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Above: This was my patrol area in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado from 1983 to 1988. This 100-square mile area is one of the most beautiful places in America. On Top of the World I spent 10 days in Lake City revisiting my old stomping ground and reminiscing about the six seasons I had worked here as a ranger for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the 1980s. So how and why did I become a BLM ranger? Here's the story:
Every summer when I was a kid, my dad loaded our whole family – my mom, three brothers, my sister and me – into our red Dodge station wagon, and for the next two months we traveled around the west while camping in national parks and cooking over a Coleman gas stove. We had a great time and I loved everything about it: the traveling, the national parks, and, especially, the camping. From those early trips, I decided that I wanted to be a ranger someday. I finally got my chance when I was a college student in 1983 and landed a summer ranger job with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in southwestern Colorado.
I had tried applying for a job as a National Park Service ranger the year before but without any luck. So the next year I applied with the Student Conservation Association (S.C.A.), a non-profit outfit that matches up volunteers with land agencies like the National Park Service that need rangers. That May, just before my spring semester ended at the University of Wisconsin, I got a call from a fellow named Jay Boren with the BLM in a place called Montrose, Colorado. I'd never heard of Montrose, I didn't know much about the BLM, but Jay seemed like a pretty friendly "good ol' boy" so I signed onto a three-person trail crew for that summer as a volunteer. I didn't realize it at the time, but we'd be the first BLM trail crew to build trails into what is today the Powderhorn Wilderness Area.
I figured that I'd work for the BLM for one season and then go on to something else. After spending a summer working in Colorado, though, I loved it so much that I applied for a paid ranger job for the next summer in nearby Silverton, which I landed. That second season was also a blast. Sure, it was a lot of work with very long hours, but I couldn't believe they were paying me to do something that I'd gladly do for free. The year after that, I became the head BLM ranger in the San Juan Mountains, stationed in the cute little alpine town of Lake City, Colorado. Altogether, I worked with the BLM for six seasons (usually from May until October), from 1983 through 1988. During that time, I supervised several ranger crews and dealt with bears, mountain lions, feisty elk, and about a million Texans.
Why did I stay? Because it's the most beautiful place in America with lots of snow-capped 14,000-foot peaks and rolling meadows of grassy tundra. There are also scads of old mines and rusting relics from the 1800s, making it a fascinating place to poke around, especially for a history buff like me. To top it off, the little town of Lake City, where I was stationed for three summers, is a truly special place. I've had jobs that paid more or that were "more important" but none that were as fun or satisfying as being a ranger in the Colorado Rockies.
Since this was BLM land, the area admittedly wasn't as "glamorous" as a National Park – but in some ways it was far better. The San Juan Mountains are just as spectacular as the more famous Rocky Mountain National Park, near Denver, but because this area isn't a National Park, it draws relatively few visitors.
Interestingly, this area around Lake City and Silverton was almost made into a National Park back in the 1960s. But after careful study, the National Park Service rejected it because of all the abandoned mining claims scattered throughout the mountains. It had been too "impacted," according to the NPS. Frankly though, I thought the mines and ghost towns were interesting to poke around in. So considering all the freedom I had working in the much less restrictive and regulated Bureau of Land Management, compared to the highly-regimented and bureaucratic National Park Service, I was glad the area had never been transferred to the Park Service.
I never got to be a National Park Service ranger, by the way. But as things turned out, I was much happier working as a ranger with the BLM. Despite having to deal with those throngs of Texans every summer, I really loved my job. I even wrote my Master's thesis on this area when I was a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin.
But after working six seasons with the BLM, I figured it was time to move on to a more stable position, and preferably one that lasted more than half a year. Therefore, I moved to Oregon in search of a "real" job. I spent six months working in Eugene as an entry-level transportation planner with a government agency, then I landed my current position as a mapping specialist with the engineering consulting firm Parsons Brinckerhoff in Portland. It paid a lot more than my ranger job but there were many times when, working in my office in Portland and dressed in my slacks and spiffy tie, I looked out the window at the rainy streets below and wished I was back in Colorado again, building trails or patrolling the high country in my Chevy Luv pickup.
Many people don't realize that the Bureau of Land Management is actually the largest land agency in the U.S. It's hard to imagine, but this little-known and poorly-funded agency manages almost as much land as the better-known National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service put together. Most BLM lands aren't that scenic, though. Think Nevada or southern Idaho and you'll get the idea.
This area of southwestern Colorado, however, is probably the most beautiful BLM land in the lower 48 states. In fact, it contains the only 14,000-foot peaks under BLM administration outside of Alaska (lucky me!) The BLM is often maligned, especially by environmentalists. I've always considered myself an "environmentalist" and while I sometimes disagree with BLM's policies, I have nothing but good things to say about the BLMers I worked with in the Gunnison office.
The six years that I spent in the San Juan Mountains were a blast and I go back to Colorado every so often to visit. Whenever I drive into Lake City, I feel like I'm coming home again. On another page I've posted pictures from my recent visit to Lake City. But before I get to that, let me show you what it's like to be a ranger in the Rocky Mountains, the most enjoyable – and at times, most challenging – job I've ever had.
