Hello fellow Air Streamers. My wife and I have accepted a position as camp host #1 at Convict Lake, CA. We will be there from 5-1 until the snow flies or 10-31.
First of all we would like to invite all of you to come and stay with us at this beautiful campground. Located on the East side of the sierra Nevada mountains just South of Mammoth, CA.
Camp hosting will be a new experience for us. We are very excited to get this opportunity, however it is a little scary. 6 months! I know some of you may have done camp hosting or are doing it now. We would appreciate any advise you may pass on to us.
How exciting! Congratulations, did you have to bid against others to "win" the assignment? (I've heard that's how some are done.) My DH and I are talking about doing that after retirement.
Have fun this summer and I'll bet you'll meet some great people as well as some real "doozies"! But all in all you'll be making some great memories.
2012 25' FB Flying Cloud
2011 22' Sport
Plano
, Texas
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 43
Quote:
Originally Posted by batman
Hello fellow Air Streamers. My wife and I have accepted a position as camp host #1 at Convict Lake, CA. We will be there from 5-1 until the snow flies or 10-31.
First of all we would like to invite all of you to come and stay with us at this beautiful campground. Located on the East side of the sierra Nevada mountains just South of Mammoth, CA.
Camp hosting will be a new experience for us. We are very excited to get this opportunity, however it is a little scary. 6 months! I know some of you may have done camp hosting or are doing it now. We would appreciate any advise you may pass on to us.
Hi, We were hosts at Big Bend National Park in Texas last May - June for 6 weeks and will return this summer. Also we are going to host at Great Sand Dunes in Colorado for 2 months this summer.
You will meet many interesting people and some doozies as mentioned in an earlier post. We had a very positive experience. The rangers were very supportive. We monitored the campground, reminded people of rules, helped people with getting settled, and information about the park and surrounding area. It is scary at first but that will pass. If we had a "problem" the rangers (law enforcement) responded quickly. When you are on duty, be prepared to be available at anytime. When you are not on duty, you may still be approached by visitors. Hopefully, you are hosting with another couple. We were on duty 4 days and off 3 days. We worked and were available in the campground for generally 12 hours on days we worked. We like a 4 day on/3 day off or 3 day on/3 day off. When we were off, we were off. 3 days off gives you time to go see things around the area. For us hosting for 6 months would be way too long. We try to find jobs for no more than 2 months. 3 months or for the summer season seems to be the standard. Since you are volunteering, you probably are familiar with Volunteers.gov site to look for positions. If not, check it out. Oh, we did not receive a stipend, but did get a full hook-up site and reimbursed for propane. Positions with National Park and Forest Service usually do not pay stipends.
Deb, you discussed some points which I had not thought of, and your approach to taking the positions seems to be very well thought out and should work out well for most. I'll have to keep your ideas in mind.
You sound like you certainly enjoy people. We are good friends with the host at our favorite campground near Tahoe. I can tell you that hosting is a 24/7 'job' no matter even if your 'Host off duty' sign is out. Convict Lake is a beautiful place but take your days off to get away. Lot's of places for day trips, Tahoe, Bodie, the bristle cone pine areas. It's been awhile since we've been down 395........maybe...?
Neil
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Neil and Lynn Holman
FreshAir #12407
There's also Volunteer.gov/gov-America's Natural & Cultural Resources if you're looking for opportunities at facilities run by other agencies. On this site, under "Opportunity Type" select "Campground Host." Just a few minutes ago when I visited the site, they had 353 listings for campground hosts.
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I thought getting old would take longer!
My wife Dale and I have camped our whole lives and love to boony camp when ever possible. When we do stay in campgrounds or parks our experiences with camp hosts have been hit and miss. So our goal is to be the best camp hosts we can be. All of your thoughts and ideas are greatly appreciated.
Thanks Air, can't wait for my first "doozie". I will have to post some of our experiences. I'm sure it will be fun reading
Deb, great info. We will be working for rrm and they do pay a stippend plus site, etc. The area mngr says it is quiet and has never had problems with rowdies. I will have to see what the local rangers are like.
FreshAir, thanks. Neil, we have a couple of acres just up the hill from you, in Grizzly Flat, CA. My wife Dale and I would love to meet you and Lynn and check out your awesome trailer.
Protagonist, thanks for that good info. I have bookmarked it.
Thank you all for your support and good advice. We are are determined to make this a positive and pleasant experience for us and all of the guests. So I will bring all of my people skills and a ton of patients.
Keep sending the pearls of wisdom, they are very much appreciated. We hope to see some of you at Convict Lake, CA this season.
