Recommendations for Employers at the big tent?

[Iggy]

I worked as a camphost and day use attendant last summer. It paid $10.55 per hour and I averaged about 35 hours per week for five months. I was in the Sequoia National Forest at 6500' altitude, so the summer heat wasn't bad. I liked almost everything about the job, except for some fellow employees who were lazy and didn't do their jobs. That made more work for me and disgruntled campers that I had to appease. The place was about an hour and half away from any town. So I would go down once every two weeks to do grocery shopping and catch up on phone calls. No running water, electricity, internet, cell service, TV reception up there. So I did solar showers, read books, did a lot of hiking, wrote blog posts, and chatted with campers. I didn't get bored. There was a couple places to get faint cell service, if you climbed up the mountains. I plan to go back and work there again next summer.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[bullfrog]

If your looking at coolworks and want remote look at Aramark Dangling Rope at Lake Powell provides housing as you have to boat in.

 

[waverider1987]

I've always wanted to visit Oregon. I wonder if any parks from there will be at the event looking for hosts...

 

[wanderingfreeman]

Aside from camp-hosting and Amazon(which doesn't interest me in the least), what other types of employers generally show up?

 

[waverider1987]

I remember in Bob's video the people from the sugar beet harvest were there...

 

[user 15857]

"[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I've always wanted to visit Oregon. I wonder if any parks from there will be at the event looking for hosts..."[/font]

I don't know if they will be there but Highway West Vacations operates some campgrounds in national forests in Oregon.  Of course there are lots of BLM and USFS as well as Corps of Engineer campgrounds that offer camp hosting positions thought I don't think the feds offer any pay, just a campsite.

 

[wanderingfreeman]

The beet harvest sounds interesting, I hope to get a chance to talk to them. If everything goes well, I hope to be there around the 8th or so.

 

[gallica]

I've always wanted to visit Oregon.  I wonder if any parks from there will be at the event looking for hosts...

Cape Blanco State park. My favorite place in Oregon, and that is saying a lot! Last time I was there, I chatted with the docents for the Hughes House, that sits on Cape Blanco. They go back every year to work - not sure what company or concessionaire runs it- or if they get paid $ plus the campsite.  That whole part of the coast is so beautiful. The Hughes house sits on Sixes River, https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/rogue-siskiyou/recarea/?recid=74300
 
http://www.capeblancoheritagesociety.com/

 

[mpruet]

I remember in Bob's video the people from the sugar beet harvest were there...

I think that beet harvest season is over for this season...

 

[waverider1987]

In one of Bob's videos he said that camp hosting is hard work. I'm not sure exactly what hard work he is referring to, as he did mention cleaning campsites, bathrooms, and sometimes taking money for sites. Maybe he just said it was hard work because the sound of being a remote host sounds like a holiday to some people and he wanted to make it clear that you will actually be working. I work at a campground now, it's not remote and i feel like i hardly do anything....and i do clean up campsites, bathrooms, take money, etc. So i just wonder for those who have had this job, what "work" was involved for you.

 

[bullfrog]

Our first was with a concessionaire at an Army Corp of Engineers lake. One of us was required to be there 24/7, two shower houses and three restrooms cleaned and stocked twice a day, sites were pea gravel and empty ones had to be directionally raked so you could tell they had been raked, fire pits cleaned and emptied if full within 6" of the top patrol the loops 3 times a day and record leave date every morning (3 loops 75 sites altogether) and 10 PM to enforce quiet time rules. Got 7 1/2 hours minimum wage per day and paid $300 a month site rent with free utilities including propane. Ended up spending about what we made on ice cream but broke even. We were tired at the end of the season but loved doing it. Figured out volunteers got treated much better as they got a free site with all utilities, a golf cart and only worked the evenings on the weekend doing camp fire programs. We volunteered several years and eventually found some seasonal jobs where site and utilities were free and fewer hours with better pay. Because of volunteering we were offered seasonal jobs that paid well and free campsite with utilities such as security, front desk, retail clerk and shuttle driver. I ended up working seasonally for the NPS and State DNR and my wife drives a shuttle seasonally. We make enough to travel 3 months of the year easy so life is good. Worst part of seasonal work is lack of benefits but that is changing at least with the government jobs.

 

[waverider1987]

 (3 loops 75 sites altogether) 

With that many sites I can see how it would be a constant job.  The park I work at now has 10 camp sites.  I wouldn't want to maintain a camp any bigger, I don't think.

 

[Iggy]

My boss generally figured one man-hour per 5 day week for each campsite. So if you had 30 campsites to host, it should only take you 30 hours per week and that's what you would get paid for.
My campground only had 10 sites, but two days per week I also had to manage two other campgrounds, one with 14 sites (half yurts) and a group campground. My primary job was taking care of a day use area that people paid $5 to park at. Plus a lot of paperwork. So for many days I had a hard time staying under 8 hours per day (no overtime allowed).
I wouldn't say that the work was hard physically, other than being on my feet all day. When I did have any slow times, I'd pick up litter, paint picnic tables, deep clean bathrooms or storage closets, etc.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[wagoneer]

Does anybody remember "OWL" with the Forest Service is still working the Big Tent ? I know he was working at French Meadows or Cherry Lake for a while.

 

[waverider1987]

Different question...if you "live" where you work, how do people not bother you when you are "off duty"??

 

[Iggy]

They do occasionally. I just dealt with them as quickly as possible. If it was my off-time; I was usually hiking, eating, or in my van watching a DVD or reading a book. Seldom a problem, really. Camphosts in bigger campgrounds likely get bothered more.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[waverider1987]

Here’s the link to the book
http://www.rubbertrampartist.com/confessions-of-a-work-camper/

I'm reading it now....thanks

 

[bullfrog]

I posted a sign after being woke up a couple of times at 2 AM and posted a dispatch emergency number when unavailable.

 

[blars]

I've always wanted to visit Oregon. I wonder if any parks from there will be at the event looking for hosts...

CLM should be there, they do Mt Hood NF campgrounds. AL&L should also be there, but all the desirable positions were always taken before the big tent. Hoodoo was there a couple of years ago but not last year. I think there are a couple of other companies that do NF campgrounds in OR that are small and don't do the big tent.

CLM had me do 32 sites plus day use for full time. (more 2 days a week) Hoodoo had me do 60 sites (3 campgrounds) and was less work, since they gave me the tools to do it and did not expect me to greet each visitor and spend 6 hours a week doing paperwork.

Oregon state parks has volunteer hosts and paid no-site park ranger assistants. Tons of competition for the latter, positions are posted in Feb and Apr.

 

[nomadicandfree]

I am hoping there will be some camp hosts jobs that are hiring for the winter. I don't know how common they are in southern states. Looking at CLM and Amer Land Leisure I haven't really seen any winter ones. Occasionally a year round one wanting couples with and RV for busy parks. But as an assistant park ranger seasonally in oregon I was hoping for find one that is remote and somewhere in the Nov-April range. As someone who works with volunteer camp hosts (they just get the site free at oregon state parks) and runs campgrounds I can definitely say a remote park would be much easier...but likely no hookups and possibly no cell reception at all. It's not the amount of campers that makes it hard it's the quality of campers. I can say from personal experience holidays and popular big campgrounds (especially on lakes) draw people who aren't experienced campers who lack etiquette and typically are loud and drunk past quiet hours.