Experiential Learning

Alaina Lackey's SPIN Internship Reflection

Wilderness Trek: Summer 2021

Wilderness Trek has a mission for all their backpacking trips seeking to challenge, experience, connect, and grow the character of all participants. I was nervous and excited to lead such experiences that could potentially have a lasting and personal impact on the kids/young adults we took on trail. While going through orientation I questioned how equipped I was for the job and wondered how I even ended up in a room with such wonderful, kind, and intelligent people. The beautiful thing about working for Trek is that the impactful experience that we give each group for one week is also a life changing and valuable experience for us as guides week after week. And what I quickly realized is that just as much as each participant I needed to be challenged, to experience, connect and grow in a way I had never given myself permission to do in the past. My time over the past several weeks has drastically affected who I am as a person, largely because of how I now see myself and now know what I am capable of.

I truthfully had few expectations of Wilderness Trek since the hiring process happened abruptly before the start date of my internship. I was going in slightly blind but I knew immediately after interviewing with my boss Mike that I aligned with what the company stood for and could see myself fitting in. To start New Mexico was not what I had envisioned, while much of the landscape was very dry as you got further north into the Santa Fe National Forest and Pecos Wilderness there was lush forest filled with huge ponderosa pines and aspen trees. Wilderness Trek was located was Glorieta, New Mexico about 40 minutes south of the National Forest where we accessed the trail heads. From the very beginning I got the sense that this company functioned as a small very close group who all loved and cared for one another. I was picked up from the airport by my boss Sammi and immediately felt like I had a new friend, and similarly the next day met my bosses Mike and Paul welcomed all of us guides to their homes to eat with their families. That close knit feel extended through the summer as we were encouraged to really get to know everyone that we were guiding.

After quickly getting acclimated to New Mexico, my new home at Glorieta and new co-guides we began orientation for our position as backpacking guides. This was a two weeklong process that included a classroom setting of going over company policy and detailed expectations of our job description with Paul. As well as a two-day trip to Colorado to complete our NOLS wilderness first aide training and certification where we learned how to handle a variety of incidents in the backcountry, including spinal injuries, heat and cold illnesses, and wound management just to name a few. Training for physical activities such as tree repel, rock repel, and other small hiking trips were completed at Glorieta on their property, and then a 5-day staff training trip was completed in the Pecos Wilderness. This staff trip was led by Paul, Mike, and Sammi to fully demonstrate the work that we would be doing as backpacking guides throughout the summer. They were preparing us on how to lead, navigate terrain, track weather patterns, work through disruptive moments and how to show the kids a good safe time on trail. All my supervisors were amazing people who practice what they preach, and it was amazing to have that time to spend with them all doing what we love. Once our staff training trip was complete Mike, Sammi, and Paul went back to more administrative work and handed off the guiding and guest services to us guides for the summer.

Then it was off to the races. As guides we worked from Sundays at 1:30 pm through Saturday at around 10 am every week for the duration of the summer. Every Sunday at 1:30 we would have a meeting with Paul, Mike and Sammi where we would go ever the previous weeks trips and prepare for the new groups arriving in a few hours. This was also the time when I was able to present any ecological findings to my fellow guides from the week previous so they could learn and point out more plants, animals, etc. on trail to our guests. Mike would give us our assignment for the week, which included who we were guiding with, what trail we were going on, and the group we would be taking out. Every trip could have a maximum of 15 people so 2 guides and 13 guests was the average size. Groups would arrive at 3pm and we would immediately do orientation with them followed by passing out backpacking gear having to  ensure that they had all proper equipment, clothing, and food for all 5 days. Once packing and gear was settled, we would cook the groups dinner and then send everyone to bed. Monday mornings after an activity like tree repel or rock repel at Glorieta we would leave for the trail head, then not return to camp until Friday afternoon.

