Altitude Adjustment A Quest for Love, Home, and Meaning in the Tetons

Aware that her youth is slipping by, Mary Beth Baptiste decides to escape her lackluster, suburban life in coastal Massachusetts to pursue her lifelong dream of being a Rocky Mountain woodswoman. To the horror of her traditional, ethnic family, she divorces her husband of fifteen years, dusts off her wildlife biology degree, and flees to Moose, Wyoming for a job at Grand Teton National Park. In these rugged mountains, unexpected lessons from nature and wildlife guide her journey as she creates a new life for herself. Set against the dramatic backdrop and quirky culture of Jackson Hole, this beautifully written memoir is a thoughtful, often humorous account of a woman’s bumbling quest for purpose, redemption, and love through wilderness adventure, solitude, and offbeat human connections. 

 Mary Elizabeth Baptiste has dual masters’ degrees in psychology and wildlife biology, and she is the 2012 winner of the Doubleday Award for Creative Writing, sponsored by the Wyoming Arts Council. Her work has appeared in Newsweek, Copper Nickel, Vermont Literary Review, Wyoming Wildlife, Stonehill Alumni Magazine, and Wildlife Society Bulletin. She lives in Wyoming.