Another Perfect Job for the Noncommittal

As I enjoy my last day of spring break and prepare to return to what may be two more months of substitute teaching, I realize I have found another perfect-fitting job for Camp Fancy-Free.  Luckily, as my tolerance and flexibility for bullshit continues to diminish, I am finding more income-generating matches to my lifestyle.  The latest…substitute teaching…currently in Leadville, Colorado. 

Its (just about) always sunny in Leadville the last two months.

I had pretty much written off any school/teacher-related work after my experience teaching during my initial stint in Leadville.  I first moved to Leadville soon after graduating from college and signed up to be a substitute teacher, upon my friend, Sara’s, suggestion.  That year, I was called in on the first day of school for a vacant high school special education teacher and proceeded to masquerade in that position for a whole school year.  Without getting into too much detail, I’ll only say that it was a great experience and it scared me away from the profession.  I never really considered subbing or teaching again, until a few months ago when I wanted to get a job, but couldn’t imagine giving up the autonomy that I had been thoroughly enjoying the previous couple of months.  The subustiuting idea dawned on me one day, while hanging out in Bozeman, Montana.  I checked the Lake County School District page, saw they needed subs, and headed towards Leadville.  After moving in with my friend, Wizard and filling out the necessary paperwork, I became licensed to substitute in Colorado and proceeded to get called into work everyday since.  After one month, I conclude it is perfect for my intents and purposes.

First, it most obviously fits my criteria in that it is temporary.  Signing up with only three months in the school year guarantees an end in sight.  This is of single most importance to me.  I never want to have to lie or mislead an employer, but I not looking for a job for the long haul.  Since most employers are looking for the exact opposite criteria in a potential employee, my job searches are limited to short-term opportunities such as seasonal work, special events or projects, and in this case…school!  I can put up with a lot more when I know there is a definite end date. 

The next most awesome thing is that I literally get to choose if I want to work each day.  A lady calls me and ASKS me if I want to work and I can answer yes or no.  This is what I make believe I do with every job.  It is definitely easier to achieve that mindset when it is my reality.  Becasue I came here with the intention of working, I've accepted everyday, but then my family made last minute plans to visit.  No problem, I just said no those days.  Perfect!

Third, everyday is different.  I have thus far agreed to do K-12^th grades.  That is a wide spectrum of crazy.  Different places and different faces everyday.  This greatly contributes to my enthusiasm and ability to stick it out no matter how insane it gets in those classrooms. 

A rare moment of calm with third graders, who always make me earn it.

Don’t get me wrong, this job can be rough…some days.  My experience has been that the younger they are, the more of my energy they require.  Most days I leave feeling exhausted.  But as I mentioned, it is just a single serving of each group.  Just one day at a time.  Very manageable.  And other days, especially at the high school, I sit around and read all day.  Or on the best days, when subbing for a gym teacher, I get to play basketball all day! 

So, subbing is perfect.  It is temporary, my daily choice, and provides variety.  The pay is good enough.  And it is in lovely Leadville.  Not necessarily the best place to spend mud season, but it MIGHT be a short one as Leadville has just experienced one of the mildest winters on record.  I, however, just escaped the mud for a week for the lower, warmer and dryer towns south of here.  That is right.  After just one month of working, it is spring break.  I had no choice but to leave and enjoy a week of living in the van and running and biking on sick, dry, singletrack in the desert-esque towns of Buena Vista and Salida.  

Dry trails for spring break.  (Salida, Colorado)

Ask me again in two months, but as of now, I shall add substitute teaching to the list of Camp Fancy-Free’s pre-approved jobs.

Weather Snob

“I feel like I’m cheating at life,” my friend, Ben said to me, as we were about to drop into a steep untracked bowl at A-Basin after a short hike from the top of the lift.  I nearly keeled over in hysterical laughter.  I knew what he meant.  We were standing on the top of ridge, snowy peaks in all directions, hours into an afternoon of snowboarding in surprisingly excellent conditions.  That day we left the dry and dusty Western Slope, where we had been running and biking on luscious, desert trails for three weeks and now we were on top of the world with fresh snow.  It was fairly ridiculous, but cheating at life???  

