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Drug Ops

Today marks the end of the special operations that have been occurring all week near our district headquarters. We’ve had most of the Park’s law enforcement down there raiding marijuana gardens and monitoring the grower’s communications. It made for interesting chatter on the radio, though somewhat annoying when one needs to call out and the command channel is flooded with their traffic. The rest of us had to resort to the tactical channels, which, for whatever reason, Dispatch only infrequently monitors.

On Tuesday we had a Blackhawk come in to supplement the H1 Huey that was searching for suspect trails in the area (and, the unconfirmed report is, was shot at on Monday). Listening in, there was a lot of confusion over relaying locations between ground teams and the helicopters. For some reason indiscernible to me, they only resorted to gps coordinates after unsuccessfully attempting to describe locations with landmarks and rough distances. There was a lot of confusion over communications, in general. Quite often the field teams would have trouble reaching ICP, and vice versa. Apparently nobody sat down before the ops and marked the ideal locations to place the portable repeaters.

All in all, it was entertaining and enlightening listening, though it’s a comfort to have everyone back, no longer relying on only two Medics for the entire park.

Bear Tracking

Last night, I went out with the Bear Technicians in Cedar Grove, down in the bottom of King’s Canyon. They have two bears down there who have been running amok and finding their way into houses, the generally accepted retaliation against which is hazing, for which we have plenty of fun toys: water guns, sling shots, pepper spray, paintball guns loaded with pepper balls, shotguns with rubber slugs, and the neighborhood dogs. (Hazing the humans who left food out and their windows unlocked is not yet standard practice.) So, last night, we were tasked with tracking the two bears and making their lives slightly less pleasant than usual.

One we tracked for a few hours, but he ran away when approached with the shotgun. The other managed to ditch her radio collar and evade us.

I imagine we scared off a few tourists: cruising around with the driver pointing a spotlight out the window, the front passenger scanning with the nightvision goggles, and me in the back, holding an antenna out the window, working the telemetry, with the paintball gun sitting next to me.

We were unsuccessful in trapping or hazing (much) either of the two bears by 10:30P, so resorted to driving through the campgrounds looking for food violations, which amounts to spying on people with nightvision, followed by a raid of their camp.

I left to start my drive back up to the top of the canyon a little before midnight.

review, books

On the Road to Kandahar

Jason Burke’s On the Road to Kandahar despite its title does not deal exclusively with Afghanistan and the former power-seat of the Taliban. It is the author’s account of his experience reporting, for the last decade or so, from the Islamic world. Focusing on the rise and nature of militant Islam, Burke puts forth his theory on the dispersed and autonomous nature of the groups, analyzing the cause of their rise and their increasingly lacking support from local communities. Though I’ve yet to read his first book, Al-Qaeda, this one seems to be in large part a rehashing of the same, but updated, broader in scope, and, after the attacks on the author’s home city of London, more personal. I quite enjoyed it. A recommended read for those interested in the region.

Fresno Tree Removal

On my way out of the autonomous republic of Fresno today, I passed a Fresno Tree Removal Service truck with wood-chipper in tow, which struck of chord of humour with me.

We couldn’t have trees in Fresno! That would mean shade and clean air and everything else that Fresno so valiantly stands against.

Eating Local

Most weeks, I venture out of our mountain stronghold into the autonomous republic of Fresno, in search of groceries. It seems ironic to me that despite Fresno’s size and location in the huge agricultural production center of the valley, I’m still eating Washington apples.

Does that still count as local?

review, books

The Prince of the Marshes

The Prince of the Marshes: And Other Occupational Hazards of a Year in Iraq, Rory Stewart’s second book, is a depressing read. Detailing Stewart’s time as CPA governor in two of Iraq’s southern provinces, it gives a clear view of the mess of politics in the country. Despite intentions, any action taken by any party is turned negative, or at best futile – demonstrating the failure inherit in a people who do not wish to be governed, being governed by a people who do not wish to govern.

Foiled Again

Yesterday (the first day of my weekend), I was tapped for a SAR. I was told to be ready for 48 hours in the backcountry at 0645 today. Despite messing with my laundry plans, I was excited for the chance of a little excitement – free helicopter rides are always a welcome addition to my weekend. So, I get my pack together and prepared for a few days, only to hear that, a few hours later, they found the guy.

Next time…

review, books

A Sense of the World

Jason Robert’s A Sense Of the World is a biography of James Holman, the Blind Traveler. Living in the early 19th century, Holman traveled the world, not letting his blindness come in the way of his successful career as a writer or his circumnavigation of the globe. I found the book itself to be wanting in detail – the sense of adventure in his travels is often missing – though this is more likely due to the lack of source material than the author’s talent. For those stricken with a case of wanderlust, or, as Roberts so skillfully puts it, the “freedom of abandon”, this account of “poet turned warrior turned wanderer”, the clear predecessor to Burton, is a recommended read.