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Here's the exciting (?) conclusion of my photo essay. 

My Life as a Ranger (1983 - 1988) 

Part 2 of 2

Above left:  Continuing on from my 1984 summer:  This is a boiler from the 1880s in the ghost town of Mineral Point, between Silverton and Ouray.  Boilers were used to generate power for working the mine.  Miners often piled rocks beside their boilers to buffer the impact in case the boiler exploded.

Above right:  These old roads were built for mules, not Dodge Rams.  This is on patrol north of Silverton.

Above left:  The Silverton train before its daily trip down to Durango.  This train's been running between Silverton and Durango for over 100 years.  It was featured in the 1969 movie, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

Above right:  Abandoned mining equipment from the late 1800s quietly rusts in Maggie Gulch.

Left:  My friend Katy came up from Arizona to visit me one weekend.  She's huddled in my chilly trailer.  At 9,300' high, Silverton was a just a bit cooler than Tucson in the summer!

Above left:  A mill from the 1800s in the abandoned mining town of Animas Forks.  Mills were built to crush the rock and separate out the gold.  Animas Forks was a thriving town in the 1880s and, at nearly 12,000' in elevation, boasted the highest printing press in the world at that time.

Above right:  John Kalish in October, at the end of the 1984 season.  The snow starts falling early here.  Yep, it's time to wrap up another year with the BLM!

1985

I spent the winter of 1984-85 attending grad school in Wisconsin, and in May I drove to Colorado to spend another summer and fall working with the BLM.  This season I was the Wilderness Ranger in the Powderhorn Wilderness Area.

 

Above left:  Here's Ranger Del building a log bridge over the East Fork of Powderhorn Creek.  Boy, was that water cold!

Above right:  Paul (center) worked with me in the Powderhorn that summer and Bobbi (right) helped for a bit.

Above left:  The Upper Powderhorn Lake, my home for much of the 1985 summer.

Above right:  A hungry bear looking for food squashed my tent one afternoon, but fortunately I wasn't there at the time.  I later sewed up my tent but it still has odd-colored stains from the Kool-Aid powder that the bear scattered around – just before it rained.

Above left:  I also worked in the Lake City area in 1985.  This bulldozer was owned by my nemesis, Gordon Smith.  Gordon liked to harass rangers and build roads illegally into Wilderness areas.  He later went to prison for assaulting a federal employee.

Above right:  Gordon also liked to carve up our "Road Closed" signs in Wilderness areas.  He torched the word "OPEN" into this metal sign.

Left:  July wildflowers in American Basin – one of the perks of the job.

Above left:  Derrick Hayes helped me at the end of the 1985 season.  We're putting up Public Land signs in the Lake City area so visitors know where they can fish legally.

Above right:  The first snowfall here usually happens around mid-September.  This is Sunshine Peak (14,001'), one of three 14,000-foot peaks in my patrol area.  So long to another season! 

1986

I got my Masters degree in Wisconsin in May and drove to Colorado a few weeks later for my fourth season with the BLM.  This summer I was the BLM's lead ranger in the San Juans, stationed in Lake City.  I supervised two rangers that summer, T.J. and Renea.

 

Above left:  We hiked into the Powderhorn for a week that summer.  That's my boss, Arden (right) enjoying a Powderhorn vista with T.J. (Tom Jones).

Above right:  And here's Renea.  This is near Silverton.

Above left:  Driving up to Cinnamon Pass.  This was in late June but there was still lots of snow up here.

Above right:  Big trucks aren't meant for dirt roads.

Above left:  One of my tasks early in the season (note the falling snow) was replacing the Cinnamon Pass sign.  There had been a large concrete sign here saying "Cinnamon Pass - 12,640' Elevation."  However, someone had intentionally backed their Jeep into it the previous fall and stole the sign.  Crazy people, huh?

Above right:  After removing the rest of the old sign, I put in a new one.  This sign was made of steel and I anchored it with 200 pounds of concrete.  Don't mess with Texas – or Ranger Del.

(Note:  16 years later, in 2002, my Cinnamon Pass sign is still there!)

Above left:  Here's Renea by a 1800's mining cabin perched high in the mountains.

