KMG trip

Yesterday (July 7) was perhaps my favorite day out here yet. I woke up at 7am to drive my car to the staging area and then biked my way back to camp. What a joke that was-I thought I totally had that trip in my pocket, but it killed me. Mountain biking in Montana to completely different than biking in Iowa. Oh my I thought I was gonna die.

Once I finally got back to camp I had to start getting ready for the guests to arrive. Although excited, I was nervous because this trip had to be as close to perfect as we could get. I move the "small" wood stack to a different location since the people came and mowed while I was away (they killed all my flowers and I'm sort of sad about it). I set up the amenities, decorated-it was absolutely a blast. After that I did a few odds and ends-it was a hurry up and wait day. Oh, and I got to restack the "large" wood stack with Diana. What another joke. Crap, how the hell do you make a wood stack, a freaking stack of wood look ascetic? Seriously, I think KMG really takes "wild" out of wilderness.

Once guests got there it was checking the Pa Ha Ques (the appropriate word for shitter tents or toilets), keeping the fire going. The guests, some were from my town which was kinda weird, weren't, well most weren't really excited about having to be on this trip which frustrated me. They seemed somewhat nice but you could tell they were watching your every move.

I finally made it to bed at 12:30 and then was back up at 4:45 to start the fire and turn on the lanterns. It was a good trip.

On a deeper note though, throughout the last week I've learned a lot about myself and how I respond to people. When people hurt me or I feel like I have to work hard to please people I tend to do wrong. Not intentionally- but I do. Its mostly about making sure people are happy with me, who I am, or if they are hurting me then they need to back away. I hate feeling like I can't be myself in order to fix my problems with others, and I hope that I can find a new way around things. Thats all folks.

I am heading back to camp tonight. We have the KMG, who puts this all together, coming on the 7th for the training camp which is the most important.

Well day three was kinda lame. We headed up to the moto course where the quests get to ride the motorcycles, but they werent set up enough for us to do it. So, we sat there most of the day doing nothing while the guides had emergency training which was good for them. A helicopter came in and everything. Then we actually went and did the zip line which was sweet, I was able to go through each part (theres two sections that cross Falls Creek) upside down, it was fun. Following that the tenders and food and beverage people went to the camp to set up and we took a little swim in the creek too-totally freezing but worth it. Then it was dinner and music around the campfire. Tomorrow we will finish training and then I am off until the 5th. I cant wait to sleep in a bed. Please pray that my immune system is able to hold up through the summer, my allergies are eating away at it, and I hurt my shoulder somehow.

I had to start early today, about 4:45. Since I am the tender I had to do my tender job-light lanterns, start fire, clean shitters, and keep the fire going. I was told that since they are mostly east-coasters they are awake at 5am, so I should have my stuff done by then. By 8 we were headed to our next location, the river where the campers would do kayaking and rafting down a 9 mile stretch which takes about 4-5 hours including a break for lunch. The mosquito's were horrible, I have 22 bites on my right leg alone. Following that adventure we made it back to camp 2 were we, like the campers, were greeted with Hummers which took us on an off road course. We were all able to drive them for 15 min on parts of the course. That was probably one of the most exciting things I have done in my life. You would go straight down a hill with riding the break, or having your foot on the break, this vehicle totally drives itself, its amazing. Anyways, then we ate lots of food and I headed to bed. It was a long day, and being sick hasn't been helping.

Today was the first day of training. It started at the Bozeman base where we got a pep talk and what was supposed to maybe be inspirational, but yeah it mostly put me to sleep. Following that they took us through what the guests would experience one their frist day. It was and is really cool to see what happens and imagine what is going through their heads since they have no idea what is going on. This whole thing, camping trip seems to be rather exelerating for them. Honestly I am quite jealous. We didnt get to my camp until about 10 in which we finally had dinner around 10:30. It was huge, snacks, appitizers, main course and dessert. We then discussed what would normally happen at night, star talk, and then broke into our groups (pods) and headed to bed.

I've been battling a cold and allergies for the last week. Its really starting to get to me. As long as I can get through training then I'll be okay for a few days.

We finished setting up all the tents which was good. So for the most part I am ready for training to start tomorrow.

Today was rather uneventful but a lot was accomplished. Training starts on Saturday, which is exciting because then we will finally understand what all takes place at this camp.

I went to camp 3 to help Dave set up the tents. That is perhaps one of my favorite camps, by the creek, Falls Creek, stunning. The water is clear and green and perfect for fishing and repelling course. Sometimes I wish I was at that camp, more to do for set up and fishing and repelling. However, I have inset problems and marmots and mice...gross.

Tonight is rather windy, however there was a beautiful sunset, the first I have stayed up for.