Guide School Day 10: Ledges Camp to Entrance Camp

Zack and Sarah Rose were the assigned leaders of the day today.

My sleeping pad was on a weird split incline, so I slept somewhat poorly because I could either sleep on the split incline or I could sleep on flat ground against the side of the tent (which seemed to be a better option, but led to me waking up often due to cold).  I woke up at 5:30am, since Hannah and Tessa were on the food team today, but didn't get up until around 6am.  Apparently Hannah had a dream about nature taking revenge on us and Tessa started her (apparently) nightly dreams of having sex with various people in our group.  Pretty strange but interesting dreams.

Breakfast consisted of oatmeal and yogurt.  It was a really cold morning, so I had some hot chocolate and two packs of oatmeal before having a bit of yogurt followed by some hot water (to 'clean' my nesting bowl).  I had left out my wet water shoes (old tennis shoes) and wool socks to 'dry' overnight - what a mistake!  They were frozen and pretty miserable to wear in the morning.

False Sentinel from Ledges camp (photo by Manuel).

Ledges camp in the morning (photo by Jakub).

We loaded the canoes - Sean and I took the big kitchen dry bag, two ammo boxes with food, 2 8-gallon water jugs, and the Groover. The Groover is the portable toilet that we used for solid waste.  The equipment team would set it up somewhere a short distance from camp that was both private and had a good view.  We would then use a paddle to designate whether it was in use - when you went to use it, you would take the paddle from a tree nearby and when you returned you would replace the paddle.  We were supposed to take a bit of hand soap after using the Groover and go wash our hands in the river.

Our introduction to the Groover the night before (photo by Manuel).

We got on the river at 9:13am, and it was extremely cold.  We only had 4.14 miles to paddle today.  We stopped to take a water break and a snack break.  In general, the paddling was simple today so we didn't need to stop and scout and/or line any rapids.  However, it was extremely cold when we were not paddling, to the point that I would start shaking every time we stopped.  At one point I remember thinking that I was the coldest I had ever been.

On-water water break (photo by Manuel)

We didn't quite run this rapid shortly before Entrance Camp correctly...

 ...which led us to run into the river cane (photos by Manuel).

We reached our camp for the night - Entrance Camp - at 10:53am.  We were all terribly cold, and Zack was semi-hypothermic as evidenced by his decreasing ability to function and his blue fingers and toes.  Emily tended to Zack (warm sleeping bag, warm drinks, rest, ect) as the rest of us unloaded the canoes, changed into dry, warm clothing, and enjoyed some warm drinks.

Once we were dry and warmer, we set up the rest of the kitchen, tents, and the Groover.  Then the food crew prepared lunch.  After lunch, we had two Leave No Trace presentations.  The first was one by Sarah Rose and I on the 'Dispose of Waste Properly' principle.  We focused on packing out trash and on disposing of human waste properly in different environments.  The second presentation was on the 'Leave What You Find' principle.

Entrance Camp (photo by Manuel)

Sarah R digging a cat hole in the sand for demonstration purposes during our Leave No Trace presentation (photo by Jakub).

Entrance Camp from the kitchen area (photo by Sara B).

Our canoes nicely lined up for the night at Entrance Camp (photo by Jakub).

Originally we were scheduled to have paddling practice in a calm area near camp, but the water and air were so cold that the 4 guides decided a hike into the Mesa de Anguila was a more appropriate activity.  It was an optional hike, so about 5 people stayed behind and about 11 of us went on the hike.  The original idea was to hike across the back-country to see the Rock Slide rapid from above.  We started by hiking up the cliff by our camp, and then joined a rarely-used but carned back-country trail.  We took the trail for a while, but eventually Chris decided that we would need to walk 45 more minutes to get to the Rock Slide rapid and that we didn't have enough time to get there and back to camp before sunset.  Hence, we went back to camp on a more visible and quicker back-country trail before taking the faint trail back down the cliff.  Partway down the cliff, we detoured to see the Entrance Rapid from above, which we would be tackling early Wednesday morning.  I walked near the front of the group as we hiked, usually behind Brenden and Chris and right before Hannah and Zack.  We walked against and through many spiny bushes and cacti, which left lots of thorns in my sweat pants and socks.  I learned on this hike to only wear nylon pants (even thin ones) when walking in the back-country - sweat pants were a terrible idea (they were a magnet for spiny things).  Ellie got some spines in her hand and Sara B got a few spines in her feet (that's why you wear close toed shoes!) - both required tweezers to remove.  Sara B noted that even upon returning home she still had two spines in her foot.

