Doug Goodman

For the first time, I took my family on an extended camping trip.  We spent three days and nights tenting in Mueller State Park outside of beautiful Colorado Springs.  Camping in Colorado Springs is a little different from camping in East Texas.  For starters, you can camp in Colorado Springs in the summer.  In East Texas you don't camp.  You just kind of sit around and sweat until the sun goes down.  There are a few other differences.  East Texas has most snakes that can kill you with a single bite:  rattlesnakes, water mocassins, copperheads, coral snakes, etc.  Colorado Srings has garden snakes.  To compensate for this lack in reptilian killing machines, Colorado has maintained its lion and bear population. 

Camping in Mueller, you are warned half a dozen times about the bears.  When to look for them, what to do if you see one, how not to startle one.  Sounds very quaint, like if you meet a bear it is likely to be sticking its paw in a tree while it digs for honey.  If you are lucky, it might even offer you some.  Then again, there are all the warnings:  Don't keep food in your tent.  Don't keep trash laying around the campsite.  If you cook in one pair of clothes, sleep in a different pair.  These warnings come on a sheet decorated with a bear who has sharp claws.  So gone is Mr. Honeybear.  Now we have Mr. I'm Gonna Eat Ya In Your Sleep Bear, who probably has anger management issues.

I don't worry about bears in Colorado any more than I worry about sharks in the Gulf.  Sure, they are out there, but that doesn't mean you're going to be some animal's dinner.  Still, there is a reason those instructions exist.  I figure it is mostly to keep bears from ever coming into Mueller.  I have watched television shows about bear relocations and things.  Somebody sees a bear somewhere, calls a bear expert (possibly with bear dogs) who tranqulize the bear and relocate it to another part of the Rockies.  Just to feel safe - kind of like keeping a lucky rabbit's foot with me - I kept a little 1-inch knife with me at all times.

You see where this is going, right?

We survived the first night without any bear encounters.  After cooking, cleaning, getting dressed, and dumping our trash in the bear-proof dumpster, we drove out to Pike's Peak.  My wife and children spent most of the drive up and down Pike's Peak clinging to the seats and praying that I did not send the van careening off the edge of the mountain with a bellow and a holler a la Goofy.  I returned them safely to a lower altitude, for which they bought me an "I Drove Up Pike's Peak" patch.  We returned to camp, ate, and went to sleep.  I was not as diligent the second night as I was the first.  I slept in the same clothes I was wearing when I cooked dinner. 

I slept very well that night, which we survived by not being mauled by a bear.  So the next day we went on a train ride (my son LOVES trains).  On the way to the train, my daughter informs me that she saw an elk on the side of the road about a mile back.  I got frustrated with her.  I had hoped to see an elk on our vacation, so I told her (probably too angrily) that she should tell us when she sees something, not a mile farther down the road.  We drive on.

Suddenly from the back of the van, my daughter shouts one word:  "BEAR!!!!"  But it is too late.  We rounded a bend and didn't see it.  What?  Are you kidding me?  I came all the way to Colorado, and I want to see the honey bear!  So I said "to hell with this," and I turned the car around.

And we saw the bear, right where my daughter said it would be:  on the farside of the rocks, ambling down the mountain side.  I didn't pull over and get a picture, and I didn't have time to study the animal.  But my first reaction was akin to most father's, I think.  There was no way that litle 1-inch blade of mine was going to do ANYTHING to protect me and my family from that bear.  I might as well be bringing a pop-gun to a pistol fight.  And "that bear," Mr. Honey Bear, had paws like a left tackle.  And as he moved down the mountain, giant muscles rippled in his shoulders.  This thing wasn't like the sun bears in the Houston Zoo.  This black bear looked like it could take care of a lot of business if it wanted to.

