hey all!  week two has come and gone, and it felt about half as long as the first. getting into the swing and routine of life up here, although going to bed and getting up at the same time every day is about all that's constant from day to day so far. Wilderness First Responder training has been interesting and a lot of fun. my background getting trained in Wilderness First Aid a couple of times before (NOLS back in high school and outing club sponsored training at wash u) definitely helps with fitting together all the pieces of the puzzle. wilderness medicine comes down to a lot of snap decision making, and doing the best you can with limited material resources for assessments and treatments. lots of resourcefulness and paying close attention to clues in vital signs etc. is required. its a really cool skill set that i hope i don't have to use much in the future.

here are some shots from the few all-sunny days we've had (two or three). some of them are just hanging out in eagle valley where we're camped, and a couple from down at the nearby beach. at the end are a couple shots from WFR training today, and the last is me standing on one of the sweet company vans we drive around to get into town. in addition to WFR we got training in driving and maintenance for these this week. they're a lot more fun to drive when it's not raining - i got lucky today, driving around in the sun, and couldn't pass up this photo op after training was over (we're working 6 days a week this month).

right now i'm on a computer checked-out from the rec center of a college gym in town and a couple of my smelly compatriots are waiting anxiously behind me so i've got to go. i'll try for a longer post next week!

thus concludes my half hour of internet for the week, haha. hope everyone's well!

-Nate

hey folks!  here i am at the close of week one, in the juneau public library.  this is my first time on a computer since civilization.  personal time has been scarce, but personal time with phone service or computer access has been zip.  this first week has been a whirlwind. busy, challenging, inspiring.  i look forward to having more time to write or tell you all about it later on.  for now - given very limited time - i thought i'd just check in to say i'm alive and to upload a couple of pictures. haven't had time or a computer to crop or do levels so these are just untouched jpegs. i suspect any photos i'm able to upload in the future will be in the same state.

here's my belongings for nine months (minus a jacket or two out of the picture), laid out for a last visual checklist at home in saint louis.
here it is again, on the morning of departure. everything fits in a daypack and an expedition pack. yeehaw.

here;s a shot out the plane window flying into juneau. the area outside juneau will be my home for the next two months.

my first day in juneau i met up with my buddy nick at the airport. we were friends at wash u and ended up in the same program, which is great. after dropping some of our gear at the hostel in town we took off up a trail towards the top of mount roberts, one of the peaks overlooking downtown juneau. here's a shot looking down at juneau, about halfway up.

starting out the hike there was a little snow on the ground, which got deeper and deeper on the way up till it was nearly waist in spots near the summit. once we broke out of the trees there was a very steep rise - getting up it required digging footholds and sometimes reaching in deep with the arms. it was fun coming back down. heavy blowing snowfall at the top (whiteout at about 20 yards) made lingering on the summit a little less welcoming so we descended for dinner and sleep at the hostel soon after.

the program started on monday morning. we pitched our tents that day - week one of nine-ten months in a tent! this week focused mostly on orientation and soft skills training, and getting to know the staff and the other leaders-in-training. there will be a couple months of training, a month of doing projects with the other leaders, and then in june we get assigned our crews (after they arrive for a week of training) as well as a co-leader to start six months of projects in various parts of the state. the next two weeks will be intensive Wilderness First Responder training, all day long for six days a week, including scenarios, live 'victims,' stage blood etc... really excited to start.

mixed in with the work was some exercise and hiking excursions. here's a picture of a waterfall next to mendenhall glacier, not very far from where we're camped.

a couple of us hiked up a ways next to the falls for a different view. this is my friend clayton dale next to the falls with the foot of the glacier in the background. you can only see a tiny bit because of the snow - on a clear day you can see miles up the glacier to the horizon.

 

it's beautiful out here for sure, but the daily snow and rain (and nightly cold and wind) make for some great character building. if you get my drift. staying warm-ish and dry-ish and always keeping what you need on hand (and keeping all the right things out of your tent and in the bear-proof containers at night) is definitely a science, one i continue to learn about every day.

in short, life is good! hope all is well with everyone back home or on travels of their own. my apologies for any correspondence failures - as i said, free time is scarce and communications access is scarcer. is that a word?

safe journeys!

- Nate