This Wild Land
Finally a librarian called with a copy of This Wild Land by Baxter Park Ranger Andrew Vietze. This book is a very popular community read with many copies selling at Oliver and Friends, too.
I wish I’d had a copy earlier to read during all that June rain, because friends were raving about it. Now I read my library copy by the lake before my daily swim to cool off. Katahdin hovers in its grandness over almost every chapter. The AT thru hikers, day hikers and their lack of preparedness, personalities of rangers, and outdoor toilets are main characters.
Yes, cleaning outhouse facilities is mentioned more than I would ever dream a good writer could get away with, but this fine writer does. After all, Andrew Vietze had a solid, successful writing career for ten years in the prestigious Down East Magazine.
Clearing trees and parking lot maintenance did not get my attention at first, but later chapters had me turning the pages: “I figured some fancy magazine editor wouldn’t want to get his hands dirty [remarks by instructor]…I recognized immediately that real park rangers cleaned outhouses, and I wanted to be a park ranger.
Parking lot management is big at Katahdin where climbers are limited daily for safety reasons. A mountain climber from Maryland driving a European sports car screamed in the ranger’s face when not allowed to park. Planning ahead for Katahdin is required. The screaming climber left, not even considering all the other 45 peaks or 200 miles of hiking trails or paddling ponds and lakes, 50 to choose from. Why not explore other options while near Katahdin?
Hikers today who forget their prescription meds or lone hikers abusing drugs offer many emergency situations for the rangers to handle. Medical attention happens daily for Katahdin climbers, ankle and foot trauma being number one. Rescues by helicopter are needed sometimes.
I’m particularly impressed with the combat vets who use the trail as a way to decompress after their wartime experience. The tradition dates back to the first thru-hiker, Earl Shaffer, who was a radio man in the Pacific during WW II and ‘walked off the war’ by trekking from Ga. to Me.
Mosquitoes and moose dying from ticks and black flies biting people everywhere exposed are covered more thoroughly than nuisance by bears. Yes, a bear causes minor problems occasionally, but black flies are worse for people. The two French ladies’ story was hard to believe, but read about them…
Walt Disney finding Bambi right here “in the shadow of Katahdin” is another history lesson full of detail and beauty that became an American classic film. We in Maine know the woods Bambi frolicked in. The Augusta movie theatre is where Disney wanted the premier, but local hunters objected so Walt Disney went to London and then New York City instead.
Andrew Vietze had quite a car episode with a moose on the road for quite a long gallop. His family, wife and two kids, all benefited from their Baxter Park experiences, but he explains the difficulties as well.
Join the community read discussion on Thursday, August 24, at 6:00 p.m. at the Belgrade Public Library with the author for Q&A with you. Bring your questions.
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