Love the pictures, just gave you a follow request on IG.
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Right on….I’ll open it for you.Love the pictures, just gave you a follow request on IG.
^ I took a pack test for the Forest Service yesterday…so I can take Fire assignments as an AD employee. Means I work for the government but not…officially..for the agency. I’m on an “as needed” status…they’ll call me with an assignment…and I can decide whether I want it or not.
I haven’t worked for the Forest Service or in Fire for 17 years. All my important qualifications are still good and relevant…so this gives me more options. And the agency gets a good deal…because…well…I have a lot of Fire experience…and they are the ones who paid for the qualifications. They get to recoup some of that investment…at a relatively low cost.
Anyways…in that world I’m an old guy at 57. If I was still a Forest Service full time firefighter I’d have to take a mandatory retirement at this age. Rules.
So the pack test is pretty simple…useless in really testing physical ability…but there has to be a test…you understand..every season. A baseline test.
45 pound weight vest on a flat surface for 3 miles…no running…in 45 minutes or under. Actually they give you 46 minutes here on the Gila to compensate for being at over 6000’ elevation.
I hadn’t taken a pack test in 17 years…and I was older than all the other participants by 20 or more years. Pretty funny. Hadn’t changed at all. Test is easy for me…but it does fail people. People cramp up…all kinds of shit. Definitely favors tall people (like all hiking I’ve ever done…except vert type stuff)…
My wife noticed I was chafed up from the weight vest…but I never felt it then or now. Looks like I took a fall or something…but nope.
* I’m not really looking to go out with a hand crew…but if the assignment is a good deal…and I can make a quick and worthwhile chunk of change...no problem. I’m more into all the other angles you can make money through the federal government in the Fire Industry. I’m basically a well qualified Fire mercenary. I’ll load retardant, fell fire damage trees, drive trucks for the supply caches, field observer, dozer boss, crew boss…..whatever. I’ll even go on the road out of State if the assignment looks favorable. No worries. Call me. Navigating through a government agency is something I know how to do. The lingo is still the same.
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Weather Soundtrack Painting
An ounce of Sister 04 out of vacuum storage
Weather has passed. Sky is clear. We are going into a warming trend. Go out today and see what…yesterday’s snow…has done. Ground is frozen this morning…but it’s supposed to be in the upper 50s today.
Weather has passed. Sky is clear. We are going into a warming trend. Go out today and see what…yesterday’s snow…has done. Ground is frozen this morning…but it’s supposed to be in the upper 50s today.
One thing a Ranger standard cab is good for : Hotboxing a couple of bowls before starting off. Enough that there is a sense of vertigo until I start running. Then it’s deep exhales until everything goes calm and into the rhythm of the elements. Breathe…get into a form…find balance. Balance is Power.
Mash it. Grind it. Bomb it.
Censored Lemons
Checking on my snake den. Found this den last year. First rattlers I saw come out was on Feb 5th. We’ve had cold and snow since…but now that we’re in a warming trend…I went to check (in a round about way that took a couple hours of trailing) to see if anyone was out.
Big one hidden in the cactus was rattling loud. A Queen B…old snake…getting extra sun safely in the cactus. This time of year up here in the high desert…they are slow and just want to get sun stoned. Like sleep. You have to be very watchful of them around a den….they are masters of camouflage. All of a sudden…they are just there. It’s so well that they are mellow and rattle warnings. Saved me a time or two. Several close calls. All by accident.
So only saw two. I’ll check it again in a few days…at a different time…see if I can get a group out on the rocks. They’ll split up when it warms up…and all head to their own territories.
Grand days in the hills
Big one hidden in the cactus was rattling loud. A Queen B…old snake…getting extra sun safely in the cactus. This time of year up here in the high desert…they are slow and just want to get sun stoned. Like sleep. You have to be very watchful of them around a den….they are masters of camouflage. All of a sudden…they are just there. It’s so well that they are mellow and rattle warnings. Saved me a time or two. Several close calls. All by accident.
So only saw two. I’ll check it again in a few days…at a different time…see if I can get a group out on the rocks. They’ll split up when it warms up…and all head to their own territories.
Grand days in the hills
dramamine
Well-known member
That first shot's cool as hell. The rattler doesn't look particularly small, huh?
Nah…there’s some fat old snakes in this den. So far I’ve only seen Black Tail rattlers out of it. They are the most common Rattler in these parts. The females are bigger than the males…and they can live 15-20 years.
The one in the cactus was bigger. I wish I could post videos on here. She was loud…and I didn’t see her in there…until she went off. I blocked her sun…she caught the movement…started tasting the air and rattling. She was coiled. Smart snake to live so long. Thriving.