My Life as a Ranger (1983 - 1988) Part 1 of 2
1983
Above left: Oooh, what rippling muscles! Here's Ranger Del battling a rock in the trail. The rock won. Above right: Lunchtime in the Powderhorn Wilderness Area above the Powderhorn Lakes. That's Cannibal Plateau in the distance where Alferd Packer had a "tasty meal" back in the 1870s. Julie's on the left. On the right is Jim Rosenthal, the Powderhorn's Wilderness Ranger that summer, and Sayre, a BLM ranger who helped us out a bit.
Above left: Julie, Ted and Jim making breakfast near the Powderhorn Lakes. Above right: Resting my pack on the new "Trail" sign we built at the Big Meadow. We built rock cairns across the meadow to designate a trail here. Nineteen years later, in 2002, a trail had developed here from repeated use. And my cairns were still up!
Above left: Jim, Julie and Ted building a cairn on the Middle Fork of the Powderhorn trail. Jim often went barefoot (definitely not recommended). Above right: After a long day on the trail, I'm making a delicious dinner – of rocks?
Above left: Ted and Julie at the Windy Point Overlook above Lake City. This wooden sign is now long gone, replaced by a much fancier one. Above right: Clearing downed aspen on the East Fork of the Powderhorn trail. There were lots of beavers here and they loved to chew on the aspen's soft wood. Of course, that made lots of work for us.
Above left: Sayre, Jim and Julie making dinner at the Powderhorn Lakes. At an elevation of nearly 11,000', it gets chilly here early in the evening, even in July. Above right: Only 7 more miles to Powderhorn Lake!
Above left: One of my campsites in the Powderhorn. It rained or hailed like clockwork almost every afternoon. Above right: Julie on our last day of the 1983 season. Thanks for a great summer, Jules!
1984
Above left: I put up lots of BLM signs that summer. Above right: And on the other side of Engineer Pass, my boss Arden (center) is putting up a sign with Matt and Mike.
Above left: The big event during the summer of 1984 was a large recreation survey. We surveyed thousands of visitors in the San Juan Mountains that summer. The BLM hired nine rangers, including myself and Mike Cook (pictured here), to conduct the survey. I believe it was the largest crew the BLM ever had in the San Juans. Above right: Ranger Mike striking a pose while cooking hot dogs at my trailer in Silverton. I had lots of overnight BLM guests that summer due to the survey.
Above left: Putting together more signs in my trailer, the BLM's "office" in Silverton. Above right: And here's the BLM's office in Lake City (shared with the USFS). I drove over here several times during the summer. Lake City was only 25 miles from Silverton as the crow flied, but because of the rough mountain roads, it took me about three hours to drive. That's my BLM pickup (right).
Above left: Back on the Silverton side, I'm helping to pull visitors out of a ditch at 11,000'. Above right: I drove down to southern Utah a few weekends every summer when I worked in the San Juans. I loved soaking up the hot, sunny weather in Utah, a nice reprieve from the cool and often rainy (or snowy) San Juans. This is in Arches National Park near Moab. I brought a couple rangers with me on this trip, including Mike (foreground).
Above left: I hiked into the Powderhorn Wilderness Area for a few days to work with Julie, who was the Wilderness Ranger that summer. Her backpack was bigger than she. But it was great to work with her again. Above right: The wood chips go flyin' whenever Ranger Del wields his fearsome Pulaski. This is in the Powderhorn.
Above left: The BLM office in Montrose, Colorado. That's my boss, Arden Anderson. Behind him are fellow rangers Mike Cook, John Nahomenuk and John Kalish. Above right: Back at my trailer in Silverton, working on more signs.
Above left: The BLM land in the San Juan Mountains is carved up with lots of old mining claims, most dating back to the 1800s. Part of my job was simply trying to figure out where the BLM land was. This is one of my topo maps, which shows BLM lands in yellow. I marked it up with lots of notes that summer, as you can see. Above right: I warmed my trailer in Silverton every morning with the burners going full blast. It gets pretty chilly at 9,300 feet, even in August.
Above left: The marmots liked to eat our signs. Marmots are like large guinea pigs, and in the winter when the snow piled up, they sat on the snow and chewed into our signs (apparently they're quite tasty). This is supposed to say "Poughkeepsie Gulch" and "Engineer Mountain." Above right: One of the best parts of my job was poking around in the high country and discovering deserted, well-preserved gems like this. This is the 100-year old Buffalo Boy mine north of Silverton.
Above left: Old mining gear, including this boiler from the 1870s, is scattered everywhere in the Silverton area. I was the first BLM ranger to ever be stationed in Silverton, so part of my job that summer was exploring the backcountry. I was fascinated by the historic artifacts and the mining story of this area. Above right: Sunset over the peaceful Animas Valley at 12,000 feet.
Above left: Dealing with friendly border collies, used by the sheepherders in this area, is an occupational hazard of this job. This pesky fellow refused to get off my sign. He just wanted to be petted. Above right: Another day, another Bronco: Here's Ranger Del pulling out another stuck vehicle using his Handyman jack.
For the exciting (?) conclusion of this photo essay and to find out if I survived the Broncos and friendly border collies (hint: I did), see my next page at: July 4, 2002: Ranger Del, Part 2
Next News July 4, 2002: Ranger Del, Part 2 (Lake City, Colorado)
Previous News July 1, 2002 (Looking Glass Rock, Utah) June 25, 2002 (Lassen Volcanic Nat'l Park, California) June 18, 2002 – Part 2 (Port Orford, Oregon) June 18, 2002 – Part 1 (Port Orford, Oregon) May 22, 2002 (Bellingham, Washington)
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