The keepers of Kintla

Hungry Horse News

Lyle Ruterbories surveyed the Kintla Lake Campground with a clipboard in his hands, watching campers park cars, set up tents and load canoes.

A large dog dragged his owner to the shore, sniffed the gravel and walked a little too close to the miniature waves collapsing into the rocks.

"That dog isn't supposed to get in the water," Ruterbories said. "I'm watching him."

He scribbled something on his papers, gave the scene another quick look and then walked to his van to unload groceries into a wheelbarrow.

"He's got him on a leash, I think he'll be OK," he said.

As the wiry Ruterbories wheeled the food and supplies down the trail to the small ranger cabin he shares with his wife Marge, he said that he watches pets closely to make sure they don't contaminate the water in any way.

"I'm the old type of ranger," he said with a weathered smile, his gray hair poking out beneath his wide-brimmed hat.

In the small brown cabin a few steps off the main trail, the Ruterbories unloaded canned goods into white cabinets and stacked daily logs on the couch in the corner. A green mosquito net hung over the bed and a few bugs buzzed around the room.

Lyle snapped his hands together at one and opened them slowly to take a look.

"Got him!" he yelled to Marge, pointing to his palm. "There's the body, see?"

Marge nodded to the net over the bed and said that the bugs have almost always been a nuisance, bothering them for 14 years in a row.

"We've only been in here one year without having to put it up," she said of the net.

The Ruterbories, who live in Colorado over the winters, have watched over Kintla Lake and swatted away insects there every summer since 1991. Lyle serves as the resident Park Ranger and Marge as the campground host, positions they hold with pride.

Sitting closely in their official uniforms, Lyle looked at Marge and began the story of how they ended up in this remote area of Montana.

"I retired in 1985," Lyle said. "I was 66. That makes me 85 years old. My wife is 86."

He explained that he and Marge have been traveling around the world for years, stopping in parks all across the globe. After his retirement, they decided to volunteer in the National Park System and ended up working in briefly in New Mexico before moving to Avalanche Campground in 1987 and the Apgar area 1990 .

Due to their dedication and extensive knowledge of Glacier National Park, the Ruterbories were asked to take over the Kintla Lake area for the 1991 season, a position Lyle said they didn't hesitate to accept.

"We've walked all the trails in the Park but the Nyack area," he said. "I like this here because of the remoteness."

Marge agreed that the relative lack of visitors is what drew her to the lake.

"We always hunted out places that were more remote," she said. "This is our favorite."

The tools they use to keep the area comfortable hang from the walls of the cabin. A dozen lanterns, saws of all sizes and a two-way radio adorn the shelves, and Marge said that Lyle's work is demanding on his aging body, explaining that he created a boating ramp a few summers ago without any help.

"He made a ramp to go down to the lake," she said. "He hauled load after load of gravel."

Lyle said that he also maintains the logs marking the parking areas in the campground, something that requires him to saw, lift and move logs five times his size.

"The hardest work I do is cutting logs," he said, shaking his head. "But mainly our job is meeting and greeting and informing."

Originally, he was a volunteer in the area when he was notified in 1993 that the position was going to be given to an official ranger. Once he heard the news, he applied to become one, was accepted and beat out several other candidates to stay in Kintla.

He was fitted for his uniform in 1994.

Marge, who was named the campground host the same year, spends the majority of her time collecting data from the campground - numbers and figures she collects in the extensive collection of journals stacked in various places around the cabin. She records daily temperatures, rainfall, water temperatures, the number of people in tents and recreational vehicles and even records the amount work accomplished each day.

Lyle said that through the years, he's learned a lot about wildlife and plant life, with the most interesting thing being that bears seem to enjoy having a drink every now and then.

"They like beer," he said. "It's probably as bad as leaving a loaf of bread out."

After stories about grizzlies and moose, the Ruterbories walked down to the lake to look at the mountains reflecting on the water, hand in hand.

Marge said that staying active and being outdoors has helped them live so long and stay so healthy.

"Everyone says that we are so lucky to be up here, have our health and be able to travel," she said. "We tend to run with the younger crowd."

Lyle said that barring any unforeseen circumstances, they will be back again next year.

"We sure hope to, don't we Margie?" he asked.

"We sure do," she replied.

Walking back to the campground to examine the latest influx of guests, Lyle left his wife in the cabin, alone with her pen and notebook.

"I almost lost her three years ago," he said. "She suffered from congestive heart failure."

Now, he said, she's in good health and works diligently to record all the events around the lake.

But of all the places they've traveled and the things they've done, Lyle said that the one thing sticks out in his mind that makes him the happiest is his wife and their family.

"We got married when I was 21 and she was 22," he said. "We've been together for almost 65 years."

With six children, 19 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and even two great-great-grandchildren scheduling visits to come see them in the future, Ruterbories said that he doesn't expect to leave Kintla anytime soon.

"We figure on staying here," he said.