A ranger at Glacier National Park thinks not giving people information is a good idea.
On my visit there I went to the St Mary visitors' center to get information on, among other things, Reynolds Mountain. You'd think I'd asked for how to turn lead into gold based on the reaction from an asshole ranger. He completely clammed up and refused to give me any information at all. He seemed to think that merely asking for more information meant that I wasn't ready to try for it. That's nuts. In fact, he refused to put me in touch with a backcountry ranger who could give me the information.
There are plenty of things where you want to do all the research you can, reading books and looking at photos. Then, there are low commitment routes like Reynolds: you aren't that far from a main trail and it's fairly easy scrambling. You don't have to gain any elevation to return.
You do need to know not to get in over your head and not to go up something you can't get down from. However, it's not the ranger's position to decide who has those capabilities and who doesn't. Their job is to give information. If they want to give stern warnings, that's fine. However, they need to realize that they aren't the only capable people around.
Note that a day or two later I did try for Reynolds but only turned around due to weather. The asshole not giving me information didn't keep me from trying for the peak, it just made it harder.
I reported the ranger and the park backed him up, but that was under the previous administration. They might have a different take now so I'll try again. Anyone at NPS who thinks depriving people of information is a good policy needs to find a new line of work.
