Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Guide School Days 4-6: Swift Water Rescue Trip

On the evening of the last day of finals, we gathered at 4pm to do all of the preparation work for our 2 day / 1 night swift water rescue training trip to San Marcos.  This trip also served as a 'shake-out' trip in which we could determine what personal gear was needed for a longer trip (for example, many people forgot bowls, cups, and utensils).

We split into two groups: a food team and a gear team.  I was on the food team.  We started by deciding what type of meals to prepare.  We are lucky, since we only have two minor food concerns in our group: Hannah prefers to not eat meat and Manuel can not have milk.  Chris helped us design our meals for this trip - we opted for sandwiches for both lunches, chicken and beef tacos for dinner with rice and fruit cobbler, and breakfast tacos for breakfast.  Of course, we had to specify exactly what was needed for these meals, as well as the necessary quantities for 15 people, when making the grocery list.  Before going to the store we checked the pantry and refrigerator to determine what foods the outdoor center already had.  Next we took the Suburban to Whitaker Fields to pick up the box trailer.  While there, we learned how to hitch the trailer.  After dropping the box trailer at the outdoor center, we went to the HEB on Red River.  Once there, we split into 3 pairs to shop for all the items on our list.  Hannah and I shopped mainly for dry-goods.  We all met up at the end,  checked through the list one last time to ensure we had gotten everything, and made our way with three somewhat full carts to the checkout area.  Our bill came up to just under $400 without tax (which we don't have to pay since UT is tax-exempt).  Once we returned to the outdoor center, we sorted the food by meal, repackaged a few items, packed the non-refrigerated goods into dry boxes by meal, and refrigerated the items that needed to be kept cold.  Finally, we went to get water gear - wetsuit, helmet (which we each labelled with our name), dry bag, water jacket, and life jacket - from a little storage area under the stairs in front of Gregory Gym.  We also picked up sleeping bags, sleeping bag stuff sacks, and sleeping bag pads from the outdoor center.  By this point, the gear team was also finished, so we shortly met to debrief the session before heading our separate ways for the night.

We met at the outdoor center at 7am the next morning.  We packed the refrigerated items into a cooler, put our person gear in some combination of a small dry-bag that would stay with us and a larger dry-bag that we would share (I shared with Manuel), and loaded up in the 2 Suburbans.  We drove to the Lions Club tube rental parking lot at Texas State, where we unloaded the 7 canoes (plus the kayak for Chris) and got 'river ready'.  Being 'river ready' means having on your wetsuit, life jacket, river shoes, and helmet.  We learned a bit about canoeing stokes, on-river communication, and how to float if you fall out of the boat.  We paired up and paddled upstream to the mouth of the San Marcos River.    Chris told us these San Marcos Springs are home to a few threatened species, including the Texas Blind Salamander and Texas Wild Rice.  We then switched partners (and I moved to the back of the canoe) before paddling downstream to the San Marcos paddle park.

Paddle and safety talk (photo by Jakub).

San Marcos paddle park (photo by Manuel).

At the San Marcos paddle park, we pulled our canoes up onto the bank and prepared to gain experience swimming rapids.  We swam various combinations of the three rapids in this area, working on keeping our feet up going through the rapids and then eddying out.  Eddying out involved attempting to swim and roll out of the current and into a particular eddy.   We probably tried this 10-20 times from various starting points and into various eddies.  Throughout, Emily or Jakub stood at the end of the rapids with a throw bag in case any of us were unable to escape the rapids, but we never needed them.  I struggled more than most people to escape the rapids quickly, but always was able to eventually get into the eddy.  It's really awkward trying to swim with a life jacket and helmet on!

Approaching a rapid (photo by Jakub).

Approaching another rapid (photo by Manuel).

Huddling together to try and warm up (photo by Jakub).

After doing our last swim from the top of the first rapid, it was lunch time.  4 people were picked for lunch duty, and the rest of us were able to take off as much wet clothing as possible (getting down to bathing suits so that our clothing could dry and warm up).  Lunch was set up relatively quickly, and we had cold-cut sandwiches with chips, apples and oranges, and cookies.  After lunch a group presented on different decision-making strategies.  We then worked on throwing throw bags on land in pairs before taking our pairs out to three points in the rapids and practicing real throws to Chris, Emily, and Jakub as they repeatedly swam through the rapids.  Sean and I each threw 2-3 times from two different points - one point at the middle rapid was really difficult to time, but he managed to get that throw once.  The other rapid was easier to throw from, and I 'saved' Emily once and Sean 'saved' people twice.  After we finished, we paddled back upstream to the Suburbans.

