Since the middle of June, Sean has been working with a
company called Adventure Treks as a guide and leader for groups of teenagers
participating in three week sessions called the “Colorado Explorer” trip. Each
trip includes camping, backpacking, two peak ascents, whitewater rafting and
mountain biking. I’ve been able to talk to him twice so far – once between each
trip - and the next time I’ll be able to contact him will be when his job is
done for the summer. Making sure that both of us could have access to decent
internet while having a free moment and maneuvering around time zones in order
to have a simple conversation was a big challenge, but we managed about 15
minutes each attempt which I was very grateful for.
Sean reports that he’s having an incredible summer and
loving spending time outside and being able to take part in and teach about a
lot of fun activities. He says that the middle school aged students have been
fantastic and not only very eager to learn everything but also full of energy
and enthusiasm. He also shared that it’s the most tiring position that he’s
ever had in his life as the guides go nonstop from 5am to midnight every day
with only 1-2 days off between sessions. Interestingly, it wasn’t so much of
Sean’s experience in backpacking or education that got him this job (or the job
last summer for that matter) but rather his past knowledge of food service that
gave him an edge. It turns out that food preparation and meal planning for
large groups of people is a difficult but necessary skill, especially when food
isn’t easily available such as while hiking in the mountains. Sean says that in
addition to guiding, his main duties have been meal planning, purchasing,
packaging and preparation.
He said he’s been very happy and impressed with the
organization and attitude of the company and hopes to work for them next year.
The other guides are easygoing and a lot of fun as evidenced by the costumes
and crazy outfits they all wear on the trail. Sean says that the group’s
favorite thing to do on their precious days off is to visit the especially
creative thrift stores in Boulder. He
finishes working for Adventure Treks in mid-August, then spends some time with
friends in CO and finally returns to Michigan to hang out for a couple of weeks
before flying to Tokyo the second week
of September. I absolutely cannot wait
to see him again and share stories from our respective summers.
Wow! Looks awesome! So glad to hear his summer is going so well. I always enjoyed the middle schoolers best at Cran-Hill too.
Might be a kind of stupid question but: is that really snow in the first pic? where do you have snow in August in US? =)
Hey Libby! That's not a stupid question - people used to ask me that all the time when I worked in CO. It's actually real snow and on the highest peaks in the US you can find it year round. Tourists from other countries used to ask me if the U.S. manually hauled snow up there just to create scenic pictures.