These people are trying to kill me!

Here it is. Another scorcher of a day in North Idaho and the new DU magazine shows up. What's an Expert to do?

After. See story below.

Big Ed.

Turn of the century forest fighter Big Ed Pulaski became a hero in the massive fire of 1910. Over 5 million acres of forest burned that hot dry summer. Several smaller fires became a huge inferno whipped by 80+ mph winds. Pulaski and his crew of 45 were miles from the relative safety of any towns when they became trapped by the blaze. His knowledge of the area allowed him to convince his men to follow him to the only safe place he could think of, an abandoned mine shaft on placer creek. One of his crew died on the way as a massive burning cedar tree fell on him as they made their way through the fire.

Just as they arrived the fire completely engulfed the area and Pulaski ordered his men inside. Many thought they would die for certain inside the shaft and Pulaski had to hold them at bay at gunpoint threatening to shoot any man that tried to leave the tunnel. As men were passing out around him from smoke and heat Pulaski doused the blankets he had hung over the opening until the smoke finally overtook him as well.

Many hours later he awoke, blind and burned, to find that all but 5 of his men had survived the blaze around them. They hiked out over miles of wasteland of burned and smoldering trees for hours until they finally reached a group heading into the hills looking for survivors. When the men reached the town of Wallace they were greeted by townspeople who were waiting with coffee and whiskey, nice choice eh? Pulaski spent months in the hospital and never fully recovered his eyesight but continued to work for the forest service until he retired at 62.

Yesterday we hiked the trail up Placer Creek to the Pulaski Tunnel and learned of his amazing adventure. Don't be scared by the man pointing a gun on the interpretive sign, I was packin' just in case he tried anything or the Cougar showed up. It was a nice way to spend the day and think about how Big Ed Pulaski would have made a great addition to the HOY7 Hunting Team.

GBCH

Lore Tuesday October 28, 2008

Packing Sand

It must be pretty easy being Jiggity Jeff. Never having to prove your greatness to anyone, hunting in a park in the middle of a city, basically using pop corn to get ducks and geese. How hard could it be? He never has any stories or pictures to share about his excursions, no facts to back anything up. How hard could it be being Jiggity Jeff? Has he ever "bagged" a duck? no. Has he ever posted any pictures? no. Has he ever journeyed to the great NW to hunt with the greatest team ever? no. Jiggity if your out there, if you ever read the blog, or if you could even read, read this RESPECT MY AUTHORITY! I have "bagged a duck" I have done everything, and you? nothing. I am the greatest hunter. I have all of the knowledge. Respect my authority.

Making it rain on the East side,

Fred G.

Packing Sand
1. A seafaring insult. When one was told to "pack sand" it was considered a huge insult often resulting in a heated exchange of salty language. Also see pound sand For example:
Arrrgh pack sand mate..wait yer turn like ye others." Typical Response: Arr go f***k yerself you coc*suc*er son of a whore

Lies Bold Face Lies

 

Oregon waterfowl hunters will see their record run of long duck seasons reach 14 this fall as another maximum hunting season looms. Solid duck counts along the Pacific Flyway, as well as decent local duck production, means Oregon hunters again will have 107 days of duck hunting this fall and winter.

Duck numbers in major breeding areas of Alaska, Canada, Montana and the Dakotas are up 21 percent compared with the long-term average, with redheads and green-winged teal still hovering at near-record levels. Counts in Alaska and the Canadian provinces are major drivers in whether the flyway gets the maximum 107 days of hunting allowed by treaty, or whether the season gets tamped down to 86 days — the next option based on season frameworks. "We weren't even close to hitting the 86 days," says Brad Bales, who runs the migratory bird program for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. "Population counts in western states and provinces are really driving hunting seasons now," Bales says.

The duck and merganser season opens Oct. 9 and runs through Nov. 28 in Zone 2, which includes Klamath and Lake counties, as well as most of Eastern Oregon. After a short break, hunting resumes Dec. 1 and runs through Jan. 23. Duck hunting in Jackson County and the rest of Western Oregon opens Oct. 16 and runs until Oct. 24. Hunting then reopens Oct. 27 and runs through Jan. 30. The daily limit remains seven ducks.

Oregon's waterfowlers increased 3.4 percent last year, when 51,636 hunters bought the state's waterfowl validation stamp. And though their numbers remain somewhat small, they continue to be a dedicated lot.  About 18,700 hunters spent more than 147,600 days afield last year, killing about 361,000 ducks in Oregon.

Then WHY? did the Oregon Chapter slay 0?

Conspiracy

No Wonder

Look at the wanger in his wiggle.  This may be the reason "The Expert" lost the blue jacket this past summer.  The Old Man haggle in in his hoggle.  Hoping the tourney bottle is waiting for the winter slaughter, Jameson please.  Hopefully he can learn from this and put some improvement in his game.  Note the arms pulled in and movement in front foot.  See how my hands are behind the ball and arms extended?  Also not the massive power surge in my front leg.  