So guess what?  That final night, I took a few extra precautions.  Made a trip to the bear-proof dumpster before I went to bed (and wondered if my next tent should be made of the same stuff bear-proof dumpsters are made of).  Wore clean clothes to bed that night.  I remember I didn't get much sleep, either.  But I did keep that little useless knife with me.  It is amazing the things we do to feel better.  I guess what is important is not whether they can stop a black bear in its tracks (which in my mind had grown to the size of Kodiak), but rather whether or not it makes us feel safer. 

I can't wait to do some more camping in Colorado.

I have been training for the SARTech II field exam.  The SAR team has graciously been working with me so that I have some practice on some of the field tests before the exam.  Last week one member gave a great ropes course presentation.  (I hope I can remember the difference between bights and bends.)  Up today - Land Nav.

It was swampy and muddy, and my boots were completely submerged in water up over the Gore-Tex.  At one point, I was crawling through the underbrush.  Along with several cuts and scrapes, I now have an abrasion on my left cheek (not that cheek) that makes me look kind of like Tommy Flanagan.  Soon after finding the first post, one of the field advisors warned everyone that there were feral hogs roaming the training grounds.  And somewhere along the way I lost the walking stick SARTechs are required to carry in their packs.  So all in all, it was a great morning!

Seriously, it felt great to be out on the land nav course.  Land Navigation is one of the hardest challenges I think any search and rescue technician faces.  The goal is to navigate through a wilderness area using only a compass to guide you.  I remember the first time I tried this - I had no problems getting through the course.  Of course, I was minus a 50-lb backpack and I was trying to keep my paces.  There was also this thing called "no pressure."  Once you add the gear, the pressure, and the pace-keeping, it becomes much more difficult.

However, to me what land nav really tests is bushwhacking skills.  Can you crawl through underbrush while keeping paces?  Can you push through briars and thorn bushes thicker than walls?  (A good whacking stick can help.)  Can you get a reading off your compass while surrounded by a swarm of mosquitoes and while standing in a foot of water?  I have found some techniques that help.

1.  Know your eye dominance.  Most people are eye-dominant on the same side as their handedness.  Not me.  I may be a righty, but I see with my left eye.  It helps to know this because otherwise I would look out my right eye, then start walking towards the left.  So I swerve away from the path.

2. Keep it simple.  The less objects in hands and pockets, the better.  I have foregone gloves, which would reduce the cuts and scrapes on my hands, but I am a complete butterfingers when I am wearing my gloves.  What I find works is to clear everything from my pockets except what is essential for the test - a small pad of paper, a pace counter, a compass, and a pen.  The pad, compass, and pen are in one pocket; the counter in the other.  This never changes so I know where to look for my equipment.

3.  Keep the compass out!.  I have a tendency to put the compass away.  I think this makes me swerve off the path.  It also means I add steps to my procedure.  I have to put up one thing, pull out the compass, take the reading, then put the compass up.  It's much easier to just leave it out so that it is ready for a reading at any time.  By keeping the compass out, I also can see direction changes much better.

Now, will any of this experience serve me at the SARTech II exam?  I have no idea.  I guess I will know in a few weeks time.  Until then, it is just fun to be in the outdoors in Houston while the weather is nice.  In a month or two, the heat will be intolerable and land nav will be next to impossible.

We returned from camping a day early.   A cold front came through on Saturday that was a bit more than we could handle.  It meant we couldn't make campfire steaks, but it was worth coming home early.

Day One:

11:30 am

Packed up and ready to go.  Out the door and on the road.

11:35 am

Realized I left my allopurinol at home.  I won't eat much red meat if I don't have some.  Heading back home.

12:30 pm

Guy in truck on I-45 honks at us to let us know that our kayak is dangerously close to falling off.  At the next exit, we pulled over and adjusted it.  I think it would have made the trip, but the cords were really letting the sit-on-top shift.  I added two more lines (one up front and one in the back) for just-in-case.

2:30 pm

Yeah!  Lake Somerville!  The ranger reminds me that it will get really cold and rainy on our last night.

3:00 pm

While setting up the tent, I notice that the rain run-off would go straight through the tent.  We move the tent a few feet to the side.

