On Martin Luther King weekend I had the pleasure of backpacking the Appellation trail on a cold weather camping trip with my sons Boy Scout trip.  It’s a trip we make every January and I always look forward to it.  We decided to arrive Friday night after a 4 hour drive and hike 2 ½ miles, climbing 2600 feet, so that we could sleep in the Roan Mountain Shelter.  The Roan Mountain Shelter is the highest shelter on the Appellation trail.  Around Midnight, after hiking in two to three feet of snow, we arrived at the shelter under a cold, clear sky, the Milky Way lighting our way.

We awoke the next day and hiked about 5 miles, again in 2-3 feet of snow, until we arrived at the next shelter.  This shelter was small and only had three sides so we used it as a place to dine and play cards while we pitched tents and prepared for a windy and snowy/rainy night.  We knew there was a chance of rain but hoped that we were high enough on the mountain that it would snow, rather than rain.  This is when things started to fall apart.  When you pitch a tent in snow, traditional tent stakes don’t hold.  We tried to use downed tree branches as steaks and they worked well at first until the winds broke 30 miles an hour and the rain, not snow, was blowing sideways.  We did the best we could with what we had and tried to sleep with the wind howling and the rain pelting our tents.  I didn’t sleep well but I managed to stay dry.  I later realized that I was the only one is our group that stayed dry that night although my boots under the rain fly weren’t so lucky, therefore my feet would be wet all day.   Everyone was wet and it was a cold, windy 35 degree morning.  We decided to eat and pack quickly and then try to keep moving forward and hike out to where we had a truck parked about 6 miles away.  

When you are wet and cold, as long as you keep moving, you can keep from getting hypothermia and frost bite.  The key was to keep moving and heat up the moister in our cloths.  The first half of our Trek was on a virgin trail, three feet of snow that no one had walked on since the snow had fallen.  On the Appellation Trail the blaze markings are spread out about one every fifth to one every tenth of a mile.  As a team we found our way to the over mountain trail 3 miles away at a rate of less than one mile per hour and then proceeded to head down about 3000 feet to our car.   At this point we were struggling to find the trail and found ourselves hiking through a briar patch.  A branch flew back and penetrated my left eye.  I was in saver pain but realized I would have to suck it up in order to make our truck by dark.  If we didn’t make it, then we would risk hypothermia and possible frost bight.  We moved forward.  At 5:15 pm after hiking for 7 hours, we made it to the truck and drove to the hospital and home. 

I look back now, mostly out of my right eye, and think about what I learned from the trek and the ordeal.  Mostly it is this, when you have no choice but to achieve a goal, a literal life and death situation, leaders figure out a way to make it happen.  In the past 18 months, the restaurant business has been on the brink of disaster and yet many companies, including yours, decided to move forward or change direction and are better for it today.  Others through up their hands gave up and made excuses.  They are now in the restaurant graveyard.  If you work for a company that has shifted direction but kept moving over the past year then you should be very happy.  Even though you may have had to alter your plans and move in a different direction then originally planned, you are still here, delivering guest service every day.

Although I believe the worst is behind us, we all must keep our eye on the prize, providing excellent customer service and delivering on guest expectations.   In 2010, I pledge that I will do just that, to my candidates and clients.  They are my customers.