Naturalist/Backcountry Camp Cook
Agency: Yellowstone Wilderness Outfitters
Location: Yellowstone National Park
Job Description: Experience the best backcountry Yellowstone National Park has to offer! Use your wildlife and botany knowledge to work as a naturalist for Yellowstone Wilderness Outfitters. You will have the opportunity to view grizzlies, black bears, moose, and wolves all while interpreting Yellowstone's hottest conservation issues for our guests. Guiding horseback tours in Yellowstone is the adventure of a lifetime. You are not just a tour guide; you are a Yellowstone ecology expert. You'll learn all about the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and add extensive backcountry experience to your resume.
Interpersonal skills are vital to interacting with our guests. A guide must be able to field any and all questions about Yellowstone National Park. Knowledge of wildlife, wildflowers, general ecology, geology, and history is essential. We will point you toward materials that will help you prepare. You are essentially naturalists working on horseback. The job requires lifting 50 lbs or more, working in all weather conditions at altitudes of 6,000 to 10,000 feet, very long hours, and very few days off.
This position is for a backcountry cook. You with be in charge of all cooking on all of our pack trips. We run trips from four to six days every week for 14 weeks. Pack trips are camping trips into the Yellowstone wilderness on horseback. We camp in tents and sleeping bags and ride horses 15 miles per day. This position requires a great deal of interacting with our guests. You will help them on the trail and discuss Yellowstone with them over dinner. Each day you will be responsible for cooking breakfast, preparing lunches to take on the trail, and cooking dinner. You will also help with packing up food and equipment on the mules. This is truly a great chance to put your naturalist skills to the test and gain invaluable backcountry experience.
Ideal camp cooks also have great people skills as you are just as much a hostess to your camp as a cook. Keeping the fire on, the coffee hot and the atmosphere warm and friendly is an important part of backcountry hospitality.
If you plan to spend all of your summer nights in the local bars, please donŐt waste your time and ours applying for this position. We expect all applicants to have a genuine desire to be in Yellowstone National Park.
The month of June will include training and guiding some day rides. Pack trips begin in July. We are based out of Gardiner, MT at the North entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Housing is required on site, shared with other guides, and you are responsible for about $200 in monthly rent. Pets are not allowed.
Qualifications: Our season runs from May 30th to October 3rd. A bachelor's degree is preferred. Previous naturalist or guiding experience is a plus, but not mandatory. Successful applicants will be able to demonstrate that they have worked with horses and have competent riding skills. Applicants must be physically fit, at least 21 years old and must arrive with valid Red Cross First Aid certification. A valid driverŐs license and clean driving record are required (preference given to applicants willing to obtain a CDL).
This is an outdoor job and you will be required to provide the equipment needed to be in the backcountry. The following items are required: Zero degree sleeping bag, ThermaRest, winter coat, long underwear, warm gloves, waterproof boots, insulated boots, western wear and hat, rain gear (slicker or jacket and pants), filter water bottle, Leatherman Wave (with serrated knife), headlamp. These are basic items that every outdoor enthusiast should own. If you arrive without any of this equipment, you will be immediately dismissed.
Salary: $350.00 per week, plus tips
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Be sure to check out the number one selling CD in Yellowstone by your guide, Jett Hitt. It is a full scale violin concerto recorded by the Slovak Radio Symphony.