Sister 24 oz out of vacuum seal. Ready for the run.
* coming off of 2 weeks of flu. A bug that hit me in the guts…giving me the shits…for a few days. No appetite…lost 5-7 pounds through dehydration/water weight in a couple days. Hard to keep hydrated. After that it was just a lingering feeling of being faded then good then faded cycle that needed to be rested out. Never did much to my lungs or sinuses. Very little cough. I didn’t take any sort of medication….nor did I smoke herb for the 2 weeks.
Saturday I hit the mountains and went hard into the climbs….forcing the virus to come out front and center. Ran like a beast. Took deep inhales of herb before the run…and at the top of each climb. That opened me up and helped cough out the mucus that had been attached in my lungs. Not a large amount…but I needed to clean that out. Stringy white grossness. Had me gagging a couple times. I blew it out.
Yesterday I rested. Today I’m heading back out for some prolonged uphill running. I timed things correctly. It’s a feel thing…if you go out to blast the stuff out too early in the cycle….you can make it worse. It’s then detrimental. But if you hit it…when the virus is weakening its hold…you can cleanse it out. Takes patience…and a willingness to cause yourself some physical pain. Stress the body physically to dig it out.
* coming off of 2 weeks of flu. A bug that hit me in the guts…giving me the shits…for a few days. No appetite…lost 5-7 pounds through dehydration/water weight in a couple days. Hard to keep hydrated. After that it was just a lingering feeling of being faded then good then faded cycle that needed to be rested out. Never did much to my lungs or sinuses. Very little cough. I didn’t take any sort of medication….nor did I smoke herb for the 2 weeks.
Saturday I hit the mountains and went hard into the climbs….forcing the virus to come out front and center. Ran like a beast. Took deep inhales of herb before the run…and at the top of each climb. That opened me up and helped cough out the mucus that had been attached in my lungs. Not a large amount…but I needed to clean that out. Stringy white grossness. Had me gagging a couple times. I blew it out.
Yesterday I rested. Today I’m heading back out for some prolonged uphill running. I timed things correctly. It’s a feel thing…if you go out to blast the stuff out too early in the cycle….you can make it worse. It’s then detrimental. But if you hit it…when the virus is weakening its hold…you can cleanse it out. Takes patience…and a willingness to cause yourself some physical pain. Stress the body physically to dig it out.
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Checking on the snake den. It was a little sketchier today. Saw 3. 2 were in the same spots…as last time. 1 was hidden in rocks and dry grass…in a spot I hadn’t seen one in. It’s about that time…in a week or so if we get normal warm weather…that going off trail in high grass and rock…becomes not a good idea. The snakes are mellow but when they warm up they get faster and especially when startled they tend to strike. Snake bite is in my top 3 likely things that could go wrong in the mountains.
^ Den. So many entrances. Rock out crop is on a South facing aspect. Lots of morning sun to get the snakes sun stoned. Around 7000’ elevation.
^ Different angles of the same snake. Positioned so the head was below the tail…twisted through some rocks. Totally sun stoned. In the first picture you can see the head flattened out into the shade. Had to really look to see this one. Hard to tell the size. Big enough. Never woke up.
^ I’ve seen this snake before. I think 3 times now in the same spot. Big one. Has never rattled at me. You can see how the head is tucked under the rock. Sun stoned.
^ Same spot as last time. This big girl holds down the fort in this prickly pear cactus. Smart spot. The sun is primo as is the protection. Last time she rattled constantly at me. This time I was able to keep her calm. She was aware of me though. Her tongue was testing the air. I blew herb smoke at her. Eventually I heard movement in the cactus and watched her slide under her rock. Big one.
* nothing major. Up and down the mountain for a few hours. Covered 9ish miles and maybe a couple 1000’ of elevation gain. Stopped to check the snake den…and went looking to see if any bears had woken up. No bear sign. Soon though. I like seeing bears. They’re almost like a sub species of human. People mannerisms.
^ First fire smoke I’ve seen this season. Backing down a hill against the wind. Maybe a prescribed burn…the way it looks.
^ Den. So many entrances. Rock out crop is on a South facing aspect. Lots of morning sun to get the snakes sun stoned. Around 7000’ elevation.
^ Different angles of the same snake. Positioned so the head was below the tail…twisted through some rocks. Totally sun stoned. In the first picture you can see the head flattened out into the shade. Had to really look to see this one. Hard to tell the size. Big enough. Never woke up.
^ I’ve seen this snake before. I think 3 times now in the same spot. Big one. Has never rattled at me. You can see how the head is tucked under the rock. Sun stoned.
