SEKI ranger assignments
Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 1:54 pm
Just finished a section of the JMT with a group of friends (ingress over Kearsarge Pass, egress over Piute Pass) from 8/26 to 9/4 (so the last gasp of summer). We saw no less than 3 backcountry rangers during that span of time. The first - Jonathan, based at Cedar Grove - was on patrol, engaged us in some conversation near Glen Pass, and performed no enforcement checks. The second - Nessa, based at LeConte - was on patrol, engaged us in lengthy conversation both below and atop Muir Pass, and did check us for permits and canisters (though she was extremely nice about it). The last guy - didn’t get a name, based likely at McClure Meadow - was responding to an incident in Evolution Basin, so we barely said 10 words to him as we crossed paths.
They were all pretty young and energetic. Happy to see they all had great “customer relations” skills. Obviously all were having a busy summer. Definitely the new guard of SEKI rangering, as lifelong guys (like Dario Malengo) retire or move to front office jobs. Anyway it was the most rangers I’ve ever seen during a single backcountry trip. Guess I’m glad the SEKI is putting a priority on it.
It got me to thinking: is there anywhere on the internet (NPS website or elsewhere) where the seasonal backcountry ranger assignments are posted? I couldn’t find anything, and could see why perhaps the NPS might consider that non-public info. But I figure if anyone knows, it would be this forum’s members.
They were all pretty young and energetic. Happy to see they all had great “customer relations” skills. Obviously all were having a busy summer. Definitely the new guard of SEKI rangering, as lifelong guys (like Dario Malengo) retire or move to front office jobs. Anyway it was the most rangers I’ve ever seen during a single backcountry trip. Guess I’m glad the SEKI is putting a priority on it.
It got me to thinking: is there anywhere on the internet (NPS website or elsewhere) where the seasonal backcountry ranger assignments are posted? I couldn’t find anything, and could see why perhaps the NPS might consider that non-public info. But I figure if anyone knows, it would be this forum’s members.