I struggled mightily in the writing of this post. Many friends had asked for my final post from here to be a sort of tell-all about what we really thought of our NPS volunteer experience. I did want to share that, and I think that my posts along the way gave some good insight into it already. I have always tried to tell things like they are, whatever they are, and as you saw from my post about crazy park visitors, I’m willing to share those stories. That was also a difficult post to write because I wanted to relate some of the true, funny happenings without coming across as mocking or insulting to visitors. So it was with this post. I wanted to let folks know how it all really went, but this won’t be an exposé of the NPS or a laundry list of grievances. As with previous posts, and to keep your eyes from glazing over reading huge blocks of text, I will intersperse paragraphs with delightful never-before-seen pictures!
This Reddish Potato Beetle thinks the name “reddish” is an understatement.
Because this was our first volunteer experience, I cannot say if it was typical or worse/better than anyplace else. I’m not sure if that would be completely fair to do anyhow since some aspects are so unique to this particular location. I can and will only speak to our specific experience at this park. We begin at the beginning.
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| Praying Mantis agrees with that logic. |
Our go-to resource for locating volunteer positions is volunteer.gov ← that is the actual link to the listing and description for our job here. Our first requirement is that a job must provide an RV space with full hookups, and we got that. In fact, we had the choice of a space up at the residential area or a spot at the commercial RV park five miles down the road. We chose one in the park to avoid the drive each morning and to keep us away from the public in our off time, and we were happy with it for the most part. If we had not come equipped with our own house, we would not have been comfortable with the government housing options. It is older housing, and while Maintenance does their best to keep them serviceable, they are a bit smelly and dank and reminiscent of a house shared by a group of partying college freshmen. No, thank you. Who knew someone living in an RV could be a snob?
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| Mexican Spotted Owl wants to know hoo’s a snob? |
Everything else we look for in a job completely depends on a variety of
factors. Something we don’t prefer might be tolerated to get something
we really want. It’s a series of trade-offs.
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| Clark’s Spiny Lizard says he traded a single tail for a double. |
Weather We wanted to volunteer for the summer months, bridging the time from Memorial Day through Labor Day. We chose this location due to its elevation, which normally keeps it cooler than the surrounding areas. It did, indeed, stay cooler than the rest of the southwest, but since the rest of the southwest this year was routinely topping 100*, cooler meant consistent temps in the low- to mid-90s. We’d anticipated about ten degrees lower than that, so it ended up being a bit hotter than we wanted. That is why full hookups are crucial. Bad, bad things would have happened if we had not been able to run the a/c.
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| Southern Green Shield Bug says hot weather stinks! |
Location
Related to weather, of course, but also important for proximity to
civilization. As you know from prior posts, this place is remote in that
regard. We did okay with the bi-weekly grocery runs, and we were never
in danger of starving to death, but we aren’t sorry to be done with
that. The access to extra fridge and freezer space made that easier to
tolerate.
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| Have you hugged a chicken today? |
The distance to medical care or emergency services was always in the backs of our minds, as well. No sort of help can get here quickly. There is no cell phone service for miles and miles. If help needed to be summoned, someone would have to get back to a landline, and even then, help has to arrive from almost two hours away. We purposely chose a smaller, less-visited park so that we could work but not be overwhelmed and completely exhausted all the time and better able to enjoy the experience. But this park is truly wild and fraught with inherent danger. I think our emergency services backgrounds have instilled in us the knowledge that, while certain places and activities increase some risks, people are seriously injured and killed smack dab in the middle of even the most populated places. Ever heard of anyone dying in a hospital or while sitting calmly in their comfy chair? There you go.
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| Turkey Vulture would like to know how you’re feeling. |
Work Hours
We didn’t want a job that required us to work five days and 40 hours
per week for three-and-a-half months. Volunteers are in a good position
to negotiate, especially at a park like this that so heavily depends on
its volunteer staff to stay in business. In other words, they needed us
more than we needed them. This position required four days of work per
week, and we had some latitude in how we divvied that up. We each agreed
to work two days, with one of them overlapping, so we worked a total of
three actual days but covered four working days. Nice, eh? We also
filled in here and there to help out with sick leave, vacations, etc.
when asked, but we were neither obligated nor pressured to do so.
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| Stumpy Bear says only you can negotiate your work schedule. |
The Job We wanted a job that offered time outside and kept us active. We did not want to be campground hosts or be required to do heavy-duty cleaning, especially of the bathroom variety. We wanted to be the sort of workers we rely on most when we are visitors ourselves. This assignment checked all those boxes. Our favorite duties, by far, were the ones working up at the Dwellings or at the Trailhead. The job did involve some light cleaning and some time working in the park store, as well as what’s called Project Time, which was time spent working on either a self-chosen project or daily needs such as washing a work vehicle or picking up trash. Like any workplace, there were internal struggles, rules that weren’t rules for everyone, and people who did the bare minimum or less. It is a place that has to do a lot with a little and with a constantly changing crew, then you throw in the public into the mix, and some days stretched us to our limit. We tried, not always successfully, to keep our heads down, do what was expected of us, and not worry about what anyone else was doing (or not doing.) We applied the work ethic we always have to our jobs and tried not to let anyone else’s negative behavior influence our own. In doing that, we found that we got out of it what we put into it, and we were able to be proud of and humbled by our experience.