The mouth of Santa Elena Canyon from our hike up the cliff (photo by Manuel).

 Hiking up the cliff from Entrance Camp (photo by Manuel).

Entrance Camp from the hike up the cliff (photo by Jakub).

Hiking across the Mesa de Anguila (photo by Manuel).

Group picture taken with a timer in the Mesa de Anguila (photo with Manuel's camera).

Wide-open space in the Mesa de Anguila (photo by Manuel).

Short break during our hike in Mesa de Anguila (photo by Manuel).

Manuel's GPS track from our hike - Start: 3:01 pm. Finish: 4:48 pm. 1.95 miles round trip.

It made me really happy to go hiking in the back-country!  It was neat to see so far, and to see no one but us.  It was also pretty cool to hike in an area that very few people visit.

We did see one person today, once while canoeing and then once at camp.  It was a Hispanic guy on a horse.  He ignored us, and we attempted to ignore him.

We had dinner shortly before dark.  The do it yourself kebabs were good - but there was not enough food and some people resorted to eating leftover quinoa from my group's dinner the night before.

Tent mates! (photo by Manuel)

Great sunset photo at Entrance Camp (photo by Jakub).

After dinner, we had another Leave No Trace presentation on the 'Minimize Campfire Impacts' principle.  We carried two fire pans on this trip in which to build fires, which is one way to minimize impacts.  Chris said that UT is trying to move towards not having any fires on trips.  However, sitting around a campfire is important to some people, so in those cases, we should attempt to minimize the impacts.  In this presentation, we learned how to build a 'log cabin' base for starting a fire using small sticks and kindling.

Although some people were sitting around the campfire chatting tonight, I opted to go to bed early after our final meeting of the night since I did not have kitchen duty and I had no personal dishes to clean.  It was to be the coldest night on our trip, so I slept in long underwear, tights, a long sleeve shirt, and a sweatshirt inside my liner and sleeping bag.  It was still pretty cold all night.  I used a cotton scarf to cover my nose and mouth to make breathing easier (to avoid breathing really cold air).

Tessa and I were talking in the tent after she had been assigned to be leader for the next day about what day I would want to be leader.  I stated that I would strongly prefer to do the Emory Peak hike day because I thought this day would showcase my abilities best.  Only after saying this did I remember that Chris and Billy were in the tent right next to us, and were probably awake.  Whether they heard me or not, (spoiler alert) I got my wishes and led the Emory Peak day on the last day.

Guide School Day 9: Lajitas to Ledges

Hannah and Sean were the assigned leaders of the day today.

My team (Sean, Sara B, and Manuel) was in charge of meals today, so we awoke at 6am to start breakfast. We had all slept at Brendan's house near Terlingua. Brendan's house was simple, but had really pretty stonework and beautiful land. Their property actually included a cliff behind their house, and Brendan had apparently explored all around the cliff when he was younger. He said he had planned to take us up to a cave if we had arrived earlier the day before.

We served wraps and instant oatmeal for breakfast. The wraps contained bananas, raisins, and peanut butter, and we had walnuts and dried fruit to mix into the oatmeal. Clean-up was easy, since we just had to boil water and then wash the knife used with the peanut butter.

Chris and Sean took one of the suburbans to Terlingua to attempt to fix a window that had stopped working the night before and had fallen down into the door. However, the mechanic had said it would be impossible to get it fixed in 'this part of Texas' on a Saturday. So Chris arranged with Far Flung Outdoor Center (who was shuttling our vehicles anyway) to deal with the repair while we were on the river.

We drove the two suburbans to Lajitas, and unloaded our canoes and gear near the river by the Lajitas Golf Resort. Meanwhile, Chris and someone (Jakub maybe?) drove the two suburbans to Far Flung while we loaded up the canoes. They came back in one suburban with a guy from Far Flung, who drove away in our suburban soon after. Far Flung was to drop both suburbans at our takeout point by 10am on Thursday (4 days later).

 Loading up the canoes at the Lajitas put-in (photo by Manuel).

