with it.  Anyway, it is where Law Enforcement has their offices, the fire trucks and ambulance are housed there, as well as the fuel station for government vehicles.  There is a top shelf vehicle wash bay that we volunteers have been given access to (whoo-whoo) and this is where all the delivery trucks (for the park service) drop and pick up their packages.  Both business and personal.  Anything we have delivered by any method other than U.S. Mail will come to this facility.  With all the packages that we get and send we'll probably be wearing a track between our campsite and here.  Our U.S. Mail will come to a PO Box at the post office at The Ranch.
Cow Creek
Bottom left are fire and law enforcement, fuel, vehicle wash and packages.
Upper right is employee housing.
Oh, and did I mention that we have access to the park employee swimming pool?

Well, that's it for a couple of days in the life of a full-timer doing seasonal volunteering.  Can't wait to get settled in and start exploring this expansive playground.

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