Doug Miller truly earned title of 'Mr. Outdoors'

It's been said, many times now, that Doug Miller loved the out-of-doors. He did, indeed, and was lucky enough to put himself in a position to make outdoors a profession.

He once told me he had to be the luckiest man in the world ... "to be able to do something I love, and get paid for it."

But he worked hard at his job, which earned him the title "Mr. Outdoors." It's a title many an outdoor writer would love to have, but only a few earn. Doug earned it.

To me, the thing that earned him his title was his versatility. He did everything, whether or not he was comfortable doing it.

He fished and hunted, he rode ATVs and snowmobiles, he froze on wintry days in a duck blind and wiped his brow on those sweltering days at Lake Powell.

I was involved in several stories with Doug. That is, we showed up at the same time, at the same place and with the identical invitation from the source.

They were always enjoyable. Nothing hostile between competitors — Doug with KSL at first and then KUTV, and me from the Deseret News and then the Deseret Morning News.

One story in particular I remember was a snowmobile trip that started on the northern border of the state and finished close to the southern border.

Doug was along for only two days of the five. Snowmobiling, he told me, was not among his better talents.

On the first day we went on a loop that took us to a snow-covered road leading out to the Mirror Lake Highway, where we were to trailer into Evanston, spend the night and then return to East Fork of the Bear the next morning to continue our journey south.

It had been a difficult day. Lots of hills and gullies to climb. The last leg was an all-out, high-speed sprint to the trailer and a hot bath.

As I came down the road I noticed, in a distance, a person on foot. It was Doug. He was covered with snow, head to toe, and limping a little. No snowmobile in sight. I stopped, asked what happened and where he'd left his machine. He pointed off down the road and, with smile, said he'd fallen off. The snowmobile was no more than a speck in the distance. Who knows how fast he was going, but it had to be fast.

He'd sprained his thumb, badly, and bruised his leg. That night, at dinner, I could tell he was in pain. He made light of his fall, had the entire party laughing and said "good night."

The next morning he was up, dressed and ready to ride, to finish the story, even though he later told me he was in a great deal of pain.

The story, for Doug, could have ended there, that night, but he committed to two days of riding and photography, which he knew would result in a better story.

Even though I didn't do a lot of stories with Doug, I enjoyed those when we were together.

But more than anything I respected his true appreciation for the outdoors, his commitment to it and the professional way he carried out his work.

Personally, I don't think I'll ever see another "Mr. Outdoors," certainly not one with the broad range of talents and dedication of Doug Miller.

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E-mail: grass@desnews.com