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Retired geologist Karen Tombaugh Dean lives in Denver, but grew up in Ohio. She credits a large part of her move out West to a “life changing” two week camp as a teenage girl in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
In 1966, she and other 14-to-17-year-olds camped at the Crystal Creek campground up the Gros Ventre while building the Gros Ventre Slide Interpretive Trail around the region’s largest landslide. The trail still stands. .
She and her campmates buried letters, drawings, four-leaf clovers, forest brochures and pink hair curlers on the mountainside.
“A few years ago, I remembered the time capsule, and I wondered if anyone had ever found it,” Dean said, “I have to admit, after 59 years, I remember the time capsule really well, but I forgot a few details, like where we put it.”
She emailed the forest and was answered by Linda Merigliano, who then spent months this year in the forest with a metal detector and in her office, contacting other campers from the 60s.
And eventually, thanks to a helpful tip from one of the campers, she found it.
Before retiring from the Bridger-Teton in early September after nearly 40 years, Merigliano and Dean shared the discovery at events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Gros Ventre slide. Through her career, the recreation specialist has helped plan entire wilderness designations and form partnerships that have garnered additional resources for millions of acres in the Bridger-Teton and the nearby Caribou-Targhee National Forest.
Karen Dean read the letter she wrote as a teenager at camp during a Sept. 7 event that presented the found time capsules contents to the public, including students from the Kelly Campus of the Teton Science School. (Courtesy Photo / Bridger-Teton National Forest)
Todd Stiles leads the Jackson Ranger District of the forest. He says it was special for forest staff to read the unearthed letters.
“We felt a lot of gratitude to see that connection from 1966 through 2025 and just see how people worked for the greater good of the public lands back then,” Stiles said.
He encouraged those who haven’t explored the trail around the landslide to get out there this fall.
