Most of the people I have interviewed for this column have found that being “far from home” means discovering new experiences that Montpelier could not provide. For 1991 graduate Mark McCool, the road that started at home has become the road that has taken him to places of awesome wonder and danger.
Mark’s Montpelier life was at a home in the middle of a wooded plot at the end of a dirt road. “I just would spend all day in the woods exploring. I knew whatever I was going to do in life it was going to be in the woods.”
Mark credited MHS science teacher Cindy Sutter with guiding him to her alma mater, Lake Superior State, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. There it was Professor Sally Childs who helped him focus on a career in park management. She helped Mark land a job working as a volunteer backcountry ranger in a remote corner of Yellowstone National Park. Like an extension of his childhood, Mark found himself living and working at the end of a 36-mile dirt road.
“I fell in love with the job of being a ranger,” Mark explained. “Most parks have resource management, interpretation, maintenance, resource & visitor protection, cultural resource, and administrative divisions. I chose to pursue a career be a ranger in the Resource and Visitor Protection division. To me it was a no brainer, resource protection rangers got to do all the exciting emergency operation stuff like law enforcement, search and rescue, wildland and structural fire, and emergency medical services. I also realized that Resource Protection Rangers lived at ranger stations in our National Parks and managed operations which included backcountry and wilderness management. Out of all the places to live in the United States I couldn’t ever think of a better place than our nation’s National Parks.”
Mark worked as a season park ranger for seven years (five at Yellowstone and two at Olympic National Park) before he was finally assigned to a permanent position at Glen Canyon National recreation Area in southern Utah … this time at the end of a 90-mile road in the middle of a desert.
After a year he was transferred back to Olympic National. “I spent six years at Olympic as the Sub-District Ranger at the Hoh Rain Forest, which is a World Heritage site, this time at the end of an 18 mile road. The Hoh is the wettest place in lower 48 and receives 14 foot of rain annually. Yes, 14 foot! The forest was magical and I was able to manage a 200,000 acre wilderness area including the glacier covered Mount Olympus, which is the tallest mountain in the Olympic Range.”
“After six years hiking up the mountains in the Olympic Range I decided, or at least my body started to decide, that I needed a change. In July of this year I transferred to water based park on Lake Superior called Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Wisconsin. This summer I have spent most of my days patrolling the 27 islands by boat and saving kayakers from drowning in big water. Yes, at the end of a five mile road. The roads are getting shorter, I might add.”
The awesome scenery Mark sees each day is also coupled with danger … danger he might not have encountered growing up in Montpelier. “There have been several experiences that have thought I would never do growing up in Montpelier. From being charged by a grizzly bear in Yellowstone to leading a rope team up a glacier. I have saved many lives as ranger and have seen my share lost, some that were rangers very close to me. What we do is very dangerous, but that is what I like about the job. I think what I enjoy most about being a ranger is helping people.”
Mark does say his Montpelier background played a role in preparing him for his life as a ranger. “I was definitely influenced by the teachers and coaches at Montpelier. Athletics started me on a path of leadership that has definitely helped me throughout my life and career. It also established a lifestyle of fitness that I have maintained throughout my career.”
Mark keeps a special place in his heart for Coach Hip Klotz. “He was a wonderful motivator and I learned a lot about leadership from him.”
Mark’s family has moved from that home at the end of the road, so he does not get back to Montpelier often. However, a trip last year was special for him. Coach, and longtime friend, Robert Houk invited him to attend a game and stand along the sidelines. “I saw the memorial for Hip Klotz on the field. We were playing Hilltop, and Coach Mike Bumb, who I played with, had his team honor Hipper by touching the memorial. It brought a tear to my eye. I sure do miss Hip. He was a good man and changed many young lives.”
Those who have had their lives saved or who have been helped out of tough spots by Mark would probably say the same things about him.
Some roads lead home.
And sometimes home is where the road leads you.
No comments:
Post a Comment