[Hiking Tuque]

Just curious what type of interaction people have had with high-country rangers? My wife and I were camped up at a lake in the Sawtooth Wilderness Area for a couple of nights last week and hanging around camp when this ranger comes through the bushes. We were in a clear campsite and the only ones at the lake (I think). I guess she was nice enough but had a pretty demanding attitude and just barraged us with questions...What we had seen? where we had been for our day hike? how long? who was camped there? who was camped at the lake last night? was that our fire pit? (no), etc. We were just trying to be friendly and strike up a conversation but she was all business - we both felt like we were being interrogated. In an effort to be friendly we asked her where she had been, where she was headed, etc. and she very clearly evaded all of our questions with the exception of where she had camped last night. Anyway, it was kind of weird. I felt like telling her to relax a bit, but it wasn't worth it. Turns out it was her first backcountry trip ever (she was young), so maybe she was just really nervous and trying to do her job - just came off wrong. And, to be fair she probably saw me skinny-dipping while she was coming down the ridge to the lake. That's the first time I've ever been approached at a campsite!

[Andrew]

I've come across a few rangers and they've all been friendly. I ask them how the conditions are and tell them where I am headed.

[Allison]

HT, was that a female NCNP ranger, probably about 30. Petite, dark hair, attractive? If it's the one I'm thinking of, she's pretty notorious. Ask Blake about her sometime.

[Hiking Tuque]

yeah, attractive with light brown hair she was Forest Service though

[greg]

I've run into several, from North Cascades NP to the remote Maze District in Canyonlands NP, and they've all been AOK.

[Malachai Constant]

Main place I have run into this kind of attitude has been on Copper Ridge in NCNP and several times near Park Butte in MBRA. Of course the rangers at Muir have a bit of a tude but who wouldn't after shoveling sh-t all day.

[Backpacker Joe]

If they seen snotty, then just tell them no to every question! What are they going to do? When they ask for your ID tell them no again. That'll get them to boil over. I have zero patience for attitude.

[Allison]

Wouldn't that escalate the situation?

[Backpacker Joe]

I know somebody that did just that. In the end the ranger got frustrated and left. You're in the back country, maybe a day or three from your car. What are they going to do, call in a helicopter? Hey, it's just me, but I dont do well with attitude. Not from anybody.

[MtnGoat]

Not to put it too bluntly, but it's important they respect their employers (us) as much as we respect their work in keeping tabs on the backcountry. I've had nothing but good interactions with backcountry rangers.. now forest service desk staff, that's another issue altogether.

[Hiking Tuque]

[Tazz]

I have run into different types of attitudes. Usually friendly. I look at it this way. They are doing the job of protecting these areas we love so much. We complain there is not enough protection for these places that we love and then turn around and complain that we got questioned by one of the only sources of protection. (not that this is what you are doing HT) Yes some have attitudes. I am sure they have run into the same. I have found the younger the ranger the less people skills they have. It is a job where communication with public is important. Lacking those skills can make a ranger come off as pushy and intimidating(or ignorant). I believe they are told to ask those questions. Are they not? Just doing the job that we pay them to do. Hopefully this Ranger you speak of will learn from her experiences and get better with her people skills. Sorry it happened HT just chock it up to a young ranger learning her skills.

[jenjen]

The only time I've had a bad experience with a backcountry ranger was on the Chilliwack trail after loosing my tent poles. Heavy weather was moving in, and I had no functional tent, so I broke my itinerary and was heading out as quick as possible - which meant one night spent at a campground I was not permitted for (there was no one else at this campground). This guy gave me the third degree, threatened to write a ticket (I told him to go ahead and I'd take it on up the ladder), and just wouldn't let up on how stupid I was and how I was breaking the rules. As soon as I got back into Glacier I filed a complaint. All of my other interactions with backcountry rangers have been really positive.

[salish]

Somebody should print out this thread and mail it to the supervisor at the ranger station responsible for the Sawtooth. In police work they used to call this attitude "badge heavy", and I'm sure it's not simply relegated to police officers. Most people who know me are surprised to find out that I was a police officer for a while back in the 1970's, and in the academy they try to teach you how to conduct yourself with "command presence". Some people already have it, and some people don't (I didn't) and it's not something that's easy to teach. A by product of this is sometimes encountering law enforcement types with attitudes. The only encounter with a Ranger I've had in the last few years was in the Enchantments the summer before last. The guy was really young, very small, and had a huge towering pack on his back and he was hot and tired. He was on Poop Patrol collecting human scat from the toilets in a little plastic bag, and he gave us his general instructions about peeing on rocks and checked our permits. Nice guy, but were kind of worried about him because he seemed so tired. We shadowed him for a while just to make sure he didn't keel over from the heat and altitiude. It was then, watching him carry that giant pack with a shovel in one hand and a plastic shopping sack in the other filled with human waste that I decided perhaps a career as a Ranger has it's downside, jus like everything else. Cliff

[Stefan]

I have had rangers ask inquiring questions to see if you have done anything illegal. This has happened about 70% of the time. These are only rangers in the NCNP and MRNP. The Forest Service Rangers are different that I have seen--most are packing garbage out and/or maintaining a trail.