Mary Litell Hinson continues to break glass ceilings. In 2006 she became the first female chief ranger of Lake Mead National Recreation Area, one of the busiest parks in the world. After she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in 2002, Mary continued to work for the NPS during two courses of chemotherapy treatments. (She raised a few eyebrows when she showed up at a rescue scene with a bald head.) So far she remains cancer free. In addition to her duties as a chief ranger, a wife, and a mother of two, Mary raises thousands of dollars every year for breast cancer research and awareness. She rock climbs occasionally, but she will never BASE jump. Instead Mary celebrates her birthdays with a sky dive or a leap from something tall while attached to a bungee cord.
After a short stint with the FBI, Chris Fors returned to the parks to work as a special agent in Yellowstone National Park. Chris’s reconciliation with the Park Service was short-lived. He says he left the NPS for good when he accepted a special agent position with the USDA Forest Service (USFS) in Vermont. Chris is content to be back in New England and working for the Department of Agriculture. In 2008 he was anointed “USFS Special Agent of the Year.” He now has a wife, a son, and a wonderful home for them to live in—a spacious farmhouse complete with barn, maple trees, apple trees, a trout brook, and a big hayfield. Although Chris no longer has any moody roommates, his farmhouse did come with a few bats in the attic and lots more in the barn, but so far they have been good tenants.
After Cale’s funeral, I threw all my ranger uniforms in a dumpster. This shocked my more sentimental ranger friends. I told them the act was incredibly therapeutic. I had to cut the cord. I had to move on.
But I kept the Stetson.
Today my Smokey Bear is taking up space in my garage. The leather band embossed with sequoia cones is faded and frayed. The felt is bruised and moldy. Despite these defects, I could get hundreds for my ranger hat on eBay. Yet I can’t bring myself to part with it.
* * *
After my first summer at Cape Hatteras, I thought I’d be a park ranger forever. But life sends you to unexpected places. In 2001 my husband, Kent Delbon, left the NPS for a better-paying job with the U.S. Secret Service. We moved to Los Angeles, a city I once hated, where I became a private duty registered nurse for VIP clients in Beverly Hills.
But old habits are slow to die. One day I was in the middle of a delicate and risky procedure involving a patient’s arterial line when an earthquake tried to shake us off the bed. “You’re like a Marine,” my patient said when the earth finally settled, “but in a good way.”
In 2009 Kent accepted a special agent position with the USDA Forest Service, the same agency that has welcomed numerous battle-weary park rangers seeking refuge—including Chris Fors. Kent and I are happy to be living in the Sierra foothills, no more than an hour’s drive from where we first met under the ancient cedars that grow wide and tall inside Yosemite Valley.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Among the many heroes in this book are the folks at FalconGuides and Globe Pequot Press, including Scott Adams, Paulette Baker, and John Burbidge. Allen Jones, the manuscript medic, convinced me to excise my tumors, tourniquet my tenses, and suture my structure. Thanks to his advice, this book is a much healthier one.
Audie Alcorn, a former park ranger and a talented editor, read early portions of this manuscript, providing intelligent and practical advice. My work also benefited from the critical reading skills of another former park ranger, Monica McManus Woll.
The research and writings of Michael P. Ghiglieri, Thomas M. Myers, and Charles R. “Butch” Farabee Jr. were most useful to me. Their books Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite and Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon offered another perspective on several incidents I depict here and provided a historical context to the tragedies faced by the rangers who work at Yosemite and the Grand Canyon.
In addition, Cale Shaffer’s journals and college reports allowed me to recreate faithfully his experiences at Camp Judy Lane, Lock Haven University, and while rafting the Colorado River. Many of Cale’s phrasings are taken verbatim from these texts.
I extend my undying gratitude and admiration to Mary Litell Hinson, Chris Fors, and Brittney Ruland Schramm for having the courage to share some of their most vulnerable moments with us. For certain, I am grateful that Keith Lober’s sense of humor is as magnificent as his temper.
The following people were also kind enough to tell me stories that offered additional insights into park ranger culture and/or the events and personalities portrayed in this book. National Park Service employees and volunteers: Mike Archer, Gib Backlund, Werner and Mary Braun, David Line Denali, Paul Downey, K. J. Glover, Scott Hinson, Dan Horner, Sjors Horstman, Jessie Jordan, Ivan Kassovic, Kate McCurdy, Noel McJunkin, Chris Mengel, Darryl Miller, Greg Moore, Kevin Moore, Jim and Lisa Osse, Billie Patrick, Rosie Peragine, Billy Shott, Brian Smith, Patrick Suddath, Jeff Sullivan, Chuck Sypher, Bryan Wisher, and Steve Yu. From Lock Haven University: Judy Elliot, Lenny Long, Jeffrey Walsh, and Tom Wilson. All others: Ryan Booz, Jim Fisher, Kate Henderson, Gren Hinton, Tom and Hazel Martin, Beth Overton, Scott Rossman, and Eric Valentine.
In addition to several names listed above, the following folks went out of their way to help in various ways during the course of my research: Kim Besom, Kris Fister, Todd Gearman, Patricia Lankford, Ray O’Neil, Chris Pergiel, and Deanne Stillman.
Ron, Carol, and Jen Shaffer graciously welcomed me into their home, hearts, and family history. I will forever cherish the week I spent with them, meeting Cale’s friends and touring his old stomping grounds. And a special thanks to Cale for visiting Carol and me through our dreams to tell us in no uncertain terms that he approved of my writing about him.
I could not have completed this project and still ended up in one psychological piece if not for my husband, Kent Delbon. Many times he has pulled me back from the edge. This book is dedicated to him.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kent Delbon
A former National Park Service ranger, Andrea “Andy” Lankford has trekked the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail, kayaked from Miami to Key West, cycled to the Arctic Ocean, and was the first to mountain bike eight hundred miles from Utah to Mexico along the Arizona Trail. She is the author of four books, and her stories and photographs have appeared in numerous publications, including Backpacker, Paddler, and Camping Life. She lives in the Sierra foothills of California.
Ranger Confidential Page 24
