recent adventures, SMR update

Seems like I've been in the mountains all but one or two weekends the last couple of months, and I'm still not tired of them. (This past weekend my friend Mark and I took off for a crazyfun road trip that will have to get its own separate post once I organize the pictures.) The other day I drove an hour into the foothills by myself to swim in the river , see if I could start a fire without matches or a lighter (I succeeded with flint, but still haven't gotten a flame with the bow and stick method), and do some target shooting. My friend Ronnie invited me to go kayaking with him on the holiday weekend, and it was an absolute blast. I didn't get any pictures, but I did manage to stay upright most of the time which was a definite plus. I can't wait to get my own boat and learn more about the sport. Some of the best whitewater in the US is right here in the Southern Sierra. On the 19th and 20th of last month The Tulare County Sherriff's Dept organized May Days, the big mock Search and Rescue event for the spring. Sequoia Mountain Rescue conducted two rescue missions. The first scenario involved an injured aircraft pilot/passenger whose parachute hung up in a tree and left him hanging about 30 feet off the ground. The second mission involved rescuing an injured climber off of Dome Rock, the same place I went climbing several weeks earlier. SMR's performance wasn't flawless, but we did pretty well. I was just glad for the opportunity to observe and participate even though I'm still in training.

I got to do a nearly 600' rappel and ascent.

This was taken looking nearly straight up. It looks like I'm just standing there, but you can tell it's a high angle environment because of the way the rope dangles below me.

I just thought this was a cool shot of part of our anchor system, a figure eight on a bight backed up with a barrel knot.

We camped at the Peppermint Campground. At over 7000 feet, it got surprisingly cold at night! Here SMR team members huddle around the fire in down jackets and hats. Hard to believe we were sweating in 90 degree temps and using our AC's down in the Valley the day before.



This is a Huey chopper the Navy flew in from the China Lake Naval Air Station on the east side of the Sierra. If you look through the cockpit you can see the Blackhawk the National Guard brought in to assist (yeah, there were a lot of agencies involved over the weekend).

Here's the California Highway Patrol CHP chopper taking off.

Apparently the Discovery Channel is putting together a show about search and rescue. This film crew interviewed several of our members and shadowed us for much of the day.

This was our first mission, something SMR has never encountered or trained for- a tree rescue.