I am one of five winter residents of the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, living at the end of the trail at the end of the road in Gothic, Colorado. On paper, it is a very simple job. I help close the cabins in the fall, put up my food for the winter, stack my firewood, and make sure the place is still here in the spring. Mostly, I watch and wait: for snow to pile up, for a shutter to blow off in the wind, for a tree to fall on a cabin, for an instrument to break down at the weather station. I wait for spring, and for the return of my friends in summer. Long winter nights, cold fall days, and the crusty, icy, sweltering melt of spring eventually give way to that glorious season.

With summer come all the things we know so well: birds, the flowers, quaking aspen leaves, and the visitors who come either to enjoy them or to study them. It can be easy to say that it is the greatest season in Gothic, and it can be even easier to spend the other three seasons patiently or impatiently waiting for it. On many occasions — usually when the temperature dips below minus 20 degrees — I find myself wishing for summer. But I also find profound beauty and a peaceful respite in that time between the three warmest months of the year.

For nearly a century, this small cluster of cabins and laboratories has quietly shaped how we understand high-elevation ecosystems. By my count, during that time, there have been 86 winter caretakers at RMBL, in addition to the unrivaled billy barr. He should be the one writing this, not me. Having spent more than 50 winters in Gothic, he knows a thing or two about taking care of this place. And yet, I have now spent five winters living in Gothic. I could spend another five just as easily, or another 50. I have fallen in love with this place, as many do if they get the chance to spend any time here. Most leave and never come back, but carry the memory of their time in Gothic with them forever. Some return every year when they can and only leave when they must. But just because they have left does not mean that they are gone. Those who study at the lab return to their home institutions and get down to the critical work of interpreting all the data that they collected over the summer. A lot of them also volunteer for the lab, serving on the Board of Directors and committees, writing stories, hosting science talks, going to conferences, and generally evangelizing on behalf of the natural world and, by extension, RMBL.

Our title as caretaker makes it easy to assume that we, out here alone in Gothic, are the ones responsible for taking care of this place. That may be true, but if it is, it is only true in the most literal sense. We are here in Gothic, and it is our job to shovel the roofs of cabins, so they don’t collapse under the weight of a winter snowpack. But I would venture to say that everyone who has come to Gothic, participated in its traditions, added to them, and fallen in love with this place, is a caretaker. There are those who teach; those who record new data and come up with new ideas; those who host potlucks and dinner parties; those who organize the July 4 parade and repaint the Golden Marmot every year; those who cook in the dining hall and cut the payroll checks; those who invest in this work so it can endure beyond any one season; those who lobby Congress and speak at conferences and in front of skeptical audiences; and those who educate the next generation of curious scientists and stewards. Every one of them — every one of you — is a caretaker of Gothic and RMBL.

Without our collective effort and all of our voices taking care of this place, the caretakers here would only be watching over 70 cold, empty, quiet buildings on 300 acres, 4 miles from the end of a county road. You all take care of this place, and so do I. That is why I would happily spend another 50 cold, snowy winters in this strange, beautiful little community. There is something here that feels larger than any one of us, and it keeps us working, and waiting, for another summer to bloom in Gothic.

— Benn Schmatz
RMBL Facilities Manager and Science Support Technician

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