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dog.breath
07-09-2012, 10:47 PM
Hi guys, been a while since I've been on the forums and even since I've had the chance to get outside. Finally had the opportunity last weekend.

The excuse was dove hunting, though to be honest, I don't much like to eat dove, so I don't much care for shooting them. As my Uncle George says, "the best recipe for dove is to wrap them in bacon, then broil them, then throw away the dove & eat the bacon", LOL. Well, I guess I'd rather not kill 'em in the first place & just eat the bacon. It was nice to be out, though, as I haven't had the chance in months, and I got to take a few nice pictures while I was there.

Drove out to an area we call The Black Hills outside of Mammoth, AZ. I think technically it's a little north of the actual Black Hills, but we call it that anyway. Just a couple minutes after turning onto the big wash/road that gets us up into the hills we spotted this guy. I have never had the privilege of seeing a desert tortoise in the wild before. Quite the treat!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8036/7921919228_ebd4f54dba_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spirituscanis/7921919228/)

Shortly afterward we found this fella basking in the road. Thought he was a Western Diamondback, but a herpetologist friend says it's more likely a Mohave:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8460/7921938590_265e097518_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spirituscanis/7921938590/)

He was not too disturbed by our presence and we finally had to kick sand at him to get him to move off the road.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8174/7921938226_e77d4b6013_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spirituscanis/7921938226/)

We finally made our way to an old corral & water tank, where I then just did some hiking around to take some more pictures.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8180/7921937504_c67dc0e484_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spirituscanis/7921937504/)

I found some sotol stalks to harvest for practicing friction fires:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8316/7921936828_6a5d963099_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spirituscanis/7921936828/)

And some delicious Desert Hackberries
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8308/7921929870_4a23544ac9_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spirituscanis/7921929870/)

And nice things to look at all around:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8311/7921935722_9fec39bc8a_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spirituscanis/7921935722/)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8309/7921934294_c3fd2d7432_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spirituscanis/7921934294/)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8444/7921933378_b74aa8a640_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spirituscanis/7921933378/)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8462/7921931526_8345be88fd_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spirituscanis/7921931526/)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8175/7921930914_765cb5eb5e_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spirituscanis/7921930914/)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8031/7921928316_bbfbfdc31f_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spirituscanis/7921928316/)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8450/7921928752_29ef5f9459_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spirituscanis/7921928752/)

Had a nice fire & a good sleep in the sand to make me feel like a real human being again (sorry, no pictures). Did a little half-hearted shooting in the morning (friends did get some dove & a couple of rabbits), then it was back to the city. I am REALLY looking forward to the weather cooling off and spending more time outdoors this fall.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8306/7921929338_678806fe13_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spirituscanis/7921929338/)

Thanks for looking!
FishyFolk
07-09-2012, 10:50 PM
Beutiful scenery sans the snakes. I can never get used to those things. We don't have them where I am from .:-)
JonnyP
07-09-2012, 10:57 PM
Amazing looking place.. Thanks for putting that up.
Do you use (what I assume is) the flower stem on the sotol stalks for the friction fire lighting..?
dog.breath
07-09-2012, 11:01 PM
Amazing looking place.. Thanks for putting that up.
Do you use (what I assume is) the flower stem on the sotol stalks for the friction fire lighting..?

Yes, that's exactly right. Here's a short video I made of using either a sotol or yucca stalk (can't remember which one this was :ashamed:) to get a hand-drill ember:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHmLrkqvu7A
jus_young
07-09-2012, 11:09 PM
Some stunning pictures there. Not sure about sleeping in the sand though, the thought of a snake sharing the bed would be too much!
AL...
07-09-2012, 11:12 PM
Beautiful shots mate . Thanks for sharing. :)

Cheers
AL
dog.breath
07-09-2012, 11:30 PM
Some stunning pictures there. Not sure about sleeping in the sand though, the thought of a snake sharing the bed would be too much!

Heheh, well, I suppose there's the risk of that, though luckily it hasn't ever turned out to be a problem (especially once the nights & evenings start to cool below about 65/70F). I have woken to ants crawling on me, but even that seemed to be the anomaly. Something about being able to sleep directly under the stars & moon, though... :)
jbrown14
07-09-2012, 11:43 PM
Awesome pics, DB. Makes me miss New Mexico, haven't been back since my grandfather died back in 2001.

Thanks for sharing!

Josh
mrs fish
08-09-2012, 08:03 AM
great pics looks like you ad a great time
JEEP
08-09-2012, 08:21 AM
Stunning scenery!
fish
08-09-2012, 08:38 AM
wow what a place to camp!
JonnyP
08-09-2012, 08:41 AM
Nice work with the hand drill. It took me way longer than that to do it last time I tried, which was some years ago. I really ought to practice it more often as its so simple.
We have a plant called mullein which grows around here. It has a tall flowering spike and is meant to be good for hand drills. I have some in my workshop that I have dried, so will have to dig them out and give it a go.
dog.breath
08-09-2012, 04:33 PM
Nice work with the hand drill. It took me way longer than that to do it last time I tried, which was some years ago. I really ought to practice it more often as its so simple.
We have a plant called mullein which grows around here. It has a tall flowering spike and is meant to be good for hand drills. I have some in my workshop that I have dried, so will have to dig them out and give it a go.

Mullein grows pretty readily in the mountains here. I've heard rumors of success using mullein on mullein, but I haven't had any. I have, however, confirmed that a mullein spindle works well using our local cottonwood as a hearth board. I'd be curious what you find works with the mullein you've got in your area.
happybonzo
09-09-2012, 05:57 AM
Brilliant pictures - thanks for sharing
dog.breath
10-09-2012, 02:31 AM
Thanks for the kind words, everybody. I like your avatar, happybonzo. Looks a lot like my heeler, Lefty:
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5173/5538328101_2d496b5ca7.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spirituscanis/5538328101/)
jbrown14
10-09-2012, 03:01 AM
Oh, Dog Breath, you just made my day with the Neddie Seagoon quote in your signature line. Didn't know there was another Goon fan on here!

Later!

Josh
dog.breath
10-09-2012, 03:09 AM
Oh, Dog Breath, you just made my day with the Neddie Seagoon quote in your signature line. Didn't know there was another Goon fan on here!

Later!

Josh

Hahah, awesome, Josh! Gotta love the Goons!
happybonzo
10-09-2012, 07:10 AM
Thanks for the kind words, everybody. I like your avatar, happybonzo. Looks a lot like my heeler, Lefty:
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5173/5538328101_2d496b5ca7.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/spirituscanis/5538328101/)

Great looking chap - check your PMs
Proventurer
10-09-2012, 08:36 AM
Really good and well documented!
The kicker for me, is the fact you are one of the few Americans I've come across that knows the difference between a Tortoise and a Turtle!
Great stuff.
Jason
23-09-2012, 01:37 PM
Stunning scenery and excellent photos !!! Thanks for sharing !!!