LastBestPlace March 2024

lastbestplace@mailman.ejop.com

1 participants
5 discussions

photographer humor
by LastBestPlace 24 Mar '24

24 Mar '24

A photographer from a well-known national magazine was assigned to cover Southern California's wildfires. The magazine wanted pictures of the heroic work the fire fighters were doing as they battled the blazes. When the photographer arrived on the scene he realized that the smoke was so thick that it would seriously impede, or even make impossible, his obtaining good photographs from ground-level He requested permission from his boss to rent a plane and take photos from the air. His request was approved and via a cell phone call to the local county airport necessary arrangements were made. He was told a single-engine plane would be waiting for him at the airport. He arrived at the airfield and spotted a plane warming up outside a hangar. He jumped in with his bag, slammed the door shut and shouted, "Let's go!" The pilot taxied out, swung the plane into the wind and roared down the runway. Within just a minute or two of his arrival they were in the air. The photographer requested the pilot to, "Fly over the valley and make two or three low passes so I can take some pictures of the fires on the hillsides." "Why?" asked the pilot. "Because I'm a photographer for a national magazine," he responded, "and I need to get some close-up shots." The pilot was strangely silent for a moment; finally he stammered, "So, you're telling me you're not the flight instructor?"

1 0

06/09/2023 ~ 06/14/2023: Rafting the Smith River, part 4/4
by LastBestPlace 02 Mar '24

02 Mar '24

Smith River, Part 4/4 *DAY 4: Park Flat (3) to Middle Rattlesnake Bend, 9.5 miles (continued) * Our last campsite, located in a grassy meadow area, with a nice beach along a straight portion of the river. Youngins Elders The river along here was a perfect location to wade in and simply float downstream a ways. There was one nervous moment when Penny was caught in the current and continued to float downstream, but she made it back unscathed. Keith had brought apples, and we all joined in bobbing for them. And no campfire is complete without roasting marshmallows. The highlight of the trip for me, and if I may be so bold as to speak for the others, was that evening's campfire. This was our last night together, and by now we are all best friends. The comradery was evident on such a beautiful night. A number of games were played. Melanie had a playlist of songs from the 70s/80s on her phone, and with the help of a Bluetooth speaker we played a simple game. She would start playing a song, and the first person to correctly name the song, plus the first person to correctly name the artist/band, would choose who had to take a shot of one of the remaining libations. I believe I made a solid showing quickly naming songs, but was equally impressed with the /youngins/ knowledge of such oldie music. I distinctly remember immediately identifying the song /Band on the Run/ by the group /Wings/, and even rattling off the names of prominent members of that band -- to which one of the /youngins/ remarked "I didn't know Paul McCartney had been in a band before he was a solo artist!". I think I chose to take a shot of whiskey myself after that statement. Another song surprise was that Lane (I think) identified a song and artist before I could. "Afternoon Delight" by Starland Vocal Band from 1976. How could anyone not alive during that time period with that sappy song blasted on AM radio know anything about it? Yuk!! For those who can stomach the video ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu1UXCdyNo0&t=1s <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu1UXCdyNo0&t=1s> But most surprising of all was when Paul not only correctly identified Meatloaf's /Paradise by the Dashboard Light/, but was able to sing along with every lyric for it's entire 8:28 minutes. He is one of many hidden talents. https://youtu.be/o4ZZTJnXvYE There were many other fun games played, and the evening extended late. *DAY 5: Middle Rattlesnake Bend to Eden Bridge Take Out, 11.5 miles *The last day. The steep walls along the river give way to more rolling green hills. The river is much wider now then when we originally began, and we can see by the banks it has dropped a few inches. * * One wall was covered with mud/barn swallow nests, and the sky around that wall was darkened with the sight of so many of them in flight. Eventually the rock walls disappear. The river widens, and there were numerous snags that had to be navigated around. We get our first view of the Eden Bridge. Takeout is on the left, just before the bridge. The takeout was very busy, and our raft nearly went past it. Many thanks to the other rafters on the bank who were able to catch our line and pull us back. The takeout is a bit anti climatic. The focus is to get the rafts unpacked, stow the gear, and get on the road to a hot shower. The goodbyes are way too brief. We still have a 4 hour drive ahead of us to get home. But there was a unanimous decision that we will be doing this again! To Lyndsey, Lane, Jacee, Isaac, Melanie, Austyn, Paul, Christine, Penny and Keith .... thank you so much for allowing me to join in such a wonderfully fun trip. I look forward to doing this again -- even with groovers 😉 !! /footnote: With 350 photos and videos from the 5 day trip, I found it quite challenging to limit the photos and stories into four reasonably sized emails. The intent is to simply capture the beauty of the location and provide some insight into what made this such a special trip. It is yet another incredible area within the state of Montana. /

