The Role of Alaskan Tour Guide

Having visitors from the lower 48 can be both exciting and exhausting. I wear myself out planning for weeks before they arrive to make sure they have the quintessential Alaskan experience.

It's always a delicate balance between pushing them to their limits and having time to relax and take in the solitude of Alaska. You have to know how much your visitors are able to do physically and what they can take mentally. I always want them to experience Alaska the way we do every weekend, but sometimes that's not always possible because of physical limitations.

The Smiths were a fantastic couple to have here. They have very little mountain experience, so I did all of the planning and packing, but physically they are stronger hikers than me. Even carrying their first 30 pound packs, they seemed to be jogging up the trail ahead of me.

That being said, I'd like to point out that sometimes as a host you have to pick up the slack. You have to chop the wood when the guests are tired. You have to cook the meals. You have to work hard searching for wildlife on the Denali bus. You have to carry the extra gear. I love doing all of this, if it means they have a better time. But sometimes your guests slack off a little too much. I will illustrate this point with a series of photographs...

During our rafting trip on the Matanuska River last Friday I remember having to do a lot of paddling after noticing Mike, who was sitting in front of me, seemed to be holding is paddle way up in the air most of the time. Maybe he was trying not to smudge his makeup, I don't know. But it wasn't until I studied the photos that I fully understood what was going on.

Here's Mike taking a photo op...



Note that his paddle is not touching the water...



These two are along for a Sunday ride...



Again very little paddle to water contact. Mostly they were just laughing at Brian getting pounded in the face by waves.

Now look at me and Brian...obviously doing ALL of the work.



Your welcome guests. Without us you would still be floating down that river.