Guide school was the reason this blog began, and it really was a transformative experience. From the skills I learned, to the people I met, to just the experience of it all. It's hard to put into words the power or affect that guide school had on me. There's something about being away from civilization. Of looking all around you from a high point and seeing no building and no one that was not part of your group. Of facing fears head on, and overcoming them. Of learning to be more upfront and honest about your fears and abilities. Of realizing you can do things you previously did not believe you could do. Of learning when to consider the needs of others over your own (and when not to). Of learning how to mitigate and diffuse group conflict. Of seriously considering our impact on the places we visit, and learning how to minimize it.
But guide school was just the beginning. You really take skills from the classroom into real life as you start to actually guide trips. I was lucky enough to have Emily as lead guide on my first trip guiding, and amazingly it was to Lee's Ferry and the Grand Canyon as part of an alternative Spring Break. What a first trip! But I feel like you learn a lot on your first trip, and I certainly did. My other overnight trip in Spring 2014 was to South Llano State Park with Jakub as lead guide. Jakub is seriously the most 'giving' of our guides, and it was a pleasure to work with him and learn from him.
I was originally only assigned two trips for the Fall 2014 semester. This really saddened me, but I was luck enough to pick up two additional trips that I really wanted when other guides backed out of guiding them. I ended up guiding all of the backpacking trips ran in the Fall, and really honed my backpacking skills and grew tremendously as a guide.
In recap, 2014 saw:
- 9 posts about the second half of guide school (January)
- 9 posts about the alternative Spring Break trip to the Grand Canyon (March)
- 14 posts about my Europe trip (September/October)
- 4 posts about Fall 2014 backpacking trips (October/November/December)
- 12 other posts
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