"May the wind take your troubles away"
I'm perched on a high ridge, more than a few miles from any established trail, and haven't seen anyone since I started walking into the mountains yesterday. The crescent moon is setting into the pink and purple that lingers from the sun's glorious exit moments before. The colors light up the glaciers on McGregor Peak as if they were on fire, and rightfully so, as almost a dozen fires in the park will burn through the night and undoubtedly bring haze to my camp in the morning. I don't know it yet, but tomorrow will be a very long day for me because of those fires. In contrast, today was perfect: clear skies with more than 40 miles of visibility from my high camp.
The scene may be unique to my setting, but the feeling it brings is one I share with Rangers past and present in parks all over the country. I have it a little easier than those who came before me, I can't omit that fact. I'm sipping on hot cocoa that took only a minute to heat on a stove that fits in my pocket. The gentle sounds of Son Volt and Pink Floyd serenade me as I write, and a GPS-based app supplements my map to help me name the seemingly endless expanse of peaks that lie before me. Some of the amenities have changed, but not much else. I have a hard time finding differences between my patrol today and one that would have occurred at the same location 47 years ago, when this National Park was established.
It is largely that connection to the "old guard" that draws me to this job and these mountains. As the sliver of a moon disappears and the first stars come out, I turn the music off and listen instead to the bats flying overhead. The night sky that begins to reveal itself is one of the best I have ever seen, with the arm of the milky way rising thick out of the southern horizon. Away from the light of the city, I see the stars almost as the first Rangers in Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Mt Rainier did, and it brings me pride to have that connection to those men and women. Tomorrow I will strap my pack to my back, just as they did, climb the mountain behind me, and do my best to help preserve this rugged range I get to call home.
"Just another day in the park."
[This is part one of a two part post depicting my patrol that ended up being cut short, and then drawn out, due to the fires that exploded in the North Cascades on August 19th and 20th. This was written while I was on patrol, before I had any indication the fire situation had changed in the park. Part two will come later.]
The scene may be unique to my setting, but the feeling it brings is one I share with Rangers past and present in parks all over the country. I have it a little easier than those who came before me, I can't omit that fact. I'm sipping on hot cocoa that took only a minute to heat on a stove that fits in my pocket. The gentle sounds of Son Volt and Pink Floyd serenade me as I write, and a GPS-based app supplements my map to help me name the seemingly endless expanse of peaks that lie before me. Some of the amenities have changed, but not much else. I have a hard time finding differences between my patrol today and one that would have occurred at the same location 47 years ago, when this National Park was established.
It is largely that connection to the "old guard" that draws me to this job and these mountains. As the sliver of a moon disappears and the first stars come out, I turn the music off and listen instead to the bats flying overhead. The night sky that begins to reveal itself is one of the best I have ever seen, with the arm of the milky way rising thick out of the southern horizon. Away from the light of the city, I see the stars almost as the first Rangers in Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Mt Rainier did, and it brings me pride to have that connection to those men and women. Tomorrow I will strap my pack to my back, just as they did, climb the mountain behind me, and do my best to help preserve this rugged range I get to call home.
"Just another day in the park."
[This is part one of a two part post depicting my patrol that ended up being cut short, and then drawn out, due to the fires that exploded in the North Cascades on August 19th and 20th. This was written while I was on patrol, before I had any indication the fire situation had changed in the park. Part two will come later.]