California 2012

California called, my son Ben’s wedding to the lovely Nicole was set for August 25. Kathy and I were enticed to go out 17 days earlier to meet up with our friends Larry and Jennifer to backpack a 36 mile section of the John Muir Trail. Larry had done the complete 215 miles of the JMT over a few years, and he obtained the necessary permit that started us near the Devil’s Postpile National Monument and ended at Tuolumne Meadow inside Yosemite National Park. It was a stunning section of trail, going by numerous alpine lakes and over two high passes. We were within a stone’s throw of Lyell Glacier after we had crossed over Donahue Pass on the third day. Kathy and I took a dip in a very cold glacial lake as threatening clouds started gathering in the north, the direction we were headed. We would have enjoyed the trip even more except for the fact that we got hammered with bad weather the first three days. The mornings were free from rain, but by afternoon the clouds built up and dropped rain before we could set up camp each night. So each night, under duress, we scrambled to find a place to camp and set up our tents in the rain. Then we would hurry into our tents, leaving our wet outer clothing outside. It was impossible to keep many of our things dry, although we made sure our sleeping bags and change of clothes were well protected from the wet. When the rain let up enough, we would venture outside to cook dinner, then scurry back inside the tent when the rain resumed. The third night turned out to be the most pleasant; it actually stayed free from rain most of the evening. Kathy and I wandered around Lyell Canyon (it’s actually more like a valley where we were) after dinner. Larry and Jennifer stayed in their tents though, and we decided to scare them with a wild animal sound as we snuck up next to their tent. It could have been a bear, or coyote or maybe just a deer snorting but they were not taking any chances as Jen started yelling and Larry frantically searched for his whistle. What a hoot! We quickly identified who we were so they wouldn’t carry on too much and die of fright in their own tent. After we returned our friends to their rental car in Mammoth Lakes, Kathy and I got a permit to hike from the Inyo National Forest up through Bishop Pass and drop down into Dusy Basin, a wonderful high country area in the remote northern part of Kings Canyon National Park. The weather for this three day trip turned out to be much nicer than our first backpack. There was only a little rain as we ended our first day on the trail. The rain subsided and we set up a base camp near a scenic unnamed lake, which was at elevation 10,742. There were other campers around, and we chatted with one older gentleman who knew the area well. He said he wasn’t doing anything serious, just ‘playing around’ although he had been out several days. He pointed out what the different peaks were in the Palisades, an imposing range which towered above us mainly to the east. A few of them were 14ers; we had met a party of four guys that were going to be climbing a couple of them; they were with a guide who knew the best routes and could set the necessary ropes where they would need them. These were rough looking peaks, although we did a couple of 14ers in Colorado, we were not ready to tackle any of these in the Sierras. One of the Palisades, Mt. Aggasiz is the tallest 13er in the Sierras, and we were told by a few people that it could be climbed right from Bishop Pass fairly easily. We had scanned it when we were at the pass but could not find any discernible route we would wish to try. Plus there was a tremendous amount of scree. The older gentleman camping near us said he had climbed it, but it wasn’t fun with the scree. That settled it for me, I wouldn’t climb Aggasiz this trip. The next morning as I was lying awake at 5:30 I heard a snort or growl, not sure which, of an animal close to our tent. I lay there for a few moments collecting my thoughts and listening for any more sounds. The animal was stealth and made no more noise. Kathy was not as awake as I and didn’t hear it as clearly. I started moving the zipper back and forth to make a sound and hopefully scare the thing off. It must have worked because shortly after we heard several loud splashes in the nearby stream as it was getting away; it was a large animal. Or was it Larry and Jen getting even with us? We got out of our tents but it was too dark to see anything, so we started getting ready for our day. We left early for a hike down into LeConte Canyon where we explored around and met with the ranger at the ranger station. We told him about the animal sound and he said it could have been a bear or a deer; we were surprised that bears would be up that high in elevation but he should have known. We got back to our camp early in the afternoon and had time to explore one of the high ridges overlooking our lake. There were some hidden lakes on the other side that looked inviting, and numerous distant nobs and peaks that stirred me with restlessness. But gazing down at our lake and seeing our campsite gave me a sense of security and a feeling of having a place here in the Sierra wilderness. Our hike back to civilization was made more enjoyable by conversing a good bit of the way back up to Bishop Pass with our new friend Ron from Rough & Ready, CA. Ron had been backpacking for nine days with fishing buddies, and talking to him made me realize how much I was missing by not fishing these lakes. Next time I will bring some fishing equipment. We also went up Chocolate Peak on the way, a delightful relatively easy climb where we got a 360 view at the top. The area we had spent the last few days is a multi-use area. Besides fisher people, there were backpackers like us, day hikers (mainly on the north side of Bishop Pass), packers bringing in supplies to others in the backcountry, and long distance hikers on the JMT, which ran through LeConte Canyon. One JMT thru-hiker we encountered had hiked over Bishop Pass from the JMT to the trailhead at South Lake to pick up a food drop. That made it a 25 mile day and over 5000 feet of elevation! We thought that was a lot to deal with for a food drop, but food is important to thru hikers. He said with a laugh that he was going to be very tired at the end of the day. We spent a few more days in Yosemite with my daughter Colleen before we ventured up to Sonoma County for Ben and Nicole’s wedding. Colleen met us in Tuolumne Meadow where we hiked up Lembert Dome, after getting temporarily separated as she had gone ahead to Dog Lake. We could see Donahue Pass and Lyell Glacier from on top the dome. One suggestion to the park: the Tuolomne Meadows area is lacking for a good picnic area! We ended up stopping at a secluded parking area and picnicking on the ground. Colleen rented a condo in Yosemite West, which was easy access to Glacier Point. We went up to Glacier Point twice for some hiking, doing the upper part of the spectacular Four Mile trail, Sentinel Dome, and a good portion of the Panorama Trail. There were great Views of Yosemite Valley and Half Dome on all three hikes. Colleen did pretty well for not being fully acclimatized for the altitude. We also made the trip down to Mariposa Grove to see the giant Sequoias which never cease to amaze me. Two more big events that I will cover in other posts: 1. Nicole and Ben’s wedding, but you can see a really good preview of it at nicoleandbenswedding.com 2. Climbing Half Dome in Yosemite, an incredible day.

