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DEH CHO - Slightly lower visitor numbers marked this year's season at the Nahanni National Park Reserve.

According to the most recent statistics from the park's staff, 761 people including overnight and day use visitors entered the park this year.

Vanessa Gerlock, a senior student interpreter at the Nahanni National Park Reserve stands at the Virginia Falls kiosk where she starts the guided hikes for visitors. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

The number is down from 970 last year and the average of 982 since 1985.

The decline, which is primarily in the overnight users, can be explained by the lack of big groups, said park superintendent Chuck Blyth.

Last year a trip organized by the Canadian Forces as well as some trips by school groups added to the numbers which reached 734 compared to 544 this year, Blyth said.

One of the surprises of the summer was that the day use visitor numbers remained steady.

Blyth said he was expecting the poor condition and the closures of Highway 7 to affect the numbers.

"I thought that would just kill our day use," he said.

Instead the park took in 217 day users, just 19 short of last year's 236. Better highway conditions could have resulted in higher numbers, said Blyth.

The bulk of the visitors come to the park between mid-June and mid-September although some arrive slightly before and after those dates.

Staff will be finished in the park by mid-September and the last of the groups will be out by the end of the month, he said.

Despite the lower numbers, the season went without a hitch and there were no emergencies in the park.

"It was a pretty uneventful season," Blyth said.

During the summer, staff completed the second year of a water quality and aquatic life study. So far no unusual results have been found, he said.

The staff also started a five-year ecological monitoring study. Information gathered this year along with other research will be used to write a state of the park report this year.

Blyth said the report will inform people about the state of the ecology in the park and will be followed by a new management plan in 2009.

The plan, which will be written in partnership with Dehcho First Nations, will identify any issues found in the park, he said.

A total of 14 staff worked either in the park or at the park's office in Fort Simpson this season.

One of the staff members was Vanessa Gerlock who worked as a senior student interpreter.

Gerlock spent most of her time at Virginia Falls greeting and orienting visitors, leading guided hikes and running the campfire program.

"It's a lot of fun. You get to do a lot of stuff out here," said Gerlock, who is from Fort Simpson.

During the guided hikes, which can last from half an hour to two hours, Gerlock takes visitors from the kiosk to the lookout at the top of the falls.

Stops are made along the way to talk about the natural and cultural history of the area.

Visitors ask a lot of questions about the boardwalk, Virginia Falls and the local plants, she said. Many people are also interested about her job.

Visitors also enjoy the campfire program that's run every night, she said. As part of the program, staff share traditional knowledge and stories from the area.

After five seasons in the park, Gerlock said she still enjoys her work. Meeting the visitors and just being in the mountains at the park are some of the highlights, she said.

"I just really like being out here with nothing else, no TV, no Internet, no phone," said Gerlock.