Melatonin MountaineersEst. 2020: Five Goobers, One Tent
The Melatonin Mountaineers started as a handful of friends looking for an excuse to get outside together. It turned into wading through the Narrows, white-knuckling the chains on Angels Landing, and standing at overlooks that make the drive worth it.
No pros here, just a group that shows up, laces up, and keeps a running tally of which parks are left.
Nobody chose their own. That is not how trail names work.
CFO
Deep lunges, National Park Ranger uniforms, and absinthe straight from the bottle are a few of Andrew's favorite things. Our strongest cyclist... and the one who manages our finances. Unfortunately for us, Andrew is also the member who reminds us that a splurge for an experience is a life investment, or something like that. You know you've made it to Andrew's inner circle if he invites you to belly slap together.
CMO & HR Manager
The over-packer, the undisputed sticker champion, and the man who is not allowed to eat beans on any trip: Beau is our man of many talents. From skinning a fish to actually starting fires and curing our wounds, Beau is the one who makes sure that when stuff inevitably goes wrong, we are okay. He's the country boy amongst suburban kids, and he lets us know it. But don't count on him to have packed his microspikes.
CTO
From hyping up his new fire-starting kit for days and then forgetting to bring it the day of, to opening the trunk of the SUV and having all the suitcases fall onto him: Nick seems to find misfortune on each of our trips. He's the one in charge of where we eat and drink, and he is usually the root of most of our group's belly laughs.
COO
THE planner. Mark has campsites booked, routes planned and hikes picked the minute we have a park selected. A reservation queue and an extra piney beer hate to see him coming. Between belting The Greatest Showman and sporting his speed shades, Mark can be found designing his upcoming Melatonin Mountaineers tattoo or measuring his displacement with buckets.
CEO
Awaiting the team's write-up.
The most exciting day of the year! We all get together, share some Chinese takeout, and pitch to each other our ideas for our next trip. A backlog of our trip pitches can be found in the Trip Archive tab.
Mark will often lead the charge on organizing a selection of campgrounds, hikes, and activities, roughing out the framework of the trip.
Nick will lead the effort to pick the restaurants and breweries we will hit along the way.
Usually with a 15-passenger van and our shared tent packed away, we pile in and depart for another memorable excursion.
The crest on the left is the primary Melatonin Mountaineers mark; everything else is a one-off, designed for a specific trip.
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