I Guess "Extreme" Is The New Word For "Retarded"

From Idaho, a place where people really should know better, comes this tale of a snowmobiler who considered himself "extreme"

Snowmobiler stranded in freezing Idaho ravine wrote goodbye notes


Long story short, guy went out for a ride in a remote area and wrecked in a ravine. He survived the plunge, but nearly died over the next few days because he hadn't taken any water, survival or self-rescue equipment with him.

The money quote from the story is this one:

"When you're an extreme snowmobiler and you get lost, you're usually dead," Barry Sadler told KECI-TV. "You're going places where people won't go -- where people shouldn't go."

The 54-year-old Mullan, Idaho, man said part of his extreme mindset was to ride without survival gear or water.

Some people are alive today because Darwin was apparently asleep or in the can when their moment came. Barry Sadler (not the former Greet Beret) is clearly one of them.

Sadler suffered some broken bones in his hands and had frostbite.

Two sheriff's deputies involved in the search scolded Sadler for riding by himself and without survival gear, an avalanche beacon or a satellite locator.

Gee, all that's missing here is for Red Forman to walk in and call him a dumbass.

Yes! Mine snake pics!!!

I lucked out and got a couple of pictures of my Organ Pipe rattlesnake.

First, here's the mine entrance about half a mile off. see the pile of earth and rock just to the left of the big cactus? Those waste piles are always a dead give-away if you're looking for mine openings.

Of course usually the opening has been back-filled or otherwise closed off, but not in this case.

Thanks for the signs, guys. Always makes it easier to find these. And the fence? If they really didn't want me in there, would they have left enough room for me to get in over the top of it? I mean, seriously, that's an invite, right there.

About thirty feet back in, though...a sentinel makes his presence known with a very loud, very effective rattling.

crummy shots, I know, but I'm trying to run a camera with one hand while holding a flashlight in the other in the middle of a significant adrenaline dump in a confined space.

OK, to be fair, none of those signs outside said anything about a snake. That's all I'm saying. One "Caution--snake ahead" sign would have carried more weight than all of the generic "Danger" and "Peligro" signs in the free world.

Final score: Snake: 1, Murphy's Law: 0.

Still, he was a beauty, wasn't he?

Opportunity lost...and maybe it's a good thing

So ex-Forrestal is departing Philadelphia today (story below), and locally, the public has been advised of the best times and paces to get a last look at her during the 18-hour tow down the Delaware River.

But for the weather and my leg, I'd have loved to do a fly-over and shoot some photos of that naval legend from above as she departs. Still, it might be just as well, for the idea of one final touch-and-go on her angled flight deck would be tempting indeed.

"November XXXXX is turning base to final for CV-59..."

I gotta think that there's probably a law against it, but since she's already been sold and is no longer Navy property, what's the worst that they could get me for?

Yeah, sometimes bad weather and a bum leg are a blessing in disguise.