Where the Fugarwi?

OK so here is a list of excuses as to why I haven't been updating the O'blogitory (insert your list here). That out of the way let's talk about this paradox.


Water is the chief cause of death by stupidity in the desert. You either have too much or not enough. On the other hand here is no such thing as enough water in the desert.

Too much water means you don't cross fast deep water when it's raining. Not enough water means you always have at least a half case in your car. Nuff said.



I really came here to talk about GPS. The miracle device of the 21st century. Every new car seems to have one. Most people who go hiking have one. My preference is the Earthmate PN-20; It's an all purpose GPS which means marine charts, aircraft sectionals, specialty maps and digital imagery can be downloaded into it along with the standard street and topo maps. Some hand-held GPS units can even be tracked like the Garmin Rino series. Automotive GPS is usually built around a street navigation system. As a rule the GPSs in your car does not have a topo map although it is available as an extra in some (usually just downloaded from a DVD). Handheld GPS units can also be hooked to a laptop for route planning, realtime tracking and a few other things.

That brings us to the next issue of Sun Runner Magazine which is the annual Desert Travel issue. For that I've written an article about driving in the desert. After it was sent in and therefore to late to change it I ran across several articles about GPS in your car and realized something. They don't always work. Don't get me wrong I love my GPS with all of it['s features it's a great gadget however it has it's shortcomings. The first being it is not a replacement for a map and compass and knowing how to read and use them. The second is batteries die. In a car it's easy enough to carry extras for a portable GPS but on a long hike you could go through a set of batteries easily in a day. Lastly a GPS can lead you astray and really get you into deep doo doo.

This came home to me recently months after I had the experience. A group of us in two cars with two-way radios got separated on a trip together. I followed the route I mapped in a laptop and downloaded to an Earthmate GPS while my son-in-law followed the route presented to him by the GPS built into his car. About halfway into the trip his GPS took him off the main highway and into the mountains adding time and distance to his trip. Checking the map showed a place where the mountain road eventually came back to the main highway so we arranged a meeting place with the two-way radios. He was lucky. It was not so for people all over the U.S. and Canada as they blindly followed their GPSs. In one incident it cause a couple and their baby to spend several days trapped in the snow in Oregon and in August 2009 it lead a woman into Death Valley, Calif where it cost the life of her son. The only reason she survived was because a ranger saw her car tracks and followed them. The point is don't just blindly accept what the GPS presents you. When planning a route in the laptop I can always find a better, faster and cheaper way or a way that will take me by something I want t see than what is presented to me. Use paper or Google Maps to plan your route, print it out then enter that into your GPS. Sure it takes some time but that's better than being lead astray and it gives you a paper reference to look at in a scale that's easier on the eyes. We have come to blindly accept technology and we expect it to work. The problem is technology doesn't always do that.

There is no such thing as enough water.

Back in 1992 the Riverside County Sheriff was asked how many bodies he thought lay undiscovered in the desert. His response was, "If they all stood up together there would be a forest".

It seems that the forest is growing larger with the discovery of a more than a few bodies in the desert between San Bernadino, Riverside and Imperial counties. Near Palm Springs 2 hikers lost their lives hiking in extreme temperatures. Another was lost then found caught in a crevasse up in the Painted Hills in Mecca, Ca. probably at the end of Box Canyon. Going further north to Death Valley a woman, her son and dog went out for an overnight camping trip in Death Valley and found tradgedy when their jeep got stuck. He first mistake was continuing into Death Valley after changing a flat tire. Her second mistake was thinking a a case of half liters bottles of water was enough. When found by the park rangers she was barely able to wave them down. Her 11 year old son was found dead in the car, the dog survived. That could have been avoided. If fact all of that could have been avoided if people would just excercise a little thought before going out for the day. We are well into August, the monsoon season. This is actually one of the worst times of year to go out for some playtime. The higher humidity levels work against you a lot harder than when the humidity is 12% or less. Easier to dehydrate and to become heat stressed since the body has to work harder to remain cool.

Never forget that there is no such thing as enough water in the desert.

Ja~ne

In memory of Bear. 1994-2009

Bear passed away last week. A 15 year old German Shepherd of exceptional note he was the best friend of my best friend who we call Bulldog. Going back more than 25 years our dogs have been friends and companions not only to ourselves but to each other. Simon and I have been caught in the desert in a broken down truck with our dogs awaiting rescue on a day with temps in the mid-one teens the dogs got the priority for cooling while we sweated out the arrival of a spare tire.

Two weeks ago we took Bear and my dogs Jin and Abby to the local river for some playtime then to the pub for a pint. That was the last time I saw Bear. He had a good time good time that day. Pass easy over the Rainbow Bridge Bear.







