Volume 5, Issue 11
| Top of the Hill | by Larry Mervine |
The weather report says snow is on it's way, better get your winter gear ready. Would not hurt to check your pack again to make sure you have warmer clothing in your pack. I also, keep a sleeping bag, down coat, wool hat, gloves and sweater in the truck all the times.
See you out there!
| Boots and Blisters | by Tom Russo |
Doug Davenport, Terry Hardin, Steve Kolk, Chris Murray and Jeff Phillips came out to evaluate for Land Navigation on Sunday, 5 November. This one was a bit more challenging than most, because the mist obscured most of the more obvious features around Three Gun Springs trailhead. We did, however, pick a resection point that afforded a good view of features south of the freeway this time, so there was a good collection of features for resection if you played your cards right. This was the last Land Navigation evaluation for the year. If our next training officer keeps the same pattern of evaluations, the next Land Navigation opportunity will be in February.
I would like once again to point out how important it is for you to call the hotline and leave a message that you plan on coming out to evaluations. The purpose of this notification is to allow the training officer time to find extra evaluators if the number of attendees is large, and to cancel the evaluation with enough notice if the number of attendees is insufficient to conduct the evaluation. That means you need to call in at least a week in advance, not at 7 a.m. the morning of the eval or only in response to a desperate plea to "call by 9 p.m. tonight or tomorrow's eval will be cancelled." It isn't fair for the training officer to ask additional evaluators to help out the day before a scheduled eval. Neither is it a very nice experience to come to a search techniques evaluation where 15 people have shown up when the single evaluator has laid out a single course because he or she expected 5, nor is it very nice to have to cancel a litter eval that requires 6 or more attendees after three people have shown up at the trailhead. Please help the training officer out next year and remember to call the hotline at least a week in advance and leave a message if you plan to attend an evaluation session!
While on the subject of calling the hotline: remember that the hotline is the primary means of disseminating information to members. It doesn't work if you don't call it, though. We have, from time to time, activated the phone tree when a particularly important update happens, but we try to avoid that because most people object to having their pagers going off all the time or getting calls at all hours just to say "we have information, call the hotline." So please get in the habit of calling the hotline once a week. We have been trying to keep the messages updated at least that often, and at the very least we announce the date and time that the message was updated so you can hang up if it's an old one.
| Business as Usual | by David Dixon |
Larry welcomes new people Rebecca Etherington, Ernest Gunther, Nancy Harbert and Mary Ann Romero.
Melinda invites everyone to their annual fall party.
Mike D. nominates Susan Corban and Tom Russo for President. Larry M. nominates David Dixon for Membership Officer.
There will be a Litter haul makeup on Saturday the 21st.
November Training will be on low angle litter hauling.
If you change phone numbers or other information please let Susan know so member records and phone tree can be updated.
Susan thanks those that have done member profiles for the newsletter.
As per last meeting's motion Mike set up an account at the State Employees Credit Union. Our old account at Wells Fargo will be phased out.
New batteries are now available.
Our old shirt logo is not available. Orange shirts at Action Uniform for those interested are $9 each for 10, $8 for 20. See James if interested.
Team needs foam sleeping pads for litter padding. See James if you have any to donate.
Larry did a Search techniques presentation at the Boy Scout Jamboree in Chimayo. Thanks for representing us Larry.
Everyone is encouraged to call the hotline every week or more.
Listserves are down until Tom can get them back up and running.
WFR supplies available for those who didn’t get them all of them at last meeting.
We ran out of newsletters. Everyone should try to get newsletter off the web to cut down on production.
Tom is looking for a web helper. Read the news column and if interested contact him. Tom feels like there should be more than one person involved with it.
| Pinching Pennies | by Mike Dugger |
| Who's Who and New | by Susan Corban |
| Gearing Up | by James Newberry |
| Coming Attractions | by Tom Russo |
| Public Relations | by David Dixon |
After extensive introspection Larry Mervine has agreed to be Public Relations Committee Chair for next year. He will not be running for any officer position so he knew he needed to stay involved in other ways. One of his last official duties as President will be to approve himself.
