w00t w00t booyah

They found the Kim fellow. Not alive, unfortunately. But from all indicators, he died trying like hell - and left people a trail to find him.

I'm one of the last people who did the Sierra Club's BMTC class - complete with ice axe. That was twenty years ago. They shut the program down because they could not get liability insurance any long. Not afford it - NOT AVAILABLE.

And I watch, and every year or so - someone dies in the mountains. They get lost, they try like hell - and they die. They just didn't know enough.

Now and then, you hear about someone surviving, but the stories are just heartbreaking.

And I get angry all over again. Education is worth lives, dammit. Insurance be damned.

There are extra clothes, food, water and supplies in my car at all times, no matter where I go. I can cook food, if need be.

I never go into a remote area (more than ten miles from a gas station) with less than half a tank of gas. My driving radius in the Sentra is about 300 miles - I can get lost, really lost, for over a hundred miles before I need to worry. If I follow my own advice.

I don't expect a cell phone to save me.

I keep maps in the car. I use mapquest as a guide, only. And I get suspicious, quick. If it doesn't look right, I act early.

I get called a lot of things for being so cautious - fuck 'em.

Know your ten essentials:

1. Map
2. Compass (get trained on how to use one - it's fun)
3. Flashlight (one that you can shake and use without batteries? Beauty.)
4. Extra Food (and pick something that won't spoil, you won't snack on and has a high fat content. Sardines in a can are my staple.)
5. Extra Clothes (Pick stuff you can wear, preferably layer and stay away from stuff that loses it's heat-retaining value when wet.)
6. Sunglasses. No shit.
7. First Aid Kit (and I don't mean a box of band-aids)
8. Pocket Knife and tools
9. Waterproof matches and firestarter.
10. Water purifier/extra water - containers

I'm going to update the stuff in the trunk in the next day or so.

God, they are going to miss him.

Do I have to say something about not splitting your party? Good.

They found the Kim fellow. Not alive, unfortunately. But from all indicators, he died trying like hell - and left people a trail to find him.

I'm one of the last people who did the Sierra Club's BMTC class - complete with ice axe. That was twenty years ago. They shut the program down because they could not get liability insurance any long. Not afford it - NOT AVAILABLE.

And I watch, and every year or so - someone dies in the mountains. They get lost, they try like hell - and they die. They just didn't know enough.

Now and then, you hear about someone surviving, but the stories are just heartbreaking.

And I get angry all over again. Education is worth lives, dammit. Insurance be damned.

There are extra clothes, food, water and supplies in my car at all times, no matter where I go. I can cook food, if need be.

I never go into a remote area (more than ten miles from a gas station) with less than half a tank of gas. My driving radius in the Sentra is about 300 miles - I can get lost, really lost, for over a hundred miles before I need to worry. If I follow my own advice.

I don't expect a cell phone to save me.

I keep maps in the car. I use mapquest as a guide, only. And I get suspicious, quick. If it doesn't look right, I act early.

I get called a lot of things for being so cautious - fuck 'em.

Know your ten essentials:

1. Map
2. Compass (get trained on how to use one - it's fun)
3. Flashlight (one that you can shake and use without batteries? Beauty.)
4. Extra Food (and pick something that won't spoil, you won't snack on and has a high fat content. Sardines in a can are my staple.)
5. Extra Clothes (Pick stuff you can wear, preferably layer and stay away from stuff that loses it's heat-retaining value when wet.)
6. Sunglasses. No shit.
7. First Aid Kit (and I don't mean a box of band-aids)
8. Pocket Knife and tools
9. Waterproof matches and firestarter.
10. Water purifier/extra water - containers

I'm going to update the stuff in the trunk in the next day or so.

God, they are going to miss him.

Do I have to say something about not splitting your party? Good.