Above right:  And Ranger Del perched on top of Sunshine Peak (with his trusty bag of Doritos).  At 14,001 feet, Sunshine is the lowest "14er" in America.  I could've pushed away a few rocks to make it a "13er."

Left:  Lake San Cristobal is one of the largest lakes in Colorado, and the namesake of Lake City. I built a short trail to this viewpoint and put up the first sign here, wanting others to enjoy it, too.  This region was part of my patrol area from 1986 to 1988.

Above left:  My Chevy Luv versus a rocky road.  The road sometimes won.

Above right:  Julie didn't work with the BLM anymore but she still lived in the area.  We went down to Canyonlands in Utah one weekend and basked in the sunshine, always a treat after working in the rainy San Juan Mountains.

Above left:  The Fourth of July celebration in Lake City is always fun.

Above right:  And here's a birthday celebration for Renea (right) in the Lake City BLM office.  That's T.J. in the back and Arden on the left.

Above left:  Hiking above timberline with Susie, a friend I met that summer.  That's Uncompahgre Peak (14,309') on the right and Wetterhorn on the left.

Above right:  The abandoned Walsh house in the ghost town of Animas Forks.  At an elevation of 11,800 feet, Animas Forks was the highest town in America in the 1880s.  By 1920, it was totally abandoned.

1987

I spent the winter in Florida working for the Bradenton Herald newspaper, then in May I drove back to Colorado to work my fifth season with the BLM.

 

Left:  The 1987 BLM crew in Lake City.  From left to right:  Me, Laurie, Todd, and the "Blues Brothers," Stuart and Bob.  I loved working with this group.

Above left:  Ranger Laurie working on my beloved Engineer Pass sign.  The view way up here is "breathtaking" (partly because there's so little oxygen!)  Laurie and I remained good friends for many years afterwards.  She's a sweet person.

Above right:  This was home during my three years in Lake City.  The BLM provides nothing but the very best in accommodations (OK, I'm kidding).

Above left:  Proudly perched atop my favorite outhouse.

Above right:  And attacking it with a power sander.  Note my reddish "tan."

Above left:  Bob, Todd and Laurie sharing nachos after a long day.

Above right:  And playing hacky sack during a lunch break at Red Bridge campground. 

Above left:  I flew over the San Juans one morning in a Cessna, doing aerial reconnaissance.  This is Alpine Gulch near Lake City.  It looks a lot different from the air.

Above right:  The always-cerebral Bob reading a book while enjoying lunch at 12,000 feet.  This is near Engineer Pass above the Henson Creek valley.

Above left:  And here's another pass.  That's Laurie and Susie, who was the BLM's Silverton ranger that year, at Cinnamon Pass.  And look – the sign I put up in 1986 is still there!

Above right:  Laurie enjoying another sign.  This one's a few miles southwest of Lake City.

Above left:  Stuart and Laurie in the housetrailer enjoying a lasagna dinner I cooked up.  Stuart was a real jokester and always fun to be around.

Above right:  Bob with Chris at dinner.  Chris was the receptionist in the BLM/USFS office in Lake City and we worked together for many years.

Above left:  My brother Don and his family, from upstate New York, visited me for a few days that summer.  I took them on an all-day drive around the area and we got not one but TWO flat tires.

Above right:  Ranger Del working on the Chukar Trail near Montrose.  Gosh, I love swinging a Pulaski.

Above left:  Lake San Cristobal in autumn splendor.

Above right:  It's late September now and the aspens are turning golden.

Left:  Caught in an October snowstorm at 12,000'.  Yes, it's time to wrap up another season!

1988

After spending the winter in Oregon, I returned to Colorado in May of 1988 to work my final season with the BLM.  I spent part of that season fighting wildfires in Colorado.  I've posted photos and stories of my 1988 season at: 

 

July 2, 2002:  Life as a Firefighter

Next News

July 12, 2002:  Life in Lake City  (Lake City, Colo.)

Previous News

July 4, 2002:  Ranger Del, Part 1  (Lake City, Colorado)

July 2, 2002:  Life as a Firefighter (Lake City, Colorado)

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)