“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.” – John Muir
Jen wanted her birthday celebrated in a portion of the park with grizzly bears. Growing up in the Northern Plains, she had little experience with bears and thought the idea exciting. Her two other friends – one from the Southwest and one from the Southeast – also innocent to the ways of the grizzly encouraged her in the adventure. Her roommate, however, spent too much time in the woods to go quietly into bear country. She also did not want to be complicit in a tale gone badly: “Three Hikers Found Mauled in Denali National Park.” The mountain had already taken the lives of several climbers that year, she knew she must provide some wisdom to the otherwise naïve teens.
They all worked just outside the park and a perk included packed bags of gorp, sandwiches and other food items for all those employees using off-time to camp. The four girl-women went through what gear they brought, then borrowed the rest. The Southerner, in particular, borrowed pretty much everything. She had not even had a decent pair of hiking shoes until a month before Jen’s birthday. She did not realize stores existed just for hiking and camping as these sports failed to register in a home dominated by football and wrestling. Her idea of hitting a trail was driving the Roaring Fork Road in Gatlinburg. She had no idea what awaited her.
Jen gathered the permits to camp in the backcountry where grizzlies had been spotted. She obtained bear cannisters for all food items. Her roommate tried to educate Jen and the other two about the importance of clothing, DEET and smell elimination. No “Secret” or cherry-scented lip balm. The mosquitoes are the size of hummingbirds and may actually eat you alive. Yes, you will get hot, but you will get cold and you HAVE to have clothing for all occasions.
They finally made it to departure day and loaded one of the school buses the park used to travel the 11 hour plus road to Kantishna. All along the park road, the younger three laughed and talked about their non- or inexperienced experiences with camping. None of the 3 had ever gone into a backcountry where no trails existed, no blazes. They were all bluster and excitement.
After 7 hours of bumpy riding and jaw dropping scenery, after watching the caribou herds in Polychrome and scanning the hillsides for Dall sheep, the bus stopped – nowhere in particular – and indicated the quadruplets needed to get their gear and head to the left. The emergency door in the back opened to them and there the girl/women heaved their packs on while all who were left in the bus pushed themselves up off their seats to wave a final good-bye to the girls: “Four Hikers Found Mauled in Denali National Park” and they would have been some of the last to see them.
(To Be Continued)
2/24/26
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