^ Same spot as last time. This big girl holds down the fort in this prickly pear cactus. Smart spot. The sun is primo as is the protection. Last time she rattled constantly at me. This time I was able to keep her calm. She was aware of me though. Her tongue was testing the air. I blew herb smoke at her. Eventually I heard movement in the cactus and watched her slide under her rock. Big one.
* nothing major. Up and down the mountain for a few hours. Covered 9ish miles and maybe a couple 1000’ of elevation gain. Stopped to check the snake den…and went looking to see if any bears had woken up. No bear sign. Soon though. I like seeing bears. They’re almost like a sub species of human. People mannerisms.
^ First fire smoke I’ve seen this season. Backing down a hill against the wind. Maybe a prescribed burn…the way it looks.
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I started working part time (on call) for the federal government for the fire season. Working out of the Grant County airport…at the Gila National Forest Aerial Fire Base. I knew of this place as a Smokejumper back in 2002….all these years later I’ve returned. Not jumping out of planes though. None of that.
I took a way easier assignment : I will be driving all over R3 (AZ and NM) and other regions as well (if gear is needed) delivering fire gear to fire camps…and government warehouses. I don’t even have to load or unload the vans/trucks. And I don’t have to fight fire on the line
…. cushy part time job. I get to see and participate in fire…see old friends…but I don’t have to stay in camps or supervise a bunch of type A personality kids. No sucking smoke living that extremely unhealthy lifestyle.
^ Believe it or not…that’s Grant County New Mexico’s airport. Talk about a drug smuggling looking location. Close to Mexico but not so close that there’s Border Patrol and Homeland Security roaming rampant. Not that I smuggle drugs. Just saying…the atmosphere and location is right. Beyond this…to the North…is just National Forest and State roads…with little villages strung out along the way. You can take the 180 north and west into AZ or highway 152 north and east across the Black Range to Interstate 25…bypassing any check points. Grant County still has the Wild West feel.
^ My base. It’s a spread out complex of Fire planes and helicopters (not here yet) and their crews….along with a Forest Service Cache.
Should be an interesting summer. Pick and choose assignments.
* As a smokejumper and hotshot the Gila is notoriously a tough place to deal with fire. It’s steep, dry, and very windy. As a jumper….it’s a scary place to jump Forest Service round chutes. Those parachutes are good for coming straight down through trees….but really not good for jumping in high winds. A lot of jumpers have gotten seriously fucked up jumping fires on the Gila. I think one died last season. Count your lucky stars when you land without getting drilled into the rocks. I have…personally…sold my soul a couple times fighting fire on the Gila.
I took a way easier assignment : I will be driving all over R3 (AZ and NM) and other regions as well (if gear is needed) delivering fire gear to fire camps…and government warehouses. I don’t even have to load or unload the vans/trucks. And I don’t have to fight fire on the line
…. cushy part time job. I get to see and participate in fire…see old friends…but I don’t have to stay in camps or supervise a bunch of type A personality kids. No sucking smoke living that extremely unhealthy lifestyle.^ Believe it or not…that’s Grant County New Mexico’s airport. Talk about a drug smuggling looking location. Close to Mexico but not so close that there’s Border Patrol and Homeland Security roaming rampant. Not that I smuggle drugs. Just saying…the atmosphere and location is right. Beyond this…to the North…is just National Forest and State roads…with little villages strung out along the way. You can take the 180 north and west into AZ or highway 152 north and east across the Black Range to Interstate 25…bypassing any check points. Grant County still has the Wild West feel.
^ My base. It’s a spread out complex of Fire planes and helicopters (not here yet) and their crews….along with a Forest Service Cache.
Should be an interesting summer. Pick and choose assignments.
* As a smokejumper and hotshot the Gila is notoriously a tough place to deal with fire. It’s steep, dry, and very windy. As a jumper….it’s a scary place to jump Forest Service round chutes. Those parachutes are good for coming straight down through trees….but really not good for jumping in high winds. A lot of jumpers have gotten seriously fucked up jumping fires on the Gila. I think one died last season. Count your lucky stars when you land without getting drilled into the rocks. I have…personally…sold my soul a couple times fighting fire on the Gila.
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yo pablo! it's good to see you back on icmag.
dumb question, why do you vac seal instead of keeping in jars? is it cheaper? does it preserve the weed better? I guess what I'm getting at...if I have weed I want to store (its been dried and cured) for a couple months, is it best to vac seal or throw in quart jars?