Mountain Rescue

CAUTION: Long entry, with maybe way too much detail of my accident, sorry about that. The first paragraph sums up my rescue.

August 18, 2011
I lay still for about ten seconds. Kathy and KBow were calling to me, but I don’t remember that. Kathy’s heart was sinking as she desperately gazed at my lifeless form, but then I rose. You could say that I rose like the Phoenix; at least I came back from an alternate reality. The fact that my injuries were not life threatening was pretty amazing. I got down off that mountain to a point where I could be airlifted out by a Grand County SAR helicopter, or Life Flight. I was extremely lucky, I could have spent an overnight on that mountain, like many accident victims do. I could have died or had far worse injuries. Ranger KBow made a persuasive call on her cell phone and convinced the park and SAR that a chopper rescue was the best course of action. Normally, a ground crew needs to be sent up first; then after they make an assessment, they determine whether to call for a helicopter. Even though we were above 11,000 feet, KBow convinced them that with the weather cooperating, there should be low risk for the helicopter to land and take off.

Kathy had been in the lead most of the way up to the ridge, which we counted on taking us to the summit of Bowen Mountain. We surveyed the terrain ahead once we crested and could see some potential trouble spots along the ridge route, but decided to press on and see how things looked closer up. We got through a notch and then I ended up going first, lucky me. The way was full of large boulders and ups and downs; it was rough terrain. This could take a while, it was now about 1:00 and I was starting to wonder if we would have enough time to reach the summit, although it was not far off the way the crow flies. So, what caused my fall? All I remember is a big rock (boulder) was in my way and I was trying to get around it. The rock and all the land around it gave way and I tumbled into a strange hellish world of chaos. I remember the falling and tumbling, the moment the rock dislodged is a little fuzzier. But it was me and the rock racing down a steep scree slope, the rock was pretty close for a moment; it might have hit me but I am not sure. I hit my head hard on the ground, both in the front and in the back. The whole experience was surreal. I suffered a concussion, which would be another factor in getting me out of there without much delay. My companions heard the rock and didn’t know what to make of it at first. Kathy estimates I went about 50 feet before I came to a stop, but she only saw the last 20 feet; at that point I was basically sliding. Kbow thought I went 100 feet, but she always estimates high so the distance was probably between 50 and 100 feet. But regardless, if I had not come to a stop, there was a long drop of 1000 or more feet below me. I wouldn’t have survived that.

I stood up after lying still for ten seconds, and immediately started looking around for my glasses, which had fallen off. KBow had worked her way down close to me, but was in a precarious position. Kathy had worked her way back to a notch, a relatively safe area that we traversed through earlier. Hearing my concern about finding my glasses, Kathy felt relieved but KBow told me in no uncertain terms that I was in no position to be making any decisions about things like glasses right then and that I was to get my sorry butt up to where Kathy was. I complied immediately, which impressed my two companions and followed Kathy as she guided me up. My jacket was lying a short way away, having fallen off the back of my camelback. KBow, to her credit, did try to reach for that but quickly decided it had to be left where it was. Besides my glasses and jacket, I littered the mountainside with my Droid which I had been foolishly wearing on my belt. I lost several good pictures of the hike.

After I made it with Kathy up to the notch, which didn’t take long, she and KBow held it together as they worked feverishly to stem the bleeding from my head wounds. They used every pad and bandage from their joint first aid kits, and every bandana we had to wrap my head up. After finishing up with that, I suggested they look at the middle finger on my left hand. They pulled off the glove I was wearing, which revealed a totally mangled appendage, open wound and dangling helplessly on my hand. Kathy silently thought ‘surgery’ to herself and KBow had to turn her head and fight off a strong urge to empty the contents of her stomach. Nevertheless, they bandaged up the finger, using a small lighter as a splint, and putting Kathy’s mitten over the hand as extra protection. I knew my ankle was hurt, so my boot was kept on to keep it stable, it also allowed me to walk on it. I somehow made it up the notch, which was a tricky piece of climbing. Then I somehow made it down the steep slope to a flat area where we were hoping a helicopter could land. I combined walking (hobbling) and butt sliding to make the descent. It might have been close to 400 feet of descent, and it took the better part of an hour; I think it was close to 2:30 when we got down. I was asked by a few colleagues in the park later how I managed to get down; it was really not that remarkable. I knew I had to do it, my adrenaline was working and I was focused on assisting in my own rescue the best I could..

The Life Flight arrived about a half hour later. It circled overhead first and then dropped down a bit below us. A medic came up to where we were and checked me out. He asked if I could walk with his assistance and I said I could. So in a few minutes we made it to the waiting helicopter and they strapped me in a gurney and hoisted me in. There were only two crew members, the medic and pilot, they had to leave another medic or flight nurse back in the valley as the higher elevation and higher temps necessitated keeping the weight down as much as possible. I asked if I could sit up so I could see the sites and they allowed me to. I kissed Kathy goodbye and blew KBow a kiss, and made sure they got the chocolate I was carrying, as they were going to need plenty of energy to hike back. The copter took off and even though I couldn’t see as well without my glasses, I had some great views. It landed in the valley to pick up the third crew member. Everyone around, both at Holzwarth and the nearby campground was wondering what was going on with the helicopter, as I would learn later. There was also a rescue crew assembled of about eight people; they were ready to go up in case the copter couldn’t pick me up.

The Life Flight took me to the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, a trauma center. So it had to fly east over the park. It flew low, following the canyons, and a few times came awfully darn close to the sides of some of the mountains. It was a thrilling ride; I was not in too much pain and could enjoy the ride. The medics were checking my vitals and I think had an IV in me, but no pain medication yet. The ride from the valley must have taken about 20 minutes and it seemed like we landed at MCR in no time; again I was one lucky victim.