This was also taken the same day.

Who let the dogs out?

We all do perhaps a couple of times a day. If our dogs are really lucky they may go for an adventure, somewhere other than the park or greensward. Yet there are things we may not be aware of. For example heat stress can affect dogs more severely than people, hot pavement can burn sensitive feet and the pads on the bottom of their feet can be torn or lacerated as happened to one of my dogs recently when she stepped on a piece of glass. We dont usually think these things can happen however if you take your dogs on a hike or away from the park these things can happen. In the case of Abby who stepped on a piece of glass. A lot of blood and without a first aid kit and treatment it could have been really bad. "Wait a minute", Sez you, "First aid for a dog?" Why not you bandage your kids when they get hurt. If necessary you take them to the doctor to get patched up. Animals are no different. The methods and techniques are the same and you should learn where a dogs pressure points are. However the most common injuries are to the feet and thanks to the good people at Bordercollie.org here is what to do to dress a foot injury.


What you need: Scissors, fabric sports tape, Krazy glue, (other types of Super glue do not work as well) & corn starch.

Clean and dry the area thoroughly, cut a round patch, slightly bigger than the wound, make sure that you don't leave any square corners.

Apply a very thin layer of Krazy glue to the wound, the size of your patch. Apply the patch. Let it dry. Now apply another thin layer of glue on top of your entire patch, making sure to go outside of the edges. Immediately apply the corn starch (the corn starch is the key). Let it dry. If you would like you can apply another layer of glue and cornstarch but it must be very thin and overlap the previous layer. If any of the layers are too thick the patch will not hold. This will give you a patch that, depending on outside conditions, will stay on up to 5 days. It will fall off on its own as the pad heals. It will also give you a corn starched, glued finger that will annoy you for two days or until you figure out that acetone removes Krazy glue.


Good Luck!

A woman posted the following on an online forum:

We all know how deadly a parked car can be even on a mildly warm day. However, I have been known to leave the car running AND LOCKED with the AC on for The Dog. Makes me laugh when I come back to the car and he’s sitting there so proud and easy with his fur flying back from the fan blowing full blast.

As long as I have lived in the desert I've had dogs with me whether it's running errands, going to work or out to play. A dog's there. I have also learned that living in the desert presents special problems for dogs on the ground and in cars. So about a year ago I ran this experiment to find out what the interior temps of a car could get up to.

On April 19, 2009 at 10:32 AM I placed a Fluke K type thermocouple and digital thermometer in my car with the sensor element suspended in the air in the center of the passenger compartment. Opened all of the windows and the sunroof and let it sit until the temps equalized inside and out.

Time 10:15: Starting temp 85F inside and out.
Closed the car, all windows and the sunroof. Put up the window shades in the front window and closed the shade for the sunroof. Car now dark inside. Wait fifteen minutes. Time: 10:32am Check temp with shades in place. Outside air temp still 85F. It was 105F inside the car.
Step 2: Removed windows shades. Let the temps equalize and run a second test for 15 mins. Close car at 10:35. Next check time 10:51. The outside temp was no 86F. INside the car it was 111 without the shades. Those temps can kill not only a dog but a child as well. Add to that there are laws about l leaving dogs and people in cars. If you thinks it's difficult to breath on a still day when it's 110F outside think about what it's like in a car with no ventilation.

Desert rules for dogs in cars.
Rule 1: Do not leave your dog in the car. If you're not in the car your dog should be either; open windows or not.

Since that probably won't be heeded here are some more good rules.

Rule 2: Run the A/C set at max A/C vents pointed to the roof.
Rule 3: There is no rule 3.
Rule 4: To keep your car from overheating open the hood all the way. This allows heat to escape.
Rule 5: Always park in the shade with the back of the car pointing to the sun or where it will be.
Rule 6: Use a sunshade in the front window, cover sunroof with towel and leave it open 2".
Rule 7: Leave windows open a few inches.
Rule 8: Leave a large bowl of water.
Rule 9: Use terry towels or seat covers on leather seats.
Rule 10: Leave your dogs home on hot days because it's still against the law to leave them in the car A/C or not.

"But I want to have my dog in the car."

To be totally redundant; during the spring and summer anyone person or dog left in a closed car can die within half an hour. The only way I would ever leave a dog in a car is with a police K-9 A/C setup. Even then you run a risk if something goes wrong with the system. It is against the law to leave a person or pet in a car when the temps are elevated, about 80F maybe a bit more.

To prepare your car for dogs in summer (that would be a good name for a band) have your A/C and cooling system completely and thoroughly overhauled and serviced. Inspect all hoses replacing those that are marginal and the radiator flushed and rodded if necessary. Note that some K-9 cars I've seen have a thermostatically controlled door relay installed. If the temps in the car go over a preset level the doors automatically open allowing the dogs out and fresh air in. Considering the technology today that's something that should be fairly easy to find or make.