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| How Not to Park, Round II (Gray was the only one in the lot when Red showed up.) |
Recreation Unless you just found my blog and this is the first post you’ve ever read, it is no surprise that I likes me critters. There are volunteer jobs that involve working with animals in some fashion, and when we can find one that lines up with our other needs, we’re going to be all over it. Also, if you’re new here, as the name of the blog implies, we like hiking. If you want to get me to hike up a mountain, tell me there’s a fuzzy critter at the top, and I might even run up. To that end, we aren’t interested in taking a position that doesn’t provide plenty of opportunity to be communing with nature. This place also checked that box. We put 100+ miles on our boots over the summer, not including all our mile-long treks up to the Dwellings (24 for me, 15 for TBG,) and enjoyed a variety of new critters. Yes, it was too hot overall for our liking, there were some pesky bugs, and some of those new critters were a tad too fangy for our tastes, but we were in a place that allowed us to be outside every day if we wanted to be, and that’s what we were after.
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| Gopher Snake is not too fangy for us, but the packrats would like a word. |
The Ultimate Question and Answer The answer to the ultimate question is the one-word summation of our experience. That question is, “Would you volunteer again?” and that answer is, “Yes.” We already have plans in the works for a position next summer at another NPS location. Our desire to keep volunteering with the NPS hasn’t determined what I’m willing to share here. We don’t need the work, we want it. It has been, overall, a positive and rewarding experience. If any of you reading this are thinking about a volunteer gig of your own and have questions you think I can help you with, please feel free to either leave a comment/question below or send me an email (link in blog header under Making Contact.)
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| GG can’t believe it’s really the end. |
aaaaand Scene! So, my friends, our time in the Gila came to a close. Our final week was a flurry of deep cleaning, preparing Essie for drive mode again, and our last work days. We have made some lifelong friends and got our pup and kitty fixes satisfied with several rounds of pet-sitting. I have spent the season more enthralled than ever by my hummingbirds. My heart broke to leave all of them – the friends, the pets, the wee ones – behind. Other places, people, and dirt to chase await us, but we will never forget our Gila Summer.
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| Time to make tracks. |
COMMENTS
You’ve hit on so many of the things Kevin and I have talked about with regard to possibly volunteering at some point. It’s good to hear your thoughts on all of these issues and you’ve given us plenty of food for thought.
Overall, it sounds like you guys picked a great spot and had a good experience. As you and I have talked about, I don’t think we’d want to be anywhere quite so remote, but the job description itself sounds perfect. And of course, it’s frustrating to hear that some folks work harder than others, but I guess that’s to be expected. You guys had the right attitude and I’m sure it served you well.
Thanks again for this comprehensive and thoughtful article. Safe travels as you get those wheels turning again!!
Chasing Dirt We did! And I agree that we don’t want to be that remote for that long again. Probably. Ha! But civilization has its perks🙂 There are still some fireside stories to tell someday when we catch up to one another! Chasing Dirt I always cut off half my responses to you…anyhow, it started with thank you! I hope you guys find an opportunity someday that fits you.
Chasing Dirt Thank you! We had a great last day with a birthday potluck & a fun star party with the gang. We left with many good memories, for sure.
As much as we’ve enjoyed visiting Gila National Mounument I can understand how several months there would be about two months too long. Just the fact that it’s so far from Silver City for grocery shopping would make it way too challenging for me. You must be GREAT at planning meals, LOL! You certainly made the most of your time there and shared some fun adventures with us. I can’t believe summer is over!! Happy Trails!
Chasing Dirt Interpretive hosting was just the ticket, thanks for your great insights on that! We did have to “clean” the pit toilets at the trail head, but that only involved stocking toilet paper, a damp mop, and litter pickup. Fortunately, none of them ever got completely trashed!
I *am* a great meal-planner!😊 But, yes, it got to be a little much with the distance from fresh food. Must have salad greens!
Laurel Please send meal plans. I’m serious. 🙂
Chasing Dirt Oh the internet was one of those…grr things with people streaming when they shouldn’t be and no oversight to control that.
Our time at GICL could certainly be a source of good references for future jobs. Some ask for them, some don’t, but the NPS is a small world where word travels. I don’t know of a formal volunteer eval system, but there is certainly one for paid employees, which would be relevant here. All the volunteers we worked with this summer were outstanding.😉
I enjoyed the commentary and the great photography.
Chasing Dirt Thank you very much, Pete!
Thank you for showing us a day in the life of a volunteer 🙂 great post!