Community

The remote nature of our lodges allows for plenty of time to get to know coworkers. We eat, sleep, and play in the midst of our guests and in the company of our fellow staff each day.  

In our living environment, there is not much personal space and there is virtually no privacy; it quickly becomes clear that everybody knows everything about everyone. Some staff feel like they are in a fishbowl, where every move is being watched. In this same environment, others feel like they are living in a supportive family surrounded by a friendly small town.

Among the 30+ staff will be at least one town gossip, who will revel in telling you everyone's business and at least one person who will pretend they don't know everything about you, although they probably do. Within a few weeks, most of us find a personal balance point between knowing all about our fellow staff and being known by them. It is crucial to allow others to have different balance points. 

At the end of the season our time together generally results in a tight-knit community that is loathe to say goodbye for a long off-season, and full of invitations for cross-country visits throughout those months and beyond.  

Our staff come from all corners of the United States and represent a broad spectrum of past experiences and interests. The thread we have in common is a belief in the mission statement: To provide active learning experiences and foster stewardship of the natural world through a tradition of community, excellence, and place, although each of us contributes to it and prioritizes the various parts of it differently.

Members of our community range in age from eight years old to 65, with the average age being around 30. Some individuals have extensive hiking and outdoors experience before arriving, while others have never been hiking or camping in their life. Interests include reading, learning, dance, fiber arts, woodworking, painting, music, writing, playing games, and much more.

Each season's activities are determined and shaped by the community participating in them. There is at least one company-sponsored non-alcoholic staff party each month of the season. Past parties have included a talent show, murder mystery, white elephant gift exchange, scavanger hunt, and field day. Other favorite activities in recent years have included a triathlon, karaoke night, and a weekly writer's club. Each year one of these parties entails a homemade gift exchange with fellow staff.