[SGVLUG] Guns, 4WD...and Linux (well, OK, really Dustin's vacation)

[Dustin Laurence]

Hah, got your attention, didn't I?  I think it's best to write an
attention-grabbing subject line first, then try to figure out what kind
of message would go with it.  Lessee: guns...4WD...I was almost on the
road to being a *real man* until I added Linux to the list, wasn't I?

Anyway, now I have to write something to live up to the subject
line...oh, yeah.  I can ramble about why I'm going to miss LUG *again*.
Sigh.  It looks like I will be somewhere in Montana visiting in-laws or
something.  We'll take the 4WD though and try to do some camping on the
way up, and try to take at least a couple of easy off-road trails for
the fun of it (I know of at least one little one in Grand Teton and I
think we have a map of one somewhere up near Cooke City that gets you
part way to grasshopper glacier or something).  Maybe hiking in the
Beartooths.  I always wanted to spend a week or two hiking up there, and
we can't do that this time, but we can try car-camping near trailheads
and day-hiking.  Yeah, car-camping and day-hiking is tenderfoot stuff,
but I've been living in SoCal so by now I'm the very model of a
tenderfoot, right?  (If you thought I was going to say "the very model
of a modern major-general, pat yourself on the back for being a Gilbert
and Sullivan dweeb.)

Ah, yes, the mountains, the bright stars above...that lonely feeling of
looking through a huge window *into* the universe...it makes you ask the
big questions.  The questions that really matter.  Questions like: I
wonder if we have enough warm things to handle sleeping in a tent above
10,000 ft in September?  I wonder I'm in good enough shape to hike above
10,000 ft?  With Eric on my back?  And will my huffing and puffing be
loud enough to let the wildlife know I'm there and mean no harm?  And if
we let the pup come with us is smart enough yet to let me know there if
there is something big in the area?  And smart enough not to invite it
over for tea?

OK, I mentioned Linux and 4WD, got to work guns in here somehow...ah,
right.  In case the name *BEARtooths* didn't clue you in, that *is* bear
country, and not the cuddly little black things around here either.
(It's also cat country, but they are less of a worry.) There are a
startling number of shooters on this list, so I might as well add that
I've actually been debating with myself about whether I want to pack a
little large-caliber bear repellant for the unlikely event that we have
a close encounter; bear attacks are very rare, but I have this aversion
to the feeling that I'm not prepared.

The trusty mauser gathering dust in the closet is actually a very light,
handy, luggable gun, but the cartridge is too light for that job even
with 175-grain loads...in fact, anything reasonably sane to fire is too
light for that job, and anything heavy enough isn't sane to fire and is
even less sane in a light luggable gun.  But I started asking myself
what I might want along anyway, especially if we *do* plan for longer
hikes and camps further out in other years.  Fun question for a few of
you who like such things.  I tend to think of things like a
short-barreled 12-gauge slug gun and a Marlin guide gun in .45-70 (yeah,
I like old cartridges--what of it?).  That would not be a fun gun for
plinking!

Of course, we *could* just carry pepper spray like every other
tenderfoot and yahoo, especially as we won't be penetrating the
backcountry.  That's sensible and easy, so we probably will...on the
other hand, there is a well-known joke: a guy goes into a general store
in Red Lodge to buy a few last supplies before heading out for his first
hike in the Beartooths.  He buys some bear bells and pepper spray, and
then worriedly asks the proprietor how to tell the difference between a
black bear and a grizzly.  The proprietor thinks a moment and says
"well, you can tell by the scat."  Our man replies "Well, what is the
scat like then?"  The store owner pauses to spit out his 'backy and says
"It's pretty easy.  Black bear scat contains nuts, berries, and seeds.
Grizzly scat usually contains little bells and smells like pepper
spray."

You know--we should have a LUG outing to a shooting range.  I might try
going to the gun show in Orange County tomorrow and just look a bit at
guide-gun sized firearms, if anyone is interested.

Dustin

-- 
    "Intolerance?  The *truth* is intolerant." -- le Faux

The small binary attachment on every message I send is my PGP digital
signature, not a virus.  If you don't know what that is, you can ignore it.
If you do, my keyserver is pgp.mit.edu.
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