Damn Nice Spread

Note the landing area behind the "cup" of decoys.  Notice the few confidence decoys out in front. 

2010-2011 season.  Old Spot water very high.

Can't Wait!

I'm thinking there should be a betski.....

First Band 50 bucks?

Just saying



Smart?

Wasps? Not in my mailbox!

The Columbia

The Mighty Columbia

Riding the mighty Columbia today started on the 14 going east.  Last month coming home from Canada I rode 14 going West and I must say what difference direction makes.  Today I had a spicy wind at my back and last month I had a stiffy in my face for 50 miles, barely able to keep it on the road, constantly turning right of left just to go straight.  Ouch.  Waiting...Waiting...Waiting.  Why, why is it that people see a fine red motor bike and they want to race?  The 14 is an awesome road but it is also a crap shoot.  Weather perfect, clear and hot.  Just past Washougal WA. the road gets real fun, but you have to be well positioned.  It's easy to get stuck behind a 18 wheeler avoiding rt. 84, or just some slow folk.  Today was green almost all the way.  A late 90's Ford Explorer decided it would be a good idea to, try, to race.  They all think they could keep up and manuver like a bike.  When a bike is behind you, you may think we are riding your ass, were not, we can go faster than you and we are looking for a safe, opportune,  time to pass.  Were not trying to evoke a race, so why? Why?  Well I believe the Explorers' driver now has a warm fudge pie in his pants.  When two wheels came off the ground he realized he was in over his head.  He pulled over and changed his pants.  The rest of 14 was awesome I even ran into a Harley guy who's oil plug fell out.  Then it was on to Rt. 97.  Rt. 97 is an awesome road of high plains riding with views of Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Hood and the Three Sisters.  The road is in great shape, with some twists and 3 or 4 small towns.  Today it was very hot, hot I say! It was there I wanted to try out the Navigate app. on my phone. I gathered a little information for you to peruse.  Enjoy, I did.  From there it was on to Rt. 197, Rt. 216 to Rt. 26 to home.  301 miles today in about 5 1/2 hours give or take a few stops.

Rt. 197 

Oh yeah almost forgot, two weeks in a row now almost killed by a DWA.  Why is it that I could go 294

miles and no problems?  Swear to Heston I'm thinking it's time to carry a bag of hammers.

Forrest fire in MY TOWN!

I'm driving to the lumber yard to see about a couple of beams for my new tree fort. About halfway there I see a plume of smoke coming from the center of town and think to myself 'this ain't good'. Driving up to the smoke I passed a few people looking at the fire and was able to come all the way into Uptown Kellogg where I saw the blaze just starting to be a major problem. it was an out of control ground fire that occasionally erupted a tree in full fire frenzy. No sirens and no police were there at that point but the townspeople were spectating and protecting their homes with garden hoses from the flames. They were about 50 feet from the highest houses on the hill and the wind was blowing form the west. As I watched the wind shifted to the East and several trees exploded into flame.

Fortunately the fire crews arrived and the police cordoned off the streets. Not long after a couple of NFS trucks pulled in and began to take charge. I watched as 4 wheelers and bucket loaders made their way up to the fire. Meanwhile it was burning a path to the gondola line. Not Good!.





Currently the flames have burned 50 acres and are not under control but helicopters are dropping fire retardant and water on the flames. Silver mountain has been running the gondola to prevent any cabins from getting scorched by the flames and so far noting has been compromised. Our cabin is about a mile from the flames but my livelihood relies on the gondola to be running next week. Brewsfest is happening on Saturday and I plan to be drinking a frosty delicious beverage on the top of the hill then.

Only Heston knows the outcome at this point but I hear multiple helicopters buzzing around as I write this and can only hope for the best. send your donations to the H7HT fire fund. P.O. Box 777 kellogg ID. Thanks for your concern.

GBCH

Answer To Pop Quiz

He informed me the road from 214 to 26 was not paved,

Rachel said it was paved.

Because of Rachel it was a 45 minute

kidney crushing ride.

An unwelcome suprise.

The grainy picture does not do justice to the wasp nest in my mailbox. But rest assured it's there. I know because when I opened the mailbox some wasps flew out at me. I think they were trying to attack me but I was faster than they were, I closed the box. On my next attempt to retrieve my mail I made a quick 'snatch and grab'. Bob D. 1 wasps 0. I think they will be surprised at the next opening of the mailbox door when all they see is the spray tip of some Black Flag insect killer. Eat it boys!
GBCH.

(my apologies to my postal carrier, this can't be fun for you either.)

?

This was parked at my golf course today. Although I am not big fan 0f the transformers, like Clayton, I am a fan of proper irony.
Would this not be a more effective pun if it said Optimus Cubed instead? Optimus Prime, being a play on numerology, and Optimus Cubed, being a play on the Nissan Cube and numerology, seems to me to be a better choice than 'Boximus Prime' Just sayin'.

Anyone?

Looking up from where I am sitting?
A guess?

It's Alive

Happy Birthday to Fred G.