They took me into an ER room where a trauma team quickly assembled and started assessing my injuries. I was peppered with lots of questions, it helped to be a victim who could talk. My injuries were determined to be
1. fractured finger (shattered) open wound with some tendon damage
2. fractured fibula at the ankle
3. compressed T12 vertebrae and two broken transverse processes in the back
4. bad forehead cut and gash in the back of my head
5. concussion, numerous bruises and scrapes

My back pain started to increase during my stay in the ER so the nurse gave me some morphine. I wanted to stay off pain medication for as long as I could so I could see for myself where the worse pain spots were. I blanked out for a few seconds while a technician was drawing blood, after he reported it they rushed me in for a CT scan, thank God the scan showed my brain to be free from major injury. My shattered finger was the most complicated injury and they called in a hand specialist, Dr. B., to surgically repair it. Dr. B. also took care of my head wounds in the O.R. He repaired the cut on my forehead with plastic surgery. Kathy had not been as lucky when she had her accident two years ago, no plastic surgery on her forehead and today she has a noticeable scar. My scar should be minimal. Dr B. was a very good surgeon, and had seen many injured limbs while working in South Africa, where he was from. It was good to have such an experienced surgeon. He also was very affable and after finding out my injuries were from a fall while hiking, he shared that he had just climbed four 14ers the day before! It turns out that he decided to leave South Africa because of the violence there. Hikers were often victims of muggings, rapes or worse (I suppose). I guess I was glad that my hiking accident was not due to an attack; that would have added insult to injury. All I have to blame is the rock and myself. Although it had been up there for eons, had been undercut from thousands of years of erosion. I won’t take it personally that the rock had it in for me.

Later that evening, after KBow and Kathy had hiked back, KBow’s husband John brought her and Kathy over and met in my room following surgery. They were all very tired, it was now somewhere between 11:00 and 12:00. It was a moment of celebration however as I had got through surgery ok and still had my finger. John and KBow ended up staying in a motel nearby and coming back the next day. They were another pair of eyes and ears and helped keep track of all the things we were being told by the doctors and nurses. The orthopedist came the next day and explained my fibula fracture and put a temporary soft cast on it. He was an avid cyclist and he and John got into an excited conversation about cycling routes and events in Colorado. My thanks go out to John and KBow for being so helpful, and they continue to be there for us. John has been coming up to our cabin almost daily to bring the paper and chat. He also loaned me his Kindle and I read “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” to help pass some time after I got back to our cabin.

I was only in the hospital two nights, Kathy stayed on a foldout couch both nights but neither of us could get much sleep. I had to prove myself to the PT and OT therapists before they let me go. I had to show them that I could use a specially designed walker, which had an armrest attached on the right side as I couldn’t use my right hand. They didn’t want me putting any weight on my right leg either. I also had to learn how to roll out of bed properly, without twisting my back. BLT – no bending, lifting or twisting. I was fitted with a brace for my back, which I have to wear whenever I am on my feet. It’s not too encumbering, and thankfully I have learned to put it on or take it off myself.

It’s now two weeks after my accident and I feel that I have come a long way. Much healing has occurred, I am on limited pain medication, mainly ibuprofen, and I have been fitted with a walking boot which gives me greater mobility. I still have limited use of my right hand, and am wearing a half cast up my arm that keeps my hand in protected position which allows for maximum healing. I will get a replacement splint next week.

Our friend Jason came out to spend time with us in the park but had to change his plans because of my injuries. He stopped in while I was still at the hospital, just having taken a red eye to Denver. He took off from there for the Tetons, Yellowstone, Kings Peak in Utah, Bryce Canyon, Zion, the Grand Canyon, Canyonlands and Arches. I warned him about hiking in the Neversummers alone as that is some of the most treacherous hiking you can find with the crumbly rock and isolation there. He knew all that from his time there last summer, so decided to take off on his grand tour.

The whole ordeal of getting injured and the path I’m on for recovery has put me in a reflective mood. On one hand, I am very fortunate and grateful to still be alive and have the types of injuries that should heal. On the other hand the whole thing sucks. It was a lousy way to finish up our summer here and we had to cancel lots of plans, including going to Bryce Canyon and volunteering there for a month. Our ranger friend Jan at Bryce was very disappointed to find out about my accident; she was looking forward to us being there. We do want to get back there, as well as a slew of other places in the west. But we’ve had three trips out west and two have ended in serious mishaps. I guess we have to break this pattern somehow. My current life is basically concentrated on healing; there are a lot of things I can’t do for myself. Kathy has been doing all those things; she’s doing double duty and has been a wonderful and loving caregiver. I’m not able to even put my walking boot on by myself (yet) or help with cleaning.

We soon head on the long trip back home where I will see different specialists and hopefully I will be on the trail again before the gorgeous NY fall colors fade. I promise to get back to my old self (for good or bad), but with an enhanced outlook from another new life experience.

Finally, Moved in to Our Cabin!

I dedicate this entry to my Aunt Ruby who just died at the age of 92 on July 24. She was a wonderful and engaging woman who was a teacher and active person for much of her life. She was married to my Uncle Sam who survives her and leaves two sons and five grandchildren. Her Memorial Service was on July 30, attended by all her immediate family, as well as my brother Barry and another aunt and cousin. I wanted to be there but had great difficulty trying to get a flight that would minimize the time I would be away from my responsibilities at Rocky. I was glad my brother got to attend, and he served as representative for our branch of the family. I plan to get down to Las Vegas to see my uncle, probably in September.

We finally moved into our cabin at Holzwarth on July 24 after the river went down. It was great to get moved in, but we discovered a mouse problem a few days after, that’s not so nice. We are in the midst of an eradication program. Our friends Lee and Sally offered to work for us one day so we could deal with our move; that was nice. We had them over for dinner that night to celebrate. The water went down in the Colorado River mainly because water is now being diverted from the ditch. It seemed to only take the water a few days to subside. We are also able to give the full tours of the Holzwarth Site now; that is a big improvement. Things are generally improving on the west side of the park now, more trails are accessible and the weather has been nicer, with a few exceptions.

We did a climb with Lee and Sally up to Baker Pass, which is just outside of the park on the back side of the Neversummer Mountains. We got up there under threatening skies, but felt comfortable enough to lounge at the pass eating our lunch. Five rescuers showed up from the west wondering if we were part of the group that had an injured person. We explained that we weren’t and then looked through binoculars with them to see if we could see the party in question. They were soon spotted up fairly high on the side of Cumulus Mountain. The rescuers were able to connect with a leader of the group by satellite phone. It turns out they were a Cheley Camp group and a fifteen year old boy had decided to go sliding down a snow field early that morning and broke his ankle and wrist. It was now 1:00 PM, several hours after the accident. An injured person in the mountain has to expect a long wait for rescue. A helicopter was also dispatched and we saw it later. We weren’t sure if the copter was able to airlift the boy out or if the rescuers were going to carry him out, a difficult task in the mountains. I felt like helping the group in some way and offered an apple and candy bar, one of the rescuers gratefully took them.

