Stories from lives of (near) solitude
July 29, 2019 7:14 AM Subscribe
What It’s Like to Live in a California Ghost Town -- To be an off-season caretaker of Bodie, California (winter population: 5), you need a high tolerance for cold, solitude, and two-hour grocery runs. (Citylab) // Braving 42 winters in Yellowstone -- Stephen Fuller revels in winter’s relative peace, and the balance it brings to Yellowstone’s hectic summer season. “I think solitude – or quietude – is an increasingly rare commodity.” (BBC) // Grunge has a collection of other solitary jobs around the world.
If you're interested in solitude, there are occasionally some spectacular job openings, though sometimes they're competitive positions:
Calf of Man: Remote isle's 'independent souls' search attracts 45 -- More than 40 hardy souls have applied for two of the most remote jobs in the British Isles, Manx National Heritage (MNH) said. The successful candidates will form the entire population of the presently uninhabited Calf of Man - a tiny island off the Isle of Man - for nine months. (BBC, 2017)
Hundreds apply to job advert looking for castaway to manage remote island with just seven inhabitants -- The successful candidate will spent the year looking after Bardsey Island - which has just seven people living on it (Mirror Online, 2015)
If you're interested in solitude, there are occasionally some spectacular job openings, though sometimes they're competitive positions:
Calf of Man: Remote isle's 'independent souls' search attracts 45 -- More than 40 hardy souls have applied for two of the most remote jobs in the British Isles, Manx National Heritage (MNH) said. The successful candidates will form the entire population of the presently uninhabited Calf of Man - a tiny island off the Isle of Man - for nine months. (BBC, 2017)
Hundreds apply to job advert looking for castaway to manage remote island with just seven inhabitants -- The successful candidate will spent the year looking after Bardsey Island - which has just seven people living on it (Mirror Online, 2015)
Worked at Canyon Village and heard of Stephen Fuller and couldn't help but be in awe of that sort of job/life. Another addition to this sort of list would be the fire lookout towers in Yellowstone that were previously manned.
Mts. Holmes, Sheridan, and Washburn used to have rangers at the top constantly on the lookout for fire/smoke and would radio to each other with spotting wheels / azimuths to triangulate said fire's boundaries. I've hiked all three, including meeting the last watch ranger that was stationed in the Mt. Holmes tower. Ranger George Henley was a very cool if a bit eccentic gentleman who had the job for several years and was alone up to 8 months at a time up there with only mule or helicopter resupply. Sheridan was unmanned when I hiked it.
Mt. Washburn is the only one manned now and it sees so many visitors on a daily basis that I wouldn't call it solitary, more of an educational ranger up there probably.
Sadly the historic one where we met Mr. Henley, he invited us in to tea to miss a storm that swept in on us in a bad way, recently burnt to the ground. A not insignificant loss if you ask me...
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:40 AM on July 29, 2019 [6 favorites]
Mts. Holmes, Sheridan, and Washburn used to have rangers at the top constantly on the lookout for fire/smoke and would radio to each other with spotting wheels / azimuths to triangulate said fire's boundaries. I've hiked all three, including meeting the last watch ranger that was stationed in the Mt. Holmes tower. Ranger George Henley was a very cool if a bit eccentic gentleman who had the job for several years and was alone up to 8 months at a time up there with only mule or helicopter resupply. Sheridan was unmanned when I hiked it.
Mt. Washburn is the only one manned now and it sees so many visitors on a daily basis that I wouldn't call it solitary, more of an educational ranger up there probably.
Sadly the historic one where we met Mr. Henley, he invited us in to tea to miss a storm that swept in on us in a bad way, recently burnt to the ground. A not insignificant loss if you ask me...
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:40 AM on July 29, 2019 [6 favorites]
I spent three summers working various entry-level jobs in Bridgeport, Ca -- about 10 miles as the crow flies from Bodie and made several trips up there as visitors came to town. If visitors weren't into hiking, or fishing, or taking a dip in the travertine hotsprings behind the dump, Bodie was where you took them. It's a beautiful drive way up onto the high plateau (8,000+ feet) and Bodie itself is fascinating.
