2018 Black Rock Rendezvous is This Weekend!

This coming weekend is the annual Black Rock Rendezvous, one of my favorite events of the year!  Black Rock Rendezvous is a partner event hosted by Friends of Black Rock-High Rock, Friends of Nevada Wilderness, Nevada Outdoor School and the Winnemucca BLM. 

It is a fun and informative campout that takes place in the Black Rock Desert every year over Memorial Day weekend.  It includes talks about the area, tours, stewardship projects, a Dutch Oven Cook-Off, raffle, burrito bar, star gazing, and much, much more!  

NOS runs a kids camp for youth 5 and up on Saturday and Sunday from 9am-4pm.  At Kids Camp, participants do team building, play games, hike, craft, learn about Leave No Trace and eat yummy food! 

This year, I will be giving a Leave No Trace talk on Saturday morning and teaching a LNT Awareness Workshop on Saturday, which I am looking forward to.

Rendezvous is a great way to be introduced to the Black Rock Desert if you’ve never been or experience it in a whole new way and learn more about it even if you recreate out here a lot.  

It is fun, free, family friendly event that will create lasting memories!

Typically, Rendezvous is located at the base of Cassidy Mine along the edge of the Playa off 12 mile road.  The weather for this weekend is kind of all over the place – so it might not be on the playa this year… not to worry, if it’s rainy or if the Playa is too wet to drive on, we will just relocate to the top of Cassidy Mine accessible off Solider Meadows Road. Be sure to check facebook, or you can call Friends of Black Rock-High Rock for updates 774-557-2900.

Hope to see you out there!

Let's Get This Summer Started!

If you are anything like me… planning summer activities for your kiddos can be a scheduling nightmare.  But never fear, NOS is here to save the summer with great camps and events to keep our busy bees busy while engaging in the exploration of our natural world all summer long. 

 

NOS has a summer event or camp for all kids Pre-K thru 8^th Grade.  NOS camps are quite affordable and scholarships or financial assistance can be provided for any camp or event upon request.  Registration is required for each camp. 

Nature at Noon:  For pre-K—2nd graders.  We will meet every Tuesday and Thursday from 12-1pm at Vesco Park for fun nature filled activities, crafts and FUN!     June 12 – August 9, 2018

Adventure Camp 1: For kids entering 3rd - 5th grades.  Join us for a week long day camp.  Campers will participate in hands-on activities and games that are entertaining, engaging and foster exploration of the outdoors and natural sciences.  There is also an opportunity for campers to finish the week with a one night campout in Water Canyon or Lamoille Canyon!     June 18-22, 2018 in Elko / June 25-29, 2018 in Winnemucca   

Girls Adventure Camp: For girls entering 5th-7th grades.  Zip line, hike, camp, make memories, new friendships, and much more!   Winnemucca Girls Camp, participants will travel to Tahoe. Elko participants will travel to Lamoille Canyon. We will spend the week exploring the outdoors, playing games, making crafts and building friendships in an all-girl environment.  By the end of the week, girls will have a strengthened sense of self-esteem, feel more comfortable and confident in the outdoors, and have built strong, positive relationships with other campers.     June 11-14, 2018 Winnemucca / July 17-20, 2018 Elko

Boys Adventure Camp: For boys entering 5th - 7th grades.  Join us for adventures with friends, archery, fishing, hiking, survival skills and camping!     August 6-9, 2018

Adventure Camp 2: For kids entering 6th - 8th grades.  Join us for outdoor exploration, learn outdoor survival skills, participate in a conservation project, and much more!  This experience will culminate in a two night camo out in the Santa Rosa Mountains      July 23-26

Excursions: For kids entering 6th - 8th grades.   Join us for a great adventure in Lassen Volcanic National Park and/or Lamoille Canyon in the Rubies! We’ll campout, explore, kayak, learn about glaciers, play games, and have s’mores around campfires!   

Lassen Volcanic National Park:     July 9-13, 2018                                                                

Lamoille Canyon Ruby Mountains:    July 30 – August 1, 2018

ATV Rider Camp: For 7-12 years old.  Learn to ride safe, ride smart, meet new friends, and have fun!  This camp includes the opportunity to earn an ATV safety certification! *Must have youth ATV to participate in Rider Course.    July 18-20. 2018 in Winnemucca 

There are 3 ways you can register your kids:

          1.)  Call the NOS office:  (775) 623-5656

2   2.)  Stop by NOS at 655 Anderson Street in Winnemucca, Nevada

     3.) Register Online:  Register for NOS Camps

So, with all these great summer options at your fingertips… get your kiddos registered for their summer adventure now.

Happy Summer Camp Trails ~ 

What's Happening in Elko

As I’ve mentioned before, I didn’t grow up in Nevada.  I grew up a stone’s throw away from the Missouri River in North central Montana.  I learned about watersheds as a kid in the Missouri River Watershed, arguably the largest watershed in the country.  My watershed drained water all the way from Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota to where the Missouri joins the Mississippi in St Louis.  I said arguably because some say that the Missouri was improperly named a tributary of the Mississippi River when in reality, the Upper Mississippi is the tributary and what we know today as the Missouri is actually the main stem of the river system.  Either way it is a huge watershed, which eventually drains water into the Gulf of Mexico.  Living now in Elko and having the responsibility to teach kids about the importance of protecting our Humboldt River Basin Watershed, I don’t take that responsibility lightly.  Compared with my home watershed the Humboldt River drains a much smaller acreage of land, however, all of the sediment and pollution washed downstream in our watershed all collects near Lovelock at the Humboldt Sink.   It is never washed to that mysterious place we call other, but is deposited near Lovelock where it will stay for thousands of years until some catastrophic event eventually changes the large-scale geography of Nevada.  Therefore, it is important, vital I would say that we care for our watershed.  It is the only one we have. 

 

In addition to hosting watershed field trips for the 2^nd grade students in Spring Creek and Elko, the Nevada Outdoor School, in partnership with the City of Elko and the Downtown Businesses Association, is currently engaged in a community awareness campaign urging our citizens to keep our storm drains clean.  If you were not previously aware, water that flows into our storm drains then flows directly into the Humboldt River without being cleaned.  That means that any car fluids, sediments, chemicals, and trash that is on our roads eventually is washed into our storm drains and into our river. So we must stop those things from “flowing down the drain.”   Soon you will see some new art popping up in Elko.  As a method of public awareness, a few storm drains in the downtown corridor will be painted to educate the public to our cause.  Please help us be part of the solution.  What kinds of fish could live in the Humboldt River if we took care of it?