After loading the canoes onto the trailer (which takes people climbing on the trailer, as well as people spotting/supporting), we drove to San Marcos River Retreat.  We were the only people in the large tent area, which had bathrooms and a pavilion with a fire pit.  4 new people were chosen for dinner duty, and the rest of us worked to set-up tents and start a camp fire.  Once we were done setting up, we sat around the fire talking and relaxing while the dinner crew worked on cooking the chicken and beef tacos, Spanish rice, and fruit cobbler.  Dinner took a long time to cook, but was really good once it was finished (besides the small mix-up in which cumin was sprinkled in our cobbler instead of cinnamon!).  After dinner we had two group presentations - my group's presentation on leadership ethics and a presentation on leadership styles.  My group discussed different models that can be used to when making an ethical decision, and then presented four different scenarios that could happen as guides and encouraged the group to discuss (1) what decisions could be made and (2) how to actually carry out these decisions.  One scenario was that you overhear a participant refusing to use the portable chemical toilet and another participant telling her to just go behind a rock.  The group decided that a meeting should be held with the entire group in which the group is reminded about the importance of using the chemical toilet.  The other group's presentation required 9 of us to make a human pyramid.  We had a lot of fun, but it was really hard to hold the weight!

Human pyramid! (photo by Jakub)

I ended up being alone in my 5-person tent, as the others in my tent decided to sleep under the stars and everyone else had already settled into other tents.  It was kind of nice to have the tent to myself, but I kept expecting to have company every time I woke up (due to either mosquitoes or cold).

Since I was on the breakfast crew with Ellie, Sebastian, and Sean, I had to wake up at 6am.  I quickly packed up my personal gear, sleeping bag, and pad and started helping with breakfast.  We prepared breakfast in the dark using our headlamps.  Sean cooked the eggs, Sebastian cooked the shells, and Ellie and I helped with the other aspects.  I also gathered more wood since the people sleeping outside had managed to keep the camp fire going throughout night. Breakfast was breakfast tacos, cut apples, and coffee/tea/hot chocolate.  After breakfast we used four buckets to wash the dishes - one for clean water, one with a facet to clean, 1 with soap, and 1 with water and light bleach.  We then dried and packed up all the kitchen supplies.  Then it was a quick rush for the kitchen crew to get personal gear packed up and to get dressed for the day.

We met over by the river in the camp ground.  We were split into three groups to have a rope-tying relay.  I struggled a bit on tying a bowline tightly around something.  Our team ended up getting second, I think.  Then we all spent some time working on knots on our own.  Once we all had our knots down, we learned how to put together a z-drag, which can be used to rescue a canoe from being wrapped, or stuck, on a rock or tree in the river.  We broke up by age for a two team race to pull a canoe using a mechanical advantage of three (I'm second oldest! Our group has people ranging in age from 19 to 45.).  My team had all of the guys that already work as guides, so we won the race substantially quicker than the other team.  Hence, we were instructed to attempt to rig a z-drag with mechanical advantage of five, which just required two more pulleys to be put into the system.

Next we got river-ready and went down to the river to work on wadding through rapids.  We walked in groups of 2 and 3 through some light rapids before walking in a group of 6 through a tough rapid with some areas in which your feet could get stuck if you were not careful.  We then worked on walking alone with a paddle through some light rapids.

Me right before we began the 6 person walk through the rapids (photo by Jakub).

Then it was lunch time.  4 people worked on preparing lunch while the rest of us unloaded the canoes from the trailer and loaded them with paddles, throw-bags, and buckets.  For lunch we had chips and salsa, pita bread, salami, lettuce, tomatoes, chips, apples, and oranges.  We also listened to the final group presentation on outdoor teaching styles.

