How the Life of One Utah State Park Ranger Reveals the Healing Power of Nature

Brody Young has found peace, wonder and conviction in the outdoors throughout his life. 

The Utah State Park ranger drew upon that inspiration, as well as the fierce love from, and for, his family, to overcome a violent attack during a night patrol that nearly claimed his life.

Long before meeting his wife on the river or teaching his kids the magic of sunrise in the desert, Young was building his own character in the Utah outdoors.

As a teenager growing up in Provo, he experienced the thrill of solo overnight winter camping trips in Rock Canyon. Later, Young enjoyed sharing the outdoors with others while working for an adventure camp in Moab. While guiding a raft trip on the Colorado River’s Moab Daily section in 1998, Young met another guide who loved outdoor adventures as much as he did. 

“I fell in love with Wendy on a guiding trip,” Young said. “With that connection of loving the river and the desert, we really grew close. I kept pursuing and pursuing her. It took many months to convince her we could make our future work together.”

They were married in the fall of 1999, and both ended up working for Western River Expeditions guiding whitewater rafting excursions.

Finding Work That Matters

The Youngs spent their summers based in Moab guiding trips — sometimes together, but most often not — on the likes of Desolation Canyon on the Green River, Cataract and Westwater canyons on the Colorado, and even floating the Grand Canyon. The couple spent the next few winters in Salt Lake City, where they attended and graduated from the University of Utah. 

The red rock desert and big rivers continued their siren call to the Youngs. Brody Young’s wonder for the outdoors, and a chance to be surrounded by beautiful landscape while getting paid for it, motivated him to apply for a job with Utah State Parks.

“I had a buddy who was a river ranger, and he told me if he ever left, he would let me know,” Young said. “I was the only one to show up for the interview. It may have been fate; I’m not sure.”

He attributes landing the job — not from being the only candidate — but from the skill set he developed in all those years as a whitewater guide. After 14 weeks participating in Peace Officer Standards and Training, an education he says eventually helped save his life, Young started working as a law enforcement river ranger in 2006 based out of Moab.

A large part of his time was spent patrolling the Colorado River by boat. But Young also spent time on a motorcycle, riding motorized vehicle trails around Moab enforcing license and registration laws, and handing out tickets to those who fail to follow the rules.

“I love the river and the land I work on,” Young said. “I’m there to protect the resource. We deal mostly with people on vacation —  people out to have fun — and sometimes some of them forget to do things they should or do things they shouldn’t. My job is to remind them, educate them, about the right ways to enjoy the Utah landscape. It’s my backyard and I don’t want to see trash in my backyard. Education is the most important part of my job, but sometimes a citation is necessary.”

The majority of Young’s encounters with people in the remote corners of wild lands are civilized. Travelers want to know if they are where they think they are, if they have enough water for their hike, and if there will be cell coverage in the slot canyon. 

“Mostly, people just want to share with me how amazing the place we are sharing is and how they can’t believe how beautiful it is,” Young said. “Every encounter is like a wakeup call; a nice reminder from others about how cool of a place Utah is. To get that reminder so often helps me appreciate my job even more.”

The Night that Changed Everything

On November 19, 2010, Young was on a night patrol and came across a lone car parked in the Poison Spider Mesa Trailhead, 10 miles outside of Moab along the Colorado River. He was just 15 minutes from his home, from Wendy and their three children.

It was love for his family and a chance to continue their lives of being together in the special places they cherished that Young says helped him survive the events that unfolded that evening.

After a casual conversation with the man in the vehicle explaining he couldn’t sleep in the parking lot, Young, then 34, walked back to his truck. That’s when the sound of gunfire rang through the night.

Young made it to the back of the truck for cover and prepared to fire back in defense, but couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t able to grab his gun. A quick glance down at his limp and bloodied left arm, and Young knew he was in real trouble. His training kicked in and Young was able to return fire with his right hand. The shots finally stopped coming at him and Young heard the man say: “You got me.”

The surreal feeling of nine bullets hitting his body sunk in, and then Young fell to the ground, unconscious. He isn’t sure how long he was on the ground, but all was quiet when he awoke. The shooter was gone. “I think he thought I was dead, so he left,” Young said. “I realized no one knew I was there.” 

The soothing sounds of the Colorado River might have been within hearing distance, but the only thing Young could hear was his truck running. His adrenaline burst from the shootout was gone.

“My body was heavy; it felt like someone had poured concrete in it,” he said. “I started seeing pictures of Wendy and the kids. I wanted to be a part of their lives. I wanted to keep going. Death was not an option if I knew I could go back to doing what I was before this happened.”

Back to floating the mighty Colorado with the love of his life. Back to watching her teach the boys how to row the raft. Back to watching the sunrise through Mesa Arch. 

Case Closed

Five years after the shooting at Poison Spider Mesa Trailhead, the body of Lance Arellano, the man who shot Young, was found by two young Moab residents in a cave roughly 10 miles from where the encounter took place.

Shortly after the body was discovered, Young told reporters:  “Everyone deserves to live, no matter what they do, so I'm sad that someone had to die, but I'm also glad that I'm still alive,” he said. “I did the right thing that night just defending myself.”

You can hear Young tell his story on Visit Utah's Six Corners podcast.