6:00 pm

Chili.  Yum!!!  I use one pound of chorizo for every pound of turkey meat.  The chorizo makes for great flavoring.  I wished I had made some cornbread too, though.  (This is a meal you cook before you go camping, so all you do is heat it up.)

Day Two:

10:00 am

 Kids go on a hiking trip.  My wife and I take our youngest kayaking.

10:30 am

We get the kayaks unloaded and down to the lake, only to discover that the waves are really choppy.  Despite the non-existant weather conditions back at camp (not 100 yards away), the lake is a completely different story.  We make a few attempts, but eventually have to give it up.  Next time, we need to run a more complete weather forecast.

6:00 pm

Quesadillas.  Yum!!!  I bring a griddle which I used to cook the tortillas.  For cheese, chicken, green peppers and onions, this is a great meal.  It is also relatively painless to make, so I recommend it for family camping trips. 

7:00pm

Somebody at the campfire asks me about "that thing you do with the dogs."  That leads into some really interesting conversation.  One thing about being a cadaver dog handler, you never lack for a conversation piece...

9:00 pm

Guys love to sit around the campfire and throw things in it to watch it melt.  Especially bottles.  Earlier in the day, I went to the store and bought back bass bait, popcorn, and vaseline.  That night, I learned that vaseline is a fire retardent and not an accelerant.  The bass bait nearly exploded.  Also, I learned that popcorn does not pop well in extreme heat.

Next time, I need to further my experiments by throwing in raw popcorn, and I also need to try pork rinds.  Maybe beef jerky, too...

Day Three

1:00 am

What I should have done is before I went to bed, I should have put up the tarps and checked the rain fly. 

4:00 am

I get up to go to the bathroom.  It is sprinkling.

8:00 am

It is raining hard.  I am using twine and my scissors multi-tool from the SAR pack to tie tarps to our shade stand.  What I create can only be called Tarp-Mahal.

9:00 am

My wife points out the water run-off.  As predicted, where we originally were placing the tent would have put it right in the middle of the run-off.  Kudos to us, we will be much drier now.

10:00 am

My cameras are delivered.  They had been sitting out in the rain all night and all morning.  Fortunately, they were in a weather-resistant case, so even though the case is wet as a monsoon, the cameras are dry.  Good product...

12:00 pm

We get the news that a windstorm is also coming through, so everybody else is leaving early.  My youngest is shivering, so despite the coziness and warmth of Tarp-Mahal, we are leaving, too.  No reward is worth this. 

2:00 pm

We load up the kayaks last.  The cords work much better this time.  I think I was putting a loop in them when I loaded the kayaks for the trip up.  This allowed for more shifting room.  This time, the kayaks don't budge.

4:00 pm

We arrive back home.  Tired, wet, and weary, but we had an adventure, and we expanded our comfort zones.  We did a lot of things right, and we took extra precautions (extra tarps, twine, etc.) that really paid off, but we also paid dearly for not having gotten the right clothes.  It all goes back to the ten essentials.  We were prepared on nine of them, but not ten.  None of us had proper footgear, my wife had a rain jacket only because of my SAR pack, and my children had nothing. 

8:00 pm

I go to feed the dogs.  It is freezing outside, and the wind is knocking things over.  I'm glad we decided to come home.

Count me as one of the parents who wants their children to have a cellphone on them, even at school.  We have strict guidelines on cellphone usage when it comes to school, though.  The phone is to be turned off while in school.  The last thing we want is for a phone to go off in the middle of the classroom, but it can come in very handy outside of school hours.

Case in point, yesterday I got a call from my daughter.  She had missed the bus and wanted to walk home with her friends (who had also missed the bus) 4 miles down a busy road.  This is the sort of thing that I would have done when I was her age and phones were not so easily accessible.  Instead, she called me and I got to say "Heck, no.  Stay where you are and I will come get you."  Ten/fifteen minutes later, I pulled up in the parking lot.  Crisis averted.