After lunch and the final presentation, we finally hit the river.  Since Manuel hurt his calf in an exercise that morning, he rode with Emily and Jakub.  This left me without a partner, so Chris canoed with me instead of in his one-person kayak.  This was a great experience for me - I have less canoeing experience than almost anyone else in guide school, and hadn't had a good experience the previous day with partners.  One girl got frustrated and told me to just always paddle on one side in the front (and got angry if I tried to do anything else), while another girl was supportive as I attempted to steer in the back but was unable to really give me advice on skills.  Hence, getting to paddle with Chris was a great experience since I was clear upfront about my lack of experience and he taught me how to do pull and push stokes and generally made me feel a lot more comfortable.  He communicated what I needed to do, and I generally think I executed it well.  We were the lead boat through all the rapids, and did well.  He also worked with me on how to hold a throw bag (underhanded) and how to tie a good bowline knot to secure a canoe to a tree.  Chris said that he'll match us up appropriately for the Big Bend trip now that he knows our skills - so hopefully I'll get a partner that is okay with giving me directions - since I do not think I'll be at a level where I can successfully decide what to do.  However, I'm sure I'll improve a lot over the 5 day canoe trip!

As we were canoeing, we came across a submerged canoe in the middle of the river (that Chris and Jakub had wrapped earlier in the day).  This gave us the experience of unwrapping a real canoe in the rapids using a z-pull.  Hannah was put in charge of directing the effort, and she did a great job.

Setting up the z-pull (photo by Jakub).

We stopped before 2-3 rapids (including Broken leg and Old Mill) to scout the rapids and decide reasonable paths through the rapids.  Chris said you should look at where you want to be at the end of the rapid and work backwards to determine how to best approach a rapid.  Since we were the lead boat, we went through each rapid first so that the group could watch.  We got through each rapid without any big issues, and then eddied out, tied off the boat, and got throw bags ready to assist others if they flipped.  On Broken Bone, the first two boats after ours did indeed flip, but everyone was fine and no one needed a throw bag.  On Old Mill, multiple boats got stuck, but no one flipped or needed help.

After going through Old Mill (which required a bunch of back strokes), we reached a deeper, open part in the river where we worked on T-rescues.  In pairs, first one boat would flip, align their flipped boat perpendicular to the other pairs' boat, the people in the other boat would lift the boat across their boat, turn it over, and then pull it next to their boat so they could act as an offsetting weight as the other pair attempted to get back in their boat one at a time.

 Groups practicing T-rescues (photo by Jakub).

After finishing the T-rescues, we went to the bridge where we got out, and waited for Sean and Brendan to go in Chris' car to get the Suburbans.  Then we loaded up the canoes and gear into the trailer, changed out of our wet outer-gear, and started on our way back to Austin.  As we were nearing Austin, our Suburban ran out of gas near Ben White.  We pulled over, called the other Suburban, and waited for them to bring us a can of gas (and snacks).  This delayed us, but we eventually got back to campus, changed into dry clothing, washed and stored the canoes, hung up all the wet gear and tents, put up unused food, and said our good byes around 8:30pm.

 Paddling through some light rapids with Chris (photo by Jakub).

 Taking Manuel through the Old Mill rapid (photo by Jakub).

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Reflections on Peru Tours

JT and I recently returned from our 13 day Peru adventure.  You can read all about it on our travel blog, but in this post I wanted to reflect on our guided tours and trekking, especially since I'm currently in the middle of Guide School.  As opposed to doing a big package tour, I planned our trip and did guided tours and treks as needed.

Our first guided tour was a day-trip from Cusco to the Sacred Valley with Llama Path.  This was mainly a bus tour, but included some climbing around archaeological sites (which was somewhat strenuous to those of us still acclimating to the altitude).  The guide for this tour gave too much information at points, and did not recognize or care that the amount of information was overwhelming to many in the group.  At the Ollantaytambo archaeological site, most of the group eventually resorted to sitting in niches in the wall or on the ground, and some of us had trouble staying awake during one of his speeches.  This guide also seemed to be very biased towards the Incan side of history, which although understandable if this is his heritage, did make me question the accuracy of some of the things he said.  Lessons reinforced: (1) be sure to gage the interest of the group when sharing information, adapting as needed to keep the group involved, (2) consider how you might be biased on information and consider presenting both sides so the individuals in your group can see both sides.

