A native to Northern California, I am fortunate to have lived all my years in or just beneath the Sierra Nevada. My grandparents, professors and weekend warriors, raised my dad with a sense for the outdoors, encouraged my family on yearly camping trips, took me to my first REI, taught me my first two wildflowers (Lupine and Indian Paintbrush, anyone?), and profoundly inspired me with recounts and map viewings of Sierra sojourns. To follow in their steps, I began my studies in English and Environmental Science at Sierra College as a young teen, but took a leap when I accepted my first job in Yosemite for a summer away when I was 18. I never left (at least, not for long). What began as a painful season of slinging burgers at the Village Grill blossomed into a life of nonstop exploration, dedication to the study of my surroundings, winters abroad traipsing new mountain ranges, and a career in guiding. After four fulfilling years on the trail with the Yosemite Mountaineering School, I transitioned to a life in the backcountry, working for NPS Trail Crew, where I gained a fascinating new perspective of the miles of trail beneath my feet and redefined what it personally meant to work hard. The next career move came as I sought to rekindle the experience of teaching and connecting with visitors and accepted a new position running a volunteer program for Yosemite Conservancy, where we maintained and restored trails and meadow habitat throughout the park. As the world shifted during the pandemic, so did mine. I said goodbye to the full-time homes with nylon walls and my truck shell camper, and moved to a real house in Midpines, where my partner, our rescue pup and I look across to the expanse of the Clark Range every day, and I train in the hills for a glorious season in the High Sierra with SYMG.

Dahlia Blau grew up along the California coast but now resides where she can be close to the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains. Some of her favorite activities growing up involved swimming, kayaking, river rafting, and desert camping. Now, her soul resides in the mountains where she can trek, climb, hike, ski, trail run, and swim in the alpine lakes. When Dahlia isn’t in the mountains she can be found exploring the canyons of Utah. Dahlia graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2015 with a degree in Environmental/Biology. It was at UC Santa Cruz that she discovered her passion for opting outdoors and being a naturalist. By observing nature and doing some of her favorite activities such as birding and botanizing, she can share the importance of our natural resources with others. One of her greatest accomplishments so far has been completing the Khumbu Three Pass trek in Nepal during the summer of 2015. Along the trek she had the opportunity to visit Everest Base Camp and to sit at 18,500ft looking up at the top of Everest Mountain itself. Her philosophy: Feed your soul through curiosity.

It's been a strange road to this job for me. A Bay Area native, I studied linguistics at UCSD and worked for years as a paralegal in San Diego. On my first backpacking trip in college, I walked 20+ miles in inappropriate footwear and spent a few cold nights in front of the fire without a sleeping bag, and I absolutely loved it. Soon, I was spending most of my free time and some not so free time plotting and executing adventures to the endless wild places of California. Instead of law school, I took a sabbatical from the office to go live on a fishing boat in Alaska. I had a total blast working outdoors, 12 to 17 hours a day?or more often, night?during one of the harshest winters in Alaskan history. My reasons for pursuing a law degree were lost at sea. I finally quit the legal business, and I'm now an EMT with a certification in wilderness medicine. To date, I've walked and climbed thousands of miles in, on and around the Sierra including a solo 200+ mile hike of the Sierra High Route. In the winter, I work (using the term loosely) as a ski patroller. I'm not a morning person and don't tell my bosses, but getting up at 5 a.m. to throw explosives and ski fresh powder is something I'd without a doubt do for free. The rewards of working as a guide at SYMG are likewise numerous. To name just a few, you meet people of all ages and backgrounds from around the world and can often play a part in bringing those people to the realization that they are capable of great things in the outdoors. Your office is the big outside, and reading up on geology or mountaineering techniques or culinary arts is no longer procrastination; it's study time. Last and perhaps least, the water from glacial tarns does absolute wonders for beard growth. In short, I've found my dream job.

I began my life in the outdoors on camping trips in the Northwest with family the scout troop, around Mt Hood, Bend, and the Oregon coast. I went to a university in southern California for philosophy and economics, spending formative summers guiding on the coast of south-central Alaska in the Kenai Fjords National Park. My experience there, with deep, committing wilderness and incredible beauty, taught me the real value of spending time in the outdoors and sharing that with those around me. I dug into life in the mountains, exploring the ways to climb, ski, hike, and paddle the wilderness, deepening my experience as a guide as I went. I love the chance to share this Yosemite area. The best trips, in my opinion, are evenly balanced experiences that dig into both the stillness and beauty of the wilderness and the rewards of personal challenge. The Sierra Nevada makes an incredible backdrop for such experiences!