Thirty summers in the forest

Ken and Karen Gisleson have been on-and-off campground hosts for the past 30 years throughout the Medicine Bow National Forest―and they wouldn’t change it for the world.

They are both from Washington, Ill., a medium-sized suburban town in central Illinois and worked in the education sector for most of their lives. They had every summer off, so they decided to spend it the best way they knew how―in the mountains.

They started off in 1963, casually camping for summers in places such as Colorado and New Mexico. This type of camping they did for a decade. With only a tent and a few kids, they explored as much as they could fit during their summer breaks.

“We came back with like two dollars, my folks were like ‘are you crazy? You’ve got kids. I don’t know what are you doing’,” stated Karen.

After a trip to Europe in 1974, they knew that they needed to find some mountains to camp out in. “We wanted to have a mountain fix before we started with school again,” Ken said.

Karen laughed and exclaimed, “We took a map and a string to find what’s the closest from central Illinois to ‘the mountains’; and it was Medicine Bow.”

That’s when they first discovered Medicine Bow―and they were hooked.

“We kept coming back every summer to this range, and in the 80s we were at North Fork campground, not well maintained, and it had some problems,” said Ken. “We saw a sign on the bulletin board for campground hosts.”

Both Ken and Karen knew that this was a great opportunity.

Karen said, “We went into the office and said ‘we’re going to be here for most of the summer. What is this?’”

That’s how their hosting adventure began. They first spent their time hosting for North Fork campground over on the Laramie side of the Snowy Range.

According to Ken, they saw a lot of improvement in the campgrounds during that time.

“Every year we would keep coming back, coming back and every year the campgrounds would be improved. The tables in there, the fire pits, they expanded the upper loop and started working on the lower loop.”

At this time, they had more kids―four of them― and would bring them along every summer. “We were the only hosts that had four kids―the only ones that broke up boyfriend/girlfriend things that we don’t like.”

Although there were some trials and tribulations with four kids camping for the summers, both Ken and Karen saw them fall in love with Wyoming.

“When they were old enough to drive they would go down to Centennial to work at the Friendly’s store,” Karen said. “So we hosted there pretty much all the time that the kids grew up.”

They continued their time in North Fork until 1992, when Ken’s contract changed and the time spent in Wyoming was limited. However, they still wanted to work in the forest.

“Because we didn’t have much time, we talked with Bobby O’Mara, [District Ranger at the time] and we camped up in Lincoln Park. She said that ‘we need to clean out where the dispersed campers go off to the Turpin Reservoir; so that’s what we did.”

They worked there for a couple of years, until both Ken and Karen retired in 1997―giving them more time to spend in Medicine Bow.

According to Ken, Bobby O’Mara called and wanted somebody at Haskin Creek.

“She was on one phone and I was on the other and we both said yes. We haven’t even talked to one another about getting back in.”

After this, they spent a couple years at campgrounds such as Lost Creek, South Brush, Mirror Lake and Nash Fork.

Then the beetle kill ravaged the forest―and startled them.

“We could just not stand looking at the dead trees,” Karen said. “And it was a real fire hazard. It bothered us with all of the red trees.”

They didn’t return to the forest for four years after the beetle kill. Over time, they missed Wyoming and craved to come back.

“We couldn’t stand it and said needles are down, the fire danger isn’t as great after these four/five years; so lets call and see, and they said yeah, we need someone here,” said Karen.

‘Here’ was Ryan Park Campground.

Karen explained how it was not their first choice by any means, but was happy to be back.

“This was always our least favorite of all. Even though it is the only one that has electric, water and sewer. Always we roughed it with a generator and haul your water, and haul your poop. And so we said ‘we’re getting older. I mean, we are not getting older, we are old, so. We just want to be in the mountains again―and no, it did not look the way it used to, but the people are the same.”

Ken and Karen agree that the real reason that they always chose Medicine Bow was the people. “We love the mountains but most of all we love that people what we have been with.”

According to Ken, they really enjoy both Saratoga and Centennial. They have many friends in both of the towns and always feel welcome.

In addition, they feel that hosting at campgrounds was a way of giving back to the agency.

“And it’s really nice to help the Forest Service out so they can do others things and not worry about a campground,” Ken said. “It’s a way of giving back because we have taken so much from them over the years by living in it and fishing it and hiking it.”