The thing is despite warnings on radio and TV people still leave there pets and children in the car when it's hot out. If I see it whether your A/C is running or not I call the cops or animal control. Last word. If the temps are over 80-85 and you can't take the dogs out of the car when you park...

LEAVE THEM HOME!!

Why can't we share?

Today in Yucca Valley, Ca we celebrated Earthday. On several occasions, one in particular, I was taken to task by friendly and non-friendly Desert Do-gooders. "I thought you were for protecting the environment", says one. "Why do you espouse giving 4x4s a place to play? They only destroy the planet", says another. There are several reasons. For one they live here just like you do, like it or not they are our neighbors. Next, they already exist and there is no way you're going to get rid of them. So the next best thing is to keep them under control in places where the damage can be minimized. Still the Do-gooders say, "NO! there is no place for off road vehicles in the desert." Then let me ask, where do they go? What do we do about an entire section of the economy; a major one at that? Just kiss it off and tell the people who have spent millions of dollars on off road toys to just chuck it? Does that mean I have to do the same thing with my jeep and boat and stop fishing? How about rock climbing, that damages the environment and hiking? All those feet contribute to erosion on our trails. The Do-gooders continue about how RVs, SUVs, ATVs and powered rollerskates aren't earth friendly not listening to the argument that if all had been left as it was then the areas the Do-gooders are now screaming about would not have been damaged. I do have to be fair however, the Baja Sand Bunnies do have a response to the D0-gooders. It's horsepower used go further into the raw desert or to sneak into places that are protected but not monitored. I do want the desert protected but it's not going to be done by closing areas A,B,C and D. It can be done however by closing areas A, B, C and letting the Sand Bunnies have area D. Unfortunately the Desert Do-gooders won't hear of anything like that screaming about how earth unfriendly I am because I drive a jeep while they drive earth unfriendly cars and wipe their bottoms with earth unfriendly toilet paper. To the Do-gooders it is all or nothing. Sorry guys, you can't have it all. You have to share it and you have to share it with the Sand Bunnies.

All about city-zens,

Jack a member of an online forum I belong to asked me: Just curious, "DeRanger" Steve, what is your beef with folks who live in the city? You know, quite a few of us have advanced degrees in science, live in cities, and are actually fairly intelligent. Please do enlighten me as to the animal-related health scams that I might be ignorant enough to fall for.

I don't have a beef with people who live in the city. I have a beef with city-zens, a particular type of people who live in the city. Degrees, intelligence, whether you belong to Mensa or the bowling team have nothing to do with being a City-zen. Neither does being artsy-fartsy or biscuits and beer. Simply put a city-zen is someone who moves to the desert and brings with them all of those things we ask them not to. The list is long and starts with 'A' for attitude and goes to 'Z' for zoology. City-zens bring uncontrolled growth and major changes to the environment and ecology in an area with limited resources (water) and a very delicate ecology. They build unwanted gated developments then complain that the desert is disappearing. It is disappearing because you are building gated developments. Buying a new home here they see xerescape (desert landscaping) not grass and missing suburbia's vast green lawns they plant grass not realizing that they are wasting our most precious resource, water, and creating allergies in a place where that was once known as a health resort because of it's clean air. City-zens bring driving habits compatible and acceptable where they live but not here and they refuse to change. e.g. We have surface street speed limits of 60mph. That is no place to be doing 40mph. Left turns are made from the left lane, not the right, there is a thing called a turn signal and pedestrians have the right of way. City-zens have taken what was once a laid back and relaxed environment with a very close knit community and turned it into Los Angeles. That is not something natives of the desert and long time residents want. We ask people who move to the desert to adapt, to teach their children a more relaxed lifestyle. All they do is bring that lifestyle with them and create more stress and rage. It's seen on our streets everyday.

Right now a developer wants to build 2500 homes at the entrance of a national park. He says he is doing it for "Our community" including himself in "Our community". He lives in Philadelphia what the hell does he know about "Our community" or the desert? We aren't resisting change and growth here. We are resisting the way the city-zens are doing it.

Worst city-zen we ever had here was Sonny Bono - Mayor of Palm Springs. He killed spring break, drove the tourists away and made a nice place for city-zens to live while killing the economy. "I got you babe".

We encourage people to move here. Just leave your city behind. This is the feeling of many desert communities including mine. I live in a an area that was surrounded by open desert and I could walk into the mountains. Now I have lots of neighbors and there's a fence to keep me out of the mountains. Locals didn't do that.

So you see Jack, it's not the people who live in the city. It's what they do when they move here.