The Hailey Public Library will host Hiking the Great Rift, a talk by retired park ranger Ted Stout and part of the Wanderlust series inviting the community to travel the world, virtually. In 2014, Ted and a few friends embarked on a week-long expedition across the forbidding terrain of Craters of the Moon National Monument. The talk, featuring stunning images by local photographer Craig Wolfrom, will be held Thursday, April 4, at 5:30 p.m. at Town Center West, 7 West Croy Street, and live streamed.
“Ted’s amazing trip celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act and highlighted a little-known story about the creation of Craters of the Moon National Monument,” commented Kristin Fletcher, the Library’s education and community engagement manager. “The group followed in the footsteps of the historic 17-day, 80-mile crossing of the Great Rift in 1920 by Robert Limbert, his friend Walter Cole and Teddy, an Airedale terrier. It must have been brutal.”
Fletcher continued, “Limbert shared his adventures in an article for a 1924 edition of National Geographic magazine, shining a national spotlight on this little-known area. The article and public slide shows presented across the country ultimately led to the creation of Craters of the Moon National Monument by President Calvin Coolidge on May 2, 1924.”
Ted Stout served as a park ranger from 1988-2020 at seven different national parks. He spent the last 17 years of his career as chief of interpretation and education at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. In 2022 his pictorial guide to the 100-year history of the national monument, part of the Images of America series, was published.
For more information about this and other talks, call (208) 788-2036 or visit www.haileypubliclibrary.org.