However, and this is the sticky point for me when it comes to cellphones, camping, and search work:  she had three other friends with her.  All of them had their cellphones, but none of them had called home because the phones were all dead.  My daughter had the only working phone, and even it was on its last bar.  Murphy's Law strikes again.

When it comes to camping, you should have your cellphone with you.  That does not mean you don't have to be alert of your surroundings, know where you are, or have a backup plan.  The time to pay attention and figure out the backup plan is not while in "panic" mode.  Case in point, none of the girls thought to call home from the school's phone.  They were happy to be out, a little scared and nervous, and it just didn't occur to them to walk back to the building and ask to use the phone to call their parents.  The same thing happens when out in the woods.  It is easy to play armchair quarterback to a situation once the outdoor crisis is over, but when you are in the middle of it, issues get clouded, solutions become less obvious.  Sometimes you forgot to charge the battery, or you left it on all night.  Or a cellphone tower is out of range.  Or the phone breaks.  What happens then?

That is why I recommend at least having a whistle.  With a whistle, you can be heard from much farther out than you yelling.  You will also not tire out as easily, and you will not lose your voice.  It would suck to shout for help til you are hoarse, and then when the help finally arrives, you not have the ability to call out "over here!" 

I applaud my daughter, who knew to call home before moving forward with the "newly revised backup plan."  That has always been our direction:  call us on your cell before you commit to something, and especially in the case of missing the bus, we can come get you.  Just keep it turned off during classroom hours, okay?

In a few weeks I am going camping with some families.  It is an annual activity, and is a great way to expand comfort zones.  (No pun intended.) 

I was thinking that this time of year when people begin to think of teh outdoors (especially after such a harsh winter) is a good time to go back through our kids' daypacks and see what is in there.  If you are like me, you tell your child to carry some bug repellent and maybe a flashlight and a candy bar or gatorade.  While that is better than nothing, there are many scenarios that could happen to a couple of kids hiking in the woods, and that meager list only helps with a couple of them. 

I have found some websites that provide what are called "ten essentials" lists - the top ten things they believe everybody should take with them in the woods.  The problem I run into is that, like most things search and rescue, the focus is mountain terrain.  There is a good reason for that, but I think people in non-mountainous areas need to just as diligent in evaluating the lists and determining what works best for their region.  So I took the lists I have seen and modified them some to correlate for southeast Texas:  often hot, very humid, often raining. 

Some of these items are more “parental” in my mind – for the amount of camping we are doing, I’m not sure every child needs a space blanket, multi-tool, and iodine tablet in their daypack.  But that's not to say it wouldn't hurt, or mine won't. 

1. Clothing:

– Appopriate to the weather/activity

– Poncho

2. First Aid Kit: Band-aids, Neosporin, Epinephrine shot for people allergic to bees, etc.

3. Nutrition/Hydration:

– Don’t underestimate water needs in Texas.  Stay hydrated.

– Iodine tablets

– Snack

4. Flashlight

5. Navigation:

– GPS and/or maps

– Compass*

(*When you are lost in the woods is not the time to learn to use a compass.)

6. Skin Protection: SPF 30/45 or higher; hat; bug repellant (with DEET*)

(*I have used as high as 100% DEET.  My word of caution is that it will put temporary stain marks on your clothes.  However, I also one time was doing some compass work in a backwoods area.  The place was swarming with mosquitoes, and I had 100% DEET on.  The Mosquitoes were still getting at me, but they wouldn't touch the DEET.)

7. Fire-starting materials*

– Lighter

– Waterproof matches/firestarter

(*There is a lot of controversy over fire starting materials.  Some people advocate lighters.  Others believe lighters are destined to fail, so take matches instead.  Me, I fall between.  Take the lighter, but always have a backup.)

8. Repair Kits

– Multi-tool

– Duct tape

9. Emergency Shelter: Space blanket

10. Signal– Whistle