TOWNSEND — Wayne Hutchens, 72, has a whiteboard over the workbench in his garage with the national parks written down the left side, one to a row. Chiricahua in Arizona became the 64th national park this week, and Hutchens has 63 rows.
He last redid the lines in 2021, when New River Gorge became the 63rd, and it took most of a Sunday with a yardstick and a Sharpie. Great Smoky Mountains, the most visited park in the system, is at the top in capital letters, and the rest go alphabetically underneath. That puts Chiricahua between Channel Islands and Congaree, near the top of the board.
“Everything from Congaree on down has to move a line, and the board’s full, so Zion goes off the bottom,” Hutchens said. “I’d have to buy a bigger board. I could do Chiricahua sideways in the margin, but I don’t like that.”
Linda Hutchens, 70, said she has been asking for the board since the last redo so she can keep her appointments on it. “He’s been to nine of them,” she said. “I write my appointments on envelopes. The podiatrist, my sister’s eye surgery. And that board is right there.”
For now Chiricahua is on a Post-it stuck to the corner of the board, and Linda’s appointments are on the refrigerator.