Our second guided tour was a 4 day, 3 night trek on the Inca Trail with Llama Path.  I was part of a group of 15 trekkers, 2 guides, and many porters.  The trek was difficult for me, as my body did not acclimate easily and I did not properly account for how much more difficult hiking would be at high altitudes.   Our lead guide Miguel did a great job telling stories that interested us while still educating us and our assistant guide Hector was given a few opportunities to give talks during the trek.  The lead guide / assistant guide dynamic was obvious to me throughout the trek.  However, Miguel and Hector did not exhibit some of the traits of a good guide that we learn in guide school.  They were frequently hurrying us along, including times when we were applying mole skin and putting on sunscreen (both are acts of planning ahead to prevent issues that may cause much longer delays if not properly handled now).  They also failed miserably at keeping one guide in the front and one guide at the rear.  There were times on day 2 where JT and I were last in the group and had not seen the rear guide for hours since he was ahead of us.  If one of us had needed first aid, they would have been unaware and unavailable.  JT questioned the guides about this in a group setting, and Miguel got pretty defensive.  Miguel often hurried ahead or lingered excessively far behind the group, seemingly for no apparent reason.  From Miguel, I did not get the feeling that he had the `heart of a servant' and instead got the vibe that he thought way too much of himself.  Lessons reinforced: (1) always keep one guide at the front and one guide at the back when trekking, (2) be careful of the vibe you are projecting to the group, (3) if a participant confronts you in front of the group, be prepared and hopefully steer the conversation to a more private setting, (4) consider the types of groups that you will be leading in a particular job - if they are strenuous or technical, consider whether your employer employs flexible trip planning or pre-trip interviews, as otherwise you may have to deal with under-prepared participants (either in terms of gear, knowledge, physical shape or mental state).


Our third guided tour was a day-trip from Puno to the Uros and Taquile Islands.  This really was a boat-tour with a bit of walking at high altitudes.  Lessons reinforced: (1) humor can keep a group involved while still maintaining a setting in which they can learn about their surroundings, (2) take opportunities to interact with various people in the group as they are walking and show those who are interested various plants and wildlife that you come across.

Our fourth guided tour was a 2-hour walk around Arequipa with Carlos, owner of Carlitos Tours.  Carlos did an excellent job of communicating where we were going next, and kept us very informed about our itinerary.  He was also very knowledgeable about the places we walked, and gave us opportunities to try various juices on the walk.  He made us feel like we had a say in what happened on the tour, even though we were likely following a set path.  Lessons reinforced: (1) keep the group informed about your plans, (2) check-in with the group to see how they are feeling, (3) truly caring shows :).


Our fifth guided tour was a 2 day, 1 night trek into Colca Canyon with Juan Carlos from Carlitos Tours.  This was another physically demanding trek - but this time, it was just JT and I in our trekking group.  Hence, Juan Carlos was always in sight (often right with us) and we could go at our own pace.  Juan Carlos never pushed us to move faster, so although other groups passed us (we were one of the slower groups), we were still 'on schedule'.  Like Carlos, Juan Carlos did a good job of keeping us appraised of our itinerary (pointing out our lunch spot, sleeping spot, or destination when it was visible in the distance and telling us how long until lunch or dinner).  Juan Carlos also seemed to have a good relationship with many locals in the canyon, and really seemed to enjoy his work leading people on treks to the canyon.  He openly admitted he likes to be in the canyon more than in Arequipa.  Lessons reinforced: (1) there is a place for groups of various sizes, (2) keeping the group informed about the itinerary and destinations is important, (3) consider how to give back to and become involved in communities that you guide in, (4) truly caring about a location you guide in - culturally, socially, and environmentally - shows.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Guide School Day 2: Quiz, Coordination Games, Leader Presentations, and PREPARE

Last night we had our second 3-hour classroom session of guide school.

We started out with a nice quiz on our readings from our text book, Outdoor Leadership.  Everyone seemed like they performed pretty poorly.  I had read the PREPARE chapter and read most of the two leadership chapters, and I even struggled with some of the questions.  I think the point of the quiz was to get us to take our future homework assignments a bit more seriously.

Then we played a few coordination games in which we had to remember who we were throwing objects to and how we were catching object from, even when the ordering was mixed up.  It was an interesting, quick exercise that made us all work together.

Then we sat down for the leadership presentations, which really shouldn't have taken long.  The assignment was to prepare a 3 minute presentation on a leader or mentor - and you had to bring a visual aid.  I volunteered to go first.  I presented on Heather, who I see as a great role model.  I picked leadership aspects in Heather to match each letter of her name and spoke shortly about how she exemplifies each aspect.  H is for 'heart of a servant', as Heather puts others first.  E is for 'environmental', since Heather cares for the environment (I gave her Borrow Earth Responsibly motto as an example).  A is for 'all in', since Heather puts everything she has into whatever she is doing.  T is for trail-ready, since Heather took me on my first backpacking trip and happily showed me how to filter water on a later trip.  H is for 'hard worker', but I guess it also could have been for 'healthy'.  E is for 'enjoys life' as Heather always seems to be enjoying life to the fullest whether we are volunteering, relaxing, or hiking.  R is for 'real' because Heather is a real, authentic person and she inspires this in me when I'm around her.

