MY FRIEND HELEN Helen Waag Siemens November 4, l935-November 7, 1982

Memories crowded my thoughts as I sat by my friend Helen and fervently tried to comfort her during the waning hours of her earthly life. I wanted to comfort her as she did me, three long years ago...... Helen and her husband Abe were backpacking with Bill and me deep in the Southern Sierra backcountry. We were on a hike planned for us by our son Jim, a seasonal Sequoia National Forest ranger, and we were to meet him at his station in the Golden Trout Wilderness. We altered our course a bit to spend a quiet time in the sanctuary of Garfield Grove's magnificent redwood trees, unaware that our son was killed on a distant freeway while we reverently contemplated the beauty around us. We did not know that for the following three days a Forest Service helicopter searched for us while we ambled along beneath a canopy, of red firs. We slowly wound our way to Jim's station at Rifle Creek Campground near the Little Kern River. While waiting there, news of an "emergency at home" reached us, and it took us two torturous days to get to a phone and to the dreaded news of our son's death. We cried on the shoulders of Helen and Abe till it seemed the mountain was awash with our tears. What a comfort Helen was to me then and through the difficult years the followed. Many months later Helen and her husband were again with us as we scouted a trail for the updating of one of our son's guidebooks. We had a steep 4000-foot climb up a sun-baked path before reaching the cooler climes of Piute Mountain. Helen was exhausted and became ill, yet she didn't complain, all she said was, "It was nice to be hiking with Ruby and Bill again." That was Helen: always giving, loving, caring; always extending herself for others. Like the warming rays of the morning sun cresting the mountain ridge, Helen's radiant love gave warmth to all who traveled along her path. She was totally committed to God and had a deep affection for His creative beauty. Many members of the Desert Peaks Section knew Helen as she was an active participant for years. Many climbers will recall bagging peaks with her and Abe; she climbed well over 70 peaks during her active days, some several times. All who new dear Helen, loved her. Helen will always be with me, as is my son, as I tromp in the wilderness of mountain; her example will give me direction as I search in the wilderness of mind. She was my friend, my special friend; Helen was a special friend to many.

Ruby Johnson Jenkins

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