Saturday, July 30, 2011

Roy Cleveland Sullivan

Another ranger was passing this around... it's a Wikipedia article about a Park Ranger who was struck by lightning 7 times and lived! Check it out:

Roy Cleveland Sullivan (February 7, 1912 – September 28, 1983) was a U.S. Park Ranger in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Between 1942 and 1977, Sullivan was hit by lightning on seven different occasions and survived all of them. For this reason, he gained a nickname "Human Lightning Conductor" or "Human Lightning Rod". Sullivan is recognized by Guinness World Records as the person struck by lightning more recorded times than any other human being. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 71 over an unrequited love.

Wiki also noted that he resembled the actor, Gene Hackman. In case you were wondering.

  1. The first documented lightning strike of Sullivan occurred in April 1942. He was hiding from a thunderstorm in a fire lookout tower. The tower was newly built and had no lightning rod at the time; it was hit seven or eight times. Inside the tower, "fire was jumping all over the place." Sullivan ran out and just a few feet away received what he considered to be his worst lightning strike. It burned a half-inch strip all along his right leg, hit his toe, and left a hole in his shoe.
  2. The second bolt hit him in July 1969. Unusually, he was hit while in his truck, driving on a mountain road—the metal body of a vehicle normally protects people in cases such as this. The lightning first hit nearby trees and was deflected into the open window of the truck. The strike knocked Sullivan unconscious and burned off his eyebrows, eyelashes, and most of his hair. The uncontrolled truck kept moving until it stopped near a cliff edge.
  3. In 1970, Sullivan was struck while in his front yard. The lightning hit a nearby power transformer and from there jumped to his left shoulder, searing it.
  4. The fourth strike occurred in 1972, while Sullivan was working inside a ranger station in Shenandoah National Park. It set his hair on fire; he tried to smother the flames with his jacket. Then he rushed to the rest room, but couldn't fit under the water tap and so used a wet towel instead. Although he never was a fearful man, after the fourth strike he began to believe that some force was trying to destroy him and he acquired a fear of death. For months, whenever he was caught in a storm while driving his truck, he would pull over and lie down on the front seat until the storm passed. He also began to carry a can of water with him and believed that he would somehow attract lightning even if he stood in a crowd of people.
  5. On August 7, 1973, while he was out on patrol in the park, Sullivan saw a storm cloud forming and drove away quickly. But the cloud, he said later, seemed to be following him. When he finally thought he had outrun it, he decided it was safe to leave his truck. Soon after, he was struck by a lightning bolt. Sullivan stated that he actually saw the bolt that hit him. The lightning set his hair on fire, moved down his left arm and left leg and knocked off his shoe, although it did not untie the lace. It then crossed over to his right leg just below the knee. Still conscious, Sullivan crawled to his truck and poured the can of water, which he always kept there, over his head.
  6. On June 5, 1976, Sullivan was struck by the sixth bolt, injuring his ankle. It was reported that he saw a cloud, thought that it was following him, tried to run away, but was struck anyway.
  7. On Saturday morning, June 25, 1977, Sullivan was fishing in a freshwater pool when he was struck the seventh time. The lightning hit the top of his head, singeing his hair, and traveled down burning his chest and stomach. Sullivan turned to his car and then another unexpected thing happened—a bear appeared and tried to steal trout from his fishing line. Sullivan had the strength and courage to strike the bear with a tree branch. He claimed that this was the twenty-second time he hit a bear with a stick in his lifetime.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

I'm hiking the Chilkoot!

As some of you may already have heard, I am going to hike the Chilkoot Trail a week from today (August 4 - 9). This is pretty exciting news, because during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897 - 1898, over 40,000 people hiked over this and the White Pass Trail to get to the Klondike Gold Fields. I guess I should include another post with some background history... (you can "Google" it for now!) Anyway, I will be hiking the same route these "stampeders" took over a hundred years ago! The trail is about 33 miles long, and begins  about 10 miles west of Skagway, in a town called Dyea. From there, we'll hike to Lake Bennett, where the stampeders spent the winter of 1898 building small boats that would take them the rest of the 560 miles to the gold fields on the Yukon River. Here's a map of the Chilkoot Trail (click to enlarge - it's the one marked with a red dotted line):

(It's also exciting - and intimidating - because I've never backpacked before in my life... we'll see how it goes!)

 
Typically, experienced hikers do the trail in 3 to 5 days. I happen to be volunteering with the Skagway Recreation Center, along with a few fellow rangers, to take a few teens over the trail. We're stopping along the way for various activities, so we're doing it in about 6 days. I've attached the itinerary below; there are some service activities and other programs specifically geared for the teen hikers, but I'll be helping and attending them as well.

When I get back, I'll upload pictures from the trip! I have a few camera batteries to last me. Apparently, there are some spectacular views.

Chilkoot Hike Itinerary

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

4th of July!

Here are some pictures from the 4th of July parade this year in Skagway! The National Park Service's float this year was a reproduction of Soapy Smith's parlor - one side the outside, and one the inside.
 We all dressed up in period clothing and walked next to the float! I painted the bottles in this picture, and traced the outlines for the window and door!

 Here Mom, you can stop asking for it now. The curse of the chubby cheeks.
 I LOVE BAGPIPES! 'Specially ones from Canada...

 The Natural Resources Department's float is about bear safety. Be sure to put your garbage in bear safe containers!
 Puppies were in it too.. this one's my favorite. They're looking for the candy the other floats were throwing! I get really excited around dogs cause it's been so long since I've seen mine!





 I don't even know what this was for, but it was funny.




 Broadway closed for 4th of July festivities.
 There was tug of war...

 An egg toss... (and more puppies... eating the aftermath)
 (Apparently drunk-) armwrestling...
 ...and a slow bike race! As well as stake driving.  The goal in this race is to make it to the finish line LAST, and you're feet can't touch the ground. There are some pretty serious bicyclists in Skagway, so this was a pretty intense race, even though they didn't even look like they were moving...
 Just some pictures I took walking around town one day... I love the cloudy days!





 No billboards allowed in Alaska (an awesome law if you ask me!) so I guess locals have resorted to rock-painting.


Lower Dewey Lake Loop

Finally got to finish the Lower Dewey Lake Loop. This was a pretty cool hike. The trail head is just below the word "Skagway" on the map, then goes east up the side of the mountain for about .5 miles, 500 ft elevation gain. From there you can take a few routes; the one I took went around the lake there for about 2.7 miles. I definitely want to do this one again before I go! Not as cool as Denver Glacier, but still pretty amazing.



Foaming flower, don't know the story behind this one yet.
Lower Dewey Lake! Just what I expected from Alaska.
Wild flowers...






Gnarly tree :)









I think this is either Horse's Hair or Witch's Hair lychen. (Apparently there are hundreds of types of lychen throughout southeast Alaska)
East side of Lower Dewey - steep but fun!








Can't really beat any of Phil's flower pictures; all the ones I take are either boring flowers, or they're dying like this one.


Only form of wild life I've really seen yet, two blue birds. Don't know what they are, yet. But I have a brochure! Actually, I have hundreds of brochures!

Haha, I'm sorry I had to take this picture. These guys were just sitting in the grass, completely still, with their mouths hanging open.






I like this trail I like this trail!

More lychen!


One of my favorite pictures from this trip.























View of Skagway Bay.







And finally, one random picture of the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad. This is the train I took to get to the Denver Glacier.