Hike Across the Park

Hike West to East and Back
We hiked this past Tuesday from the west side of RMNP to the east, arriving at the Bear Lake trailhead. It was a sunny and beautiful day. We also added a side trip up Halletts Peak, where the views were spectacular. We met some of our co-workers, as well as our ranger KBow, on the east side and had dinner at the Mary’s Lake Lodge and stayed in a motel in Estes Park that night. The next day, we hiked back but hit terrible weather. We started under cloudy skies and walked up into the clouds with no views and high winds. Fortunately, we never got a combination of high winds and rain, but were greeted by the rain as we descended on the west side after the wind had subsided. No big deal, we hiked the last five miles in a steady rain and arrived at our destination feeling like water rats, but safe. Oh yeah, it was fun watching KBow tear down parts of cairns that were helping mark the trail. She didn’t think they belonged in wilderness, but there was no way she was going to be able to tear them all down. I think they would be very helpful during whiteouts or when snow is on the ground and you can’t see the foot path. The Wilderness Act doesn’t specifically mention cairns, but the idea is that the land should appear untrammeled by man.

Get Together - We had a gathering of the folks we work with at Holzwarth Historic Site (where we also live, as a reminder). Included were KBow and her husband John and her friend Pam from NPS Services Center in Denver. KBow enjoyed the cairn we made for her right in the road leading into the site; they had to steer around it. What a perfect night, we grilled Alaskan salmon with Wegman’s Santa Fe sauce, under a gorgeous moon and calm weather and were able to sit around the fir comfortably. Pam had worked in numerous parks before and told us that her big career milestone was when she became the gate bitch while she worked at the Grand Tetons. She rode with another ranger and had to open the gates with a NPS key, needing to distinguish which of the many locks to unlock the gate with. Wait a minute, that sounds like what Kathy does on a continual basis as we come and go through the Holzwarth Historic Site! Gate Birch! Belongs on her resume, Pam assured her.

Recognition Dinner & Sad Farewell
There is two weeks left for us and many others here at RMNP. But the “Circle of Excellence” dinner and recognition event for all the many volunteers was held this past Saturday. Those of us who were new at RMNP this year were given special recognition (they want us all back) as well as several others who have been long time volunteers here, putting in a thousand hours or more. Rah rah to us and them. We also had to bid farewell to two of our student (SCA) interns, Sarah and Alyssa, who are returning to their college studies, We were saddened to say goodbye to them as they were both wonderful to work with over the summer. We hope to hear from them as they work to finish their studies and find their place in protecting our planet for the future.

Isabella Bird & Mountain Jim
Isabella Bird was an amazing traveler and author who visited the Rocky Mountains in the 1870’s and climbed Long’s Peak with Mountain Jim’s help in 1873. She wrote “A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains” which was a best seller and helped to promote the area around Estes |Park which would eventually become the national park. Isabella traveled to many other remote parts of the world and wrote many other books. One of the reasons that she traveled so much was that she would fall ill when not traveling. As long as she was in the grip of adventure and the unknown, she would feel better. She reputedly had a romance with Mountain Jim, and he proposed marriage to her. But she chose travel instead, which reminds us of our friend Tracy who worked with us last year at Bryce.

More things a Ranger wish they could say:
1. If you get closer to that moose, you can pet it!
2. You can only shoot the wildlife using a camera with blanks.
3. Let me pick that fringed gentian for you, but you can pay the $10,000 fine.
4. There is no speed limit in the park, but you may have a limit of what you want removed from your wallet.
5. That’s a nice dog you have there, and we hope the $100 fine for bringing it up this trail was worth it to your dog.
6. Mountains don’t care, and if you get stranded in high country during bad weather, we hope you don’t care that we expect you to stay the night and we’ll see you in the morning.
7. Do you want your child to earn their Jr. Ranger badge or do you just want us to give it to them?

The New York contingent here in RMNP (besides us):
Kbow’s husband John, NYC upbringing and Hartwick College, grad.
Karen, the west side’s SAR coordinator and medic, from Sacandaga Lake.
Seasonal Ranger Sam, from Bath, teaches science in Granby High school.

News & Notes:
1. Kathy talked with a couple in the Visitor Center who had tried to help a man back up from one of the faces of Long’s Peak a few years ago, then watched in horror as he fell to his death. They said they now don’t take any chances and are extremely careful when hiking any difficult terrain.
2. We met a delightful family from the UK, the youngest child was the most talkative. He was a very bright 7 year old, and spoke in that proper Brit way. Some of his quotes:
- “Apparently a bear had been in our campsite the night before.”
- “I managed to step in some fresh bear poop.”
- “There were 300 bison who were causing a major blockage.” (Yellowstone)

3. A man in his 30’s was reported of having either a heart attack or stroke while up near Thunder Pass yesterday. But since he was in good shape and walked down the trail on his own to a waiting ambulance, he could have suffered acute altitude sickness. The symptoms can be the same: head ache. nausea, general weakness, shortness of breath to name a few.