#MyParkStory: Discovery in the backcountry - Madison Reika, Mount Rainier

Law Enforcement Ranger Madison Reika backcountry patrolling.

Madison Reika

So far in my years in the National Park Service, there have been many times I have said, “I can’t believe I get paid to do this.” From 24-hour transports to jail, to a memorable backcountry patrol, one of my favorite patrols so far was with two coworkers in the desert.

My coworkers and I wanted to explore parts of our park that were not patrolled often and were gaining popularity in the hiking and packrafting community. There was very little information on where we planned to go besides a few old patrol plans and some polaroid pictures of archeological sites. We picked a route and set out despite the rain in the forecast. The farther we drove the muddier it got. After passing a vehicle stuck in the mud, we decided to try the alternate route, which meant a 3-hour detour.

Once getting to the general area where we were supposed to be patrolling, it became a very epic driving adventure. It was a very narrow road with large boulders and steep drop offs. We had to get out of the vehicle a lot and inch it down the narrow road. We started finding one archeological site after another and documenting each so that we would know if something went missing or was vandalized.

We camped under the stars and continued the adventure the next day. We found more sites, arrowhead pieces, and pottery. There were some recent tracks, which was surprising given how far out we were. We tried following the most updated map we had which led us to a spot that was too narrow. The vehicle got stuck and we had to dig, push, and inch until we got free. We tried another route and reached another area where we hiked around and looked for any recent human activity.

As it got later in the day, we knew we had to start heading back to the truck. One of my coworkers decided to look in just one last cave. She froze and just kept saying, “I can’t believe it!” I assumed she was face to face with a mountain lion in the cave. I approached, ready for anything (or so I thought) and instead stood stock still beside her, echoing her words, “I can’t believe it." There was an intact pot at the end of the cave. We called our other coworker back over, and at first, he didn't believe us. He ventured into the cave and shouted back, “Oh my god, there are two pots!”

We documented everything as best we could and took pictures. A lot of archeological items were taken and sold years ago from this area, so there are not many archeological items still in the field. Finding one so well hidden and untouched for years, was truly special, especially knowing we could now actually protect it.

We got back to the car as another vehicle drove up to us. They asked for directions to the highway, which was odd as we were miles into the middle of nowhere. They only had a pamphlet map and no GPS. We had them follow us to a more established road that had some cell phone service. At that point, we had to decide if we were going to camp and possibly get snowed in or if we were going to drive out of the backcountry after an already long day. We decided to beat the storm and try to make it home that night. We made it home, soaked, muddy, and full of excitement. I love working in the front country as law enforcement, but it is extra special to be able to go in the backcountry for part of your job and protect fragile resources.