Field trips 2.0

[norseman]

17 hours ago, PNWexplorer said:

Great weather here on the Idaho/Washington border!  Took my KLR for a ride out to check on my dad who is having some weird neurological issues after he got his 4th Covid shot.

 

 

His homestead was the site of an infamous Bigfoot sighting a couple of years ago.  He is a staunch disbeliever in BF.  He is currently having some health issues, so I have been going out to his place daily to let his bird dog, Norm, get some exercise.

 

 

Dad is in pretty bad shape and looking to re-home Norm.  He's a 4 year old English Setter professionally trained by a guy in Cheney, WA that has trained a few national champion dogs.  Over $3k in training invested in Norm.  Sweet dog, but very active and not a good fit for an 80 yr old man who can no longer bird hunt.

 

Weird weather out here.  40's and sunny during the day, then nasty cold and weather overnight.

 

I want to get into the woods and looks for tracks, but still lots of snow in the mountains.

 

You look like spring down there!

[PNWexplorer]

Been super busy the past couple of weeks.  My dad fell ill and has extreme dizziness and balance issues, then kidney issues.  Kidney issues resolved but still no idea what's causing the dizziness.  It started a few days after his 4th Covid booster shot and I've heard there's been some issues with lot's of other older folks.  He had to go to the ER, then the hospital, and now is in a critical care nursing unit of a local old folks home.

I ended up having to re-home his bird dog, Norm.  He's an English Setter professionally trained by some master trainer in Cheney, WA.  Norm is only 4 and super sweet, but full of energy and my dad can't care for him anymore.  I ended up taking him in as I couldn't find anyone that wanted him.

 

So, looks like I will be getting into bird hunting, lol.

 

Went out to pick him up yesterday and there was a bad accident about 300 yards down the road from my dad's place.

 

 

 

The vehicle on it's side is a Honda CR-V and was stopped at a group of mailboxes 20 yards away when it was rear-ended by a 1976 Ford F-250 4x4 lifted and running 35" tires.  The impact was so severe that it launched the CR-V down the road and onto it's side.  The F-250 was pulled over and still drive-able.

What does this have to do with Bigfoot?  Well, if you recall, the last bad accident here made national news when a lady claimed she was driving at nearly this exact spot when she saw a Bigfoot chasing a deer along the road and the deer ran in front of her car and caused her to crash.

 

I suspect this crash had nothing to do with Bigfoot, however, and simply a distracted driver, possibly looking for elk and deer that are typically out on the hillside to the left in the second photo.

 

Oh, and I got a new girlfriend who lives up in Mead, WA, has a 4Runner, new camper, and loves to explore the woods, so that will be nice this summer.

 

Norm...

[BC witness]

Sorry to hear about your Dad, I hope he recovers soon. I'm 78, had all my shots and boosters, including the latest bivalent Covid, and Flu shot recently, with no side effects other than a tender spot on my arm for a few days.

 

Norm's a great looking dog, I hope you both get out in the field often, it'll be good for you both.

 

Congrats on the new lady friend, it's wonderful that you can share outdoor activities together. My wife loved camping and 4 wheeling with me for many years, but is now confined to a wheelchair, and can no longer endure even a few hours in the 4x4, it's too hard on here body now. Make the most of your times together, they'll make great memories.

[Catmandoo]

4 hours ago, PNWexplorer said:

My dad fell ill and has extreme dizziness and balance issues

 

Did the medical professionals check the circulation in his carotid arteries? Lungs OK in the way of having proper blood oxygen levels?

 

4 hours ago, PNWexplorer said:

has a 4Runner

Have a picture of the 4Runner?  What firearms does she have?

[PNWexplorer]

3 hours ago, Catmandoo said:

 

Did the medical professionals check the circulation in his carotid arteries? Lungs OK in the way of having proper blood oxygen levels?

 

Have a picture of the 4Runner?  What firearms does she have?

CAT scans and MRI done and no ideas.

No pics of her 4Runner and no guns, but wants to get some, so that makes me happy, lol.

[norseman]

9 hours ago, PNWexplorer said:

Been super busy the past couple of weeks.  My dad fell ill and has extreme dizziness and balance issues, then kidney issues.  Kidney issues resolved but still no idea what's causing the dizziness.  It started a few days after his 4th Covid booster shot and I've heard there's been some issues with lot's of other older folks.  He had to go to the ER, then the hospital, and now is in a critical care nursing unit of a local old folks home.

I ended up having to re-home his bird dog, Norm.  He's an English Setter professionally trained by some master trainer in Cheney, WA.  Norm is only 4 and super sweet, but full of energy and my dad can't care for him anymore.  I ended up taking him in as I couldn't find anyone that wanted him.

 

So, looks like I will be getting into bird hunting, lol.