Since there are no rules, I would disagree that one could cheat at life, but we might be cheating the seasons.  After six years of high country dwelling, this year I was ready and able to snub mud season.  Colorado's diverse landscapes make it easy, once I learned the weather patterns for different regions.  In a very short drive one can go from blizzardy paradise to sunny and 70°.  Having everything I own with me and fully supplied with gas, food and water at all times, allows me to find an awesome spot and then just stay there and take it for all it is worth until I’m over it or run out of something essential (like water or coffee).

Big Papa joins Camp Fancy-Free

This trip was especially luxurious as two friends, that I worked with this winter, joined me in their brand-new-to-them camper.  A kitchen and living room took the lifestyle to a new level of ridiculousness.  One month ago, we met up in Boulder, waited out a storm for a few days, ran on some trails, then caravanned to Moab. 

“What trails did you ride in Moab?” a hitch-hiker asked, while giving him a short ride.  “Uh, like, all of them,” Ben responded.   We spent about two weeks in the Moab area  and covered a lot of ground.  We slept mostly at trailheads and  would get up run or ride on a new trail, take a break, and then find another one.  Some were way beyond my biking capabilities,  so I would hide my bike behind a rock and then run the rest of it.  It was so fun.  Moab is giant playground.  Of course, we didn’t really ride all the trails, (there seems to be an endless supply) but we got around. 

Moab's Slickrock Trail

While in Moab, I ran a 9-mile race.  I had done the same race last year, when passing through on my way from Denver to South Lake Tahoe (where I spent last mud season).  While doing the same race course usually does not appeal to me, this one was especially fun, so I was excited to do it again and could not pass up the opportunity to do a race when I was there anyways.  The course was so fun (complete with a waist-high creek crossing and super-steep muddy ladder to the finish) that after an hour break Ben and I rode the same course on our bikes.  Running it was way easier for me. 

Tearing ourselves away from Moab was not easy but I was pumped for another race the following weekend in Fruita, Colorado.  Not knowing what to expect from Fruita, I made the couple hour drive eastward two days before the race.  Upon arriving, I instantly was overjoyed by the beauty.  While still deserty, it was a whole other kind of beautiful than Moab.  Less red rock and more green.  Very green with little purple and red flowers popping up before my eyes.  My excitement for the race and Fruita increased ten-fold and I had to hold back from the trails as I wanted to take it easy before the race. 

Finish line of a breathtaking course.

A couple days later I ran a 25-mile race on a spectacular loop.  The course climbed up and down the green, flower-covered hills, teetered on the edge a steep canyon walls, and towered above the Colorado River.  I was happy with my slow, sustained effort and just overjoyed to be running that far on dry trails this time of year.  After the race, I met back up with my cohorts and we found a trailhead to sleep at in preparation for the next days’ adventures. 

My recovery day from the race included a 12-15 mile (?) super-technical hike/run through two canyons that led to second highest concentration of arches outside of Arches National Park.  It was magnificent and exhausting.  We rested the remainder of the day, resupplied the following day, and headed to the North Fruita Desert area. 

The map showed a lot to trails in the area, but I had no idea, we were entering another paradise.  This area is another mountain biking playground, complete with a free campground and well-marked trails…everywhere.  The first trail I rode down, was the most fun trail I have ever rode on.  We stayed there until we ran out of water five days later. 

With no plans except for another race in a couple of weeks, we spent another night near Fruita trying to decide our next move.  Stay in this paradise or head to the high country paradise where it was dumping snow.  When it started raining we decided to head for the hills.  The rain made us realize how lucky we had been with the weather for three weeks.  Virtually perfect.  Warm and mostly overcast the whole time.  When the clouds would go away I realized it would be too hot without them.

After taking advantage of National Parks Week with a free rainy drive through Colorado National Monument, we passed another awesome looking network or trails, making plans for next time.  We spent the rainy afternoon in Grand Junction and then traveled eastward on I-70, stopping to sleep at very scenic rest area.  Sun the next morning was a pleasant surprise and we quickly made it into the high country and got in a few hours of incredible snowboarding before it started snowing again. 

