Nate Landon's Blog

Today was a pretty easy day at work. I had a project day, so I headed down to Echo Park because I needed some pictures of the signs down there. It was my first time heading down there, so I was excited. It is a very beautiful area and I wish I had more time to explore down there. I also drove the Yampa Bench Road. It was extremely beautiful, but very rough going. I never found the sign I needed to take a picture of, so I hope someone else can help me out with that. The road started to make me sick after about an hour of ups and downs, bumps and dips, and switchbacks. Thank goodness for days off, I need to recover after that long drive.

We have a fire burning in Island Park. It should be interesting to see how it is handled from an employees point of view.

I am working on a new story called “A Brief Summer Storm.” I should be finished with revisions and have it up on my Other Writings page by the weekend. Thanks for stopping by!

I love my job. I get paid to do what I love, and today was no exception. I was able to go on my first rafting trip since 2004 and had a blast! I floated down the Green River from Rainbow Park to Split Mountain in Dinosaur National Monument. It was a fun trip, and I am writing a story about it. My rough draft is finished, and I hope to have the final finished by the end of the weekend. If I don’t have it done email me and remind me to work on it! It will be part of another book I am starting to write. My first book is coming slowly but steadily. Thanks for your patience. I should have pictures up soon from my trip!

Since I have been here in Dinosaur National Monument I have experienced winter, spring, and summer. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in that order. The weather fluctuates in interesting patterns here. It can be snowing in Vernal and be sunny here. Vernal is only about ten miles away as the crow flies, so it can get somewhat confusing as to what weather to expect.
Dinosaur N.M. is settled in between the Uinta Mountains and the Rockey Mountains, so we have interesting weather, as well as plant and animal communities. I have never been anywhere else where I could see a marmot and a prairie dog living in the same habitat.
I fear I am being stalked by a wild turkey. I heard it the first time a couple of days ago at work, and now it is getting closer and closer to my apartment. I am convinced he is using the mule deer as spies, because the other night I looked up and there was a deer staring at me through my window! If this legion of marmot-prairie dog-mule deer-wild turkey team up, it could spell trouble for us all!
Okay, enough of me being silly. Thanks for stopping by!

When I was a kid I always enjoyed participating in the Junior Ranger program at Kings Canyon National Park. It was always fun learning about nature and earning my Blue Jay patch from the park rangers. The JR program had more to do with me deciding to be a park ranger than anything else.
Today was Junior Ranger Day at Dinosaur National Monument. Twenty-two years after I first wanted to be one of those cool rangers with the neat hat, I stood before a crowd of children and taught them about the importance of the National Park Service. It may seem silly to my readers, and to my co-workers for that matter, that I feel it is an honor to wear the NPS uniform, but it holds a special meaning for me. It was only four years ago that I thought my dream would never come true, and that my life-long goal could not be accomplished. So today was my life coming full-circle. I am proud to be a park of the National Park Service, but I am honored to have been able to teach the kids about why I love the National Park Service. Maybe I lit a spark in one of them as a ranger did for me so many years ago.