Before the season actually gets started, I thought it might be helpful to throw some things out there in my life that led me to a Backcountry trail crew. What kind of person actually decides to go out and live in a tent for six months in the summer and perform such backbreaking work as rolling rocks…for minimum wage? I can’t speak for everybody in the program, but I can show you some things that went into this guys path that led to a trail crew.
One day after high school, my friend Mark ‘The Barbarian’ Rhodes and I were talking at my kitchen table. We were talking about the wilderness and camping, and how much fun it would be to take off to the woods and never come back. We called it a ‘permanent camping trip’.
My Mom was listening in to the conversation, and said that it sounded like a great idea. She told us that we had better do something like that pretty soon, though, because once we got settled in with careers and families we would never have the opportunity again.
Mom’s advice was definitely on my mind when I headed for California a few years later, and ultimately, the Backcountry.
Three Years With the C's 