We are workcamping or workkamping at Redman Campground in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest this summer. I will explain our job so that those seeking information about working camping can read about our experiences in order to make a decision about whether they want to workcamp in a similar situation.
We were hired by American Land & Leisure of Orem, Utah to be campground hosts at the Redman Campground. Redman wasn't opened until June 22nd because of the snow that this part of the Wasatch-Cache NF receives. When we arrived there was still snow on the ground in some places.
AL&L runs the Redman Campground and its sister campground Spruces in Big Cottonwood Canyon east of Salt Lake City for the National Park Service. AL&L hires and fires campground personnel and provides the adminstrative services to keep the camp ground up and running. This relieves the Forest Service of a lot of headaches. Instead of riding herd on a bunch of flighty and crotchety campground hosts that they would have to hire, train, and supervise all they have to do is call Orem when there is a problem with a campground host punching out a customer for knocking on their door at 10:30 pm.
This is our first campground hosting experience. When we backed into our site at Redman we were as green as the huge pines surround us. Our supervisors, Dan and Jo Leach, took us under their wing and, as former hosts of Redman, showed us the ropes.
We were, through no fault of Don and Jo, thrown to the wolves so to speak because we got there and one week later were faced with 22 campers lined up at the gate, waiting to get a spot to camp in. We had worked all week to get things ready but we really weren't. We had a lot of physical problems with the campground that needed to be fixed and weren't. The campers never ever complained, to my surprise, about conditions. They were happy to have such a beautiful place up and running for the summer and would overlook minor problems that I, being inexperienced, thought were major problems. Then after the hectic opening we faced the 4th of July weekend.
Our positions are paid positions. We were suppose to work 45 hours total between us in return for a full-hook up spot and $5.15/hour. These positions are not volunteer positions. One of our first problems was that 45 hours for 43 sites is not enough time to do the job. It is hard to break down our hours at this point because of opening the campground then turning around and facing a major holiday weekend right after it. Both periods are unusual and required lots of work. We worked 55 hours the first week and 57.5 the second week. At this point it seems like we have almost full time jobs. This is not what we wanted or expected. We are hanging in though because we realize that we have endured two of the worse high traffic days for a campground - opening day and a major holiday. If we continue to log more than combined 40 hours a week we will be really disappointed. If we wanted a full-time job we could certainly find one for more than $5.15 per hour although probably not in such a beautiful place.
Serving as campground hosts has a lot of positive aspects and just a few negative ones. There are problems at times that crop up - usually because we do not have any spaces left to put people. Our paperwork has gotten us in trouble a couple of times because we assigned two groups to the same spot or didn't properly note when someone was leaving. Our signage was causing us headaches too because people did not know where to go or what to do. We are slowly straightening those problems out by refining our check-in procedures and by putting up clear and concise signs that people can read from their car window when they enter the campground.
Our duties involve a lot of contact with campers. In our campground we have primarily tent campers, a few pop-up campers, and a few motor home 'campers'. We have no amendities except for communal toilets. There aren't showers. Tent campers expect little except a level site and a fire pit. They are tickled pink to get a site at all because of the demand. Some are disappointed that there is not a reservation system for the sites. Group sites are reservable through ReserveUSA for a fee. The people we encounter each day are great. This Utah and most people are polite, understanding when there is a problem, and make few if any demands. After this we will never host in New York. We have been spoiled by the good people of Utah.
Our daily schedule depends on how full the campground is. If we are full we can do little but turn people away who can't read the "Campground is Full" sign at the gate. Once we are full we can do pretty much what we want. The campground is usually full on Friday and Saturday night. During the week we might have as few as five spots occupied. There can be a constant stream of people pulling in to register or We do 2 daily tasks even on our day off - our 7:30 pm check of the campground and a morning check of the restrooms (5 of them plus 2 pit toilets). When we do the morning check we check vacant sites for trash and dig out the fire pits as well as inspect the restrooms. Since this campground is in Utah, there has been no restroom or campsite vandalism and most people leave their sites very clean even though we are 15 miles from a major metropolitan area. We have nightly book work where I total the day's receipts. That can take up to an hour to complete.
There have been lots of interesting situations and people we have encountered so far.
9:30 pm, temperature 41 degrees and dropping, and there is a knock at the door. "Can I borrow a blanket?" says a shivering customer.
We pass a camp site during our rounds and a man runs out and asks, "Do you have a bar of soap I can buy?"
A cute young lady pulls up to the host site, gets out, and walks over and asks, "Can you set my tent up for me?"
We visit a camp site and as I sit in the Gator Seven walks over to see how the campers are doing. The husband comes over and gives her a big hug. Then the wife almost runs over and also gives her a hug. Seven had given them one of the best camping sites in the campground after they were sure that we wouldn't have one for them.
Gate is closed, 10:30 pm on Saturday night, all of our shades in the RV are pulled, drive sign says "Campground is Full", and there is a knock at the door.
Man pulls up in his Jeep and steps around to the back of it. He pulls out a 8" diameter log that is 8 feet long and says, "Can you use your chainsaw to cut this up for me?"
After a big rain the night before there is a soft knock at the door. I look out and do not see anyone so I open the door. A small girl stands there and asks if I have seen their cooler in the stream. The stream washed it away during the storm. I say no but if they walk the banks they should find it pretty quickly because of all the logs across the stream.
Been invited for cocktails and for beer.
Let a girl use our electrical outlet to blend her coffee.
Stopped and talked to a man sitting in a camp chair who was scanning the trees with his binoculars looking for a three-toed woodpecker.
Work camping for us has been fun so far. If you are reading this to learn about camp ground hosting, we recommend that you choose your place and who you work for carefully. Our supervisors and the company we work for are first class and that makes getting questions answered and getting support when there are problems not a hassle. Be careful about selecting an assignment without understanding who the customers are and where they are coming from. All it takes is one or two bad apples every weekend to ruin a great experience and if you do not have support from your supervisors, company, and the local law enforcement you could be in physical danger or have to spend all your time on enforcement of rules. If possible talk to someone who has worked at the campground or camped there in the past.
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