Lesson Learned: It Never Hurts To Ask

The past two weeks have been pretty hectic, especially the past week.  One of the biggest things I learned in that time is if you want something, you have to ask. We'll get back to that in a minute.

Week 2 finished up with my S-130 and S-190 training for Wildland Fire.  Most of the week consisted of classroom work, with the exception of the last 2 days where we got to do some field work.  We learned how to lay hose line, deploy fire shelters, and dig fire line.

Week 3 began with two days of Technical Ropes Rescue Training up in Tuolumne Meadows, which is one of my favorite areas of the park.  The training was a fantastic course.  It started at the basic level of tying different knots, but by the end of the second day we were building anchors out on one of the domes and belaying attendants down to the bottom.

In the midst of preparing for the First Family to come I got to do my first carry out.  We had just done a practice run for the helicopter landing and got called out to the Four Mile Trail for a female with a fractured tib/fib.  It was such a great experience getting to work with an experienced team on a carry out.










I was supposed to finish out the week with a backpacking trip, but how could I miss all the excitement of the First Family's vacation?  Which is where my lesson of the week comes into play; it never hurts to ask.  I had the opportunity to assist with blocking the meadow for the landing and the take of of the Blackhawks and Chinooks during the weekend.  However the most exciting part of my weekend was trail sweeping and blocking for the First Family's hike on Sunday before their departure.  At one point during the hike President Obama took the time to shake multiple Rangers hands along the trail, including mine.  I knew this weekend was something I wanted to be involved in, but I never would have imagined that I would have had the opportunities I had.

The Marines took the PSAR interns and I on a tour of the Chinook

The First Family on their last hike in Yosemite