She Wore Great Shoes

I didn’t work extensively with Lara. I never dated her or had beers with her over the years. I never climbed with her or ever rode a bike with her. For that matter, I haven’t seen or said hello to her for 11 years. I did know some of the people in her social network and still stay in touch with a handful of them who talked fondly of her from time to time. Being an alumnus of Feathered Friends and Mount Rainer National Park, I felt more compelled to write and say something in Lara’s memory than to say nothing.

I wish I could remember the exact year, I think 1996. I was a back-country ranger in the Carbon River corner of Mount Rainier NP and Lara was a climbing ranger, Schurman or Muir I remember not. We were both in a week-long advance rope rescue class in Longmire taught by Mike Gauthier; part of our spring training for the park.

It was the first time I had seen or met Lara and she was a stand out in the 20-something crowd that made up the class. Not so much by her can do attitude, or her blond hair, or the skirt she wore, or her quick wit – all of which did contribute though. For me it was her shoes. Everyone in the class wore a pair of stout trail boots or the latest mountaineering boots, but Lara wore city shoes...hip city shoes.

They were great shoes, a cross between Dansko’s, Mary-Jane’s, and Doc Martin’s. She wore them in the classroom and in the field. She even wore them when it was raining and we were prusiking up a rope that hung off the edge of the Nisqually Bridge in Longmire. I kept thinking, why is she wearing those HERE. The shoes seemed out of place, but the thing was, she pulled it off with a flair that I think only Lara could have done.

At the end of the class, there was a party in Longmire and everyone from the class was in attendance. I complemented her on her choice of footwear for the week and we had a laugh. We parted for the evening and for the week with the thought of ‘see you in the park sometime this summer’. I don’t think I ever saw her again.

That memoir of Lara and her wearing those great shoes - and not being held back by them - has been with me all these years and will for many more now. You were an extraordinary woman and a class act Lara.

My heart and sympathy goes to Chad for the loss of his partner in both life and on the mountain; to the Kellogg family for a loss of a loved daughter-in-law; to the Bitenieks family for the loss of the sum of all your parts; and to all of Lara’s friends and colleges who she touched so dearly and so deeply.

Sincerely,

Lance D. Jorg
Richfield Helitack - Fishlake National Forest
Richfield, UT