the Adventure Lifestyle magazine

D • TEXT: CARALEE WITTENEEN-LANE Pam Sousanes has landed the job of her life, She spends her days in the shadow of Mount McKinley, collecting water samples for Denali Nationa( Park, In a postcard she writes, "I am sitting at 5,000 feet on the shoulder of Mt Tatum, staring right at Denali and waiting for the heli - copter to come and fly me to another beautiful and routes with fellow backpackers. But the re st of their time brings backcountry patrol of destinations wide- spread. Few smiles can beat those on the fa ces of Backcountry Rangers returning from their paid holiday, dirty, exhausted and in their element. The competition for seasonal jobs can be stiff. spot. I can't believe they pay' me to do this!" A growing subculture of fo lks, young and old , is ea rning a living in our country's most phenomenal natu- ral sites. They align their jobs with the seasons and live in two or three places a year, following the fair weather. What kind of dream jobs do they have? They work for the National Park Service. Rather than spending a couple crazed days in a national park running around fu ll tilt and trying to see everything from a speeding Toyota, imagine living inside park boundaries for months at a time . Edward Abbey, for- mer National Park employee at Arches National Monument, describes the job perfectly in Desert Solitaire, "The fringe benefits are priceless clean air to breathe, stillness, solitude and space; an unobstructed view every day and every night of sun, sky, stars, clouds, mountains, moon, cliff rock and canyons." Th e National Park Service employs roughly 20,000 individuals and all but a handful of these jobs are temporary or "seasonal." Most seasonal jobs are short , lasting a mere three to six months, but sweet. Call it Outdoor Freelancing, Summer Camp for Adults or sim- ply A Hiker's Heaven. jobs include law enforcement, wildli fe management, upkeep of roads, grounds and equipment, maintaining campgrounds and guiding nature walks. But the two jobs that get you the most time outdoors are Trail Crew and Backcountry Ranger. Trai l Crew are responsible for the upkeep of park trails, includ ing rebuilding washed-out trai ls, put- ting in new trails, maintaining campgrounds and cutting down overgrowth. Trail Crew can spend up to fou r months at a time on the tra il, working and living in a tent. In some parks they are residents of a protected wild land of waterfalls, bears and glaciers. Backcountry Rangers are responsible for the upkeep of the backcountry [areas off trails or without tra ilsl and help to educate and register the people who use it. They can spend time sta ffing the backcountry desk at a visitor center, handing out permits and talking gear Many seasonals have skills like fire jumping, trail main- tenance , mountaineering, search and rescue and life- guarding. Many are veterans who have their possessions strung out in storage units across the country or who can recite the post office procedures on forwarding mail l ike a mantra. And the most savvy seasonals are often moving into their government housing at one job while simulta- neously sending out resumes for their next stint. But the most essential qualities for getting a seasonal posit ion are perseverance and an adventurous spirit. Tim Ludington, the Tra il Worker in charge of maintaining Yosemite's 800 miles of trail, says of the peo- ple he employs: "Mostly they've got to love living and working in the wilderness." Laurel Boyers, the Supervisory Park Ranger at Yosemite National Park, echoes these thoughts, saying , "We ski, hike, climb and ride horses and the key skill new employees can bring to the job is comfortableness in a wilderness setting." If you can't land a paid job in a park, another way to get your foot in the door is to make contacts by interning or volun- teering , or starting in the concessions surrounding national parks. Fo r anyone looking for those elusive perma- nent positions, the key is to pay your dues. Ava Kahn, a 28-yea r-old biology and public affairs major, worked as a seasonal in national parks for nearly five years before being offered a permanent position at Lake Berryessa in California. Pam Sousanes worked seasonally long enough to land a permanent position in the research department at Denali , the prime rib of the national park world. She admits, " I wormed my way into this position by putting my time in as a seasonaL" Edward Abbey concludes, "On the rare occasions when I peer into the future for more than a few days I can foresee myself returning here [to his national park job] for season after season, year after year, indefinitely. And why not? One has a sense of time enough to let thought and feeling range from here to the end of the world and back; the discovery of something intimate-though impos- sible to name-in the remote." •

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