We also met Becca, the daughter of our friends Larry and Susan, in the Indian Peaks Wilderness. Becca is a veterinary student at CSU and she brought her three-legged dog Gracie. Lee and Sally also came along and they had a good connection with Becca; talking about horses which they all had lots of personal experience with. Gracie did fine on the hike with us. We planned to climb Audubon Peak, and thought we found the trail. After reaching a beautiful alpine lake after three miles, we discovered we weren’t on the trail to Audubon. We weren’t able to bag the peak that day as bad weather moved in early in the afternoon. It was still a beautiful hike and nice to visit with Becca, but it took five people and a dog to choose the wrong trail.

News & Notes:
1.Someone stole the ATV which was parked at the Holzwarth site while the site was closed. One of the volunteers spotted it along the edge of a field about a mile away. The thief had scraped off the park insignias on the ATV and apparently intended to drive it to a parking area and haul it out. A gate prevented them from accessing the parking area and they abandoned their effort. There was some damage to the ATV, but the park Ranger was relieved to get it back.
2.A rescue in the park involved several of the staff. A fifteen year old boy was very ill, maybe from dehydration and altitude. The rescue crew that went up there didn’t get back until 1:30 AM, but they didn’t have to carry him out as a ranger was able to bring him out the 6.5 miles on horseback. One of our young interns, Kyle had already hiked 17 miles that day when he got the call to help. He ended up putting in 30 miles! We saw him the next day and he was tired but smiling.
3.We had a campfire at Holzwarth Saturday July 30 and were engrossed by a special guest, Hal, who had worked as a ranch hand with Johnnie Holzwarth. Hal had started working for Johnnie when he was 16. He worked for him for 10 years and was the last hired hand left when the ranch closed in 1972. Hal was a well spoken person and it was a delight to hear him talk about his work experience on the ranch.
4.A Perish – that’s an Aussie term for someone who goes on a walkabout and doesn’t return. Lee’s mother was Aussie and we now talk with him in fun about going on a “perish” instead of a hike.

Are Things Improving? Not Yet

** If Not Interested in Hike Report, Skip This **
We got up to the “Ditch” on July 6 and the trip was challenging in a few ways. (The Ditch is an open water ditch 1000 feet above the Kawuneeche Valley that has a service road and serves as an access to the hiking in the Neversummer Mountains.) The first challenge was not great, it just required that we took off our shoes to cross a flooded area along the Colorado River near the start of the Red Mountain Trail. The water was cold but not too deep. Proceeding up the trail, we encountered a lot of blow down higher up. Due to the heavy snow fall, the trail crews are weeks behind in getting up to many of the higher trails. We met one other hiker coming down who informed us that he turned back at a bridge that was treacherous. We eventually got to the bridge and saw that it had collapsed to a V shape. This was in an area called Hell’s Hip Pocket and Porcupine Creek was raging below it, falling in would be real bad. I went first (Kathy let me) and made it across somehow. She followed and then we were both safe on the other side. We were not sure we wanted to go back over it again on the way back though. A few days later, our friends Lee and Sally went over the bridge both ways and proved it could be done.

After making it up to the ditch, we walked looking for an access point to Mt Cumulus as we had heard that a couple had climbed it a few days earlier. We found a foot bridge going across the ditch and went over to find a thick area of trees and underbrush. We knew there would be no trail. Hmm, this would require going through lots of rough terrain to get above tree line. We weren’t planning to do this anyway but were somewhat taken aback to see how tough the journey was for anyone venturing up Cumulus. There are no trails going up any of the peaks in the Neversummers.

After a little more than a mile, we came across a boulder field that would lead us back to the Red Mountain trail below. This would be a “shortcut” and allow us to skip the treacherous bridge crossing. But it took us more than an hour to go down about ½ mile to where we would find the trail. And we almost missed the trail as it turned out to be hard to spot in the boulder field. We would have had a second chance to hit it further down, but we were glad we found it when we did.

The rest of the hike out was pleasant enough other than the afternoon thunderstorm that developed. It’s been stormy many days but the last few days have been pretty nice, maybe the weather is going to get better. But that may just be wishful thinking.

** Resume Reading Here **

Our friends Larry and Jennifer visited us for a few days. They had been in Colorado for several days and successfully climbed Pikes Peak on July 3. Larry and I tried some fly fishing for two days. We first tested the Colorado River right near where we are staying but the water was around 48 degrees, too cold for the fish to bite. I tried working on my fly casting nevertheless and was pretty pathetic. Kathy and Jen went up the Colorado River Trail to Lulu City. The trail had high water in spots and a bridge further up has washed out which closed the trail up there. The next day we all went to Devil’s Thumb Ranch and after eating a sumptuous lunch, found a mountain stream where the fish were biting. At least Larry got some catches, I didn’t get any. But I only lost 2 flies over the course of the 2 days, so that was a pretty good accomplishment. Larry thinks the fishing should be pretty good in the park in a couple of weeks when the current slows down.

We also went up towards Mt Ida with Larry and Jen. It was a tough day as we had to use snow shoes starting at Milner Pass. The trail was hard to follow but we eventually found it higher up and then when we were totally out of the snow the trail was well defined. But it was very windy and there was some cloud formation that was a cause for concern. We got within a mile of the peak when we ventured up to the ridge and stopped for lunch in a pleasant spot, sheltered from the wind. We headed back after that and came out in a totally different area, but near where the car was parked. Jen said it was a harder hike than Pikes Peak due to the conditions.

News & Notes

With the heavy snow melt, the closure of the Holzwarth site where our cabin is, the high rivers and streams, inaccessible trails, etc we were hoping that things would get better. But things seem to be getting worse! More trail closures, bridge failures, and the river only started going down in the last day or two. Hiking, fishing and camping have not been as good as normal. At least the animals have been thriving with all the vegetation that is growing in abundance.

