Gerald Trainor

Gerald Trainor grew up in the Lahontan Valley, in the desert of central Nevada. During his high school years he would spend weekends and summers hiking and backpacking through the Great Basin lowlands and surrounding mountain ranges. There he tackled many challenges, overcame obstacles, learned how to survive and thrive under the harsh conditions the desert sometimes presents, and grew to love the desert and all that it has to offer. He learned about the desert firsthand, about the weather, plants, animals, geology, archaeology, and the lifeways and rich cultural history of the Paiute and Shoshone peoples that inhabited the area for centuries before him. It can truly be said that the desert is in his blood, and that it will never leave him.

After graduating high school he left the desert for a time and spent eight years in the U.S. Army's Special Operations. Much of this time was spent in the field, surviving and subsisting for weeks at a time deep in the bush where his wilderness skills were not only helpful, but necessary.

Later he studied archaeology, receiving his degree in anthropology from the University of Colorado. He spent seven seasons in the jungles of Belize, and throughout Central America and Mexico, studying the Mayan culture and traveling. He has also worked as a contract archaeologist in Colorado and Wyoming.

Gerald's current wilderness obsessions include minimalist and primitive wilderness experiences, ultralight backpacking, river running, mountain biking, long distance trail running, and searching out the most remote ruins and rock art he can find. He currently lives in Lafayette, Colorado where he is passing on his skills to his son.