Bree Loewen - Found: A Life in Mountain Rescue

Praise for Bree Loewens first book
Pickets and Dead Men

[I]ncredibly compelling reading.... The book is engaging, honest and often painful.

Rock and Ice

This is a fine enjoyable read... Loewens prose is so disarmingat one point she says she wants her last thoughts to be about white chocolate macadamia nut cookiesyou dont notice the seriousness of her trade until people actually start dying.

Gripped

A funny and sometimes cringe-inducing story of a young womans experience as a climbing ranger where respect is hard won and on-the-job performance can be the difference between life and death.... With honesty, self-deprecation, and wry humor, she reflects on her experiences on Rainier: assisting injured climbers, rescuing lost children, battling inscrutable bureaucracy, lugging heavy equipment, and trying to make sense of it all. Whether its her account of a solo climb in dicey conditions or trying to protect her good jacket while cleaning the outhouses at Camp Muir, Loewens writing is engagingly human and humane.

Summit Post

Her engaging prose is often underscored with a reverence for the mountain on which she lived, worked, and played. Loewens candor, utter lack of pretension, and matter-of-fact honesty make Pickets and Dead Men funny, poignant, and entertaining.... But the real value of the text isnt in the message; rather, its in the playfulness of the stories, and in the simple bravery it took for Loewen to tell her truth.

AAC Journal

A gritty and revealing narrative from inside the belly of a tough beast, the National Parks ranger service on Mount Rainier. Bree Loewen traverses storms, tragedies, sunlit glaciers, electronic bureaucracy, and 36-hour days with humor, honesty, and a gifted pen.

Barry Blanchard, climber, author of The Calling: A Life Rocked by Mountains

In Pickets and Dead Men, Bree Loewen has bared her soul to reveal the character and determination it takes to show up and do your best in a mans world where the line between life and death is an everyday companion. The humble pleasures of living in the alpine world and the day-to-day drudgery of a sometimes thankless job are vividly recounted. This is a compelling read.

Jennifer Lowe-Anker, author of Forget Me Not: A Memoir

FOUND

FOUND

A LIFE IN MOUNTAIN RESCUE

BREE LOEWEN

Mountaineers Books is the publishing division of The Mountaineers, an organization founded in 1906 and dedicated to the exploration, preservation, and enjoyment of outdoor and wilderness areas.

1001 SW Klickitat Way, Suite 201, Seattle, WA 98134

800.553.4453, www.mountaineersbooks.org

Copyright 2017 by Bree Loewen

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

Distributed in the United Kingdom by Cordee, www.cordee.co.uk

Copyeditor: Carol Poole

Cover, book design, and layout: Jen Grable

Cover photograph: Chair Peak in the Fall, Mount Baker Snoqualmie National

Forest, Washington State (Jeff Goulden/iStock)

A record for this book is available at the Library of Congress

Mountaineers Books titles may be purchased for corporate, educational, or other promotional sales, and our authors are available for a wide range of events. For information on special discounts or booking an author, contact our customer service at 800-553-4453 or .

Printed on recycled paper

ISBN (paperback): 978-1-68051-075-1

ISBN (ebook): 978-1-68051-076-8

Dame Cicely Saunders, the founder of the modern hospice movement once said I asked a man who knew he was dying what he needed above all in those who were caring for him. He said: For someone to look at if they were trying to understand me. Indeed, it is impossible to understand fully another person, but I never forgot that he did not ask for success but only that someone should care enough to try.

CONTENTS

AUTHORS NOTE

I WRITE SO I CAN sleep. I know Im writing other peoples stories. I know its my job to listen, just to be there, and I can never speak for someone else or know another persons experience. So for a long time, once Id written the stories I burned them in the fire pit in my backyard and scattered the ashes. Or I turned the paper into boats and floated the words out into Puget Sound, committing what had happened to the universe to remember.

But the thing is, for twenty years Ive been amazed by how kind the outdoor community is, how often I see people reaching out to each other, creating a thoughtful chapter in history for this small spot on the map. So now Ive changed my mind about what I should and shouldnt do. In the most respectful way I can, and with the goal of fostering human connection, Ive kept some of my writing, and hope other people read it.

This was my experience, what I heard, what I did. In that way, all descriptions, events, and dialogue described in these pages are based on my personal memories, documentation from Seattle Mountain Rescues mission reports, and discussions with other participants. Any errors or misinterpretations are mine alone. I have also taken certain liberties with chronology in the hopes of creating a more cohesive narrative.

Im also worried that I say I too much, so given this chance, I want to state unequivocally that doing mountain rescue and parenting are both utterly collaborative work and if I have not mentioned my partners enough, know that all of you have my upmost respect and I would be lost without you.

In case you want to find out more about Seattle Mountain Rescue to comment, donateor even better, joinheres how to contact us:

Seattle Mountain Rescue

P.O. Box 67

Seattle, WA 98111

www.seattlemountainrescue.org

www.facebook.com/seattlemountainrescue/

PEBBLE CREEK

IM STANDING AT THE TOP of Pan Point in a snowstorm. I walked two and a half miles and gained about 2,000 feet of elevation to be here at this spot, still low on the flank of the mountain. As I look out, the view is both familiar and eerie, like a complicated painting on the far side of the room, always noticed during a friends dinner parties.

Russell and I are taking turns rescuing people. I do a rescue and he stays home with Vivian, and then he does one and I make waffles for dinner, and Vivian and I watch Phineas and Ferb, which shes really too young to watch, but I let her do it anyway because she likes Perry the Platypus and because Dr. Doofenshmirtz reminds me of my friend Aaron, who, sadly for me, left SMR and ended up as a doctor in Zimbabwe after a series of strange life experiences. After Vivi goes to bed I fill out job applications and listen to Broken Bellss The Ghost Inside on continuous loop.

And then its my turn again. So on Tuesday Im taking a photo of a blood-encrusted yellow Italian leather boot at the top of Pan Point, trying not to get the blocky outline of my phones shadow with my headlamp behind it centered in the picture. Im planning to use the photo when I give mountain safety talks. I hate doing talks with stock photos.