Trail & Timberline On-line — November-December, 1999
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Trail & Timberline featuresGuargualla, Ecuador
Wild Colorado featuring articles on the Wilderness Act "Just the Facts, Ma'am" CMC Public Land Policy Director Vera Smith makes a plea for a deeper understanding of wilderness Myths & Facts about Wilderness Volunteers further wilderness efforts Colorado Wilderness Bills of 1999 Happy Anniversary, Baby. The Wilderness act turns 35. Is it grown up yet? |
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T&T departments:Education |
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Elke Nall
Elke Nall, a long-time member of the CMC and an almost-charter member of the Gore Range Group, died July 25 of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The disease took her very quickly, as she was not even diagnosed until late June. She was an avid hiker, although she did not do many group trips, preferring the company of one or two friends. She had climbed forty-four of the fourteeners and also made it a goal to climb everything that she could see from her deck in Homestake. She made a two-week hike on the Inca trail in May, going over 16,000-foot passes, and she also managed to attend her son’s wedding just two weeks before her death. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding with a view of Long’s Peak, which she spent a long time gazing at before going back to the hospital in Denver. She was born in Krumpendorf, Austria, on May 17, 1944, the last of six children. She never knew her father, who had been killed in World War II prior to her birth. She is survived by her son, Markus, of Boulder and his bride, Rachel; daughter Karen of Idaho; brothers in Australia, Switzerland, Germany, and Austria; a sister in Austria; and her mother, also of Austria. There is a fund in her name at First Bank in Vail, and any donations to help her family out with expenses are welcome. There will also be a remembrance page in a Forest Service book at their kiosk at Eagle’s Nest. She will be deeply missed by the Vail/Beaver Creek Ski School and everyone who knew her. Leo Walter Cabell, 1925–1999
by Rigomar ThurmerLeo and I met at the 1966 annual dinner of the Colorado Mountain Club. A CMC hike the next Sunday started a thirty-three year friendship. An accident at age thirty-six severed his right arm and much of his former life. So, armed with a Master of Library Science degree via Princeton, Rutgers, and Cornell, he began a new career at the University of Colorado—and a new life. He took up hiking, jogging, scuba, squash, and, especially, skiing, which he pursued with ferocious determination. After A-Basin closed each year, we skied both sides of Loveland Pass and raced in John Ambler’s Fourth of July slalom on Roger’s Pass. In August and September, St. Mary’s Glacier (then twice its current size) was our last resort. In between we hiked the Indian Peaks Wilderness and Rocky Mountain National Park from one end to the other. After his retirement as Associated Director of Libraries, Leo traveled a great deal, usually with a group such as the CMC. Alaska, the Dolomites, Switzerland, Patagonia, the Pyrenees, Peru, the French Alps, and the Canadian Rockies are just a few of the regions he visited. A winter ascent of Mt. Athabasca and a climb of Mt. Victoria (North) were highlights. In 1986, Leo became a member of the American Alpine Club. Adventure was a part of Leo’s life. In Peru, for instance, a patrol of Sendero Luminoso [“Shining Path,” a Maoist terrorist organization–Ed.] demanded his wallet. He refused until they put a bullet at his feet, which lodged in his boot. Leo was an ideal travel and hiking companion. With his ready smile, easy manner, and positive outlook, he had many friends all over the world. That the fair sex was extremely fond of Leo is an understatement, but he managed to avoid all the traps, sometimes narrowly, and remained a bachelor all his life. In recent years a knee operation and open heart surgery curtailed his hiking, but not his skiing. The Mountain Chalet in Aspen became his second home, and he skied well over a hundred days each season. A big wave on the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, took his life. Gudy Gaskill pays tribute to Jim Ray Jim volunteered for the Colorado Trail project when we had a lot to do and really needed leaders. He consistently would call and say, “What more can I do; what else do you need?” The people he had on his trail crews absolutely adored him because he was gentle, kind, and never put anyone down. He was always a positive person and encouraging. That’s a hard trait to come by; trail leaders are not always like that. Jim had such a laid-back, wonderful feeling about his trail crews. People kept coming back year after year because they felt comfortable. I remember going up to his house a number of times just to deliver T-shirts or certificates or whatever else, and he always invited me in. I sat and relaxed before taking off, and I looked forward to those drives to his house. He was somebody I knew really believed in the Trail and what he was doing. He called one day and said he couldn’t be a crew leader anymore because he was forgetting things so readily. Then about four years ago, we had a celebration for pulling together a new trail over Tiger Run, which would be Gold Hill and Breckenridge (from Georgia Pass). He came out for the day, and he had a wonderful time. Two friends brought him and hiked with him that day so he wouldn’t get lost. He remembered all the little nicks and crannies throughout the hike and loved watching for the mushrooms. I remember, too, how he raved about the colors of the flowers. I thought, “Your mind might be wandering and forgetful, but your senses are alert to all these things.” He hadn’t lost his ability to sense the beauties of the outdoors. Editor’s note: Jim Ray succumbed recently to Alzheimer’s Disease. He was remembered in an End of the Trail feature in the September-October, 1999, issue of Trail & Timberline. DON'T FORGET TO ORDER YOUR TICKETS FOR THE ROYAL ROBBINS
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