Here is Ranger Tim the first day we met him. He was our point of contact with the park. That day, he spent about half the day with us, showing us around and going over the rules and our responsibilities. I still remember that he said our top responsibility was to have fun and our second job was to make sure all the park visitors had fun and stayed safe.
He was at least six foot four. That smile was always on his face. Here he is a few weeks later.
When he went up the trail for a rescue, Tim took off his bullet-proof vest and donned a rescue backpack.
One day, on his day off, Tim dropped in so we could meet his family. Little Becky was still half asleep when they took her out of her car seat, so she was not ready to smile for the strange lady with a camera. Like her Daddy, she smiled most of the time too.
Here is Ranger Tim with Becky at a lunch picnic at the ranger station in Cosby.
Here is my favorite picture of Ranger Tim (and Ranger Heath). We were having a cookout on our last night in Big Creek to introduce my daughter Jennifer and her husband George to Ranger Tim and his wife Kendra. We had also invited camper friends Steve and Ginger from Cincinnati. After dinner, we built a campfire and made S'mores. It was just about dark when Ranger Heath came in with his ranger truck lights flashing to crash the party. Those two large law enforcement rangers transformed into a couple of eight-year-olds around the campfire with marshmallows. The rest of us are laughing to this day.
Ranger Tim left the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and moved on to the Delaware Watergap. Later, he moved again to Acadia National Park, which, I believe was his career goal. Aside from career goals, the move would put them closer to family.
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