We put in our canoes at around 10:45am. The canoe pairing were assigned by Chris that morning, and I was paired with Sean. I was happy with this pairing, since Sean seemed to have canoeing experience, and he also seemed like a great guy from my experience with him so far. Since he was a leader of the day, we were the chase boat until our lunch break, which meant we carried the rope bags and were the last canoe down the river. In addition to the rope bags, we also carried a few ammo boxes with food, the big dry bag with heavy cooking equipment, the portable toilet (more on that tomorrow), and some 8 gallon jugs of water. Throughout the trip, Sean always liked taking what many would say was more than our fair share (which was fine with me).

Calm water and beautiful scenery (photo by Jakub).

Scouting Matadero rapids (photo by Jakub).

We stopped for lunch after a few hours of paddling. My group served pitas with hummus, deli meat, cheese, cucumber, sun-dried tomatoes, apples, chips, and cookies. After lunch we continued paddling to the Ledges camp, which was 7.88 miles by river away from Lajitas. After lunch, Sean and I were the lead boat, and hence had to read the rapids and run them first. Sean did a great job reading the rapids and giving me directions. He also had a great attitude, and was patient and encouraging with me.

Sean and I causally paddling (photo by Manuel).

Sean resting while we wait for other boats to catch up while we were lead boat (photo by Manuel).

I'm also resting while we wait for the other boats to catch up (photo by Manuel).

We choose to line the canoes through two rapids after lunch. These lines were not easy, and both required at least some people to stand in the middle of the rapids. On a simple line, two people can simply use the bow and stern lines to walk the canoe along the shore while staying on shore. However, these rapids required people to stand in a well spaced line throughout the rapid and slowly pass each canoe through the rapid using the bow and stern lines. The first lining operation was messy, since many of us had not lined canoes before and the operation was not well explained beforehand. However, the second lining operation went much better - although the rapid was more difficult and I almost fell in due to the strong current.

The terrain between Lajitas and the Ledges camp (which was shortly after False Sentinel) was mainly desert, but there were some large cliffs. We saw no one after putting in at Lajitas, which was pretty neat.

We reached the Ledges camp shortly before dark, and we immediately unloaded the canoes and set up camp. We started by lugging all the personal gear to one location, all the group gear to another location, and all the kitchen gear to another location. Then, my team worked with Chris to set up the kitchen and start cooking. Meanwhile, another group worked with Jakub and Billy to set up the tents and organize and clean the canoes while the third group worked on outdoor skills with Emily. We spent about an hour setting up camp before we could change into dry clothing.

Ledges Camp (photo by Hannah).

Dinner was quinoa with tuna, salmon, sun-dried tomatoes, green peppers, jalapeños, and celery. For an appetizer, we served apples with chips and salsa. For dinner Sara B made a cobbler in a dutch oven using 2 cans of cherries, 1 can of diced pineapple, 1 box of yellow cake mix, and 1 stick of butter. Everyone - except for one person who complained that we mixed in the tuna and salmon - liked the quinoa, as it was tasty and plentiful. The cobbler was pretty amazing - I'll have to include it on a future trip (assuming I take a dutch oven, which is kind of a pain due to weight and the need for a fire or a fire bowl and charcoal).

Sean manning the stove, while Brenden reads a book (photo by Manuel).

After dinner, my team heated river water on the stove and washed the dishes using a four bucket system - one bucket was for gunk, another bucket was for soap and water, another for rinse water, and the final one was for water and bleach. After we finished washing everything, we strained each bucket as we dumped it in the river (and packed out the trash caught by the strainer).

We had two Leave No Trace presentations after dinner - one on the 'Plan Ahead and Prepare' principle and another on the 'Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces'. Each presentation was less than 30 minutes, and had to include a visual aid and an activity.

I shared a 3 person Mountain Hardware Hammerhead 3 tent with Tessa and Hannah the entire trip. This first night, we all attempted to sleep the same way, which led to a slightly tight fit. Thankfully, the tent was long enough for men though, so we could fit a bit of our gear in a pile at our feet. At some point, I accidentally called Hannah 'Heather', so we jokingly stuck with it the rest of the trip. I also became 'Karen', and Tessa became 'Tiff'.

