[HitTheTrail]

My niece is slowly working through the stuff my brother left when he passed and came across boxes of outdoor slides he took. He was an avid hiker and backpacker. She found photos of the time he and I did a multi-day fishing trip into Mad Lake off the Chiwawa in the early 1960’s. We were fishing when a thunder storm hit so we got in the tent. Just then there was a loud crash and part of the tree beside our tent fell to the ground in flames. As we were checking out the situation, a plane flew over and dropped a couple of smoke jumpers. “Wow, that was quick. How did you find about this fire within minutes?” “Oh a plane load of us were going to a fire when we saw this one so they dropped a couple of us”. They had the fire out in a few minutes just as the plane came back and dropped a note in the meadow beside us. The note said, "if you are done and ready to hike out, take your hats off". They yelled, “You guys take your hats off too, we want to go home”. Their packs looked to be at least 100 lbs and included digging tools and a crosscut saw. Anyone know either of these guys?

Smoke jumpers at Mad Lake, 1960's

[Get Out and Go]

Yeah, but do you recall how bad the mosquitoes were? It's been a few years since the last time I was in from Maverick Saddle. Sounds like about time we make a blood donation up there this year.

[HitTheTrail]