 

Went out to pick him up yesterday and there was a bad accident about 300 yards down the road from my dad's place.

 

 

 

The vehicle on it's side is a Honda CR-V and was stopped at a group of mailboxes 20 yards away when it was rear-ended by a 1976 Ford F-250 4x4 lifted and running 35" tires.  The impact was so severe that it launched the CR-V down the road and onto it's side.  The F-250 was pulled over and still drive-able.

What does this have to do with Bigfoot?  Well, if you recall, the last bad accident here made national news when a lady claimed she was driving at nearly this exact spot when she saw a Bigfoot chasing a deer along the road and the deer ran in front of her car and caused her to crash.

 

I suspect this crash had nothing to do with Bigfoot, however, and simply a distracted driver, possibly looking for elk and deer that are typically out on the hillside to the left in the second photo.

 

Oh, and I got a new girlfriend who lives up in Mead, WA, has a 4Runner, new camper, and loves to explore the woods, so that will be nice this summer.

 

Norm...

Has your dad ever have a neck injury?

[Catmandoo]

20 hours ago, PNWexplorer said:

CAT scans and MRI done and no ideas.

 

Scans are short time activities. Who can relax inside a gigantic magnetic doughnut?  I have had a finger tip clamp type blood oxygen / pulse meter since way before the pandemic. Easy to use anytime and they don't cost very much. I have baseline numbers for many years. Also, wrist-cuff battery operated blood pressure monitors are handy. My meters may not have 'clinical accuracy' but they work at home or on the road.

Best wishes and stay safe.

[BC witness]

I'm a little late getting my report up for Saturday's outing, as I was pretty tired on Sunday from my (mis)adventure. I wasn't able to get anyone to come along for the day, so I planned a brief afternoon solo trip up Mt Murdo, about 30 minutes from home, as I could see there was snow at the upper level, making for good track spotting. 

 

The trip up from the main FSR was steep, but fairly smooth and easy. At the point where there's a nice saddle between adjacent peaks, I encountered snow, with tire ruts continuing over the saddle and down into the creek gorge and up the other side a couple of km further on. I drove over the saddle into the north facing slope of the gorge, and the snow got deeper, but not touching the undercarriage. I could see there was less snow on the other, south facing, side of the valley, so I figured I'd continue over there, then turn around and head back out. I dropped into the valley to the bridge across the creek, and spun out climbing the slope on the far side of the bridge. I took a couple of runs at it, then decided to call it done and back across the bridge and try to turn around on the other side to go back up the north side of the valley. I didn't even make it all the way back across the bridge before the truck high centered on the snow, and refused to move forward or reverse. OK, I'm equipped for this. I got the traction boards and shovel down off the roof rack and worked at the rear tires to get the tip of the boards under the tire tread. I found it tough going, as the temp had dropped to -2C as the wind picked up at about 4:30, with the sun now behind the ridge. The snow was very hard, with a thick crust of ice, making digging very slow.

 

I tried to get the rear tires to bite on the boards, but they couldn't get enough grip to start climbing them, So I got going with the shovel again and tried to get the boards further under the tires. It was now 5:30, dark, and the wind was really blowing hard down the creek gulch, so even in my good winter jacket, gloves, and toque I could only work out there for 10 minutes at a time before I had to warm up in the truck again. Now it was time to call for help.

 

I turned on my Zoleo, paired it to the cell phone, and texted my son. I knew his 4x4 was down for repairs (broken front coil spring), so I asked him to go online to BC 4x4 rescue and recovery, a regional volunteer group I belong to, to give them my location and circumstances. He had trouble getting on their website, and asked my daughter for help. She also had difficulties, so she called the forum contact number, and got the owner of the site on the phone. He said he'd organize some help and keep me informed. In short order I got texts from a fellow in Coquitlam, a little over an hour away, and one from the forum boss, Chris, who said he was in Squamish, over 3 hours away, but was heading to Vancouver anyway, so would continue towards me until he knew I was out and safe.

 

Knowing help was on the way was reassuring, so I got back to try to self extract. I put my chains on, and dug a bit more to get the boards far enough under the tread to get some traction. That actually worked, getting me about a truck length further back across the bridge, but one of the chains came loose and wrapped around the left rear axle, so I now had to clear that mess before I could move again. I was on my back half under the rear of the truck, trying to find the hook to open the inside chain circle, when Andrew, the fellow from Coquitlam arrived, in his diesel Colorado with a winch, YAY! It was now 8:30, and I was getting pretty tired, but Andrew scooted under the truck and found the release hook in less than 2 minutes, and we worked out our plan.