It won't be long now.
GBCH

Day off

Yesterday Paige and I had an actual day off together. We loaded up the gas tank and took a drive southbound. After visiting the town of St Maries we stopped in Harrison to have lunch overlooking Lake CdA. Then we drove by my old hunting spot on Anderson lake. I was amazed to see no ducks anywhere in the general vicinity.

We took the long way home along the lake shore and Paige was fortunate enough to see a couple ducks, which she then shot with the genuine plastic reproduction Star Trek phaser I bought only hours before. They continued to fly on so I must assume she hit them with the 'stun' setting rather than 'kill'. It's okay, phaser season does not start for another 200+ years.

A Waste Of Time

Pop Quiz

Who's Information Would You Trust?

When it comes to road conditions?

Rachel B.

Cliffy V.

Riding The Clack

Today is a dismal, overcast, marine layer, chilly day.  Nothing better than jumping on the Duc and head East my friend.  Have not been to the Clack in about two years.  The "Clack" or Clackamas River is a beautiful windy river with and average highway running along side of it. The Clackamas River arises on the western slopes of the Cascade range near Olallie Butte, between Mount Hood and Mount Jefferson in the Mount Hood National Forest. Flowing generally northwest and then west for about 83 miles, it joins the Willamette River at Gladstone.  The river falls nearly 4,900 feet between its source and it's mouth. The Ride started off pretty uneventful then turned to near death and kidney crushing debauchery.  As I'm riding usually I don't take a lot of pictures, I'm trying to change that, stopping and starting at high speeds sucks.  I saw some beauty and needed a picture, so I stopped.  I wanted to take a picture of the river from a bridge, picturesque right?  Well there were 5 kayaks in the water shooting the rapids as you could see, but note the one in back, the red one, upside down, upside down for what seemed to be 30 seconds or more.  His buddies didn't realize their buddy was drowning, so I called out "Hey I think your buddy is in trouble!"  After a few more goes he is able to bail out.  When he got to the edge he was not elated "woohoo did you guys see that?"  He was you could tell scared shitless.  Remember the story of the time a boy named Tommy saved my life?  I think it was the same for him.  The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful except for the 7 mile dirt road someone sent me down.

Fred G. Isn't you Birthday coming up?

Former employer and Kellogg mega-business Dave Smith Motors is getting a remodel. I noticed this old signage as they were tearing down the old facade. The next day it was gone. I hope they have saved this testament to the staying power of the Oldsmobile line of automobiles.

Where are you when we need you Clarke Olds?

GBCH.

My transplanted Hollyhocks are starting to bloom

Bob D.
"Expert" gardener.

A story from Cliffy, the Wannabe Climber

This past weekend, I went out to Sisters Wilderness and hiked in 7 miles toCamp Lake. My plan was to spend Friday night at the lake, wake up early andascend the north ridge of South Sister and descend the northwest ridge. ThenSunday, wake upearly again and ascend the southeast ridge of Middle Sister, descend and hike out. 5 miles into the hike to Camp Lake, I got to pull out my new Garmin 62s GPS. I needed it, the entire way was packed in snow.Thankfully, before I left, I downloaded the trail onto the GPS and just followed it all the way to the lake. Though my Jedi insights would have taken me there, I'm trying to catch up with the new world of technology. When I got to the lake and made my camp, I took a closer look at the north ridge. I decided, even with two ice tools, the steepness and exposure of a westerly traverse around a rockband at 9600 ft. was a bit much for me to solo. So, I drank whiskey to ease my vajj. After a long night with a million mosquitoes and the sounds of ice breaking off into the lake, I overslept my alarm. When I woke, I scrambled a pack together and started off for Middle Sister at 8:30. The hiking was superior. at 8,200 ft., I hit a snag. Go left or right around a rock outcrop? I chose the high road (right) and stumbled into an overhanging rock that went about 40 ft. up. No way! I thought about the 40 minutes I would have to backtrack and then the other time it would take me to get around the other side. But, before I made that decision, I looked right again. And there before me was a mock looking chimney with glacier ice on one side and solid rock on the other. I whipped out a single crampon for my right foot, grabbed my axe and before I knew it Iwas shimmying my way up. That was the best 40 feet of climbing ever. Super fun! As I got off the chimney, I made mywayup the ridge and jumped into a gully to get off the scree. I followed the southeast ridgeline until it met up with another southern ridge to form 'the summit ridge'. Once on the summit ridge, I knew I only had 500 more feet of climbing to go. However, once I got there, due to my late start, the snow was mush. Once again I felt my vajj starting to ache when I looked down on both sides. I didn't go for it. The loneliness was setting in. It was 11:30 am and I decided to glissade back to camp. I screamed down in 25 min. Seriously, I went fast! I took my shell pants off and was deciding on whether to bail or have another crack in the morning. 5 seconds later, I was engulfed in mosquitoes again, so I packed up and hit the trail well aware of the icy cold beer sitting in the cooler in the back of my truck. Mmmmmmm, beeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrr. Delicious it was!