HoneyRock Camp's School of Adventure Leadership Training (SALT) had their biggest group of staff yet in the Summer of 2021, totaling over thirty participants. After completing their WFR (Wilderness First Responder) training they headed out on a twenty-one day wilderness trip. I joined Mike Odberg, the adventure program manager, and helped him guide a backpacking trip along Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore for the first week before joining the whitewater canoeing crew for the last leg of the trip. From testing gear, packing out, riding the bus to drop-off points all around the Upper Peninsula, sitting around the fire for LNT (leave no trace!) trainings, filtering water, cooking wild leeks that we picked along the trail, sharing tents with strangers that turned into friends, playing cards in the rain, paddling rapids, and spending a lot of time cooking and eating in the backcountry, this trip was one that had me whispering "I love my job" under my breath countless times a day.