 

My H3 was still high centered and stuck, so he pulled out his winch line, and a couple of straps to extend the pull, so he could be as far away from the crusty mess I was stuck in as possible. Once rigged up to the D ring on my rear bumper, he slowly winched me up the hill from the bridge about 80', then unhooked, and we both slowly backed up the ruts in the snow towards the top of the saddle, He got out of the ruts at one point, and had to use my truck as an anchor to pull himself back into the track. After about a km of reversing in the ruts, we reached a spot where the snow was shallow enough and the road wide enough to make a 3 point turn, and we were free and on our way down!

 

About 2 km from the main FSR, we met Chis coming up the  mountain, even though I had texted that we were out and safe. He turned around and followed us down to the paved road, where we stopped to chat. I thanked them profusely for their epic effort to help an old guy, and offered gas money and dinner, which they both refused. They left for their homes, and I stopped for a few minutes to make some calls to family that I was now safe and headed home, then got out of the truck for a quick check for damage and to have a pee, when 2 RCMP cruisers pulled up, boxing me in, wanting to know what i was up to out there at almost midnight. After hearing my tale, and checking my ID, they left, and I finally got to maker the final 30 minute drive home.

 

I spent all day Sunday resting my aching body and putting all my gear back in place in the H3.

 

The only tracks I saw in the snow were human and canid.

[PNWexplorer]

On 1/28/2023 at 9:18 PM, norseman said:

Has your dad ever have a neck injury?

Nope.  He had a stroke a year ago while quail hunting in Arizona with Norm.  

He also was taken to the ER Saturday due to fever and infection, then taken to Kootenai Medical Center in Couer D' Alene, ID later that morning.  Drove up there Sunday and he had an MRI done.  They now think he had another stroke that started all of this latest mess.

[PNWexplorer]

10 minutes ago, BC witness said:

I'm a little late getting my report up for Saturday's outing, as I was pretty tired on Sunday from my (mis)adventure. I wasn't able to get anyone to come along for the day, so I planned a brief afternoon solo trip up Mt Murdo, about 30 minutes from home, as I could see there was snow at the upper level, making for good track spotting. 

 

The trip up from the main FSR was steep, but fairly smooth and easy. At the point where there's a nice saddle between adjacent peaks, I encountered snow, with tire ruts continuing over the saddle and down into the creek gorge and up the other side a couple of km further on. I drove over the saddle into the north facing slope of the gorge, and the snow got deeper, but not touching the undercarriage. I could see there was less snow on the other, south facing, side of the valley, so I figured I'd continue over there, then turn around and head back out. I dropped into the valley to the bridge across the creek, and spun out climbing the slope on the far side of the bridge. I took a couple of runs at it, then decided to call it done and back across the bridge and try to turn around on the other side to go back up the north side of the valley. I didn't even make it all the way back across the bridge before the truck high centered on the snow, and refused to move forward or reverse. OK, I'm equipped for this. I got the traction boards and shovel down off the roof rack and worked at the rear tires to get the tip of the boards under the tire tread. I found it tough going, as the temp had dropped to -2C as the wind picked up at about 4:30, with the sun now behind the ridge. The snow was very hard, with a thick crust of ice, making digging very slow.

 

I tried to get the rear tires to bite on the boards, but they couldn't get enough grip to start climbing them, So I got going with the shovel again and tried to get the boards further under the tires. It was now 5:30, dark, and the wind was really blowing hard down the creek gulch, so even in my good winter jacket, gloves, and toque I could only work out there for 10 minutes at a time before I had to warm up in the truck again. Now it was time to call for help.

 

I turned on my Zoleo, paired it to the cell phone, and texted my son. I knew his 4x4 was down for repairs (broken front coil spring), so I asked him to go online to BC 4x4 rescue and recovery, a regional volunteer group I belong to, to give them my location and circumstances. He had trouble getting on their website, and asked my daughter for help. She also had difficulties, so she called the forum contact number, and got the owner of the site on the phone. He said he'd organize some help and keep me informed. In short order I got texts from a fellow in Coquitlam, a little over an hour away, and one from the forum boss, Chris, who said he was in Squamish, over 3 hours away, but was heading to Vancouver anyway, so would continue towards me until he knew I was out and safe.

 

Knowing help was on the way was reassuring, so I got back to try to self extract. I put my chains on, and dug a bit more to get the boards far enough under the tread to get some traction. That actually worked, getting me about a truck length further back across the bridge, but one of the chains came loose and wrapped around the left rear axle, so I now had to clear that mess before I could move again. I was on my back half under the rear of the truck, trying to find the hook to open the inside chain circle, when Andrew, the fellow from Coquitlam arrived, in his diesel Colorado with a winch, YAY! It was now 8:30, and I was getting pretty tired, but Andrew scooted under the truck and found the release hook in less than 2 minutes, and we worked out our plan.