Back in the hills, where we can do something with the precipitation.

We stayed up there, sleeping at spot 5-7 miles away from A-Basin, for a couple days as it continued to dump snow.  Then headed down to Denver via a stop at the dry trails of Matthew Winters Park for a run around the loop.  I’ve now been in Denver for a few days, relaxing and enjoying the greenness that has overtaken the city since I left it a month ago. 

Weather is just another thing to be snobby about.  While I can enjoy whatever conditions I find myself in, I thoroughly enjoy the freedom to mix and match.  I turn my nose up at mud, blazing heat, and above all, humidity.  Why sit around waiting for the rain to stop, when only a short drive away the rain is rideable snow and vice versa?  Weather can be added to the all-encompassing list of things that I am a snob about.

Mud Season Distractions

Fallen Leaf Lake in front of Lake Tahoe

The time known as spring in most places in the Northern Hemisphere, is not so affectionately referred to as "mud season" in the mountains.  It is the messy in-between time, when the snow is too spotty to play on, but is still covering the trails.  Muddy trails will gradually be exposed, depending on the elevation, but the ones in the highest country (where I want to be most) will unlikely see the light of day until July.  Aside from heading down to lower elevations, there is surely still fun to be had if one is willing to brave the cold, wet weather, post-hole through snow and/or play on the pavement.  My need to be in the higher elevations allows me to tolerate and even embrace this time of year, but I realized a few years ago bumming around in my car makes it difficult to utilize this swing season.  I decided a warm place to live, a hot shower and even a job (since the weather is crappy most of the time) would allow me to take mud season for all its worth.  Alas, I have found all these things, and then some, at the Stanford Sierra Camp.

Mt. Tallac towering over Fallen Leaf Lake

The Stanford Sierra Camp and Conference Center is located ten miles outside of the city of South Lake Tahoe, California, five miles from the southern shore of the impressive Lake Tahoe.  It is perfectly tucked under the southeast towers of Mount Tallac and on the southwest shores of Fallen Leaf Lake at the end of a five-mile, single-lane road, which dead-ends at the camp.  Granite boulders, huge trees and gushing creeks dominate the landscape.  Perfection, if you ask me.  

 

View from camp

The Stanford-owned facility functions as a resort in the summer and a conference center in the spring and fall.  A separate staff works the conference season and the summer season.   Most of the single season jobs are as an "all purpose" staffer.  A typical schedule will include 2-5 different shifts a day.  Jobs include housekeeping, washing dishes,  working in the dining room,  cleaning, shoveling snow,  leading hikes, set-up and break down of events and doing maintenance projects.  The are 40-50 employees.   Most live on-site.  Room and board are part of the deal.  Employees also have access to everything the place has to offer, which is about everything.  They have a shitload of watercraft, a basketball court, tennis courts, sand volleyball, a beach, books, games and any equipment you could need.  And that is just the stuff to do on-site.  The mountain-tops that run straight up from the back of my cabin offer endless entertainment.  

View from my front porch

True to the its elevation, the High Sierras disappointed most this spring.  It consistently snowed every week into June.  But true to it's California reputation, it was sunny and beautiful in-between.  As planned, I was able to take full advantage despite the rather foul weather.  I started the season by exploring the area on several different snowshoe outings.  As the snow became spottier and I was constantly falling through I spent most of the time road running and road biking.  Towards the end of May I was able to get on some east-facing and low-lying trails.   And through June I was primarily running on trails and road biking.  My cross-training consisted of large doses of hula-hooping and short runs in the Vibram Five Fingers.

After one of a dozen spring storms

As I suspected, structure provided by a work schedule, a home and a hot shower make for the most advantageous situation for me this time of year.  I am pleased with the training I got in during my stint here.  I feel like I'm prepared for the trail marathon I'm doing a couple days after finishing work.  The work itself was average (but necessary and now allows me to not work for a few months).  After not working for five months before this, it started out actually being fun, but then turned to the regular grind after a few weeks.  Then a few weeks later...it is over.  I love seasonal work.  Impermanent, just like everything else.  The perfect distraction for surviving mud season.