MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Summer 2018

SUMMER 2018 ML BLUE 119 BIO PHILIAC words and photos :: Leslie Anthony The message came in late—could I help out with leading a nature walk the next day? Of course you can, people I know would snicker. But then, they really don’t know me. Despite having been a high school teacher, university lecturer and frequent public speaker, anything that comes with the weight of expectation unnerves me—at least momentarily. Suddenly, everything I know seems trivial and unworthy of sharing. How could I possibly help out on a nature walk when all I’m really good at is writing about it? Besides, only keeners sign up for nature walks, I fretted, and they’ll want to know about things like birds and ferns and flowers when all I have to offer are anecdotes about creepy crawlies like snakes, frogs and bugs. In reality, I’d probably absorbed enough ancillary bio-info from a range of geeky associates to fill an entire book (which, I realized, I had already done on more than one occasion), so I was probably selling myself short. And the man who made the offer—a well-known purveyor of numerous eco-touristic experiences—knew it. “You’ll do fine,” he coaxed. “It’s leisurely—these people are on vacation and just looking forward to a fun morning on the trails.” I conceded. Still, I demanded a wing man. A mentor. That’s because I needed to formally apprentice—however briefly—as something I’d more-or-less been all my adult life but never quite owned: a Nature Guide. With no idea what to expect, I rendezvous in the morning with three other guides (all exceptionally experienced) at the designated time. A UK tour group that has pinballed through Canada for 10 days from their starting point of Calgary, rolled into my adopted town of Whistler the previous evening. There are thirty or so hikers and the plan for our three-hour tour (I hear the Gilligan’s Island theme song playing) is to divide into a fast- walking group with little talking, a slow-walking group with lots of talking, and a group somewhere in the middle with a reasonably equal walk/talk ratio. I’m assigned to that posse, and I’m assisting Janice, who, in addition to having done this a bazillion times, is super knowledgeable and super nice. THE NATURE GUIDE IT’S TRUE: NATURE NEVER, EVER FAILS TO IMPRESS If you’re a nature guide, a salamander in hand is worth two in the bush.