My presentation went well, despite the fact that I spent very little time preparing.  I passed around a picture of Heather, JT, and I backpacking at Lost Maples and wrote the letters of her name on the whiteboard.  The positive comments I received where: my talk was energetic and articulate, my passion showed through as well as the effect she has had on me, and they liked the acronym.  The constructive criticism comments I received were: I could have included more stories and I seemed a bit nervous.

Atleast half of the rest of the group went over time, with multiple people taking more than double the allocated 3 minutes.  Overall the presentations were interesting though, and some of them really helped us get to know our fellow guide school members.  A few people really opened up through the presentation, which was great to see.

For the last hour or so we discussed PREPARE, how to plan a trip, and how to conduct a pre-trip meeting.  P is for participants (who is on your trip?  what are their abilities and experience?), R is for resources (gear, budgets), E is for equipment (inform participants of what to wear, what types of group gear, personal gear, kitchen gear, and technical gear are needed?), P is for plan (itinerary and time control), A is for access (how is proper access obtained?), R is for rationing (menu, food buy, food pack), and E is for emergency plan (what are the protocols?).

At the end, we were broken up into four groups.  These four groups will present their pre-trip talks and trip plans for a weekend trip that they design in the next classroom session.  I'll be in Peru though, so I'll be missing out on this exercise.

We also received three types of rope at the end of the session.  We have 8 knots that we are supposed to learn: water knot, bowline, figure 8 follow through, figure 8 on a bite, normal figure 8, double fisherman's, prussik hitch, and trucker hitch.  I started working on four of the knots today, and found that it is actually pretty fun!  Animated Knots is really great for learning knots.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Leave No Trace - Online Awareness Course


As part of guide school, I was required to take the Leave No Trace online awareness course.  It was interesting - I would recommend it to anyone who uses public lands, whether it is for day-hiking, backpacking, fishing, rock climbing, dog walking, or some other activity.

The seven principles of Leave No Trace, as well as some highlights, are:
  1. Plan ahead and prepare: know the regulations of the area you are visiting and carry a map, compass, adequate water, and appropriate gear for the location and season
  2. Travel and camp on durable surfaces: walk in the center of the trail when official trails exist (even if this means walking through mud), camp in official camp areas when they exist, camp on durable surfaces away from the trail in the backcountry, walk in dispersed and small groups on durable surfaces in the backcountry, avoid areas beginning to show impact
  3. Dispose of waste properly: either dig a 6-inch or deeper hole at least 200-ft away from water, camp, and trails to bury excrement or collect and carry it out (this includes dog excrement!), carry-out all food waste including apple cores and banana peels
  4. Leave what you find: do not collect stones, shells, flowers, ect, do not carve into trees, do not move natural elements to build furniture
  5. Minimize campfire impacts: use a lightweight stove if possible, but create a small, controlled fire if you must have a fire (and be sure to burn it completely ashes and put it out completely before bed and then scatter the cool ashes before leaving)
  6. Respect wildlife: Do not disturb wildlife, never feed wildlife, avoid interactions with wildlife (hang food, trash, toiletries in trees)
  7. Be considerate of other visitors: take breaks off of the trail on durable surfaces, keep noise/talking to a minimum
Although I'd heard of the Leave No Trace initiative before, I did not know its seven principles.  As such, I also didn't realize that I was unknowingly breaking a few of them: walking around muddy areas, collecting shells at the beach, moving rocks to sit on, and not always taking breaks far enough away from the trail.  It might be nice if the National Park Service had their Leave No Trace video available for viewing at their visitor centers.

Guide School Day 1: Team-building, goal-setting, and schedule

Last night we had our first 3-hour classroom session of guide school.

We started by playing multiple team-building games to familiarize ourselves with each other.  These exercises included introductions, games to remember names, a rope game where we had to remove knots without moving our hands (this resulted in most of the group having to move their bodies through one of two rope holes), and a rope game where the group had to come to a consensus on which of six rope circles connected all rope circles.