Thanks for keeping this thread going...also, i love that hash pipe and i get running around with it but do you ever smoke doobies?
dumb question, why do you vac seal instead of keeping in jars? is it cheaper? does it preserve the weed better? I guess what I'm getting at...if I have weed I want to store (its been dried and cured) for a couple months, is it best to vac seal or throw in quart jars?
Thanks for keeping this thread going...also, i love that hash pipe and i get running around with it but do you ever smoke doobies?
Hey Bud. I don’t smoke joints often. Just my cheap ass bowl and various blends of the Sisters. My current Trail Bag has a blend of Sisters 23 and 24 in it. I change the bags as I open fresh vacuum bags…to keep up on things and the wear and tear beating the plastic takes in my waist belt. One bag transitions to the next bag…Sisters blend into different variations. The trail goes on forever
Vacuum bags are way easier to store than jars. I also like to keep my herb compressed. Seems to keep the herb cured right and fresh. I have a lot of herb. Pounds and pounds. No garden this season…so this herb has to last the household for a couple of years. Vacuum bags broken into ounce increments are pretty much the way to go for me.
Sun was cranking today. Elevation + clear skies = Power Sun. Ran strong.
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So…my 16th season dedicated to mountain running discipline. Many people trip out on miles run….or the pace but I’ve always been terrain and element driven…time on feet…never really concerned on destination…just the ever changing paths to get there.
I mix my outings from one form to another on about every session. There are many forms. Form is not only function…but balance. Balance is power and the center of longevity. Form is forever. Without it….there is a chaos that ends up in pile of rubble…only to flail until it reforms into another attempt at grace. Destruction births creation.
…and so…I can run my go to local range over and over because it is close and convenient…but I can go through a set of say 6 mountains in so many ways that they become their own universe. Big enough…spread out enough…on trail and off I keep it expanding.
^ No plan…hotbox in the War Pony at Gomez Peak trailhead then just dig in. Right in the first mile…dodging a fuels crew working on the fuel break…saw teams cutting what the heavier machinery couldn’t get to…got myself above them and running through the fresh cut (few months old) fuel break. Hard running in this terrain…no trail.
To the mine road…up that for a mile or so to a drainage. Then straight line up the drainage…rocky overgrown steep creek bed…no trail…past old mine works (now a makeshift dam)…where it starts getting steeper…both hands and feet need be used to climb the 1-1.5 mile section back up onto the mine road.
Take the mine road back down to the trailhead. Short on miles…around 6.5…around 1400’ of elevation gain…but the off trail drainage section….to move briskly and steadily through…is a lot of physical effort. I kept a 14 minute mile pace in that section…never stopped moving until just under the road/herb break. It’s not about the miles or pace though. It’s about what presents itself in the terrain and elements.
I mix up my runs constantly. I prefer to run without a plan. Most my runs I keep in the 7-15 mile range. They can take an 1.5 hrs out of the day….or more than 1/2 the day. Whereas I am demonstrating miles just for picturing purposes…I gear myself (fuel/water/salt) for terrain, elements, time on feet. This outing (yesterday’s) I’m talking about could have gone longer but I was getting hit with 30mph winds and good and tired from previous days out…so it ended where it did. Again…no plan…subject to change for about any reason. I carry enough fuel/water/salt for 5 hrs of go. Changes with the seasons.
Why elevation? Elevation trains stamina. Most my runs get to 7000’ elevation quick and tend to stay between 7000’-8100’. The air is thinner and the elements more powerful. Elevation comes with the terrain. The higher you go the more the world changes. I’ve never been higher than 15,000’ but know I can get comfortable running that high. No problem.
Why straight up steep drainages? I can’t run these. Scramble form. Form is forced to change. A different set of muscle groups are made to work in a different format. It’s difficult on the body. To keep moving I must use all 4s (handheld water bottles…I just slide them onto my wrist so I can use my hands. Leather gloves…everything is sharp…and I have to go through trees and brush…breaking branches out of my way. I get tore up) to climb up out of drainages. Drainages will kick my ass every time.
Why run often? Simple answer…to be fit enough to maintain the forms. Active recovery….running through pain is the meditation. I’m always hurt. It comes with the discipline. To have the endurance and strength to survive. That’s what it’s about. You can not get from here to there without earning it. You can not cheat. Day after day. Session after session. It’s the willingness to go forth.
Why effort? You get what you give…if the gods are good.
* Strava is ok. I’m not public on it. I basically use it as a reference to the mileage I put on a pair of shoes…and I like looking at terrain. Documentation. As I have no organized training schedule….Strava is not a training tool. I’m in no competition. Training is a relative word.
I mix my outings from one form to another on about every session. There are many forms. Form is not only function…but balance. Balance is power and the center of longevity. Form is forever. Without it….there is a chaos that ends up in pile of rubble…only to flail until it reforms into another attempt at grace. Destruction births creation.
