TOWNDAWG LOST

“Oh where, oh where has our little dawg gone?

Oh where, oh where can he be?”

“Dang, Prosecutor, that's harsh!”

“The bear fence I have developed and tested weighs 8 lbs. Has 8000 volts. @ d cell batteries with a Brunton Solar panel to keep the batteries charged and the GPS. Some body mentiones cattle running down elec fences ,okay...........I have already talked to many of the Park Rangers and lots of locals in Alaska, they all tell me it is a good thing. Bears are curious and will investigate the plasctic streames you tie on the fence, They ususally get so close they are believed to be able to smell the elec charge according to some of the Bear fence studies. I also have been told that the bush planes left in the Back country all have electric fences around them while they take folks on Day treks.
I also have exercised my rights and have and will be packin a 44 mag. And all legal with a concealed weapons permit. Allowable in this Park in Alaska.
I am needing some volunteers to test how mant times my Bear fence will continue to put out 8000 volts by touching the fence... and how long the Batteries will last with continuous touching......ANY TAKERS????

FI SCOCK and Yellow Jacket have good ones.
By the way.I have talked to Tawn Dawg and he actually gained weight and is back HOME.”

“I wasn't necessarily saying it was useless, I'm just saying it shouldn't be your only defense. I don't think I would take a bag of combo's into my sleeping bag just because there was a fence up. You have obviously recognized that this is only another deterrent and can not be counted on as absolutely effective. Well done.”

“That's not much of a trip report, Fridge.

How about you try the fence and let us know if you piss yourself when the juice hits ya.”

“8000 volts on d cells... nice output... I wouldn't have thought it was possible.”

“it aint the voltage that kills ya though. It's the amperage. What kind of amperage does it have Fridge?

Voltage is the equivalent to P/SI in a water pipe. Amperage is the flow rate as in CF/M. They usually work opposite of each other. i.e: high voltage=lower amperage
Like a car battery only has 12 volts, but 300+ amps, and your house has 120v, and 100 amps, or 240v and 200amps.
last edited: 9/30/07 12:51:11 PM”

“I dunno, I thinnk I'd take my chances without something like that. Im really not afraid of bears.”

“Hey-hey, ask Fridge about that bear in Cranberry Wilderness.”

“Im really not afraid of bears.”
Spirit Coyote
2:25:39 PM


famous last words...”

“hey Fridge - how about a gear report on the sat phone - that's what I am interested in”

“Did TownDawg get found?
I'm not reading all the thread.”

“Fridgy found the Dawg and the bears didn't eat him.”

“Apparently the sat phone worked great HOI. He called half a dozen of us. LOL!”

“it aint the voltage that kills ya though. It's the amperage

That's true but for a simple zap, rather than a deadly shock, the amperage is somewhat less important. The car battery is DC which packs more punch per volt than AC current.”

“Satellite Phone www.mountaingear.com
Item # 112689
7.1 oz GLOBALSTAR
last edited: 9/30/07 2:45:45 PM”

“As someone who might be going with Fridge to Alaska, I'm glad to hear there is another line of defence against bears. I know we will be using other things, but one more sure isn't going to hurt, only help. I know I will sleep better.”

“I'd still love to hear the tale from TD. It'll no doubt be a 10 page write-up like only Chris can write. I can just see him out there fighting the bears for mast as they get ready for winter.”

“Good morning everyone. I'm at work, and yes I made it out. I got some good stories to tell, but you'll have to wait until I get a chance to catch up here on work stuff.

Lost?.. well Mike and I were separated, but we both pretty much knew where we were. I'll explain the whole thing when I get a chance.”

“Ahhh, so HE was the one that was lost? We see how you're going to play it.


Glad you're safe. Being LOST can be scary. 8)”

“Glad you both made it out ok.
I had a great trip last weekend. Put in at Cable Cove and paddled acsoss Fontana Lake. The water was so far down but we found a good place to beach the canoe. Hiked up to 84 and first thing I saw was a bear high-tailing it up the trail from our campsite. We fished hazel and bone valley creeks all day Sat. and I got a few rises but no bites. No other bear siteings but plenty of scat on the trails. Hiked back out on Sunday and several hikers we met had bear siteings. Hazel Ck. is a beautiful area and it would be a shame to build a road thru there. The actual trail is a road anyway so the park service can take family up to the cemetaries. At our campsite there are about 4-5 tables together for a family reunion or decoration. I want to plan another trip in the spring.”

“Say you get up in the middle of the night. perhaps still a little drunk.....go outside and happen to whiz on the fence?”

“bet you only do _that_ ONCE!!!”

“good point bm! Make sure you pee on the tents instead. Much safer that way.”

“If ya whizz all around the tent, who needs the electric fence?”

“Well here’s the deal y’all.

The trip started off very normal. Mike and I arrived in Cherokee, NC at almost exactly the same time, and followed one another to the trailhead within GSMNP. For those of you who do not know, there are over 900 miles of trails in the park, with the exception of this area—where there are basically no trails. Our plan was to hit the trail at first light the next morning, and see how far we can get each day. We knew it would be hard, and some might even say it was crazy, but we both wanted to at least make an attempt.

We parked at the trailhead, and got us a nice campfire going. I cooked me a nice dinner of Big Ol' Mess (Smoked Sausage in Spicy Sweet Sauce) similar to this link: http://www.recipezaar.com/174747, while Mike studied the maps a little more. After some good eating and some discussion about Alaska -- we both called it a night so we’d be able to hit the trail bright and early the next morning.




