In the Depths of the Shallows

By Kendra Nemeth

Army crawl: incrementally moving forward by shuffling your elbows and knees while lying flat on your stomach and supporting your upper body with your elbows. When we think of this movement, we think of military boot camps, barbed wire, and Spartan Races. Snorkeling is far from our thoughts; an activity associated with tropical fish, ocean landscapes, warmth, and the breaststroke. But for me, snorkeling brings to mind memories of a sore body that Army-crawled through the streams of Idaho.

It was the summer of 2003, I was eighteen and had landed my dream job with the seasonal fish crew stationed in the McCall office of the U.S. Forest Service. I grew up adventuring in the outdoors surrounding the New Meadows area. I loved being in the woods, smelling the pine (especially the butterscotch of the ponderosa), camping, fishing, hunting, hiking, and gathering tasty treats that grow wild. I couldn’t think of a better way to earn money during this season than to get paid to explore, observe, and monitor Idaho’s outdoors.