Baxter State Park - A Peek into the Life of a Ranger

Two weeks ago, my dream job was posted online - Baxter State Park Ranger.  If you know me, this makes total sense.  I absolutely love the outdoors, and I have always been passionate about my home state of Maine.  I grew up close to Grand Lake Matagamon and the North Entrance to the park.  I love the area I grew up in, and I've never quite been able to call any other place "home".  I feel tied to the area in a way that only fellow Maine-iacs understand, and any time I leave, I cannot wait to get back.

Sunset on Millinocket Lake

That being said, when this job was posted - I immediately messaged the Park Rangers that I knew to ask about it.  What would the job entail exactly as a "Supervisory" position?  What was the application process?  How soon would it be available?  After fielding numerous questions, Ranger Mike Winslow suggested I make the trip to the park for a "ride along" with the Ranger Service.  I reacted to this with the same enthusiasm that I had for the initial job posting, and so today I found myself tagging along to see what a day in the life of a ranger was like.

The day started when Ranger Mike picked me up from the bunkhouse at Togue Visitor Center.  I asked what we would be doing that day, and he threw out a couple of tasks that we needed to do - but reminded me that anything could happen in the park.  First we stopped by Park Headquarters so that I could make the rounds and meet the staff at BSP.  Every time I come to Park Headquarters, I find a new connection that I didn't realize I had.  Today was Connie Theriault, and it was great to catch up with her for a few minutes before we had to head for the park.

Growing up, I spent the majority of my time in the northern part of the park.  Grand Lake Matagamon, South Branch Pond, Horse Mountain - they made up my playground as a kid.  But today was spent in the southern part of the park.  Being that I was less familiar with this area, Ranger Mike took a drive to show me around the various campgrounds.  I knew there was a lot at this end of the park, but I guess I hadn't thought about it as much before.  I always got so wrapped up in "home" that I didn't explore this far south in the park.

Our drive landed us at Katahdin Stream Campground where we took up the task of hiking to Grassy Pond to cut down a couple of trees for materials for a canoe rack.  Sounds like work to most people.  Sounds like fun to me!  We ended up spending several hours in the woods with hardly anyone around.  Here was our view -

We ended up hopping in a canoe and paddling around the pond to find a couple of trees that would suit our purpose.  The mosquitoes and blackflies were horrible, but it was such a beautiful day that it was well worth it to put up with them.  Having a civilian running a chainsaw in the park would not have been the best idea, so Ranger Mike took care of that.

Once the tree was down, I got to work on stripping the bark from the logs.  It didn't take long before they were both ready to take back across the pond.  Basically we put them into the pond, tied them to the back of the canoe, and paddled over with them in tow.  Having two on the job made for shorter work, and before long we were packed up and hiking back down the trail for Katahdin Stream Campground.

The rest of the day was spent at a Search and Rescue training - just observing, but it was still great watching the Park Staff train alongside the National Guard's Black Hawk helicopter.  I always knew that they were loud, but I never realized just how loud until I was standing near one about to take off.  It brought out the kid in me, standing there all smiles while they took off to head back to Bangor.  I'm sure more than one of the Rangers around me got a laugh in at my expense...

As I sit here typing this, I realize that the day doesn't sound like much.  We drove around the park checking in with other Park Staff, checking in on Rangers, cut down a couple trees... It was a quiet day in the park, and I'm sure not all days are like this.  But it was a taste of what life should be like - human beings aren't meant to be kept cooped up inside all the time.  We are not meant to be sedentary.  We are meant to get out there, breathe in the fresh air, take up a hiking pack or a paddle and explore.  Life is meant to be an adventure, and I can think of no better place for that adventure to take me than back to Maine. One way or another - whether it's with the Park or in some other way - I am coming home.soon.