The three-day seminar was originally for employees of outfitters, but was expanded for those interested in packing on their own. If the food is any indication, this is going to be a great weekend. After supper, with more wood on the campfire, outfitters and their crews apparently have a multitude of talents. Steve Darwood of Cascade Wilderness Outfitters gently strums his guitar while reciting poetry of life and tales from the Alaskan frontier. The mood swings from laughter at life's jokes to somber thoughts of it harsher realities.
Darkness rolls in as a gentle wind pushes rain clouds away to let the stars come out.
One by one we drift off to bed. I awake Saturday morning to clanking Dutch ovens, as the cooking class has breakfast started and coffee waiting. Leslie and Ahna, who share floor space with me in the barn loft, crawl from their sleeping bags. Leslie, from Lopez Island, and Ahna, from Ellensburg, know each other from working at Camp Wahoo in the Teanaway Valley east of Cle Elum. High Country Outfitters operates from this camp and have sent Leslie and Ahna to the workshop to improve their skills.