Читать книгу Hap Wilson's Wilderness 3-Book Bundle - Hap Wilson - Страница 18

THREE

CONFESSIONS OF A WILDERNESS GUIDE

It’s the way you ride the trail that counts.

— Dale Evans

Although I had been guiding wilderness trips for several years as a park ranger, my first commercially guided expedition under my own company name wasn’t until 1984. My bush skills were adequate but my ability to knit people together in a group trip dynamic was deficient. I was eager to lift my new outfitting company off the ground and I took bookings for guided trips with insufficient client scrutiny. I was elated that I could book ten guys on a river trip in May, just after ice-out; any bookings in the pre-season was a commercial boon. Cash flow was paramount.

Bill was the client group-leader and he assured me that everyone who signed up had the required whitewater canoeing skills. The Makobe River in spring flood was a tempestuous little river and there was little room for error. John Kilbridge, canoe builder and former trail ranger, would be my assistant. Within the mélange of clients was a heart surgeon, company CEO’s, and one blind man. Terry was a musician, legally blind but could make out some vague outlines of rocks and trees. We were air-dropped to Banks Lake at the headwater of the river for a four-day flush downriver in ice-cold water with little time for instruction.