By Greg Erkins greg@blockthing.com                                                     Dec 11, 2008

I went to Skinner Brothers in 1960, 61 and 62.  My parents took me to a presentation while we were staying in Sun Valley under the pretense that it was a movie, which I thought was in the local Opera House.  It was of skiing in Taos and the Pinedale boy’s camp (Skinner Brothers) at Burnt Lake which was only accessible in large 4 x 4 vehicles.  They had 2 basic monthly camping sessions and an intermediate one.  We would go on a survival trek with one bullet, a pancake, 3 matches, and a sleeping bag which we carried in on backpacks we made.  To make them we first made a needle out of a coffee tin can key, used parachute cord stripped from a parachute for thread and a burlap material with twine rope.  We shared the 22 single bolt we were given.  We were dropped off in small groups on the north end of Burnt Lake.  Courtney told me I was the first in the Intermediate Session to scale this rock for basic rock climbing which lead to 60 foot climbs while being belayed.  We would backpack into the Wind River Mountains to higher elevations and fish Golden Trout in the Alpine Lakes.  I was raised on a rainbow trout farm so different species were exciting to me.  They were big and colorful and very good to eat.  Not all the brothers were there at the same time.  It was usually 3 of them; Monte, Bob and Courtney with Ole (Sherwood) and Quinn coming in at different times.  We lived in Teepees, used an outhouse, had a mess tent and did our own dishes with extra duty at times with the kitchen pots and pans.   There were other camps like Horseshoe Lake where there was a ‘pancake pole’’.  Since this camp was used for hunts in the winter, the pole had many names already on it.  I would be at the very bottom of 19 due to my young age.  We set up the teepees and we participate in the Fur Rendezvous in July hosted in Pinedale.    It was even photographed in National Geographic.  We dressed as Indians.  We went down the Green River 3 times on wooden rafts we made and ones made by previous campers.  All the rafts had large sweeps and did not have any nails in them.  They had wood in shapes and rope to tie the tripod that nested the sweep to control the raft.   I knew every Skinner Brother, their pattern of exploring faraway places, and their father Clem and his wife Vi, who drove to my house in Idaho to give me a Norwegian Elkhound whom I named Smokey.  And those times when Monte, his wife and his 3 daughters came to our Easter Parties.  One reason I live in Alaska is my thirst for places like Wyoming and Idaho as I remember them as a kid.  The knowledge to realize that you can take care of yourself in any situation is the knowledge that the Skinner Brothers gave me.

 I have many more memories & I even had a cousin who lived there named Sharon Dady.  I have been in the ranch on the hill of Clem's and Vi's.  Monte would have remembered me the most, but Courtney would also.  You have my permission to post it.  I have many more stories,

There was an intermediate session in 1961 and 1962.  We straddled between the last 2 weeks of the first session and the first 2 weeks of the 2nd session.  The 1961 mid-intermediate session had rock training with Bob Skinner and I think Courtney but it could have been Quinn or Ole.  They were alike in many ways.  Maybe it was dropped but in both mid-intermediate session, I was trained in rock climbing.  I can remember those words: 

  "On Belay Ready For Testing"   Safety Partner above

 "Testing"  Below Climber would pull on rope to check security of safety partner above.

 "On Belay Ready For Climb"  Safety Partner Secure ready for climb.

 "Climbing"  Start of descent by Climber below.

 I remember Bob teaching/testing us on this very large boulder that was 15 - 20 feet high.  I think there were 12 of us in the session.  I can still hear him telling me (after we had all tried at least 2 or 3 times), as I maneuvered up the wall, that I had made it past the point that no one had done before.  He said I was the first of all the other kids, which was something since I was 10 going on 11 and most of the others were 16-17.  Rock climbing might have been dropped but I can tell you we learned mountaineering in both  '61 and '62. 

Greg Erkins

Summer Camp 1960, 61 & 62

Anchorage, AK

907-562-3382