Simplistic Thoughts

A Letter to Home

Posted by simplisticthoughts , Monday, May 3, 2010 6:21 PM

Well...here I am...in grand ol' Alaska!! It's been pretty up and go the entire time I've been here. Arrived in Anchorage on Friday, where I took a cab to another guide's house, where I got to meet three of my co workers. We had to wait for the rest of the crew to meet us so we could all head out to the Chugach region where we have our Wilderness Rescue and Swift Water training. Anchorage, honestly wasn't too impressive, although I didn't really get the chance to explore. It wasn't until our decent to the southern regions where the scenery overtook me! Huge, encapsulating mountains with razor sharp tops surrounding you on every side. Still capped with snow and looking prime in the sunlight for some board slashing. Cornices left and right, with steep landings...looked amazing, but in all actuality, I would probably kill myself trying to ride terrain like that!!

The crew all seems great so far, I think we are going to get along very well. It's great how a job like this literally gathers people from all over the country. Most of my coworkers are all from the eastern to southern coast, so I may come home with a bit of an accent. There are some characters on the crew, so the entertainment shouldn't be in short supply. About a dozen of us have all been sharing limited space in a cook shack for the past few days and will be here the rest of the week. Needless to say, it's been a symphony of snoring at night. Once we get to camp up in Healy we'll get our own rooms and living space, so it will be nice to have some away time and privacy. Don't get me wrong, the bonding time has been memorable to say the least.

Wilderness Rescue courses have been really interesting and informative, it's amazing what the human body does or can endure! We are truly intricate beings..."hand knitted in our mother's wombs...fearfully and wonderfully made." It is great learning about how to assess situations that may come up medically, instead of being a bystander waiting for help to come. Not that I will be an expert by the time this course is over, but I have more awareness of what to do and how to treat accidents. This weekend we have swift water rescue, I am nervous about the water. We will be wearing dry suits but it's a still going to be really cold!! Hopefully the sun will hold up like it has been the last couple of days.

Yesterday we went to Mile Thirteen and walked along a beach. The tide was really low so we could walk far out on the sand. The mountains followed along the water and straight walls of shale rock cliffs sat along the beach with cave nooks scattered throughout. We built a small campfire where one of my coworkers ate a half eaten hotdog that he found on the ground...all for a beer. Think what you want on that one... All in all, it's been a great trip thus far, it certainly feels like I have been here longer than just 4 days. On another positive note, I hear I'll be making some great money this summer and get as much work as I personally want.

A little something that struck me during class was during the introduction, the instructor was talking about decision making and he said "people don't like to make decisions. When people make decisions, it opens them up to error and criticism." Ponder that and take an introspective look in your own life, asking yourself what decisions haven't you made for the better because of fear of opinion...just a thought! And remember, behind every success there have been many failures, so don't let failures or people discourage you...run the race!

Until my next installment I bid you all farewell...

Posted in alaska, chugach, Denali