1 0

06/09/2023 ~ 06/14/2023: Rafting the Smith River, part 3/4
by LastBestPlace 02 Mar '24

02 Mar '24

Smith River, Part 3/4 *DAY 3: Lower Bear Gulch to Park Flat (3), 7.9 miles (continued)* Another beautiful day on the river. The walls of the canyon are not as high, and now interspersed with some rolling green hills. I think it was on this day that our raft saw the one and only black bear. He was close to the shore but ran away as we got closer. That evening's campsite was on a bend with walls on either side of the river. Keith had brought a kite which was perfect for such an area with a constant steady breeze, and Austyn had a great time kite flying. Another delightful campfire that evening. I recall Lane making /earthworms/ for dessert -- chocolate jello pudding cups, blended with oreo cookie crumbs for the dirt, with gummi worms buried in them. I respectfully stuck with Cold Smoke and whiskey instead. The other memorable campfire events were a mouse that joined us, and a snake that went near Paul & Christine's tent. We continued the daily concerted effort to lighten the weight of the gear we brought, especially in emptying the various cans we had with us. *DAY 4: Park Flat (3) to Middle Rattlesnake Bend, 9.5 miles *Another beautiful morning in paradise. Breakfast is reheated brats and burgers over the campfire. The river winds its way thru both public and private land, and at this point there is an array of PVC pipe over the river that rafters are instructed to float thru. There is a barbed wire fence under the water in the river and this is the only safe spot to float over it. I'm pleased that Paul did not throw me off the raft around here! I had previously mentioned the other raft guide named /Crawdaddy/. There was finally a successful throw and recovery of a Modelo beer by Penny, which nearly cost her a swim to retrieve. Along the banks of the river we saw many Canada Geese and goslings, and ducks and ducklings. I managed a shot of a Harlequin duck just as it took flight off a rock.

1 0

06/09/2023 ~ 06/14/2023: Rafting the Smith River, part 2/4
by LastBestPlace 02 Mar '24

