Corona Caretekarahh
This article also appeared in the December 2020 Randolph Mountain Club Newsletter and can be found here.
About the thing that was normal while caretaking for the Randolph Mountain Club this spring was the shoveling. It seemed like a foot of snow fell every week until June, so there was plenty to keep me busy between all the camps. Like most of the world right now, things at the camp were different than they ever have been before. Even just the ability to lock the cabins was a unique and uncomfortable contrast to the normal caretaking routine. My job as a caretaker is to welcome people to the backcountry and help them connect to wilderness in a sustainable way. This season, I told every guest that arrived at the cabins that they had to leave.
Most of my daily routine was unchanged, but it was an unfamiliar experience to do it with no guests at all. I still woke up and made coffee before I went out to take the readings for the snow plot, then came back in to make breakfast while listening to NPR. Gray Knob got swept out in the morning. If there was new snow, shoveling would be my priority before heading out for a hike. There’s almost always more shoveling that can get done. Once I got back in the afternoon, I would make a big lunch before heading back out to check on the camps. There was the usual amount of sweeping, shoveling, and keeping the springs flowing. Once I got back in the evening was when the contrast became apparent. I’d usually be entertaining guests most nights, but every night was a zero this spring. I kept my usual routine of reading and going to bed early when there were no guests.
There were some unique upsides to the camps being empty too. I’ve never had the chance to be up in the alpine zone during dinner hours before, and I could start hiking as early as I’d like in the morning. I spent long hours up in the snowfields on Adams and Jefferson without seeing a soul. Caretakers need to stay mindful of not taking ownership of the areas they work, and it was particularly challenging to avoid the mentality of “this is all mine” while exploring RMC terrain this spring. I had to remind myself that I’m just here to help for a while and then it’s someone else’s turn often.
Caretaking has been my way of giving back to the areas that I’ve been so fortunate to experience. With more folks getting into outdoor activities for the first time this year, it’s more important than ever for us all to find the ways we can give back to the trails we love. That can be accomplished in many ways – volunteering for trail work, donations, working for the RMC, or even just taking a person who is less experienced out on a hike and teaching them Leave No Trace principles along the way.