Next we discussed the four core character traits that are important for guides.  The first is Initiative, which is the defined as identifying and completing tasks before being asked to do so.  The second is Humility, which is defined as understanding that my success is the result of investment of others in my life.  The third is Creativity, which is defined as identifying new solutions to old problems.  The fourth is Loyalty, which is defined as using difficult times to demonstrate your commitment to others.

Then we discussed the schedule of guide school.  We have two more 3-hour classroom sessions - one on 11/20 that will cover Leave No Trace and trip planning and one on 12/4 that will cover group equipment, personal equipment, and how to lead a pre-trip meeting.  Then on 12/17 we will meet from 6pm-10pm to conduct a small food-buy, learn about the vehicles, and do final trip preparation for the San Marcos River Trip.  On 12/18 and 12/19 we will be doing field training on the San Marcos river.  We will learn canoeing basics and go through swift water rescue training, as well as learn about how to set-up camp and cook in the back-country.  On 1/3 we will meet from 1pm-7pm to conduct a massive food-buy, pack and load all our personal and group gear, and assign leaders for the different days of our Big Bend Trip.  We leave early on 1/4 for Big Bend National Park, where we will go on a five day canoeing trip, explore Joel's Canyon (including repelling!), complete a service project, and potentially go on a day hike to Emory Peak.  On 1/11 we arrive back in Austin.

Next, we completed a few more team building exercises.  We split into two groups and first competed to build an implement using tubing to move a small object from the starting point to a target without any of the team members moving outside of a marked area.  Next we competed to build the highest tower that could hold a text book.  My team won both competitions. :)  After each task, we were asked to consider how communication played a role in how our team functioned.

Then we all discussed what we hope to get out of guide school.  For me, it is multifaceted.  I want to gain confidence and self-sufficiency in outdoor environments.  I want to challenge myself.  I also want to push myself outside of my comfort zone socially, as I'm having to work with, trust, and spend a lot of time with people that I've just met.  I had the opportunity to do this on the surfing trip, and felt like I really grew in just one weekend.  I look forward to seeing how much I grow over the course of guide school.  And of course, I'm looking forward to gaining the experience I need to lead trips for UT - it would be great to be able to share nature with others and get paid to go on awesome trips.

Regarding what the group as a whole wants to get out of guide school, we eventually agreed upon "Experience, Fun, Respect, Confidence, Skills".  There seems to be a reasonably large portion of the group that is focused on fun and relaxation, which I'm all for.  But I'm also hoping to get a deeper impact from guide school, and I hope most of the group is aiming for as well.

Finally, these group goals were written on a wrapped package (it seems to be a massive book) and we did one final team building exercise.  We made a massive tower to support the package.  The tower ended up being taller than any of us.

For next class we have to complete Leave No Trace online training, read a few chapters of our textbook (Outdoor Leadership), and prepare a 3-min presentation on our favorite leader or mentor.

Overall, I think we have a pretty solid group for guide school.  About half of the group seems to already work for RecSports in some capacity, so they already know each other.  However, we'll all know each other rather well pretty soon, so we should become one big, cohesive group.  The people in guide school are from pretty broad areas study-wise, from a research scientist (Manuel) to a freshman studying engineering (Zach, I think) to a master's student in advertising who wants to work on advertising for non-profits (Hannah).  I'm pretty uncertain what everyone's outdoor experience is, but I'm assuming many are about like me.  We did take a survey, and everyone has canoed before but only about half of us have actually ran rapids before.

I'm excited to see where guide school takes me!

Friday, November 8, 2013

Guide School Acceptance

I received news yesterday that I was accepted to the University of Texas RecSports guide school along with 11 others.  I'll learn outdoor leadership skills, including most of the skills needed to become an outdoor guide for future UT trips.

I've been on two previous UT RecSports trips - a kayaking trip to Madagorda Island in Fall 2012 and a surfing trip to Padre Island National Seashore a few months ago.  Both were excellent, and I'm looking forward to hopefully leading many exciting trips in the future.

Guide school will consist of some classroom sessions, 2 days of swift water rescue training, and then an 8-day trip to Big Bend National Park.

My plan is to post details of Guide School, and subsequent trips, on this blog.  As has been seen through my travel blogging, blogging is a great way for me to process and remember great life experiences.