Camp Cook in the Bridger-Teton

By Karsen Max

Have you ever had an unexpected opportunity to live a dream? To do something you never thought you would? That was me when I was offered an out-of-the-blue chance to work as a camp cook in a pack-in elk hunting camp in Wyoming. Never in my wildest imagination did I think that I would be riding a horse in the beautiful mountains of the Bridger-Teton National Wilderness, but one phone call was all it took. Three days later I was there.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Karsen Max
• Release date: Sep 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005165437

Karsen Max

I've always loved words and reading and writing. I may be the only person ever who took English Composition as an elective in senior year of high school. I got too old to ride horses the way I used to, the family is grown up and gone, I'm semi-retired from accounting and tax prep, so now I have time to write all the stories that I was always going to get around to writing someday.Transparency disclaimer: My profile pic is from a few years ago. I still look a lot like that if you squint.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Hey, Pee Wee. It was my friend's voice on the other end of the line. He had left a couple of weeks earlier for his annual elk hunting guide's job in Wyoming.

We need a camp cook. Can you come?

What? How...?

My mind raced with questions.

Ummm, wow, what's up, why do you need a cook?

He laughed at my confusion, explaining that the cook contracted for the duration of the hunting season had quit suddenly.

Can you be here in three days?

What the heck? In less than a week I was scheduled to go back to work, at a job my boss had held for me while I was recovering from an injury. What would I tell her? And furthermore, could I blow that off for a temporary job, no matter how exciting it sounded?  What would I come back to?

Tough decision, but I knew what I wanted to do.

My friend had filled my heart with longing to experience the romance and grandeur of horseback riding in the majestic Rocky Mountains.  Not that it had taken much to influence me. I had always lived in a dream world of rodeo and cowboys and high-country adventure. As a child, one of my favorite books was Mountain Pony, by Henry V. Larom. I loved its gorgeous Technicolor dust jacket illustrated with a beautiful shimmery sorrel mustang bucking against the backdrop of jagged snow-covered mountains.  I chafed at the fences and boundaries that defined my riding opportunities.

Shoot, yeah, I wanted to go. I wanted to go more than anything.

I considered my situation.

I was single. My youngest child had graduated and gone from home, safe in the guardianship of Uncle Sam, via the US Navy.  I had friends that would take care of my dog and two horses. The house could be locked up. Was there any reason NOT to go? None, except that dang job. My boss, who had become a friend more than a supervisor, had kept my job open for me. It wasn't a great job but it paid the bills and I had worked my way up the very short ladder of opportunity to be in a management position, such as it was. I couldn't expect to be able to come back and step back into that.

But darn it. This is not an opportunity that would fall into my lap every day. Would I regret forever not doing it? Would the world come to an end if, just this once, I did something spontaneous and crazy and out-of-character?

Yes, I wanted to do this more than anything but my analytical bookkeeper's personality wasn't quite ready to commit.

So who would I be working for? I asked. What happened to the cook? Why would he hire me instead of someone from out there? My friend, Merce, laughed at my concerns.

Here, I'll just let you talk to him, he said. I'm putting Sharky on the phone.

Oh boy. Talking to a stranger on the phone. Just what everyone loves to do.

So, Sharky, you need a cook? I said, after the usual introductory small talk.

Yeah. Merce said you might want to do it. Have you ever done anything like this before?  I told Merce if you come out here and then quit, he's gonna have to be cook.

Well, I hadn't done anything like that before, but how much different could it be than cooking for, say, a family dinner? It's not rocket science.

I assured him I was up to the task.

What about horses? Can you ride? Sharky asked.

Horses. My one area of complete confidence.

I'm comfortable with a horse, I said.

.... comfortable..., Sharky repeated, apparently musing over my choice of words. I guess he felt it left a lot open to interpretation.

Back on the phone with Merce, I took