| This summer was completely different from last summer. I had no set of plans in concrete until the second week of May. This is not a good time to be trying to scrape plans together. I randomly heard that my skills as a back country guide might be used again (for those not in the know, CFR hired me as a guide in 2001). So, instead of a boring summer of un-needed college courses, I instead went to the Pecos and dodged Forest Fires and hauled around copious amounts of duct-tape for Camp Frank Rand. Of course, this was not by my pure will alone, but by the will of those i was guiding, who often did not pay attention to the paperwork they were sent, or the advice I gave them before they left. I suppose, in this case, there is a bright side in that 99% of what might have broken could have been easily repaired, if by simple volume alone, with duct tape. Over the summer I took about 6 treks and logged a about 300 miles of trail. This is somewhat less than my first summer, but i had a much better time overall. |
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 | Through some strange contortions of sta(ff/ph) management, came to be the all-but-in-name High Adventure director. This basically means that you are a normal backcountry guide with a lot of extra PR work (go to meetings) and paper work (permits permits permits)(did I mention permits) to deal with. I had the honor of working with some very fine people, among them Aimee D. and Chris M., who were constantly around to help managed the various....ahhh.... fires that arose. I also worked with several other guides, most of whom only went on a trek or too, and I am certainly grateful for their efforts, however these guys take the cake in the stick-to-it-iveness department. |
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| This particular summer was marked by a severe forest-fire in the wester pecos. Several lightning strikes started cover fires that slowly progressed westward towards camp, starting about the middle of week 2. Ultimately, camp was besieged by smoke, and nearly by flames. As a result, camp was evacuated for the last week of camp. The residents took refuge at "Camp Frank Rand West" (otherwise known as the Pojoque High School gym). I spent part of that week in the Pecos, and part at CFR-West; I had a crew who wanted to leave with their early-departing troop.... as a result, we marched out on wednesday, instead of friday. I spent the rest of the week running the trading post and running miscellaneous errands for camp. Perhaps the most entertaining of which was racing back to camp with Jason D. in the Olds to help them clean out staff camp to keep the personal property safe from the oncoming fire. It was on that particular trip that I figured out that the existence of a ditch to put the wheels of an poorly handling vehicle makes it take curves like a sports car. I should also note that cleaning peoples private things out of their tents is pretty depressing. You learn more about people than you ever wanted. |
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 | My job as a backcountry guide was pretty simple, really. Instruct people on leave no trace ethics, make sure they follow through, and keep them healthy. This means that you are teacher, guide, and medic for any random situation that pops up. No pressure, right? Well, yes and no... my first summer i was fraught with worry about every small event, and last summer, well, i was concerned, but never enough to loose any sleep. Sometimes, I think, I slept a tad too much. We once had a curious invasion into our campsite (moo?). |