We had a nice hosting in the Fl. Keys for two mo. I would not do more than two if possible at a time. We were on 3 days off 4. Gave us tons of time to visit all of the Keys, lower Fl., the Swamp and much more. Some week because of how the holidays worked, we were off 5 days so we really could go. I worked w the volunteer co-ordinator and my husband w the rangers. It was a great experience and we would do it again in another locations. This way we can see more of America and enjoy each area we visit thoroughly. We got our site, utilities, some other benefits such as boat rides and more. As said before, a great way to meet lots of people and learn the area. Enjoy your time and experience.
Thats great! I hope you'll enjoy your experience. We have our reservations for July. 3rd week I think. Fishing there has been great for us. See you in July
All right Subfan , I am a huge fishing nut. I was just a kid the last time I fished Convict Lake. The reports are all good now from what I have read, large quality fish. I should have a few good spots mapped by the time you get there in July. Don't worry I'll leave a few for you, I try to catch and release mostly. However, I do love an onion stuffed bacon wrapped, brown, brook, rainbow, cutthroat, squeeze of lemon cover with aluminum foil cooked on coals bit of deliciousness. Can't wait to get there now that I'm talking fishing already. Hopefully you or anyone can message me before you leave for a fishing/weather report. They say we get internet service and we have a VZ Jetpack 890L, so we will have to check it out. See you in July!
We were required 20 hours ea. a week.( 2) 8 hour days and a half day. We worked the same hours so it was easy to do trips.
In reading through the list of camp host openings, I noted that a couple prohibit alcohol on camp property. Is this generally the rule? I can't imagine an evening without a campfire, a cigar, and a good single malt.
I don't know about other campgrounds but where we were it was not a problem that I know of, but then we did not spend a lot of time w staff after hours. As for cigars, please don't smoke one near me...it could cause my tummy to do wild things leaving you with a mess to clean up
2012 Interstate Coach
From All Over
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Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 10,868
Quote:
Originally Posted by StreamNTyme
I don't know about other campgrounds but where we were it was not a problem that I know of, but then we did not spend a lot of time w staff after hours. As for cigars, please don't smoke one near me...it could cause my tummy to do wild things leaving you with a mess to clean up
Off-topic, and meaning no offense since you're honest about why you don't like cigar smoke…
But as a former smoker (quit cold-turkey 5 years and 10 months ago. Yay, me!) I have to wonder: Why is it that people who are concerned about the health risks of secondhand smoke always complain about cigars and cigarettes, but seldom complain about aromatic pipe tobacco? Or barbecues? Or campfires? I wish more people who object to the smell of cigarette and cigar smoke would just say so, and not try to sound self-righteous about their health when inhaling other types of smoke don't bother them.
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I thought getting old would take longer!
Excuse me...it makes me sick...period! I can move away from campfires, cigarettes, pipes, cigars or whatever smoke there is. We have camped next to inconsiderate people that do not know how to build a campfire and end up smoking us out and making us sick. No smoke for me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Protagonist
Off-topic, and meaning no offense since you're honest about why you don't like cigar smoke…
But as a former smoker (quit cold-turkey 5 years and 10 months ago. Yay, me!) I have to wonder: Why is it that people who are concerned about the health risks of secondhand smoke always complain about cigars and cigarettes, but seldom complain about aromatic pipe tobacco? Or barbecues? Or campfires? I wish more people who object to the smell of cigarette and cigar smoke would just say so, and not try to sound self-righteous about their health when inhaling other types of smoke don't bother them.
Dennis I'll have to try and remember that. Please do leave some fish for us. It is only for 2 nights that we'll be there. We will be close to you actually, up the hill to the left. Can't wait. We are staying in Silver Lake for a week before getting there located in the June Lake Loop. From there we go up to Saddlebag and a few others within a short driving distance. If you get to Lee Vining, don't forget to eat at the Mobil Mart on 120 and 395. Very good food!
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, I am a huge fishing nut. I was just a kid the last time I fished Convict Lake. The reports are all good now from what I have read, large quality fish. I should have a few good spots mapped by the time you get there in July. Don't worry I'll leave a few for you, I try to catch and release mostly. However, I do love an onion stuffed bacon wrapped, brown, brook, rainbow, cutthroat, squeeze of lemon cover with aluminum foil cooked on coals bit of deliciousness
. Can't wait to get there now that I'm talking fishing already. Hopefully you or anyone can message me before you leave for a fishing/weather report. They say we get internet service and we have a VZ Jetpack 890L, so we will have to check it out. See you in July!
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