 

My H3 was still high centered and stuck, so he pulled out his winch line, and a couple of straps to extend the pull, so he could be as far away from the crusty mess I was stuck in as possible. Once rigged up to the D ring on my rear bumper, he slowly winched me up the hill from the bridge about 80', then unhooked, and we both slowly backed up the ruts in the snow towards the top of the saddle, He got out of the ruts at one point, and had to use my truck as an anchor to pull himself back into the track. After about a km of reversing in the ruts, we reached a spot where the snow was shallow enough and the road wide enough to make a 3 point turn, and we were free and on our way down!

 

About 2 km from the main FSR, we met Chis coming up the  mountain, even though I had texted that we were out and safe. He turned around and followed us down to the paved road, where we stopped to chat. I thanked them profusely for their epic effort to help an old guy, and offered gas money and dinner, which they both refused. They left for their homes, and I stopped for a few minutes to make some calls to family that I was now safe and headed home, then got out of the truck for a quick check for damage and to have a pee, when 2 RCMP cruisers pulled up, boxing me in, wanting to know what i was up to out there at almost midnight. After hearing my tale, and checking my ID, they left, and I finally got to maker the final 30 minute drive home.

 

I spent all day Sunday resting my aching body and putting all my gear back in place in the H3.

 

The only tracks I saw in the snow were human and canid.

Wow!  What a day!  That is some epic exploring!  Good on you for being prepared with equipment, and then when that failed, having the right communication gear to save your (Canadian)bacon.  

 

Happy to hear that that you made it out safe and with no damage.  The RCMP maneuver was odd, though.  Guess Trudeau and his heavy-handed totalitarian views are trickling down. 

[wiiawiwb]

4 hours ago, BC witness said:

The only tracks I saw in the snow were human and canid.

 

Glad to hear you were thankfully able to extract yourself. Wow, what an adventure. Things can go from fun to crisis in the snap of a finger. y, Having a satellite-messaging system made the difference otherwise it would have been a very long night.

 

4 hours ago, PNWexplorer said:

He also was taken to the ER Saturday due to fever and infection, then taken to Kootenai Medical Center in Couer D' Alene, ID later that morning.  Drove up there Sunday and he had an MRI done.  They now think he had another stroke that started all of this latest mess.

 

Best wishes for your dad.

[norseman]

4 hours ago, PNWexplorer said:

Nope.  He had a stroke a year ago while quail hunting in Arizona with Norm.  

He also was taken to the ER Saturday due to fever and infection, then taken to Kootenai Medical Center in Couer D' Alene, ID later that morning.  Drove up there Sunday and he had an MRI done.  They now think he had another stroke that started all of this latest mess.

I hope he gets to feeling better soon!

[cmknight]

7 hours ago, PNWexplorer said:

Wow!  What a day!  That is some epic exploring!  Good on you for being prepared with equipment, and then when that failed, having the right communication gear to save your (Canadian)bacon.  

 

Happy to hear that that you made it out safe and with no damage.  The RCMP maneuver was odd, though.  Guess Trudeau and his heavy-handed totalitarian views are trickling down. 

 

There has been an uptick in vehicle (4X4 and RV) thefts over the past year. A few of them have been found burned out and/or totally trashed on the FSR's around here.

Edited January 31, 2023 by cmknight

[BC witness]

You're right cmknight, that is something one of the officers mentioned when we spoke that evening. The encounter wasn't confrontational, just them doing their job, checking a parked, running vehicle late at night. I was out of the truck, with my flashlight in hand when they pulled up.

 

I'm very glad I had the equipment and comms that I needed, as it would have been a long, cold trek to the point where cell service became available, and I still would have needed to round up help to extract the truck the next day.

Edited January 31, 2023 by BC witness

[Huntster]

1 hour ago, cmknight said:

 

There has been an uptick in vehicle (4X4 and RV) thefts over the past year. A few of them have been found burned out and/or totally trashed on the FSR's around here.

 

That became a huge issue here. Young thugs would steal SUVs and pickups in Anchorage, drive them around collecting party materials, then drive them out to the Knik River valley, outside the jurisdiction of the Anchorage Police Dept. and where there was no police coverage outside of the overstretched Alaska State Troopers. They would then get drunk, shoot the vehicle up, then set it on fire. This was happening to the tune of 150-180 vehicles per year......nearly one every two days. In the political backlash, it was revealed that Troopers feared confronting armed, drunken teen thugs because they feared shooting them and facing being sacrificed by the Department of Public Safety in an angry,  emotional revenge pushback by parents seeking a lawsuit, which has occurred before. The Department uses any such event to pressure local government (the borough, or "county") to stand up and fund its own regional police department (or "sheriff's department, but unelected by the people). 

 

In short, it's a mess. Intensity of the problem ebbs and flows. The public remains in jeopardy.