Photo of the Week – Jones Island

You can’t control weather, you can’t be sure what skill set your clients are going to be bringing to the trip, but you can control the menu…and good food can make up for much! This has got to be one of the cardinal rules of being a guide.

In the photo you see John Schaefer of Anew Outdoors cooking steak and chicken fajitas on an open fire; flour tortillas warming on a griddle, and rice simmering away. What could be more representative of an outdoor experience?

And now for the back-story. John and I where leading a trip of nine clients through the islands of the San Juan Group. We had established a base camp on Jones Island, and the plan was to spend the next 4 days exploring all that many wonders of this island group.

Everything was working according to plan; clients arrived with no mishaps and on time, ferries where running on schedule, packing the boats with gear and food had gone without a hitch. After helping everyone set up tents and arrange the camp, John and I prepared our first meal of the trip. Everyone greatly had enjoyed the meal and we all where around the campfire with mugs of coffee (for the guides) wine for the clients, when our double burner stove literally blow its top!

No explosion or flame, but apparently a safety value gave way dumping a full canister of fuel. No amount of tinkering could fix it. 4 days, 9 clients, 12 meals, endless pots of coffee with no stove. What’s the saying? “Never let them see you sweat.”

We tossed around many different ideas but in the end we just ended up preparing all the meals on an open fire. Luckily the weather held and there was no fire ban in effect. Also, the clients where happy to pitch in and we set aside a half hour of wood collection every evening for the next day’s needs.

What could have turned into a disaster instead became one of my most memorable trips.