The strangest thing we have heard that happened in the park so far this summer was about a group of horse riders who fell off their horses. There were fifteen of them, and upon being spooked by hikers, fourteen of them fell and a few were injured seriously enough that they needed to be taken for emergency treatment. We’re not sure what the hikers could have done to spook the horses so badly. Kathy surmises they must have jumped out on them and yelled BOO! But who knows. Another young girl fell from a horse on July 9 and had to be carried out after having hip pain. Then there was a four year old who broke an arm falling off a horse. I have no idea why a four year old was on a horse, that doesn’t sound safe. There have been too many injuries falling off horses!

There was a bad accident on July 16 when a car wandered over the center line and hit a vehicle coming the other way. I talked with some people who were at the scene moments after it happened, and they said the one car was on its side, there was lots of broken glass and some people were bleeding badly. The protection rangers were at the scene very quickly and an ambulance was called from Grand Lake. The driver of the vehicle that wandered into the path of the other may have been too busy looking for wildlife and not paying attention to the road. We have seen that a lot with other drivers who seem to forget that they’re sharing the road.

Occasionally a BOLO (Be On Look Out) is issued in the park. On July 9, one was issued for a 1983 blue VW Rabbit that was involved with a murder east of the park. I didn’t hear whether the vehicle was spotted in the park but I wondered why anyone would try to drive through the park when there is only one main road heading east to west. It seems that would make it hard to escape. One of the park employees I know who was a former protection officer told me that a lot of people think there are no ‘real’ enforcement police in the park, but they would be wrong. Our protection force can enforce the law just like anywhere.

When talking with visitors, we try to let them direct the conversation to suit their needs. But sometimes they can go on about things that have nothing to do with the park. It could be about other places or their personal lives and we try to steer them to matters within the park. The interpretive role is to help people feel connected to the park, and they can’t do that if their thoughts are elsewhere. It also strikes me that some people are “living somewhere else” rather than where they are at the present. Living in the moment is a simple thing that we can easily lose sight of.

The Last Week of June, Still Winter?

*** IF NOT INTERESTED IN A HIKE REPORT, SKIP THIS SECTION ***
We got through the t-storm on our way up to Timber Lake, it was early afternoon. We had to put on snow shoes about 3.5 miles up the trail and trudged up. The shoes felt heavy and the mix of blow down and bare ground made them awkward to use. We got up a steep area with lots of switchbacks but blow down forced us off the trail. We encountered other foot prints from time to time but they were hard to follow and we finally got up to an open area high up. We came across a sign for campsites a couple of times so we knew we were pretty much on the trail. Timber Creek was flowing with a vengeance and several “undersnow” streams seemed to be feeding it. We had to be careful as we crossed what seemed to be a hard packed snow field of several feet in some areas, knowing it could give way below if we stepped in the wrong place. I recognized the high cliffs that loom over Timber Lake, which sits at over 11,000 feet, and we veered to the right to get up to where we figured the lake would be.
We got to the lake by 4:00 but were well on the other side of it, if we had stayed on the normal course of the trail, we would have hit the beginning of the lake. We had beautiful sunshine and calm winds, taking the pleasant opportunity to eat and deal with our footwear. Then dark clouds started forming again and we knew we had to start scrambling back. Kathy lunged to get down off the rock she was sitting on and let out a squeal as her snow shoe got stuck in a crack and she landed headlong in the snow below. I had to free the snow shoe from the crack, and remarked to her how that would be a really bad place and time to break an ankle, which could have been the result. No one else was around and we wouldn’t see anyone on our return trip, so it would have been a long cold night huddled in front of whatever fire I could build to wait for a rescue. That didn’t happen so we made our way back down heading to what should have been the route the trail took, but quickly hit some difficult slopes. I was almost right on top of it before I heard the roar of rushing water almost below me. Yikes, not a good place to be at all, so we veered back up to where the snow seemed to be packed more firmly. While hurrying to beat the ever darkening storm, we eventually got down into trees, which was safer than being in the open and up higher.
Then the hail started. This wasn’t predicted! Even though we were in the trees, I didn’t feel protected enough from the stinging hail. Fortunately they weren’t real big hail balls, but we temporarily sought refuge under a tree, hoping the storm would pass over. It wasn’t to be, after a few minutes we started up again, taking the brunt of the hail from time to time. I only had my emergency poncho, which didn’t offer the best protection from this kind of storm, but as long as we kept moving we could avoid hypothermia.
It was impossible to follow any tracks, the hail obliterated them. We soon knew we were off course, as it turns out we missed a switchback in an area of blow down. We had to backtrack and search around a bit before we discovered a piece of the trail. It seemed to come to an abrupt end and after failing to follow it, we figured the best way to continue would be to start heading straight down toward the stream, which we could hear below. We eventually found the trail much further down and would continue to get off course from time to time. After getting to the end of snow pack, we were glad to be able to just follow a defined trail again. But we had to wring out our socks and put on gloves before continuing.
By the time we got back to the car, we were soaked and we saw that the hail had hit there as well. The storm was widespread, doing major damage more to the south in Granby and Grand Lake. The winds had been stronger to the south, and we were fortunate that the wind wasn’t worse for us. Although several campers evacuated the Timber Creek Campground that night as the storm made a wet and uncomfortable tenting situation. Thus ended our biggest adventure yet, one where route finding and dealing with the elements turned a fairly easy hike into a much tougher one.

