There's something truly fascinating about meeting these sorts of people. I've never met Steven Fuller, but I had the joy of speaking with Frank Sanders [1] at

There's something truly fascinating about meeting these sorts of people. I've never met Steven Fuller, but I had the joy of speaking with Frank Sanders [1] at Devil's Tower National Monument. His story is a similar one - after decades of traveling the country, he found a park which captured him entirely, and never left. He lives within the monument, climbs the tower almost daily, and gives occasional talks at the park campsite. He's also a resource for the park rangers there - he holds no position, but has longer tenure and more familiarity with the site than any of them. Flowery language seems inescapable in this description. He was the human version of a genius loci - inextricably bound to a single place, and familiar with it to a depth surpassing what one would think possible. I don't think the comparisons to shamans are merely metaphorical. This sort of intimate knowledge of land feels supernatural, to the degree that it helped me understand how people might believe someone was communing with nature spirits. It's something all too close to lost today. I'm grateful to have met Sanders, but it saddens me that people like this are so scarce in our world. [1] https://www.climbing.com/places/under-the-devils-spell/ https://www.climbing.com/places/under-the-devils-spell/