Advertisement
Crest Trail
The Crest ridge Trail near Sierra BlancaWhile I was home in Phoenix in November/December I thought I'd be staying there until April or so, but Seaver called me to come back to work in New Mexico. There was opportunity for advancement in this small company and I would be the most experienced instructor. The schedule would be different now…instead of 16 days on and 12 days off we were going to 8 days on and 6 days off so there would be more continuity in instructors. On top of that there were only going to be 4 instructors, and the partner you got was the one you kept. At first I was pretty skeptical about the schedule, but after doing it for almost 4 months now…I think it's better for the kids and the program.
With only 6 days off my travel would be a bit limited compared to how it was last year so I decided to find an actual place to live instead of living out of my truck. I had been getting antsy anyway, kind of burnt out of the on the go lifestyle. I needed some stability.
Seaver told me that he had given my number to some of the new
employees that would also be looking for housing. A few days later I received a call from Rachel, she told me that she and Josh were looking for a place and I agreed to live with them. Now normally I wouldn't be the kind to just live with people whom I'd never met, but while wilderness instructors are often flaky people, they're usually pretty mellow, so I wasn't too worried, plus I knew Seaver had hired people for a minimum of one year which should mitigate the flakiness.
After several phone calls and e-mails Rachel would arrive in Ruidoso first and try to get a place for the three of us. I arrived a few days later and we began the shit-storm that was our living situation. It had nothing to do with the roommates, Josh and Rachel are great, but the house we had rented was leaking from it's foundation. There was snow on the hill behind the house and as it melted it came into the house. It was a couple of weeks before we figured out what it was and it's hard to work with the property manager when we're only in town a few days
then at work for 8. However; our property manager was great and when it was clear the property owner wasn't going to do anything about it they moved us to a great 3 bedroom condo that is used as a weekly vacation rental, so we have everything included, cable, furniture, kitchen appliances , linens, everything. And we got it at the same price as the previous place…so it's been great.
I was nervous about the first group because the groups during the summer/fall of last year had been really hard and I was going to be in the field with a new instructor. Rachel had been an instructor at a girls program in Florida, but sometimes the boys here could be crude to women. However; my fears were unfounded. We had a small group of boys who weren't nearly as tough as previous students and Rachel's a great instructor.
Our first week we hiked some of the Crest Trail, which is a pretty nice trail with gorgeous views of White Sands. There was a bit of snow on the ground (it's January), which was great because we saw bear, racoon, coyote, and cougar tracks throughout our hike.
Our time off, when not dealing with housing issues was spent pretty much just relaxing. We went on a nice hike in the snow covered mountains near Ruidoso and I learned to ski. Mich, a friend that worked in Idaho and who I'd worked with in New Mexico last year taught me…it was great! I still like snowboarding more, but skiings fun too.
Since we work every other week Rachel and I would be working the 1st, 3rd, and 5th weeks of each group. The first two weeks are hiking, the second two rafting/canoeing, and the last two climbing and sometimes caving. On our second week, (the groups 3rd) we headed down to Big Bend state park in Texas to canoe in Santa Elena Canyon.
Getting to the US/mexico border was an adventure in itself when the clutch on my truck died just outside of Fort Stockton Texas about 9pm. I was driving my truck because we would need to drive ourselves back home after transfers the next week. Luckily my grandma had been in Fort Stockton staying with her boyfriend who happened to live there. Thankfully they agreed to take handle the repairs while I was in
the field. I don't know what we would have done if my grandma and Jessie hadn't been there. Thanks grandma!
It was the middle of February and we were in 80 degree weather…it was amazing. The water was still pretty chilly, but it was worth it. It was my first time in a canoe and we were headed for some whitewater. I learned several lessons that week. One…if your boat brodsides anything..a rock or a cliff wall you should lean into it, not away from it. That's not a very natural thing to do….if you're leaning in to the obstacle your mind tells you you're going to slam into it…so I of course leaned away from it, but what happens then is the side you lean to on your boat dips into the water and your boat proceeds to sink. Then..you get out as quickly as you can and pull the canoe to the shore. It was a cold wet lesson to learn…but I've got it now. The student I was in the canoe with was pretty capable, so we were able to get to shore without too much trouble.
I think I say this a lot, but
Side Canyon
This is a side canyon off of Santa Elena Canyon, I believe it was Fern Canyon Santa Elena Canyon is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Sheer cliffs on either side of you. We saw ruins on the Mexican side of the river. Side hikes led us up gorgeous rock slot canyons to see beautiful springs sprouting from the rock itself. There were several times when I had those moments of…"Im getting paid for this". The students were a little more difficult, because the first week is the "honey moon" week and by the 3rd they're usually into the storming phase, which this group definitely was. We had students stealing from each other and a lot of defiance, but we made it through.
During my next time off I went to Texas again to explore Hueco Tanks. Hueco Tanks park is a state park that has some spectacular wildlife as well as some of the best bouldering in the world. Bouldering is when you climb without ropes. You usually have someone spot you from below and have "crash" pads, which are foam pads to cushion a fall. Usually climbs are up to about 12 feet high, any higher and you risk damage to your knees and ankles from a fall. People from
all over the world go there to climb on the rocks and the place has been a holy land to many tribes of the southwest.
My next week at work we went rafting in Pillar, New Mexico on the Rio Grande. Seaver and I scouted the stretch of river we'd be taking the kids on the weekend before we took the kids there. It was mid-March and definitely cold. The air temperature wasn't bad…mid 50's, but the water was mostly snow run off from the Sangre De Christo mountains. When we got wet with 42 degree water we got cold quickly. Luckily we were only rafting a 10 mile portion of the river so after a few hours it was over, plus we could paddle to warm us up.
After rafting we headed back to the Capitan Gap, where Smoky the Bear was found and Billy the Kid hid out. We did some climbing on about an 80 face of rock. I had to climb to the top before the kids. When they would climb up I would transfer them onto a safety line. We would then walk along an exposed piece of rock to the rappel site,
Hueco Tanks
Bouldering in Hueco Tanks near El Paso Texas where I would hook them up with the rappel and they would rappel down another route to the rest of the group. The scary part was when I we were done climbing and rappelling I had to take down all the protective equipment and climb down without the aid of equipment not to mention the pack I had with all the ropes and protection. Of course I climbed down an easier way than we climbed up, but it was still a bit precarious at times.
My next week off in March I went home for a few days. It flew by. Going to see friends and family took up a lot of time and before I had time to relax it felt like I had to head back to work!
The next group consisted of a student that came in late to the last group and two new students. This group was pretty easy. We hiked quite a bit in the Capitan Mountains. Hiking 18 miles in 4 days, which isn't that much, but a good bit of that was hiking in a burned out forest with very little trail to follow. One of the kids fell and
broke his wrist while gathering wood in camp, so he had to be taken to a hospital. Luckily we were camping next to a dirt road at the time and not in the middle of nowhere. It was a pretty hard week, but it pushed the kids and gave them a sense of accomplishment.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.138s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 13; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0433s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Reenie Villa
non-member comment
How Exciting!!
Robert how exciting all this sounds. It is so good to hear from you and to truly know that you are happy and enjoying life. We miss you and hope next time you come in town that we can see you for even just a moment. I Love you, take care. Tia Reenie : )