When I was a bit younger we kids used to hike up to the top of Bear Mountain, just a bit northeast of Redding, CA. There was a fire watch tower on the peak and in the summers a lookout was stationed there. We didn't make too many visits in the summertime -- too hot! better just swim in the lake! -- but on the few occasions we did, the lookout seemed happy for the company. One time they even let us take turns peering through the map-thinger-ma-jing they use to locate a fire they've spotted.
posted by notyou at 8:41 AM on July 29, 2019
When I was a bit younger we kids used to hike up to the top of Bear Mountain, just a bit northeast of Redding, CA. There was a fire watch tower on the peak and in the summers a lookout was stationed there. We didn't make too many visits in the summertime -- too hot! better just swim in the lake! -- but on the few occasions we did, the lookout seemed happy for the company. One time they even let us take turns peering through the map-thinger-ma-jing they use to locate a fire they've spotted.
posted by notyou at 8:41 AM on July 29, 2019
I've been thinking of this topic for a few years, on and off, since meeting a National Parks ranger who said her dream job was to hold down a remote cabin in the winter, but the National Parks Services apparently preferred married couples, to make the solitude more manageable (and probably safer, because even a minor injury could go bad if no one noticed).
posted by filthy light thief at 9:00 AM on July 29, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by filthy light thief at 9:00 AM on July 29, 2019 [2 favorites]
taking a dip in the travertine hotsprings behind the dump,
As a fellow fan of hotsprings, tell me more.
One time they even let us take turns peering through the map-thinger-ma-jing they use to locate a fire they've spotted.
That looks similar to what we saw in the Holmes' firewatch cabin, you can barely see it in my picture of us, to the left of the image. I think his version was older/heavier perhaps but that's just my memory. Wish I'd gotten a better image.
since meeting a National Parks ranger who said her dream job was to hold down a remote cabin in the winter
I wish her luck but I feel like, perhaps obviously, they are few and far between, and fading fast (see the firewatch towers mentioned above and lighthouse keepers or whatnot) due to radio/satellite/automation technology rendering many of them redundant. I also wonder if they were pretty wildly coveted and relied upon senority, I mean look at the Canyon winterkeeper posted by OP, 42 years and he's still the one with the gig, sheesh.
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:17 AM on July 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
As a fellow fan of hotsprings, tell me more.
One time they even let us take turns peering through the map-thinger-ma-jing they use to locate a fire they've spotted.
That looks similar to what we saw in the Holmes' firewatch cabin, you can barely see it in my picture of us, to the left of the image. I think his version was older/heavier perhaps but that's just my memory. Wish I'd gotten a better image.
since meeting a National Parks ranger who said her dream job was to hold down a remote cabin in the winter
I wish her luck but I feel like, perhaps obviously, they are few and far between, and fading fast (see the firewatch towers mentioned above and lighthouse keepers or whatnot) due to radio/satellite/automation technology rendering many of them redundant. I also wonder if they were pretty wildly coveted and relied upon senority, I mean look at the Canyon winterkeeper posted by OP, 42 years and he's still the one with the gig, sheesh.
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:17 AM on July 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
That looks similar to what we saw in the Holmes' firewatch cabin, you can barely see it in my picture of us, to the left of the image. I think his version was older/heavier perhaps but that's just my memory. Wish I'd gotten a better image.
Your memory matches mine -- the one at Bear Mountain I remember was more substantial than the one in my link.
Bridgeport travertine hotsprings. The Green Tortoise Bus would stop there once or twice a week, sometimes to overnight, other times for a picnic and a dip.
posted by notyou at 9:57 AM on July 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
Your memory matches mine -- the one at Bear Mountain I remember was more substantial than the one in my link.
Bridgeport travertine hotsprings. The Green Tortoise Bus would stop there once or twice a week, sometimes to overnight, other times for a picnic and a dip.
posted by notyou at 9:57 AM on July 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
Minnesota town makes do without being connected to power grid
posted by Chrysostom at 10:28 AM on July 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Chrysostom at 10:28 AM on July 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
“Don’t touch the dust when we go in,” Jackson says, wiggling his key into the frozen lock on the door. “It’s important for all the photographers. They like how it looks.”
I snickered at that. There's definitely a certain look people expect in their ghost town photos.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:29 AM on July 29, 2019 [2 favorites]
I snickered at that. There's definitely a certain look people expect in their ghost town photos.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:29 AM on July 29, 2019 [2 favorites]
What good is a ghost town without ghosts? "Ooh, look -- ghostly handprints!" :)
posted by filthy light thief at 12:49 PM on July 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by filthy light thief at 12:49 PM on July 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
I once described my dream job to a friend, where I write code in a solitary home in the Rockies, and he pointed out that I am secretly trying to be a 21st century Jack Torrance at the Overlook.
So thanks, this is definitely my jam.
posted by Monochrome at 2:36 PM on July 30, 2019
So thanks, this is definitely my jam.
posted by Monochrome at 2:36 PM on July 30, 2019
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posted by notsnot at 7:20 AM on July 29, 2019 [2 favorites]