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How my Son spent his Summer (lots of pics)

14 years ago

Kids come; kids go. Oneson left Sunday morning with Bigbaby and they're in Houston/Galveston now. Sunday evening the next youngest son (age 20) returned from his Summer job on a fire fighting crew in New Mexico. He rolls in at 11 last night and had classes at 8 this morning. Nothing like cutting it close. This evening he was sharing pictures from the fire line and I thought you might enjoy seeing these.

{{!gwi}}

On the line.

{{!gwi}}

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I thought this was a neat shot.

{{!gwi}}

The fire is crowning.

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On hisway home he climbed Mount Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado; I think 2nd highest in the lower 48.

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The view from the top.

{{!gwi}}

Ron

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Comments (17)

maryanntx
14 years ago
Those are great pictures!!! I bet that was an exciting and hard summer job.
glenda_al
14 years ago
Wow! Fantastic pic, but fires look so devestating! Glad he was safe.
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bigbaby
14 years ago
I wasn't worried about him until now!!!!! Holy Schnikies!
grammahony
14 years ago
That's some summer job. Hotter than heck I'll bet. NM is hot to begin with, let alone having to fight fires besides. He must love it. Great pictures
Leslie
lydia1959
14 years ago
He's braver and more energetic than most people I know! Kudos to him!

Are the fires wildfires or controlled burns??
veta
14 years ago
Those are some fantastic pictures. Ron, what does it mean when you say "the fire is crowning"? Does that mean it is burning itself out? Just curious.
Veta
kacram
14 years ago
WOW!
glad he is home safe and sound!
amazing pics!
pattico_gw
14 years ago
A big WOW from me too....

I made Denny come over to see them...I love the one where the fire is curling around the blackened trunk and it still has some green needles showing.

Very cool but sad picture.

patti
nodakgal
14 years ago
Wow is right.
You must be very proud of him Ron!
Those pictures are unreal. Takes someone special to stand up to that.
susan_on
14 years ago
Yes, you must be very proud of him! Fantastic pics.
hayjud_mn
14 years ago
Ron and BigBaby, I can see you have some wonderful kids!

Those pictures are amazing! I am also wondering what is ment by "crowning"
That picture looks like it is swirlling around. Is that when the fire creates it's own wind tunnel?

Thank you for sharing the excitement!
Adella Bedella
14 years ago
Awesome pictures.

Dh and I attempted to climb Mt Elbert about 12 years ago. We made the mistake of not acclimating ourselves to the altitude before we tried it. We left home at 300 ft and tried to climb Mt Elbert less than 48 hours later. We only got to 13,800 ft or so. I was dehydrated and my muscles were cramping. My knees started giving out on the way down. Dh wants to attempt it again when the kids get older.
donna37
14 years ago
Awesome pictures, thanks for posting them. You have wonderful children, no lazing around for them.
mduncan0614
14 years ago
Amazing pics. Congrats. I'm sure you are very proud, and rightly so.
OklaMoni
14 years ago
all I could think was: and he takes time to get his picture taken... YIKES

Glad he is home safe.

Moni
grinch_gut
14 years ago
Boy Ron I gotta get back on my meds....Those brought tears to my eyes what a supe son you have raised!!! You and Big Baby should be sooo happy!!! Tell him we said thanks......Wild Fires are crazy!!! My pics when they came thru our place didn't turn out like that!! Stacy
ronf_gw
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you all. Yeah, he's a pretty neat kid. His grandma is not computer savy and will never see these pics otherwise I'd never dare post them here.
The fires were mainly caused by lightning strikes. Sometimes the fire burns the debris on the forest floor and leaves the trees scarred but intact. When it gets hot enough entire trees will burn in just seconds. That's called crowning. The needles and small branches are gone in about 10 seconds, Ryan says. When this happens he says the noise is deafening and the heat is really intense.

A couple more from Mount Elbert;
Looking down towards Twin Lakes.

{{!gwi}}

There are abandoned mines in the area and he spotted this wheelbarrow along the trail.

{{!gwi}}

Ron

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