Hi out there! If you're reading this, I'd like to know about you too! I am the father of twins born July3, 2006. They are a joy! See My Family and Photo Gallery for more on them. I have worked for the Forest Service since 1998, when I was a Fire Lookout. Currently I am a Wilderness Ranger. I graduated from Humboldt State University, Allan Hancock College, US Army Armor School, and St. Joseph's High School.
I work on Mt. Whitney during the summer months for the Forest Service. I love my job! Mt. Whitney is the highest point in the lower United States at 14,495', which makes it a very popular destination. The Whitney trail has about 150 people entering each day. Most hikers approach Mt. Whitney on the Main Mt. Whitney Trail, while the more experienced climbers and guide services use the North Fork Lone Pine Creek Trail, or Mountaineers Route. Also people will hike through Sequoia-King's Canyon National Parks and approach Whitney from the west side. The Eastern Sierra is amazing.
My Station is in Lone Pine, CA, the Mt. Whitney Ranger District. Lone Pine is in Owens Valley and on Highway 395. Owens Valley is very deep at 4,000' elevation with 14,000' peaks east (the White Mountains) and west (Mt. Whitney and the Sierra Crest) of it. The highway runs the length of the Eastern Sierra Nevada and is quite an amazing drive.
Lone Pine is also a gateway to Death Valley National Park. The Interagency Visitor Center (IVC) in Lone Pine is at the intersection of Highways 395 and 136, the junction to Death Valley. Folks from the Forest Service, Park Services, and BLM are there at the IVC providing information to travelers on Highway 395, issuing Wilderness Permits for Mt. Whitney and other Eastern Sierra Wilderness entry points, and giving information on Death Valley. I work in the IVC a couple days a pay period to help issue permits and provide information to visitors of the John Muir Wilderness. It is great to have so much visitor contact. For the high amount of use Eastern Sierra Wilderness areas get, the trails and popular areas are in great condition. I've patrolled other Wilderness areas with very little visitor contact, and packed out huge amounts of trash wondering where it all comes from! So, please PACK IT OUT! It is a requirement to pack your poop from Mt. Whitney. I pack mine out each time I go, and I go to Whitney a lot, and stay for a long time. If you aren't willing to pack it out, please go someplace else. The John Muir Wilderness is pristine because the visitors take care of it, so thank you all! I always wanted to get paid to camp, but my current job exceeds my expectations.
My education was geared toward getting paid to camp. I surf and was once interested in Oceanography. I decided some undergraduate work in Geology would get me ready for real work in Oceanography. I started climbing, kayaking and hiking quite a bit when I was attending Long Beach State (CSULB), and began courses in the outdoor leadership program there. My interest in geology fizzled out. Soon after, the Veterans Upward Bound Program at Humboldt State University accepted me into their program and I accepted, attending one of their summer courses. I moved to Humboldt.
In Humboldt, I had the opportunity to be outside with people I enjoyed hanging with. The rivers and Wilderness Areas in Northern California are amazing. The ganja is good! High on acid, backpacking in the Marble Mountain Wilderness Area and headed into Marble Valley (I would later work as the Ranger in the Marble Mountains), I decided I needed to quit working at the Arcata Coop, do my own thing, and get back into school! I did just that. The very next summer I took a job with the Forest Service as a fire lookout and the next January I was attending Humboldt State University (HSU). I started there with a major in Natural Resources, expanding my horizon, but graduated with my degree in Geology. I set myself up to get paid to camp with my backpacking and climbing experience and education, my passion for Wilderness, and my status as a veteran with the US Forest Service.
I joined the Army while I was still in High School at St. Joe's. I thought if I didn't get some discipline I'd end up following the Grateful Dead around for the rest of my life. I had never seen them, just seemed like I better do something! Anyhow, I joined the Army in 1988. I was trained at Ft. Knox, KY as a Bradley Fighting Vehicle Systems Mechanic. When my training was through, I was shipped off to be stationed in Germany. Being Europe was great! I was there when the Berlin Wall came down, and the Cold War came to a cease. And the good ol' Grateful Dead came to tour Europe for the first time in 10 years! Anyhow, in September of 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded Iraq. Christmas Eve 1990 I was in Saudi Arabia, and I quite sure why we were there.
On New Years Day I listened to the Rose Bowl on the radio while I was on guard duty patrolling at Tent City. It was the middle of the night there in Saudi Arabia and I was listening to Mark Brunel playing quarterback and being chosen MVP. I have known Mark since playing little league baseball, and I had finished attending four years of High School with him just 3 years before. I thought to myself that that joining the Army was a bad decision!
We invaded Iraq along the western border of Kuwait, and entered following several days of air strikes on the Iraqi soldiers there, and behind several divisions from the US alliance forces. We proceeded without opposition until we got to the northern border of Kuwait with Iraq, when our division moved forward. My unit, 4th Squadron, 7th Cavalry, did battle with the Iraqi Republican Guard. When the war was over, I had been in three distinct battles, experienced incoming, and saw our Bradleys burning in the battlefield. I had listened as the reports of casualties came in. I remember I could smell the burnt wreckage, gun powder, and flesh. Artillery and firing A10 Warthogs had flown overhead, sending back reports and flashes of light from their final, deadly destination in the distance.
I arrived back in Germany three days before my 21st birthday. I decided between having seen the Grateful Dead and having been in a war, that I was going to get out of the Army and concentrate on letting my hair grow. And I did just that.
I had the great opportunity to see the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia about fifty times. Jerry and the Grateful Dead were something to see, if you like that kind of stuff!
While I was stationed in Germany and the Grateful Dead came on their final European Tour, I traveled with my friend Mark Andros to Berlin and saw them play there for the first time. I thought I'd ask some random stranger if they knew where I could get some acid (my drug of choice while in the Army). He came back with some dude a bit later, and we scored. As the start time grew near, we followed the flow of deadheads, mostly Americans, toward the entrance sharing a big half gallon of cheap wine. Mark handed his ticket over and went in, but they wouldn't let the jug in. So I passed it around and shared the wine. The Grateful Dead opened up with Jack Straw that night! With Bruce Hornsby giving Vince a hand on the keyboards, a very heavy, deep and long Dark Star, and a Box of Rain played that night, my first show, I wanted to follow them around for the rest of my life!
When I got out of the Army I started letting my hair grow, and attending college, while working part time as a mechanic And traveling to see the Grateful Dead as often as possible. I continued this until Jerry's death in 1995, when I had just moved to Humboldt.
Well, I hope someone reads this...it was a lot of work!
Keep in touch. Cheers!
~Doug