By Dallin Saurey

Many people wonder how I got into the outdoors. Maybe it began when my dad took me fishing when I was 5 years old at Henry’s Lake at the cliffs? He taught me how to bait my hook and tie my own hook. My dad continued to invite me and my friends to do stuff in the outdoors, like fishing and hunting. He made it fun.

I remember one time we went ice fishing for burbot in Clark Canyon. It was -30° and it took a half hour to an hour to drill a fishing hole. You would think the cold and frozen fingers would have made me shun ice fishing, but I don’t remember the cold bothering me. I remember catching about seven burbot (a freshwater cod) and bringing them home to eat.

My dad always planned camping trips to involve my family, and our extended family was always included in his adventures. When he took us boat fishing, we felt like his select few or even his favorites. My dad always involved his kids and grandkids in outdoor activities and some of those times were the best times I had in the outdoors.

One scout leader taught me that camping was important to learn skills to survive. I had wonderful scout leaders that taught us about the outdoors while going hiking on Bell Mountain and Saddle Bronc. 

I remember one camping trip that taught a bunch of lessons was at Jackson Lake, Wyoming. We were fishing for lake trout, but when the wind got bad, we decided to fish ‘til dark. On our way back, the waves about capsized the boat, and it was so windy that we couldn’t get to one of the shores for camp. We were praying that we would survive. My cousin’s flashlight wasn’t working until he put a dead cricket in, and it worked! That was our only way to see. One of the scout leader’s kids fell out of the boat, and he pulled him back in. Eventually we found our camp. It taught me to be respectful of the outdoors, and always appreciate the power of the elements. So, I always learned things to avoid from those experiences.

College was a wonderful place to develop a love for the outdoors. I remember going mountaineering up to Table Rock and sleeping on top of the mountain in a bevy sack. I appreciated being able to the view the Tetons and drink glacier water. I learned in college that it doesn’t matter what outdoor activity you do, if you appreciate it. Those professors were a blessing in my life teaching me to always learn new skills. It increased my love for outdoors, and my hope to teach others about the outdoors. The reason why I love the outdoors is the impacts others had on me.