*** HIKE REPORT OVER, RESUME HERE ***
June 24 was the only day we have been able to lead tours back in the Holzwarth Historic Site, and I was looking forward to an easy end of the day as I walked back from Fleshutt’s Cabin to join the others and close up the place. I approached the bridge and saw this young man of maybe about 20 in a wet suit sitting on the edge holding a paddle and smiling. I asked him if he was trying to cool down, as it was a warm day. He said no, that he was trying to warm up and then pointed out his raft that was lodged in the bridge on the upstream side. I peered over and saw a homemade raft built out of pine logs and lashed together under the water and being pushed against the bridge by the strong current. He said he didn’t realize “there was a dam there”. “This is a bridge,” I said “and there are many others downstream”. He kept smiling and said at least he had a good ride while it lasted. How he managed to bail out and escape serious injury I never did find out. The current by all rights should have pushed him into the bridge unless he jumped off onto land, which would have been a remarkable athletic achievement. He said he “lived in the park” but I never got that full story either. I offered him a ride but after finding out where he was he said he would be fine. When I joined the others, Kathy suggested I notify Protection so I got them on the radio and they came over to look at the raft, but it had somehow been swept though one of the culverts of the bridge and was now downstream a bit. They later found the kid at the campground and got more of his story. He had bought the lashing material at the local hardware store from Steve, husband of one of our seasonal rangers. Steve apparently advised him against trying to build the raft after he sought his advice. This Huck Finn was not going to be dissuaded though, but I bet her won’t try this again on the Colorado River up here. As of a few days ago there have been four river deaths in Colorado just in June, it’s a dangerous sport when the water is flowing with ferocity.

Our friends Dick and Jill visited us for 3 days and although we were still in our one bedroom apartment, we managed to squeeze in together just fine. Although fishing didn’t work out, they were treated to some outstanding wildlife viewing. We saw a Mama moose and her baby trot across the field just across the river from us the first night. We watched them for almost fifteen minutes. There also were two magnificent bull moose grazing along the North Inlet. Dick thought it would be a good fishing spot also as it was not flowing real fast and the water was clear. Without waders though we would lose a lot of flies in the trees, so didn’t try it. There were several elk, many bulls with huge racks that impressed Dick. When we hiked up the Colorado River we ran into a herd of Bighorn sheep, five adult ewes and four lambs. They were very close to the trail but did not seem too nervous by our presence. We also watched them for about fifteen minutes. I explained that ewes got their names because when the rams (males) are around they say “Hey, you” to the females. We all went over to Sulphur Hot Springs one evening, one of the things we never got around to last year. Soaking in the many different baths there was soothing and relaxing. Jill’s silver jewelry turned green from the minerals and she was dismayed at first but they provided her with silver polish that restored them; this happens a lot there. The baths would have been even better without the mosquitoes but Dick discovered that going totally under water eliminated that problem for him, Kathy and I found out that the pools under some kind of cover didn’t attract mosquitoes. From their stay with us with, Dick and Jill learned a lot about our side of the park, maybe even more from us than reading the park newspaper!

News and Notes from the last week of June:
- We are still unable to get into our cabin as the Colorado River continues to rise here due to snow melt. They now say it will peak sometime next week, I will believe it when I see it. The bridge is holding but the road has been washed out in many spots, Kathy refers to one area that’s cut very deep as the “Grand Canyon of the Kawuneeche”.
- Berthoud Pass, the route between here and Denver, was closed early Monday morning, June 27, with a reported 16 ton boulder among the debris. I had just gone through the pass about 9:30 the night before, having attended a friend’s wedding in Denver. When the pass gets closed, which happens occasionally, it’s a long way around to detour. I was glad I didn’t have to add 2.5 hours to my trip as it was a little after 11:00 that night when I got back and I was tired from just the normal drive.
- Kathy did a century (100 mile) ride on her bike the Sunday I went to Denver. She didn’t plan on it but felt good and just kept going. When she got back to our apartment she needed an additional 1.5 miles to make it a century, so she added that. It seems she does these amazing feats whenever I am gone on a trip, and I am not there to impede her, haha. I have yet to do a century ride in my whole sorry life, but maybe soon.
- Of the news caught over the radio, a man was DWI the other day and was stopped on the upper stretches of Trail Ridge Road. A woman passenger with him freaked out and was reported missing for a while. She was reported wearing red shorts and a a low cut top, good clothing for the alpine zone. They eventually found her and helped her, and took the man to the “Grand County Hilton”, otherwise known as the county jail. I can’t imagine trying to driver those crazy curves up there when drunk, it’s hairy enough when sober. Also a woman bike rider suffered from possible altitude sickness up there and had to be driven back down by our protection folks. I’m not sure she ever needed medical treatment, as getting to lower altitude sometimes is enough of a cure. I still feel a certain “light headedness” when I go up over 12,000 feet on Trail Ridge Road, and can attest it definitely feels better to get down to 9,000 feet or less.
- Kathy talked to an American visitor about Utah, he was wondering how far it was to go there. She didn’t know for sure and suggested he stop in the Visitor Center on the way out and look at a map. He then asked her if it was “outside the park.” She simply replied that it was. We’re not sure if he either doesn’t know how big the park is or doesn’t know what Utah is, go figure.

