Axling, Chris

The summer he turned 20, Chris Axling volunteered as a backcountry patrol ranger for Olympic National Park. After his evening rounds around Lunch Lake he often climbed the 555 rock steps to the High Divide, racing the sunset up to Bogachiel Peak. There, he'd look down into the upper Bogachiel Basin and wonder what was down there. His call sign was 594, and sometimes, sitting up there, he'd hear the voice of another ranger, 991, crackle over the radio. At the end of the summer he asked her to go on a hike and, 15 years later, it was still the best decision he's ever made. He and his family stil...