Our backcountry rangers teach an annual workshop on search and rescue.
As I say, we had two teams and had just scads of equipment- carabineers, ropes, hardhats. You name it, we had it. Although I did go to an activity that was conducted by REI and there has been so much more technical equipment developed over and above what we had at that time. Looking back on what we had, it was like Model T vintage type of equipment. I remember one of the neatest things we did one evening was set up a Tyrolean Traverse there at Annie Creek Canyon and that was really something to set up and then go across that thing. But those are the types of things that we did, and once again it was under Slim Mayberry and Len Williamson’s tutelage and expertise that we were able to do the type of things that we experienced.
That traverse was set up near the campground?
We set it up just to the south of the bridge there that goes just before you get to the entrance station, across that canyon. That was just [one of] a number of things that were done with the rescue team.
Where did you live while you worked at Crater Lake?
I came up there my first season with the understanding that there was no housing. I lived in the barracks, the second floor, and ate at the Messhall (13). I lived with the fire crew, which was too much like being in the service. I really didn’t enjoy it all that great. Warren Fairbanks was the chief naturalist, and there was a certain amount of tension between naturalist and the protective division. But I did strike up a good friendship with Jack Broadbent, who was the chief ranger. I attribute that to being able, about the third week that I was there, getting a cabin in Sleepy Hollow. It was the first one on the right after you passed the equipment area (14). It was a small, one room with a little kitchen and bath. I went home and got my wife and family-at that time we had three children- and came up there and lived in that cabin about a week. Unbeknownst to me, just further down the Sleepy Hollow, there was a larger cabin available. One morning, there was a knock at the door and there was a couple, Dexter Kinnard (???) was his name and he had just come up from Medford and he was going to be on the protective staff. He wanted to look at the cabin. And he says, “You know, we have this cabin down the way and it’s larger than this one. You know, you people should have that and we’ll take this.” And they had two children and I thought, boy that was really very magnanimous of him to do that. Consequently, we moved to a larger cabin, the one that was next to the wash house (15). It was just beyond, toward the bluffs from the wash house. Then the following year we got to stay in the stone house, one of the stone houses. One year we were back at Annie Springs and our “assigned cabin” for most of the season I was there was the last one on the right, almost at the base of the bluffs there next to a little creek (16). Then across from us was Ed Payne. They were great friends of ours. Each of us had four children. In fact, my fourth one was born in Klamath Falls. I remember my wife and I would have to take trial runs to see what was the quickest way to get to Klamath Falls going out the old east entrance or the south entrance. He was born August 21, 1961, an Oregon baby.