Hannah and Sean were great leaders of the day, mainly because they worked well together and were well organized. Sean told Hannah that his main goal was to make sure she had a great experience leading (since Sean is already a guide in the program, but just hadn't attended guide school yet). Sean and Hannah were great choices for the first leaders of the day as they set a great tone for the trip and a good bar for future leaders of the day to meet. My only complaint at the time (which I did not voice) was that Hannah and Sean seemed overly enthusiastic at points - but as I got to know them both better throughout the trip, I realized that the enthusiasm probably was real. They are both two really amazing people that I'm glad I got to share this trip with, and that I'm looking forward to working with in the future.

Guide School Day 8: Driving to Big Bend

We met on Saturday morning at 5am. We packed the cold items into ice chests and loaded our personal gear into dry bags. However, we decided to take a raft at the last minute, since Chris had seen that the water was high in the Santa Elena canyon and we had almost too much gear to carry in canoes.  Hence, we ended up leaving at 7am after pulling and packing the raft.

I rode in the back seat of the suburban towing the box trailer with Ellie.  Zack, Manuel, and Jakub were in the second seat, and Billy and Chris were up front.  Apparently Chris was unhappy that all the current Outdoor Center guide school participants clustered in the other car, so in Junction Zach and Manuel were moved to the other car and Sarah Rose and Sean moved to our car.  Chris and Jakab claimed the move was to unite Leave No Trace groups, which was true, but clearly not the main reason.

Ellie, Jakub, and I chatted some, and we all slept some.  We reached Fort Stockton at 1:30pm after driving really slow for 15 minutes since the other suburban was running out of gas (ours was only half empty, so the canoe trailer was causing a lot of drag with canoes on the top row of the rack).  We went to Walmart first to get some forgotten items (soap, dry bleach, more snacks), and then we went to Sonic for lunch.  We also moved the canoes on the top rack of the canoe trailer to the top of one of the suburbans.  We finally left Fort Stockton around 3:15pm.

We arrived at Brenden's house near Terlingua around 6:10pm.  We unhitched the trailers and then went into Terlingua to see Brenden play at The Starlight at 6:30pm.  He played for about an hour while we ate dinner.  I sat at a table down by the stage with Hannah and Tessa.  I had a chicken sandwich, fries, and a local draft beer (I'm not so sure of this was allowed, but we were far from the rest of the group so no one saw anyway) - and then the three of us shared a root beer float.  Brendan's show was actually really nice, and a great way to start the trip.

 Brenden playing at the Starlight Theater in Terlingua (photo by Manuel).

After Brenden's show, we drove back to his house, met shortly, and then fell asleep in the living room, kitchen, and an outdoor patio. Those of us sleeping inside chatted with Brenden's mom Wendy for a while.  Apparently she is selling the house soon since she works at a national park in Del Rio now, and only comes to Study Butte on the weekends (she worked in Big Bend National Park until about a year ago).

 Sara B and Big Dog settling in for the night in the kitchen (photo by Manuel).

Guide School Day 7: Repelling and Food Buy

Today we met at 9am near the Zilker Hillside theater. We gathered our helmets and harnesses and walked a little over a half mile to a 30 foot rock face where we could hike up and repel down.

I had never repelled before, so I was nervous - especially since some of the outdoor rock climbers (who should be comfortable in a harness and repelling) seemed nervous.

Emily and Chris set up two different lines, and they went down first (without a belay, and to show us how). Then we went down the lines one by one, always belaying the person after us.

When it was my turn, the line going through some trees was open.  Tommy helped me connect to the rope, and then Chris helped me get started. The idea is to keep your feet wide, keep your weight back in your harness, use your left hand for stabilization, and keep your right hand on the rope behind your right hip.

Starting my first repel! (photos by Jakub using Manuel's camera)

I was a bit unstable at the beginning of my first run, but got down with no issues and felt pretty confident by the time I reached the bottom.  I did four more runs, two on the tree route and two on the other route, which had a small overhang.  I got faster and more confident on each run, and was going as fast or faster than most people by the end.  I think I caught on quickly!

After a short lunch break, we met at the outdoor center to pack equipment and food.  I was in the food team again, as I knew my group's meals best.  Chris gave us a sheet with everything that each group's meals needed, sorted by type (ie, meats, fruits, dry goods, ect). We checked to see what items we already had, and then left for HEB.  Zack, Jakub, and I gathered the necessary fruits, vegetables, meats, and items without a category.  Our final bill for everything came up to just under $800.

Once we returned, we sorted the food into the 18 planned meals and packed everything into dry boxes.  We gathered our personal gear and finished around 7:30pm.

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).

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.

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.