To the best of my ability I write about my experience of the Universe Past, Present and Future
Sunday, September 2, 2018
reprint of Call Mountain Lookout
Monday, May 9, 2011
Call Mountain Lookout
2 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Husband used to work here back in the early 80's. Thanks for the pic. Is
the little shed with the fenced in iron bedsteads still there just down
the slope from the lookout?
I don't really know because I haven't been up there since 1986 when I
last worked there. The problem is you have to go through multiple
private gates of ranches to get there so no one outside of those allowed
by ranchers could go there now. Also, even if someone walked there they
might want to be carrying a gun because the wild boars are really huge
up there. So, either carry a gun or be near a tree you can climb if
someone goes there.
2 comments:
Here is an example of what they use now regarding the Carr Fire in Redding or other fires:
https://mappingsupport.com/p2/gissurfer.php?center=40.635446%2C-122.509423&zoom=11&fire=CA%2CCarr
I have a great Boar Story which is true which shows you just how dangerous it can be out there by the way. The two biggest dangers there are Wild Boar that are so huge at times it was scary and the 2nd danger was that the dirt roads were made of clay with cliffs in some places where you could slide off in the rain if you didn't get out of there in time to save yourself and your vehicle. We were not allowed to carry firearms to protect ourselves in 1985 and 1986 because previous fire lookouts had gone boar hunting and the local Cattle Ranchers had complained. So, I wasn't allowed to bring a firearm to protect myself from the Wild Boar. I complied with this rule by the way.
So, one evening I was coming on duty for Call Mountain lookout and there are many gates you have to open and close between the several ranches to prevent cattle from one ranch going through fences onto another ranch. I felt a little vulnerable that night for some reason as it got dark because I couldn't see very far. So, as I got into my then VW Rabbit 1976 to drive and I started driving about 10 mph up the dirt road something hit me hard and threw my car into a ditch. I knew I had been hit by something big. I thought maybe a bull had attacked my car maybe at this point because it hit somewhere around my right fender or bumper on my car. Since I couldn't defend myself I kept driving in the ditch even though my side of my car was scratching some because it was my life I was protecting at this point. So, I eventually drove out of the ditch and just kept going up to the lookout. Staying alive was the best I could do then because I had no weapon to defend myself. And so my car had protected me from harm so far and I wanted to keep it that way.
So, I spent my 4 days and nights on duty there and as I was driving down (this time in the daylight) I came upon the dead carcass of a Mama Boar. She looked to be 700 to 1000 pounds and I couldn't believe Boars actually got this big. Her babies weren't far away either and they looked to be already 200 to 300 pounds each and were kind of whining. What had happened was she had attacked my cars right front bumper and it had ripped her lower jaw loose and she couldn't eat or drink and so finally had died sometime in the last 4 days and nights since she had attacked my car that night.
I was grateful to have survived there without a weapon. Never underestimate how much your vehicle protects your life. I haven't since then.
When she hit my car she moved it about 10 feet to the left into a ditch which is pretty impressive in itself. You have to respect her trying to protect her babies from a growling car and she likely didn't know what it was and thought it was a growling animal that might attack her babies.
But, I survived this and I'm very grateful for myself and my family that I did survive even though she didn't. The babies were big enough to survive on their own at that point so I knew the herd likely would take care of them. The Boar herds then numbered 50 to 100 it seemed at that time. Some times they would root near the lookout or if I heard them when I was on break outside I would climb a tree so I wouldn't be attacked. You were on duty I believe it was from either 6 am or 7 am the next 12 hours and on standby the next 12 hours. So, it was a lot like being a fireman in this sense because you have to be available for emergencies 24 hours a day while you are on duty. You did 1/2 week and your alternate lookout did 1/2 a week. So, you worked 3 1/2 days one week and I think it was 4 days 24 hour days the next week ongoing. What was nice about this job is that you had basically 1/2 week off each week. But, I also owned another business and was raising teenagers so I was basically working 7 days a week then to help get them all through school. We had 3 teenagers then we were raising. This job was attractive because of Free health care for all members of my family through the state job. This was the most attractive thing about the job because health care for 5 people in my family was hard to come by then anywhere at an affordable rate. And working for CDF (CAlfire now) was a great way for basically Free healthcare. They covered also dental and eyes too which was amazing then. So, by the time I decided to not do this anymore we all had had physical examinations by Doctors and had been to the dentist multiple times.
This also was where A Tibetan Diety told me that I was going to India on December 10th (I had never been there before) So, I came home September 1985 and told my wife we were going to India on December 10th. She knew I saw the future often and said, "How are we going to do that?" I said "I don't know I just know we are going."
So, The Diety was right only we left December 11th on a JAL Plane to Narito Airport Near Tokyo and then to Bangkok, Thailand and a few weeks later to Katmandu, Nepal where we rented a car and driver to take us to the Indian border at Raxaul I believe it was called. We used
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By the way (remember this was 1985 and 1986) the whole trip likely only cost us about 12,000 dollars for 5 people between the ages of 10 and 37 (my wife and I then were both 37). 6000 dollars for open ended tickets for 5 people and then in Thailand I think it was 40 Bahts to the dollar then. So, staying in a guest house was about $5 to $10 a night then. When we went to Nepal it was 20 Rupees to the dollar then so Nepal was very reasonable. India was a little more expensive because it was 10 Indian rupees to the dollar. So, for us, India was the most expensive part of our trip where we spent about 2 months traveling with a Tibetan Lama and his translator. And likely Thailand and Nepal then were the most reasonable places to travel. We learned to hire people to bargain for us because otherwise we would pay too much because often there were no set prices then and you had to bargain. It takes about a week or two in a place to learn what you need to know not to get ripped off financially. So, it is worth it to hire someone to bargain for you that is more local if it is still like this over there still. OR you can book a tour where everything is included. But, the way we did it we did the whole thing for about $12,000 for 4 months over there for 5 people ages 10 to 37. For example, right now it is 70.860857 Indian Rupees to the dollar and 113.908828 Nepalese Rupees to the dollar and the Thai Baht is
For example, the only way I could get a room for my family one place out in the country in India was to slap my wife in the face because the men running the hotel were too sexist otherwise because from their point of view she was too uppity for a woman in the country in India then. So, it was the only way to get a room for my family. After I slapped my wife's face (and she understood the problem too so was okay with this) we got a room. Later in the room we both shared how screwed this was that I had to do this to get a room for us to stay in the hotel. Remember I was traveling with my wife and kids at the time ages 10 to 14.
However, the ratios between currencies are different now. Here are the present ratios between currencies now:
Change Currency Table base currency