Aspiro: Life of a Guide

Josh and Kt enjoying the sunset on Antelope Island.

Many people have been asking "where the heck have you two been?"  As some of you know we have been guiding with an adventure therapy program called Aspiro.  We guild adolescnence and adults all over Utah.  Our mission is to provide the hope and healing for families that are struggling.  In most cases this is a last resort for families to repair what has been broken.  The life of a guide has many challenges and sacrifices.

Our first few months on trail, Kt and I were mostly separated while we working the ranks up to Lead Guide.  Kt has been recently promoted to Team Leader and we are both Lead Guides for the Vantage Point program.  Vantage Point program is designed to help struggling teens with a variety of social, cognitive, learning and processing issues.  Many of these teens also struggle with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Nonverbal Learning Disabilities, Verbal Learning Disabilities and more.

Unfortunately, due to the nature and sensitivity of our jobs we can't share pictures with the students.  We only have a few snaps of us in some really cool places.  My hope is to share what we have learned on trail, what we do and to give a little insight on the life of being a guide.  From time to time, Ill update this blog with inspirationals,  pictures of Kt and I and advise.  Enjoy!

Enjoying the summit of Frary Peak on Antelope Island.

A shift of trail is 8 days at a time from Monday to Monday.  Here has been our schedule, we have been all over Utah.

Week 1: Both of us went to training in Mt. Pleasant, Goblin Valley and St. George.  We went canyoneering, rappelling and climbing plus did 80 hours of inservice training.  Some of the canyons we did were Ding and Dang Canyon in a day.  We also did an unkown 100 ft rappel.  Finally, we were thrown into the field the last two days and worked with the students for the first time.  Kt worked with the Kairos (Adult) group and I worked with Aspiro Girl's group.

Week 2: Josh went to Parent Seminar with Kairos and Kt went to Tabby Mountain with Kairos (Adult VP).

Week 3: Josh and Kt went to Escalante.  Josh worked with Aspiro Boys and Katie worked with Karios.

Week 4: Josh went to Ouray with Kairos and Kt went to Ouray with Kairos.

Week 5: Josh and Kt started working together! We went to Moab for Ed Consultant week with Kairos.

Week 6: Together in Vantage Point. This week we went rock climbing in St. George.

Week 7: Kt went to her first Parent Seminar and Josh went to around climbing in Rock Canyon most of the week.

Week 8: We went mountain biking in Park City, Eagle Mountain and the West Desert.

Week 9: We went to Parent Seminar.

Week 10: We went hiking in Antelope Island and rock climbing in Rock Canyon.

The Grand Teton via Upper Exum Ridge

Grand Tetons National Park, WY

Grand Teton via Upper Exum Ridge (5.6, Trad, Grade V, 14 miles round trip, 7,000 ft of vertical gain, 1,000 ft of climbing)

Josh ontop of Spalding Falls getting ready for the push to the Lower Saddle.

After Yosemite, we stop by home for a couple days to re-cooperate and to say goodbye to my Mom as she heads to Texas.  We had a few more days to spare so we set out for the Grand Tetons.  It was Kt's first time there.  It truly is a magnificent range of mountains.  We only had time for an overnighter and our window to summit was short but our spirits were high as we started.

"I'm not cute, I'm Kt." - Kt Allred

The Middle Teton

Negotiating the boulder field.

Our camp site! Next to a waterfall! Yeah!

First sign of the Grand.

Looking back on Garnett Canyon.

Home for the night.  You can see our tent in the background.

The next day we headed out to for the Grand.  We didn't realize that it was so far of a hike from the Meadow to the Lower Saddle.  It took up most of the morning and we had really bad wind.

Kt ontop of Spalding Falls.

Kt the Alpinist.

Kt admiring the glacier.

Kt starting up the scramble to the Lower Saddle.

Josh's turn.

Hero stance from Josh.

Holy cow it was windy. 50 mph winds!

The wind was blowing us over.

This is what the other side of the Tetons look like.

Kt navigating the boulders of the Lower Saddle.

W ended up calling it quits due to 50 mph winds, the fun factor was down the tube.  Some of the Exum Guide groups were able to summit (with the 4 am start at the Lower Saddle) but most turned around.  We pushed through to the Wall Street area.  Next time, we'll get it.  It was quite a challenge to route find just to start the route.  Now we are set to go for our second attempt.  On my way down from exploring, I did some exciting 4 class climbing and stumbled onto the route toward Wall Street and the Eye of the Needle (which was this awesome boulder cave).

Josh having a don't fall moment.

Whew, the worst is over!

We were fed up of the wind.

Go away wind!

Still smiling.  We had a fun day in the mountains.

On our way down Kt spranged her ankle pretty bad on a stupid boulder.  She was so tough and still made down the 7 miles that night!  Girl is crazy!  Also we ran across an Aspiro guide on our descent.  We can't escape work even in Wyoming!  The Tetons was a great experience for Kt and I.  Even without a summit.  It is amazing has climbing has evolved the older I get.  It has more meaning everyday.

A marmot!

Happy to be heading down.

"Cute little Pika." - Kt Allred

Spalding Falls