Larry has been committed to PR for probably all of his years with Cibola and is as qualified as anyone for the position. I know that, in addition to any new ones he has, he will continue to advance our two primary goals of recruitment and community involvement. And since I have invested to much in those areas to leave I will stay on to help him.
I believe I speak for all of us when I say thanks Larry for your continued involved in many aspects of our organization.
| Medical News | by Nancy O'Neill |
Treatment: Frostnip is treated with rewarming, this can often be accomplished by placing the frozen extremity against another person's underarm or against the abdomen. Avoid rubbing.
Prevention: Avoid tight-fitting clothing including footwear, which may impair circulation. Avoid Alchohol, which contributes to dehydration and impairs judgement, as well as caffeine and nicotine, which constrict blood vessels and therefore reduce the blood supply to extremities. Avoid refreezing at all costs: This can cause severe tissue damage. If blisters begin appearing during rewarming, this indicates a more severe degree of frostbite. See treatment for frostbite. Avoid folk remedies such as rubbing the affected area with snow, exposing the area to an open flame, or hitting the area (supposedly to restore circulation).
Treatment: Frostbite can only be treated in a controlled environment. Thawing and refreezing will result in significant damage. Frozen feet may be walked on if necessary. Once feet begin to thaw, avoid walking on them and avoid thawing and refreezing.
Frostbite develops in three stages: a reddening of the skin, formation of
blisters, and finally death of some of the skin cells and the underlying
tissues. Clots often form in the blood vessels. Mild cases of frostbite
often result in chilblain; more severe cases may result in a dangerous
gangrene. Free circulation of the blood inhibits the onset of frostbite.
The body parts most often affected are the hands, feet (especially the
heels and toes), ears, cheeks, chin, and nose. [Remember those pictures at
Cy's class?!]
| Member Spotlight: Tony Gaier |
Here's the short version ofTony Gaier's life story.I spent most of my childhood in Helena Montana. We spent a great deal of our (family) vacation time camping in Montana and Canada. I enjoyed the outdoors and learned a lot about survival (because at that time in history you could walk a 100 miles and not hit a road or find another human!). When I was 17 years old I joined the Air Force. I have traveled and lived in many places in the world. The Air Force introduced me to SAR. I became a member of the Air Force's SAR team in 1984. I'm currently a helicopter Flight Engineer on the HH-60G, Pavehawk. I have always enjoyed saving lives and that good feeling it gives you inside.
I got my introduction to civilian SAR in the early '90s when I was hunting with some friends near Corona, New Mexico. We were approached by some members of the White Mountain SAR team and asked if we could help in searching for a lost boy. As I've learned since, it was a typical SAR. After searching all night the subject walked out and got a ride to a police station.
I enjoy hunting (most of my hunting trips turn into camping trips, due to
the lack of getting anything), fishing, and camping. My wife and I show
Beagles. We have been showing dogs since we got married and have done very
well in the dog show world. If you're curious to see what our kids (beagles
of course) look like, feel free to visit our web page at
http://home.flash.net/~gaier/index.htm. We enjoy traveling throughout the
United States showing our children off. Another hobby we do together is
home improvement. Some day soon I hope to get home improvement shows banned
from television!