While on trail myself and one other guide were solely responsible for our group, from injuries to illness, cooking, cleaning, setting up camp, teaching about LNT, keeping up moral in the rain, leading physically and mentally. It was a 24-7 full mind and body job. As a guide we had to be very organized and on top of not only our things but also everyone else's.  At campsite with 15 people if you don't work to maintain a clean space its not staying that way very long. Leave no trace was one of my favorite things to teach on trail because I think it is something that goes beyond being in the backcountry. It is how we respect our land and ensure its longevity, also teaching kids from the city how to go to the bathroom in the woods is always a hilarious conversation. Communication was key not only for LNT and the health of the land but also between us guides and each individual guest. We needed to know how kids were feeling at all times in order to make sure they were safe. On each trip we had a least one incident of altitude sickness varying in severity, in one instance we had a girl vomiting within 10 minutes of our initial hike. Looking out for the wellbeing of a sick individual while also not jeopardizing the experience and timeline for the rest of the group was something that took a lot of teamwork between co-guides. It often took one person stepping back and staying behind to allow that sick person to recover before moving along. Communication was key for a great trip and a camp was functioning at its best well everyone was participating and pulling their weight. As guides we would distribute tasks in order to maximize function which took some clever communication to get exhausted teenagers helping.

Wilderness Trek also gave me great freedom and flexibility to add environmental education into their program. Many of our groups were from larger cities and the experience we gave them may have been their first and last with backpacking and hiking. What I said over and over to my fellow staff this summer is that people care about what they know about, so that's what I tried to do with my guests was to educate them in hopes they would care more about the land we hiked through and the animals we saw. Throughout the summer I was able to learn as I went about the terrain of the Southern Rockies, its native plants, animals, and all the beautiful wildflowers that were all over the mountains. Once I had a solid grip on my surroundings it was easy for me to share that with my groups and interested or not, I would point out trees, wildflowers, and wildlife to the kids (they always seemed most interesting in wildlife). Some of our resident animals in the Pecos were marmots, bighorn sheep, mule deer, elk, pikas, and chipmunks, and trying to keep kids from hunting small rodents with rocks was a part time job on the trail. Reporting to my fellow staff at our Sunday meetings was very different to me than casually pointing things out on trail, but I found over time I became more comfortable relaying and educating information in a more formal manner. To share information, I first made a PowerPoint presentation as a Pecos Wilderness Ecological guide for all the staff but later decided to share my digital field notebook with everyone to quickly access identified species on the trail.

Walking away from this summer I feel ready for almost any career or opportunity that could come my way. I have the confidence of stepping into a situation with many unknowns and knowing that I can figure some things out along the way. With a job guiding we really used a very wide plethora of skills every single day. I have improved communication skills from all my experience working one-on-one with a co-guide as well as the ability to clearly express myself to a larger group. While guiding I quickly realized that I have a strong instinct and desire to step up and be the leader in any given situation which lended well to the job I was doing, and I believe that the confidence I exuded allowed for the kids and adults I was leading to take me more seriously. Our job as guides is almost 100% critical decision making because in the backcountry there are a lot of possible threats. Whether it was having to decide if we had to alter a route due to the weather, or if someone's illness or injury was worthy of evacuation there was always something to figure out with our co-guides. Working with a team was something that I didn't think I would enjoy as much as I did. Previously I would have always labeled myself an introvert but now I can see that I was doing myself a disservice by thinking I wanted to everything on my own. Every week we hiked around 25-30 miles with 50 lb packs on our backs, that is a team sport, I could have never done it without my co-guide or the rest of the group for that matter. There is so much value and often fun that comes out of collaboration between such a large group.

It is very difficult for me to express this summer in words because of how much it truly meant to me. I learned so much about the beauty and ecology of New Mexico that I wasn't expecting to find and the ability to share that with others brought not only important education to them but also a lot of joy to me. The relationships I am taking away from this summer are life long friendships with like-minded individuals who pushed me get out of my shell and have the summer that I needed to have. And the summer I needed was full of challenge, crazy experiences, connection, and growth. I used to hide myself in all aspects of my life, in friendships, school, and my career because I had no confidence to step out into anything new. Every day and every minute of the summer was something new, and I faced it time and time again each time with more and more confidence.

All photos courtesy of Alaina Lackey.