Bike Tour of Colorado on a Very Bad Day

It is definitely Neversummer here, which is the fitting name for the mountains on the west side of the park. Two days before the start of summer, June 19, the park started getting wintery weather. Trail Ridge Road was closed at 9:00 PM that night as snow came, fiercely in the alpine region. The Tour of Colorado, a 7 day bike tour of north central Colorado was scheduled to come through the park the next day. This would involve an almost 5000 foot climb from Estes Park to the top of the park, over 12,000 feet elevation. About 1500 bikers were expected to participate. On June 20, a decision on whether to attempt the ride was delayed for 3 hours until the go ahead was made at 8:00 AM. A majority of the bikers, we believe, started the ride and made it up to Rainbow Point, high in the alpine zone. They faced an hour and a half wait until the road was cleared so they could continue. There was only room for a minority of the riders in a vehicle to keep warm, the rest huddled on the leeward side out of the wind, fighting hypothermia and trying to stay warm. After the road was cleared, later in the morning they ascended further to the top but were met with stiff winds and a wintery mix of snow and drizzle. The road was wet and conditions were absolutely miserable.
Several hundred made it to the Alpine Visitor Center where they sought relief from the elements. Many suffered from hypothermia, and two or three needed hospitalization, they were taken by ambulance to the medical center at Granby, almost 40 miles away. The tour group and the park were overwhelmed with handling the situation. Although the bad weather had been forecasted correctly for two days, the tour still went on through the park. Riders were given the option to skip the day, but most seemed to decide on riding. Most were also dressed inadequately for the conditions - they were the ones most susceptible to hypothermia. Amazingly though, no one wiped out on the slick road conditions and as far as we know, no one has died.
We were assigned to “rove” at the upper points of the west side that day, just a few miles below the Alpine V.C. Since the road was closed when we started our day, we had to stay lower and went to the North Inlet trailhead, where there was little activity save for a group of 4 backpackers who were going up the trail to higher elevation. I talked with them and found out they had been out for a few days already, under miserable conditions, but were all in good spirits and ready to continue their week-long backpack. “Keep smiling guys,” I said and wished them well. They were going to be far better off than the bikers, as I would learn later.
Later in the morning we heard on the park radio that Trail Ridge Road was open and the bike tour was coming through. We grabbed some lunch at the Kawuneeche Visitor Center on the west side and headed up the road to assist in whatever way we could. About a mile up the road in the park, we passed a staging area where the bike tour was trying to assemble an aid station for the bikers. A few more miles up, we saw the first of the bikers heading down. It was a steady rain at this point, but all the riders were handling the wet surface well. We made it to the Colorado River trailhead, where we connected with Chief Ranger Mark McCutcheon, informing him that we had a warm vehicle with bike rack and could help in whatever way we could. He directed us to go up to the Alpine V.C, as there were many riders up there who may need assistance. We never made it up that far as when we got up about 3 more miles to Farview Curve, we saw a few other volunteers stationed there lending assistance to riders. No sooner did we pull over than several riders pulled in and we quickly immersed ourselves into checking on them. The first rider I encountered was a woman who was in obvious distress. She was shaking from hypothermia and I asked her if she needed to get into our warm vehicle. She did without hesitation. Another vehicle, one of the volunteers, was housing 6 riders trying to warm up. Immediately several more riders arrived, stopping to take a break from the tortuous downhill ride. I looked at each of them to see if they were shaking, and offered two more of them a seat in our warm car. Others were ok and just needed a rest, before they decided to continue. Ranger Mark was there, and other volunteers, he told us to take who we could down to the aid station, so we put 2 bikes onto our bike carrier and started taking the two riders down. The woman was transferred to another vehicle to stay warm, allowing her time to decide whether she could get back on her bike. We later met up with her when we returned, she decided not to continue and was grateful for our assistance and the eventual ride she obtained in a bus that was dispatched to pick up riders. As we descended from the higher region with 2 of the riders, who were still trying to recover from their ordeal, we came upon another rider who hit a falling rock right in front of us. He almost lost it but was able to stay upright, but his water bottle fell off his bike. I stopped so Kathy could retrieve it for him, but we were right on a major curve and it was not a good place to be stopped.
I was hoping this would be quick, but the guy announced that his tire was flat and I knew we couldn’t leave him there. Suddenly, there was a pack of bikers and vehicles coming around the curve and somehow they all managed to steer clear of us, as we were stopped right in the road. Yikes. I had to move away from that spot, so pulled further into the curve and a bit more out of the way. We managed to get his bike on our carrier, the first time we realized that we could carry 3 bikes, and we got the heck out of there with our new passenger. We made it down to the aid station, about 14 miles, where we deposited our riders and their bikes. They were pulling over all the riders as they still had about another 17 miles to go before they finished the day and they needed to be checked for their ability to continue. The 3 guys we transported were very grateful for our help, and we immediately turned back to go see if we were needed in any other way further up. We made it back to Farview Curve where we found even more volunteers assembled as well as Ranger Mark. That’s when we learned that the ride was closed for all the other riders left on top on and that they would be transported down by a fleet of buses. There were some riders hanging out in the volunteers’ vehicles and eventually they were transferred to a bus after it arrived.
Within time, since there were no more bike riders coming down, we were thanked by Ranger Mark, and released to head back. Instead, Kathy and I went up to the Alpine V.C. just to check out the scene there. We were amazed at the hundreds of bikes that were left outside the V.C. Several buses had transported riders to their destination for the day, and a couple more were about to embark. All the riders were taken care of, but their bikes were being loaded into numerous UHaul trucks, as they attempted to load them all in. I could imagine all the scratches that these bikes were receiving, but oh well. I walked into the V.C. and saw four park staff assembled at the desk. One of them turned out to be Vaughan Baker, the park superintendent who came up from the east side to assist. He and I talked affably, he asked me about what had happened further down on the west side and I described the scene at Farview Curve. He was amazed when I told him it seemed like hundreds had continued the ride, although many of them stopped due to hypothermia. He and some of the others shared how most of the riders were comforted by being in the V.C. When they said that many of them needed to get out of their wet clothes, I remarked that there must have been a lot of naked people there. They laughed, but I guessed that it didn’t get to that point. I sensed from talking with both Vaughan and Ranger Mark that the park was not keen on the idea of doing the ride under such brutal conditions. That had been a decision made by the tour. And it’s too bad the riders never got a good view from the top. Nothing but clouds, bitter winds and low visibility, the timing for the ride through the park was a little off. Better weather is expected the next day, and these riders missed seeing some spectacular views. On a good day, the alpine portion of the park is beyond description, as we were fortune to as we came over on June 10.
The earlier portion of our week was interesting, as we went through four days of training, a good bike ride one evening in the park, and a climb up Shadow Mountain on our one day off, followed by a picnic and campfire on two successive evenings where park staff got to mingle. But it pales in comparison to the day the Tour of Colorado decided to come through the park. We could not imagine biking in the conditions these riders faced. When we reached the top at the V.C. that day, the wind was still fierce and there was still mixed precipitation falling. No conditions for a bike ride by our book. Nevertheless, this is a day the riders and the park staff will remember; it wasn’t for the faint of heart and it just might force a hard look at what conditions this tour should subject its riders to. Mountain weather any time of year needs to be held in awe and wonder, and again this time nature won.

Arrived in Colorado to Lots of Snow, Amazing

It is good to be finally at our destination, Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). We left NY on June 1 and drove through the midsection of the country; many days were in the nineties. The temps here are 60’s and 70’s, dropping into the 30’s at night. It feels refreshing. The trip was fairly uneventful, a good thing. We visited with friends and family on the way and met up with friends from back home, Larry and Susan in McCook, Ne. We had to travel a little north and they had to travel a little south to make the connection. They had been on a 3 week trip, visiting family in Texas, their two kids in Ft Collins, Co and seeing many parks in Colorado and Utah. They were heading east to get back home and their jobs and we were heading west to start our volunteer assignment at RMNP for the summer.