| Web News | by Tom Russo |
| Grand Canyon (Mis-)Adventures | by Mike Dugger |
Descending through the canyon formations was beautiful. The smooth, tilted blocks we switchbacked through near the top led to the bright red plateau of the Esplanade, from which we dropped into Bass canyon proper. A couple of hours more brought us to lunch, and the first of the lessons learned from this trip. By this time, some people on the trip (happily, not SAR folks) were having trouble with their feet. Specifically, blisters and damaged toenails. This is not uncommon on steep downhills and uphills, especially after many miles of the same. However, people who have not hiked up and down a lot with packs on are not familiar with just how their boots can wreak havoc on their feet. I got to thinking about this in a SAR context, and realized that here too our feet are one of our most important assets in the backcountry. They are what let us complete our assignments, and what gets us home when the assignments are done. It sounds obvious, but always remember to take care of your feet. Blisters can ruin an otherwise enjoyable trip or mission. Wear two layers of socks - a wicking liner and a well-padded outer sock over it. Also pay attention to the development of hot spots while hiking, and take care of them right away. The few minutes spent preventing a blister will save your team time, and you pain, later on. If you do develop blisters, hot spots or toenail problems, consider how you might change your footwear to prevent them. For example, bruised or broken toenails (black and "loose") are very painful and can take months to grow out. They are caused by the toenail striking the toe of the boot and breaking below the skin. One easy preventative step is to keep toenails trimmed short (but don't do a long trip after just cutting your nails very short, or you invite ingrown toenails). Also important for prevention, boots should have plenty of room at the toe when laced tight. You should be able to wiggle your toes without them touching the very tip of your boot. I like to kick my foot to the back of the boot, lace across the top of my foot and put a knot right there before continuing to lace up my ankle. This keeps my foot from sliding forward in my boot and touching the toe. I also know from past experience that I tend to develop blisters on the insides of my heels, even with the proper socks and lacing. I now stick a small piece of duct tape around the back of my heel before putting on socks, and this keeps the friction on the smooth tape surface rather than my skin. I never get blisters or broken toenails any more. If a few iterations of this type of detective work don't solve your problems, then you probably need new boots. Never skimp here. A cheap boot that causes foot problems simply isn't worth it.
The remainder of the hike to the Colorado River was uneventful. Once we got there, most of the group was wiped out from the hike down and spending another hour scrambling around a plateau about 200 feet above the river, looking for a way down to a campsite. A steep scramble down boulders led to a beautiful little beach. Tom, Susan and I made the scramble down and had the beach all to ourselves.
It was cold in the canyon. The rain stopped about the time we made camp, and the waterfalls coming down the canyon walls shut off a short while later. A few snowflakes hit the tent during the night in Bass canyon. I learned from Tom and Susan later that the rim got a few inches of snow. This brings me to the second lesson learned. I lined my pack with a garbage bag, and had a waterproof pack cover over the whole thing. However, under these conditions it is simply impossible to prevent water from getting into the pack. To make matters worse, I had skinny-dipped in a pool at the base of a waterfall on the beach, and rinsed out my sweaty clothes. They were probably just about dry before the rain started, but quickly got soaked. I put them away wet. My extra poly long underwear was just in a stuff sack and wet, so I had to sleep in fleece. The next day, we awoke to a few more sprinkles that stopped shortly after we started hiking. It was still gray and cold, though, and we could see snow through the occasional breaks in the mist that hung over the canyon rim. I got hot hiking in fleece, but I had nothing else dry to put on. I ended up ringing out my poly long underwear and putting it back on. It was VERY cold at first, but I warmed up rapidly. Wearing that wet poly reaffirmed my confidence in our backcountry clothing requirements, since I was wet but warm. My lesson learned was to keep at least one set of warm clothing in its own ziplock bag, so it will stay dry no matter what.
The trip concluded with a night at the Bright Angel Lodge on the south rim,
where we had hot showers, a steak dinner, and reminiscing. I can accept that
with five previous beautiful trips to the canyon I was due for rain. I hope
those who were first exposed to Grand Canyon hiking on this trip will not
think of this as typical. For those of you contemplating a future trip to the
Grand Canyon, I cannot recommend South Bass trail. There are much prettier
areas of the canyon and the river access there is poor. Besides, nothing is
worth traveling that road after the rain!
| Disclaimer and Copyright notice | the Editors |