…and so…I can run my go to local range over and over because it is close and convenient…but I can go through a set of say 6 mountains in so many ways that they become their own universe. Big enough…spread out enough…on trail and off I keep it expanding.
^ No plan…hotbox in the War Pony at Gomez Peak trailhead then just dig in. Right in the first mile…dodging a fuels crew working on the fuel break…saw teams cutting what the heavier machinery couldn’t get to…got myself above them and running through the fresh cut (few months old) fuel break. Hard running in this terrain…no trail.
To the mine road…up that for a mile or so to a drainage. Then straight line up the drainage…rocky overgrown steep creek bed…no trail…past old mine works (now a makeshift dam)…where it starts getting steeper…both hands and feet need be used to climb the 1-1.5 mile section back up onto the mine road.
Take the mine road back down to the trailhead. Short on miles…around 6.5…around 1400’ of elevation gain…but the off trail drainage section….to move briskly and steadily through…is a lot of physical effort. I kept a 14 minute mile pace in that section…never stopped moving until just under the road/herb break. It’s not about the miles or pace though. It’s about what presents itself in the terrain and elements.
I mix up my runs constantly. I prefer to run without a plan. Most my runs I keep in the 7-15 mile range. They can take an 1.5 hrs out of the day….or more than 1/2 the day. Whereas I am demonstrating miles just for picturing purposes…I gear myself (fuel/water/salt) for terrain, elements, time on feet. This outing (yesterday’s) I’m talking about could have gone longer but I was getting hit with 30mph winds and good and tired from previous days out…so it ended where it did. Again…no plan…subject to change for about any reason. I carry enough fuel/water/salt for 5 hrs of go. Changes with the seasons.
Why elevation? Elevation trains stamina. Most my runs get to 7000’ elevation quick and tend to stay between 7000’-8100’. The air is thinner and the elements more powerful. Elevation comes with the terrain. The higher you go the more the world changes. I’ve never been higher than 15,000’ but know I can get comfortable running that high. No problem.
Why straight up steep drainages? I can’t run these. Scramble form. Form is forced to change. A different set of muscle groups are made to work in a different format. It’s difficult on the body. To keep moving I must use all 4s (handheld water bottles…I just slide them onto my wrist so I can use my hands. Leather gloves…everything is sharp…and I have to go through trees and brush…breaking branches out of my way. I get tore up) to climb up out of drainages. Drainages will kick my ass every time.
Why run often? Simple answer…to be fit enough to maintain the forms. Active recovery….running through pain is the meditation. I’m always hurt. It comes with the discipline. To have the endurance and strength to survive. That’s what it’s about. You can not get from here to there without earning it. You can not cheat. Day after day. Session after session. It’s the willingness to go forth.
Why effort? You get what you give…if the gods are good.
* Strava is ok. I’m not public on it. I basically use it as a reference to the mileage I put on a pair of shoes…and I like looking at terrain. Documentation. As I have no organized training schedule….Strava is not a training tool. I’m in no competition. Training is a relative word.
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Gila Lay Back…looking at Bear Mountain with a snow covered Mount Graham in the distance. Pure high desert sun comes with winds that carry dust, sand, and pollen this time of year. The air is from Mexico, Texas, and Arizona sucking and blowing. Blue Sky infinite. Clear to the stratosphere
I lost little of my skin tone over the winter. Now…just a few warm sunny days…minor sunburn and windburn..instantly acclimated…skin turns the color of the land.
* April 01 : Saw Turkey Vultures riding the updrafts. First ones I’ve seen this Spring. Back from Central and South America. Goals : to be on the western Turkey Vulture migration schedule. Incredible birds.
^ painting within the winds…color tones. Minimalist/Implied. Adding to the humanoid collection. Perpetual.
It’s interesting too…probably only me…to walk amongst 1.5 years of this transition in cardboard and sprays/paint marker. The stuff is tacked to walls, leaned into walls, on floors…everywhere there is void in space. Painting is like running mountains or on hands and knees gardening. Cultivation. Free space to fill. Perception. Drive. To get there from here…the pathways…repetition…going through walls
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Running mine/tower access road with the wife. Freshly graded. As good as this road gets. The monsoons will wash it out come summer.
Pure sun run….
Pure sun run….
JAWS
Well-known member
the PURPLE BASTARD was originally made by HEATH ROBINSON who passed them to me and i grew them and gave them the name purple bastard.
any one who has these in that form have them one generation off. if you have f4 you really have f5 and so on and so on.
peace ..