We arrived in Colorado on June 5 to a strange mix of flood warnings and high fire danger. The snow pack in the Rockies is tremendous, over 250% of normal in some places. With warmer temperatures, the snow is quickly melting and filling rivers and streams. At this point, the National Weather Service is calling the flooding only minor, but we have been told by a ranger in RMNP that the Colorado River is higher than it’s ever been in the park. The bridge going into Holzwarth Historic Site (HHS) where we plan to stay is closed and temporary housing has been arranged for us and the other couple, Lee and Sally, who were scheduled to stay at HHS. They arrived a week earlier and said that the area in the campground where our temporary housing is still had lots of snow when they got here. It’s all gone now. We were able to walk into HHS, the bridge is open to foot traffic. We noticed that lots of Lodgepole Pine trees had been cut along the road approaching the site due to the pine beetle infestation. But HHS still has magnificent trees standing as the park sprays them annually to keep the trees safe from the beetle. We just hope the bridge holds and the waters start to recede, but it looks like it will take a long time for the snow to melt in the mountains.

We had been staying on the east side of the park in Denver and Boulder. There it is normally drier than the west side of the Front Range, and the fire danger there has become high. Smoke that could be seen in the air was actually from the huge Arizona fire. We went to hear a talk by a Boulder County Fire Management Officer at REI and learned about issues facing the area and the residents. A lot was said about the Four Mile Canyon Fire that happened here last year right at the end of our assignment at RMNP. We almost cancelled a trip to Boulder then because of it, the city had been put on standby to evacuate, but fortunately we got here ok and no evacuation of the city was needed. The fire left a lasting effect on the community however, and we talked with a few people who had residences in the burn area. Their homes and some others were spared but many homes were lost, fortunately no human lives were lost. We toured the area of the fire with our friend Judy who lives in Boulder. She took us up to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain, a short climb, where we had great views of the burn area. It was a massive area, about ten square miles and 169 homes had burned. Some residents have started rebuilding, and the interesting thing is that since the surrounding forest has burned the fire danger is basically non existent there now.

After Boulder, we spent a few days camping on the east side of RMNP, acclimating to the higher altitude. The weather was nice except the first night when a thunderstorm hit us. We were in our tents but it was in an open spot and we were not really safe, fortunately we didn’t get hit. The number of dead trees from the pine beetle epidemic was noticeably higher than what we saw last year when we visited the east side, and it will get worse. The west side has had the epidemic for ten years and most of the lodgepole pine trees there are dead. We did some light hiking for two days, sometimes in snow but we stayed lower to avoid the deeper snow pack. This past Friday we drove over Trail Ridge Road to the west side, the road had only been opened Monday of this past week. Before that we climbed Deer Mountain, and even though it is about 10,000 feet it was free of snow on top and offered great views of the mountain ranges within the park. We spent an hour up there, and it was a popular spot. We talked with other people, including two younger women and their toddlers that they hauled up on their backs. They helped us identify the peaks in the Mummy Range and then we found that one of them, Lisa, had written the guide book “Rocky Mountain National Park, the Complete Hiking Guide”. We’re going to check it out because the hiking guide we have has some deficiencies and Lisa said that is why she wrote her guide. It was the description of hiking Mt. Meeker that particularly annoyed her and spurred her to write her guide. She was gracious to the writers of the other guide though, acknowledging that it was the first effort to write a guide to hiking in RMNP and because of that deserved credit. She did 15 years of research, exploring and hiking, and two years of writing and editing of her book. She said though that it wasn’t worth the tremendous effort it took. I thanked her anyway for writing the guide, fully expecting it to be an improvement.

The top of Trail Ridge Road had very high banks of snow in some spots. We heard that they had to plow through 17 feet of snow, and we estimated it was only a few feet less than that when we saw it. The pack is melting with the 50 and 60 degree temps they are getting up there now. On the west side of the park, the Neversummer Range looks to have even more snow. The hiking is limited here right now if you don’t have snow shoes, and we didn’t bring ours, not expecting to need them. Andrew, a backcountry ranger who was here last year for his first stint, told us he had been out in his snow shoes checking out the trails and said it was hard work. He even post holed while breaking trail with his snow shoes, that means the snow is getting rotten and not holding up. They presently have only four backcountry camp sites open out of more than fifty so there is not a lot of backcountry camping right now. On our first hike here this summer we went up the Colorado River Trail to Lulu City, using snow shoes for much of the way. But we didn’t have to break trail as it was basically hard packed from foot traffic.

We are thrilled to see old friends from last year and to meet new ones as well. Our neighbors Lee and Sally are from Texas and we found out that we have mutual friends in the NPS. Jim and Jan worked with us at Bryce and they worked with Lee and Sally at Chaco Canyon. Lee and Sally also worked at Capitol Reef in Utah and I remember when they came to visit Jim and Jan at Bryce. Small world in the NPS. We have already been recipients of Lee and Sally’s generosity, borrowing laundry detergent and receiving some Texas style tortilla soup, yummy.

We just started our assignment with a week of training. We will get a review of safety, the 10 essentials and park interpretation to name a few. We will also get updates on the trails, resource protection, wildlife, water issues and fire ecology to name a few. Today we learned that RMNP has the fifth highest numbers of search and rescues (SARs) in the national park system. The mountains and weather here make for challenging conditions and keep the park staff busy. With the huge amount of snow, several projects are running behind schedule, including the clearing of trees and trails and the opening of some areas. It was jokingly said that we have two seasons here, winter and July. The chief ranger had been sent temporarily to Glacier N.P. as the chief ranger there had to take a leave of absence and Glacier has had 400% of the snow fall they usually get, so they have even bigger issues up there. I don’t want to give the wrong impression though, the weather so far has been great as far as I’m concerned. This is a place where you can be very active, even right now, whether it’s hiking (snow shoeing), biking, horseback riding or paddling to name a few. One more thing that I got a kick out was hearing about how we (employees and volunteers) are here to serve the public and the protect the park, but sometimes a visitor “fails the attitude test”. We can be polite to a visitor but they all may not be polite in return. Smile and sigh gently under your breath.