An Old Ranger’s Memories

A Wonderful Opportunity People are considered lucky when they get to spend their career working at something they love. As a California State Park Ranger for 33 years, I was one of those people. My job provided many wonderful opportunities, but I always look back to September 1, 1965 as the “official” beginning of the highlight of my career. My 34 months of duty at Montaña de Oro State Park (MdO) were interesting, delightful, and sometimes challenging. But it was an assignment I remember being very eager to take. From 1962 to early 1965 I was stationed at Hearst State Historical Monument (Hearst Castle). This was an assignment that proved to be most beneficial for my career as well as me personally. Hearst Monument Supervisor Bill Allison was an outstanding and supportive boss and had much to do with my becoming the first ranger officially assigned to MdO. Exploring and Accepting the Assignment Montaña de Oro was a brand new addition to the State Park system in March of 1965 when Ranger Allison asked if I would be interested in taking the assignment. My attitude was, “Yes, let me at it! I’ll be a ranger in a ‘real’ park.” (In contrast to an historical monument.) What a thrill, honor, and challenge! The assignment required that I move my family from our current home in the pine-covered, fog-drenched hills of Cambria. An important first step was to take my wife, Gladys and my three little girls to visit the park to see what it was like. I loaded my young family into our “close to new” International Harvester Scout 4x4 to make the trek down the coast. (Our scout would nearly become another state vehicle through my daily use of it in the park.) We navigated the narrow, twisted ribbon of Pecho Road through the scent-laden eucalyptus groves of the Field’s Ranch and finally entered the park at the cattle guard just past Hazard Canyon. (Oliver C. Field owned the land both to the north and south of the newly acquired park property.) Gradually we climbed out of the shaded quiet of the eucalyptus, crossed the sage-covered sand dunes and arrived at a small, dilapidated house situated above and to the right of the bridge at Islay Creek. Ranch caretaker Bill Ahrendt and his family occupied the house, but with the emergence of “my” new park, they would soon be leaving. Today the house-site is easily recognizable by the exotic vegetation in that area. Coasting down the hill from the Ahrendt house we turned right and dropped into the parking lot at Spooner’s Cove. Its pebble and sand beach, the brush-covered “morro”, and Islay creek, which slips gently into the ocean here, define the beauty of the cove still to this day. Above us, and overlooking everything we had seen so far, sat the Spooner ranch house. Not only was it a solid symbol of the previous stewards of this land, it re-awakened an interesting interpretive opportunity for me and my wife, one we had previously experienced.