02 Mar '24

Smith River, Part 2/4 *DAY 2: Upper Scotty Alan to Lower Bear Gulch, 17 miles *It's a beautiful new day! Breakfast, break camp, pack the rafts and off we go. It is sunny and warm, and any apprehensions about controlling the rafts are gone within the first hour as the confidence of controlling the raft quickly builds. * * The river is brown with lots of silt due to it cresting. It's a bit wider now than when we started the day before, and the canyon walls rise 1000 feet around us. We had no cell service shortly after we had put in the day before, and will not have consistent service until our takeout. It's really wonderful to get away from civilization. We did see other rafters, but the permit system limits the number on the river. Over our 5 days, we would leapfrog past the same ones that would pass by us later. One group we passed by a number of times was an outfitter that provides service for a fishing tour. There would be a single individual in a large raft and lot of gear that would go ahead and set up camp for the fishing tour ahead of their arrival into the next camp every day. One of these rafts was run by a young man name /Crawdaddy/ (I'm not sure if we named him or that was the name he gave us), and anytime he passed by us we would ask him for a beer -- it was obvious he had a very large supply. After a few hours we stop for lunch underneath a large cottonwood tree. The weather and the views are both fabulous. The most surprising wildlife that I saw that day was a pelican. I had never heard of fresh water ones. The sides of the canyon had some color to them, as well as many caves. There are some larger caves that have trails to go explore them, but we did not do that this trip. We eventually reached a spot where we could see three Teepees and covered wagons ahead on the shore. We have reached /Heaven on Earth Ranch <https://deepcreekoutfitters.com/> . /The ranch is the only commercial facility to stop at along the river. Set in a charming location, it has a 9 hole golf course and a small store for resupplying rafters. We naturally stopped there. They do not have a liquor license for a bar, so they cannot sell drinks. On inquiry, for a donation friends traveling down the river can be provided with a libation 😉, and a number of donations were made 🙂 Hanging out at Heaven on Earth, libation in hand, with their pet calf Bella who really enjoyed being petted. It is a gorgeous sunny day with the thermometer showing about 78 degrees. Most of the crew remained at Heaven on Earth for a while, rented clubs and played 3 holes of golf. My understanding is that many more donations and libations were also procured during that time. Paul, Penny and I floated downriver in Pickle, since our campsite was only half a mile further just around a bend in the river, and we wanted to pitch our tents and take a rest (being elders y'know!). We successfully floated down, set up the tents we had, cracked a few beers and waited for the rest of the gang. After an hour and a half or so, I asked Paul about some gathering clouds off in one direction, and he assured me they were blowing the away from us. We continued to wait for the rest of the gang. As we waited it began to get more cloudy, and a small breeze became real wind. The sprinkling rain turned to a downpour, and then .... ... we got pelted with pea size hail, in addition to thunder and lightning. Mind you, this is just Paul, Penny and I at camp. The other three rafts have not yet appeared and had to float down the river in this weather!! I was fortunate in that I had all my gear with me in the raft which included rain coat and rain pants. Paul and Penny had some of their gear in one of the other rafts. Paul did have his tent which was set up and I had also set my tent up. Despite the thunder and lightning, we took shelter under a tree as the wind whipped hail was painful. My brand new tent got it's first test of inclement weather, and kept admirably dry inside. At that point we could see the remaining rafts coming down the river. It was a chaotic scene as the rafts beached, with everyone taking shelter under the trees. It was very wet and very cold due to the wind. Since I had rain gear on, I grabbed items which I thought would be most useful, which were the stove and propane, in order get something warm to eat and drink when the storm subsided. Keith had the very good sense to pull out the kitchen shelter and set that up. There was quite a bit of hail inside the rafts. With the shelter set up, the stove was brought inside it, set on the ground, and turned on to provide heat. I asked if there was anything I could bring anyone from the rafts, and the cold, wet com padres unanimously requested beer, which greatly helped revive everyone's spirits!. Austyn made sure Grandma Christine stayed warm inside the tent Paul had been able to set up. The aftermath of the storm is that misery loves company, and this was one of those bonding shared experiences of the trip that brought the group together. The storm did pass, and as the sun peeked back out equipment and clothes were hung out to dry. The Lower Bear Gulch campsite area did remain muddy, with pools of water to navigate around, but a delightful dinner and campfire that evening ended the day on a very high note. The evening campfire conversation focused on both the storm, and who won the round of golf they played. *DAY 3: Lower Bear Gulch to Park Flat (3), 7.9 miles *A sunny morning in no hurry, I took the time to climb up a nearby hill and get a view of the river and the campsite on the left side. Such a pretty area! Today is a short day, floating just shy of 8 miles total. The weather is superb, which allowed for fully drying everything out, then load the rafts and off we go

1 0

06/09/2023 ~ 06/14/2023: Rafting the Smith River, part 1/4
by LastBestPlace 02 Mar '24

