Adventure! Fedora Lounge Folks in Action!

[Mojave Jack]

Mike K., one of the many fans of Golden Age exploration, hunting, and general adventure here at the FL, has proposed a companion thread to the long-running Adventurer's Gear Thread in General Attire & Accouterments. While there are many adventures posted here in The Steamer Trunk, I propose this thread as an answer to Mike's call, as a combined thread to post tales and photos of all things adventurous, from a recent hunting expedition to a stroll around Angor Wat, from climbing the pyramids at Chichen Itza to a horseback ride through the Badlands of South Dakota. A database of experience, if you will, for those of us considering a new pack or a new ice axe, or looking for a place to go test those new boots. Let's hear some stories of climbing rugged peaks, and how your vintage or vintage-inspired gear held up. No arm chair adventuring here, though, please; let's hear what you've done! Let's see those Riverinas in action!

 

[Mojave Jack]

OK, it's been thirty seconds, and the stories aren't pouring in yet, so I'll repost a primer from the Adventruer's Gear Thread. The tale, as it went down two days ago:

Mike, here's a photo sequence you'll appreciate! In keeping with your request for gear in action, here a snake call from this afternoon.

The snake, a small sidewinder (about 16"):

He was curled up along a fence at one of our facilities, in an area where guys are on the ground a lot, under vehicles, around conex boxes, etc, so he had to go. When I walked up to where he was, I probably scared off about 30 or 40 desert iguanas, so there's not much doubt another snake will move int o fill the gap left by this guy!

The capture (how 'bout that Riverina, eh?!). I don't know why no one would come around to my side of the fence!

He was under some steam pipes, along the fence. When I pulled him out with the snake hook, I had to pull him across some hotter sand. Boy, he didn't like that, and let me know! He was striking all over the place, trying to get away. You should've seen the guys on the other side of the fence scatter when he starting striking!

Snake-In-A-Box:

One ticked off sidewinder, rattling for all he's worth, but safely in the box.

The release:

I found him a nice thick mesquite bush, filled with rodent holes. I'm pretty sure he'll eat good tonight!

Free!

Back into his natural environment. We have to be careful releasing them, because some times they'll panic and head away from shade and onto hot sand. I was on a snake call about five years ago, and the biologist who did the capture released the snake (another sidewinder, about the same size) near some Tamarisk (an invasive species, also called salt cedar, and hell on the desert ecosystem). It panicked and went away from the tree across hot and, headed for another Tamarisk. It couldn't get up the small hill because it kept slipping on the Tamarisk needles, and it rolled over and died from overheating. Total time from the bio tipping the box until the snake died was about 15 seconds. People just don't realize how fragile these creatures can be. Can you blame them for biting people that mess with them?!

 

[drjones]

Grand Canyon archaeology

I spent six months doing archaeology at the Grand Canyon and a year and a half wandering Arizona for NRCS

Here is a picture from my NRCS days.

http://s156.photobucket.com/albums/...t=chrisarchaeologistonatv.jpg&t=1209148780150

DRJONES

 

[BeBopBaby]

Mojave Jack - Yay to you for capturing and releasing the snake instead of hurting or killing him. :eusa_clap

Reptiles and amphibians really are delicate creatures, it's scary how quickly changing climate and encroachment by man can wipe them out.

 

[Mojave Jack]

Thanks! I can't take too much credit, though; it is part of my job.

It never ceases to astound me how misunderstood snakes, particularly rattlesnakes are, however. I had to remove a very small sidewinder from the porch of the Chief-of-Staff's house, and his wife was genuinely concerned that the snake had been trying to get into the house so it could bite her and her children! :eusa_doh:

Dr Jones, I'll have to check out the photo when I get home. Photobucket is restricted on work machines, unfortunately.

 

[Nick Charles]

ok heres one

and the always stylish Capt. Mojave Jack

from our first and really only good camping trip. Next year will kick arse!!

 

[Mike K.]

Next year will kick arse!!

That's because I'll be hosting the swamp party!

 

[Mojave Jack]

With a 250-lb feral pig in the roasting pit, Tusker all around, wall tents opened to cool off before bed,... Sound pretty nice! I'll have to pick up some Buzz Off stuff from LL Bean, though!

Mike, are all the flags numbered at the edge?

That was a great trip, too, wasn't it, Nick. You know, I still haven't gotten that documentation from Doc. I guess I'll have to come back over there sometime soon and hit him up for it again. I'm just about to start writing that chapter.

By the way, do I always stand around with my mouth hanging open like that? I gotta work on my picture face! Maybe I'll start clenching my jaw the way Hemingway clenches his fists for every picture.

