In 1980, at 15 years old, I went to Yosemite with my parents, whose first date had been to Yosemite. At the store, my mom saw a book on John Muir by Shirley Sargent, who was an old college classmate of hers, though they had lost touch. She looked up Shirley in the phone book at the phone booth (OK, I’m old), and Shirley was home, living at Flying Spur in Foresta at Theodore Solomon’s old homestead, a mile up a dirt road from the Conservancy home in Foresta. Shirley offered to have me back for a week, which turned into three fantastic summers working at Camp Curry then The Ahwahnee, and trying to hike every trail in the park, plus Half Dome at least once a month. If you were less than 18, you had to live with a “relative,” so Shirley became my godmother, and no one would question Shirley’s interpretation of the rules! She was the park historian and knew everyone. I had the good fortune to go to Ansel Adams’ birthday party in the old staff park/playground and meet the legend in 1981. I can’t believe the luck that got me to the best three summers of my life.
Jason Keyes