02 Mar '24

Smith River, Part 1/4 In June I had the extreme pleasure of being invited to join a group of 10 other people on 4 rafts to travel for 5 days, 4 nights for a total of 59 miles on the Smith River in Montana. It was so much fun that we all agreed to to enter the lottery for a permit for next year -- and probably every year after that!! The permitting process is run by the Montana State Parks, though the river itself traverses through a mix of public Forest Service and private lands. Campsites are assigned by the permitting system. More details about the river can be found at https://fwp.mt.gov/stateparks/smith-river The put in is at Camp Baker, and 5 days later the take out is right before Eden Bridge -- assuming you don't float past and miss it!! We stayed at the following campsites: Night 0: Paul and Jane's (former West Glacier neighbors) house in White Sulphur Springs, a short drive to Camp Baker in the morning Night 1: Upper Scotty Allen (mile 12) Night 2: Lower Bear Gulch (mile 29) Night 3: Parker Flat #3 (mile 37.9) Night 4: Middle Rattlesnake Bend (mile 47.4) I was invited along by our neighbors Paul & Christine, but did not really know the rest of the group at all, at least at the start, but by the end of the trip we had bonded into life long friends. Part of the rewarding experience of the adventure was getting to know and grow new friendships. This certainly culminated at the campfire on the last night, where few inhibitions between strangers remained, but more on that later 🙂 *THE TEAM: *There was a natural divide amongst the team based on age. The /youngins/, left to right Lyndsey, Lane, Jacee, Isaac, Melanie, and Austyn. They are obviously youngsters, sitting outside soaking up sunshine. The /elders/, from left to right. Paul, Christine, Penny and Keith (and myself not in the photo). They are obviously not youngsters, with little skin exposed sitting the shade. *DAY 0: West Glacier to White Sulphur Springs* I'm in Paul & Christine's truck that is towing their two rafts, heading from West Glacier to Great Falls where we will pick up Paul's sister Penny. We then continue on to White Sulphur Springs to spend the night at Paul & Jane's house, who generously let us stay there while they were out of town. The accommodations are great. The views of the Big Sky are wonderful. The beer at Two Basset Brewery <http://2bassetbrewery.com/Home.html> are excellent. And the sleeping bag on the couch will be more comfortable than the next 4 nights in the tent. *DAY 1: Camp Baker to Upper Scotty Alan, 12 miles *The 22 mile drive to Camp Baker on the dirt road takes about an hour. Arrangements had been made with a service to transport the vehicles to the take out. There had been quite a bit of rain on the east side, so the river was cresting and running very high. I was in the green raft "Pickle", with Paul, Christine and Austyn at the start. The red raft was named "Strawberry", the purple raft was "Grape", and the gray raft was .... well gray. There were a few things we learned right away as we launched. The biggest was that none of us had experience rowing on a river, at least with rapidly moving water. Another was that if you take a careful look at Pickle, there is no leg room for whoever is rowing due to a cooler being positioned in the way. The strength in rowing should come from legs, not arms!! Paul asked if I wanted to row first. After bumping into the banks for 10 minutes in a futile attempt at control, I was relieved of rowing duty and Paul took over. He fared no better rowing!! 40 minutes into Day 1 of a 5 day rafting trip, we rounded a corner where the raft was pushed into a wall surrounding the corner. The back of our raft was bumping along the wall, and I was sitting in the rear "crows nest" fishing seat that extend beyond the back of the raft. I crouched forward as much as possible to avoid being hit by the rocky wall as we bumped along like a pinball. I suddenly saw coming up fast ahead a dead tree sticking out from the wall at my head level. I instinctively ducked my head down and put my right arm up to protect my head, which did prevent the tree from hitting my head. My arm, though, snagged the branch knocking me off the raft and into the water. Did I mention this is only Day 1 of 5 days of rafting and 40 minutes into the trip, and already I'm thrown off? The good news is that I was able to quickly swim and grab the raft line, as Paul frantically tried to row towards any shore, which was challenging considering how rapid the current was. I do recall that when we did beach, the Strawberry raft was near us. Austyn was transferred to the Strawberry raft as it was larger. Penny was in the water assisting with the transfer, and getting back in raft was challenging in that swift current. The damage assessment was some scrapes and bruises on my right leg, and the toe of my right raft shoe tore giving me the open crocodile mouth look that I would have to live with the remainder of the trip. All safely back in rafts, we crack open a river beer and continue on our way, still rafting by braille. My expectations of the what the river would look like were very incorrect. I thought it would be a meandering river through the rolling eastern front range plains, when in fact it is through a cut canyon of steep rocky walls. Magnificent!! This was to continue the entire trip until it mellowed out on the last day. One of the fears that day was that the high current would cause us to float past our designated campsite. But with the day's experience of rowing we managed to make it to the Upper Scotty Alan campsite. Done with rafting for the day, it was time to unwind at camp. Our campsite had Canada Geese and their very young goslings living at it. They wandered very close to us. We counted twelve in one brood. 2023 is the last year that the campsites will provide latrines. Beginning in 2024 the rafting will be strictly pack in/pack out. The latrine at this campsite will not be missed!! It was about 100 feet up a very steep, muddy trail where a lonely commode in the woods awaited. The only redeeming feature was its excellent view of the river. The nightly camping portion of the trip complements the daytime rafting float. It's a time to unwind, crack open a few libations, review the good (and bad) events of the day, chow down, and tell jokes. This first night we had much discussion around how none of the rowers were able to steer the rafts, how fortunate it was we did not float past the campsite, how fearful tomorrow's floating may be, and so forth. I don't recall who made the comment that raft rowing on a river is supposed to be about 95% rowing backwards to avoid things, such as walls, snags, and rapids, but that discussion made an immediate and dramatic improvement in steering starting the next morning and for the remainder of the trip. The campsite bonding of the group, with even the goslings joining. I missed getting the memo that it was Melanie's birthday, and thus did not have the appropriate Hawaiian shirts in my wardrobe. Happy Birthday! We brought sufficient firewood with us for the 4 nights, in addition to an enormous amount of camping supplies. The weather the first night was exceedingly pleasant.

1 0

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

LastBestPlace March 2024