Have You Ever Seen A Forest Ranger In The Backwoods?

General discussions on hiking in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest
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MarkInTheDark
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Have You Ever Seen A Forest Ranger In The Backwoods?

Post by MarkInTheDark » September 8th, 2008, 6:58 pm

Just a question I thought about on my last trip, have you ever seen a Forest Ranger while out in the backcountry?

I've been hiking about 20 years and I've only seen one, at Wahtum Lake, which, because of the road nearby, probably doesn't count.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone ever does see a Ranger guy or woman out on the tail.

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Swede
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Re: Have You Ever Seen A Forest Ranger In The Backwoods?

Post by Swede » September 8th, 2008, 7:06 pm

I saw a ranger on the timberline trail at Elk Cove in the summer of 1976. Haven't seen one anywhere in the Mt. Hood Forest recently, though.

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jimsiff
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Re: Have You Ever Seen A Forest Ranger In The Backwoods?

Post by jimsiff » September 8th, 2008, 7:39 pm

I saw a backwoods ranger in the Deschutes National Forest at Green Lakes back in 1999. I didn't see any prior, nor any since.
-Jim

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mdvaden
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Re: Have You Ever Seen A Forest Ranger In The Backwoods?

Post by mdvaden » September 8th, 2008, 8:03 pm

No.

Just in a truck, or near a road or campground. Or in the office.

But never on the trail or in the woods. Unless they go in "unmarked".

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Arielamandah
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Re: Have You Ever Seen A Forest Ranger In The Backwoods?

Post by Arielamandah » September 8th, 2008, 8:12 pm

Came across one up in Olympic National Park, along the well-used Elwah River trail. We were only a couple miles out, and she was packing out along the trail. She checked our permits and wished us well. That was in... 2001? Maybe?

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RobFromRedland
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Re: Have You Ever Seen A Forest Ranger In The Backwoods?

Post by RobFromRedland » September 8th, 2008, 8:29 pm

Saw one at Duffy Lake (Mt Jefferson Wilderness) in 2002. She walked around the lake, talking with all the people. Haven't seen one on the trail since then.

Rob
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: WOW! What a ride! - Hunter S. Thompson

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BCJ
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Re: Have You Ever Seen A Forest Ranger In The Backwoods?

Post by BCJ » September 8th, 2008, 10:32 pm

I've seen them at the following places in the past few years:
-Jefferson Park
-Paradise Park, Mt. Hood
-Camp Muir (climbing ranger)
-Helen Lake, Mt. Shasta, twice (climbing ranger)
-Lunch Counter, Mt. Adams (climbing ranger)
-Monitor Ridge (climbing ranger, hiding behind a rock)
-Killen Creek, Mt. Adams (on a horse)
-Luna Peak, North Cascades (one of the most difficult and inaccessable places in the Lower 48; the ranger said they only get back there once or twice a decade, at most; the peak only sees a few ascents every year)
-Eagle Creek

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jimsiff
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Re: Have You Ever Seen A Forest Ranger In The Backwoods?

Post by jimsiff » September 8th, 2008, 11:06 pm

I forgot about climbing rangers. I saw one on Adams once, and one on St. Helens twice.

BCJ, you saw a ranger on St. Helens hiding behind a rock? What were they doing... waiting for unsuspecting climbers to go by without a permit attached to their pack flapping in the breeze? :lol:
-Jim

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Grannyhiker
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Re: Have You Ever Seen A Forest Ranger In The Backwoods?

Post by Grannyhiker » September 8th, 2008, 11:43 pm

I met a ranger two years ago on the PCT just south of Chinook Pass. Since this was in the Wenatchee NF's Naches Ranger District, he may have been the one described in many posts on nwhikers.net as Barry the Backwoods (censored), infamous for writing expensive tickets to those camped 99 feet (rather than the required 100) from the trail or the lakeshore and being nasty to everyone he meets. Ask Sarbar about her recent encounter. However, the ranger I met, whoever he was, was quite pleasant to me and petted Hysson. That's the only wilderness ranger I've seen since the 1980's, when the Forest Service used to recruit volunteer college students and retirees to spend the summer in the wilds, providing them with food and camping gear. That program is long gone because there's no budget for the food and gear. With a very few exceptions, I don't think there is such a thing as wilderness rangers, even volunteers, any more. Too bad, because there needs to be at least a minimal amount of enforcement in the wilderness in order to preserve it.

In the Wind Rivers, there were signs up saying that they use volunteers even to clean the trailhead/campground restrooms. That didn't seem to prevent someone from leaving a bag of garbage inside. Could get exciting--be sitting on the toilet with a bear trying to get in!

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kelkev
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Re: Have You Ever Seen A Forest Ranger In The Backwoods?

Post by kelkev » September 9th, 2008, 5:03 am

In the last few years....

Duffy Lake
Jefferson Park
Marion Lake

The Marion Lake and Jeff Park experiences were a couple of college employees, doing trail maintenance and checking permits; Duffy Lake was an Oregon State Police trooper, mounted on horseback.
"Going to the mountains is going home."
— John Muir

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