NPS Senior Project Internship. NPS Senior Project Internship - Lake Mead National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service) Joel Kavaras, a senior from Independence High School in Cleveland, Ohio, is spending the last two weeks of his high school career job shadowing park rangers at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. I spent the majority of the four-hour program at the water safety table, but I stopped by the law enforcement and quagga stations, as well, to get a feel for how the different departments of the park interact with the public. I also went on a quick tour of the Arizona side of Lake Mohave in the area just north of Katherine Landing, where I saw some of the more popular beaches in the park. The coves of Lake Mohave are beautiful, and the water gets warm enough for swimming in the summer months. The surrounding scenery is beautiful, too, and rich in cultural history. Views of Spirit Mountain and the rock formation known as 'Sleeping Princess' add to the tranquility of the desert scenery and the calm waters of these coves. This part of the park feels totally different from the Lake Mead area to the north;it's calmer, more remote and sees higher temperatures (around 10◦ F warmer than at Lake Mead). Its relative seclusion from cities and populated areas is more appealing to me than the crowded Boulder Beach area of Lake Mead, and if I lived in the Vegas area, this would be a great day trip to get away from the city. It's far from Vegas but not so far that you'd have to take an entire weekend to visit.