Dr. Jones, great pic, but now you've got to tell the tale! That scenery looks just like home,

 

[Mojito]

I'm a little hesitant to post these photos - the style bar is set high for the gentlemen of the Fedora Lounge (as demonstrated in the images above this post), and even more so for the ladies! I should have been able to accomplish this feat in heels and a smart frock...or, at the very least, in neat pedal pushers. Alas, I didn't quite dare the leap in a full beaded and sequinned 1920s vintage dress (and some of my friends have expressed disappointment in my failure to do so). But here we go, in practical attire for the undertaking at Kawarau Bridge near Queenstown in New Zealand:

Preparing...

and....

"Measuring the gulf, it stoops
and dares the final bound!"

You will believe a flapper can fly!

To be followed afterwards with a celebratory champagne. Natch.

 

[scotrace]

Wow

As Mr. Butler said: "What a woman!"

 

[Mojave Jack]

That's the spirit, Mojito! :eusa_clap Good show!

I have a co-worker who lived in NZ for several years, and he always talks of going back. He shown me his pics and recounted his stories, and it has induced a yearning to visit there myself. Please don't be hesitant about posting more pics of your adventures!

 

[Lucky Strike]

Traditional Hubertus "hunting", mostly vintage garb on my part:

 

[Mojito]

Thank you, Scotrace and Mojave Jack. New Zealand is indeed every bit the adventure holiday destination it advertises itself as, particularly Queensland. I'd planned on perhaps a leisurely Milford Sound trip with just a little helicopter ride and glacier landing on the side and perhaps sneaking away for a Bungy jump, but as soon as I arrived and saw the parasailing on the lake I was off. Also managed to get in a day's riding through some lovely trails, with great stretches of cantering along flat riverbanks - bliss.

Lucky Strike, you're all so beautifully turned out! I was such a scruffy rider - unless I was competing in eventing or a dressage, I'd ride in black or blue jodhpurs (or even "jodhpur jeans"), jodhpur boots and a t-shirt or sweater. Although I wear a pair of Ecuyer boots in winter, it's not the same as a highly polished leather. I paid far more attention to what my horses wear "wearing" - spent ages cleaning and polishing my tack, with smart numnahs or, for a lovely chestnut, a deep green saddle blanket that contrasted beautifully with his colour.

There's nothing quite as smart as a rider turned out for the hunt or for competition - in cooler climates I've always admired the jackets worn for different equestrian pursuits, including hunting pinks. I'm wearing hunt-style boots today.

 

[Mojave Jack]

Lucky Strike, great pics! I see horses, but no hounds. What was the event? Looks like a gorgeous day to be out riding, regardless. I have to say, there is somehting very alluring about a woman in riding kit. It's very feminine and elegant, but at the same time gives such an air of capability and confidence. it's a very attractive combination. That probably explains why I have such an affinity for aviatrices, like Beryl Markam and Ruth Elder (below).

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Exploring the Superstition Mountains of Arizona - in search of the 'Lost Dutchman' mine.

-dixon 'Dutchman' cannon

 

[jamespowers]

Exploring the Superstition Mountains of Arizona - in search of the 'Lost Dutchman' mine.

-dixon 'Dutchman' cannon

Find anything you can share?
Hey, this thread was a pretty good idea.

 

[Mojave Jack]

He found that big rock behind him, and a Dutchman...wandering...lost, apparently.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

He found that big rock behind him, and a Dutchman...wandering...lost, apparently.

Ach!..Mine Dutchman ist lost under dat big rock I found!
-d'd'c

 

[Mojave Jack]

I find a lot of those kinds of rocks in my desert wanderings, but never Dutchmen or their mines, unfortunately! There's another tale of a Spanish ship in the Anza Borrego desert, that supposedly sailed up into that area from the Gulf of California during a wet year (a really wet year, apparently) and got beached, full of gold. Other say it was a Viking ship, or a pirate ship, etc. Others say it was in Lake Cahuilla....

I regularly get phone calls from people wanting to know if they can come onto the base looking for this or that treasure. I had one guy actually ask me if I knew about a cinder cone that he wanted to name for a prospector named "Pegleg Pete." Uh, yeah, we know about all the volcanic cones on base, thanks. The guy bent my ear for about 30 minutes about all the gold that Pegleg Pete had found. Unfortunately, the area he was talking about was heavily prospected and mined, but the only thing that came out of that area was galena.

 

[jamespowers]

He found that big rock behind him, and a Dutchman...wandering...lost, apparently.

Sure. Ruin the dreams of gold and riches.