THURSDAY
We had no problem hoofing it up to CS#44, and thought we’d make it to “three forks big pool” by early afternoon, or even lunch. There are two trails leading there, and both begin at the McGee Springs campsite (#44). The “Breakneck Ridge” manway is the quickest and safest, and is probably one of the oldest trails in the Park. Age does not mean obvious, and it’s easy to lose your way. Going down McGee Prong and then down Right Fork is slower but your chances of getting lost are zero. Just go north to the campsite and keep on going north down McGee Prong. When you get to Right Fork, turn left and keep going. This route is the easiest one to follow and has the potential for all kinds of accidents on slippery rocks. If you’ve got good rock-hopping skills and good balance it isn’t bad, but most people usually don’t go down that way.



We decided to take the “Breakneck Ridge” manway route. For those of you who don’t know, the manway route can be divided into two parts: 1) The part from McGee Springs that goes west to the top of Bearwallow Top, and 2) The part that goes northwest down the mountain from Bearwallow Top to Three Forks.

On the first part there is fairly good correspondence between the manway and the deviations where we took a more open way through the woods. The whole idea is just to get there, and the trickiest part was figuring out which was Bearwallow Top. It's the highest point on Breakneck ridge but you will go over a couple of prominent points before you get to it. Once you make it to Bearwallow Summit, and the mapped portion of the manway fell out of use about twenty years ago, so when you leave Bearwallow summit you should go straight and then begin to veer right as you drop. At first the woods are open, but soon the trail enters the rhododendron and most of you already know from our previous discussions that Hell is Green.

This is where the trip went crazy. Mike said, “Chris I set my map down somewhere and I need to go back and get it.” That would be the last time I saw Mike all weekend. After waiting about an hour for Mike to come back, I left my pack at the tree, and backtracked trying to figure out where he had gone. After another 30 minutes of hollering out his name, and searching around I suddenly realized I wasn’t even entirely sure where how to get back to my pack. Fortunately I got decent skills, and found my stuff, but still no sign of Mike.

My mind got wondering where he went. Bears? Lost? Hurt? The possibilities all come to mind, and after another 30 minutes of waiting -- decided that the best thing to do was to leave him a note and go on to “three forks big pool” before it got dark.



After some fun bushwhacking I’m standing looking at the river and no sign of Mike. I decide to work my way upstream and try to figure out where he is. To make a long story short, I went up and down the river so many times that I got tired, frustrated, and a little bit scared. Where was Mike? I decided to work my way back up to CS#44 and see if maybe Mike was there waiting for me.

I’m ashamed to report that I was much farther downstream than I thought, and ended up in the worst patch of green hell that I’d ever seen in my life. I thought I’d never make it back up the 1000’ elevation adjustment, but when I finally did get to a patch of open woods, it was way too dark to explore any more, and decided my best bet was to call it a day and try to find Mike the next morning.


FRIDAY
I took my best guess as to where I was, and plotted a course eastward. After walking nearly half a day through mostly open woods I needed water badly, and chose to follow a stream south in hopes of figuring out better where I was, and to make sure I had water when I needed it. I was amazed at how the woods grows right up to the water’s edge, and how you really have no choice once you start working your way along a stream to stick with it as long as you can if you hope to make any decent progress. The elevation ran pretty flat, and the cold water felt good to my ankles and calves, which had been sliced pretty good yesterday from all my bushwhacking.

The sound of rushing water was exciting as I realized I was almost to a point on the map I recognized, and knew it would not be long before I was on the trail again. Unfortunately the rushing water was not the confluence of the other stream, but a fifty foot waterfall. I had no choice but to back up and find my way up through more green hell in hopes of taking another bearing and figuring out my best way to get back to my car. The terrain was steep, and I did a lot of clawing and hand over hand climbing.

When I finally did get to the top, I was greeted by open woods again, but it was obvious that I had stumbled into the local bears’ favorite hangouts. The ground was tore all to pieces, and matted down all around me. Again, it was way too dark to explore any more, and decided my best bet was to forego cooking any dinner, and call it a day.


SATURDAY
I was reasonably sure exactly where I was, and plotted a course eastward. A mile or so, and I hit the Hyatt Ridge trail. Another couple hours and I was back to my truck at the trailhead. Mike’s truck was gone, so I knew he made it out safe as well.


SUNDAY
Got a tetanus shot and a prescription for antibiotics.

MONDAY
Back at work, and lots of good memories. Thanks everyone for your concern. I appreciate knowing I have good friends who care.
last edited: 10/01/07 9:54:08 AM”

“Yep, a grand adventure.

Towndawg is back, you may panic now.”

“Glad you made it back ok, it sounds pretty harrowing.”

“I hope to hear the full version around a campfire one day.

What's the tetanus for?”

“Great adventure, Dawg!

I was wondering about the tetanus too.

Did you wrassle some bears?”

“Did you go and bite a bear?”

“The doc said that when you scratch your skin (from bushwhacking) as excessively as I did my arms and legs that you run a big risk of tetanus due to bugs, animal urine, dirt, bacteria.. etc.. etc.. He said it was a good precautionary measure -- just as taking the antibiotics for 10 days would prevent any chance of me getting a staph infection.
last edited: 10/01/07 12:24:02 PM”

“Those must be some funky bears.”

“Dang, your legs must've looked like hb meat.”

“DH: yeah.. for real.. pretty bad.. it only hurts for the first few minutes.. but after that it's all raw meat -- and it don't hurt when the thorns rip your flesh away.”

“I've had some torn up legs from bushwhacking Sipsey but can't imagine them being bad enough that I had to go to the doc. That must be fugly.”

“I told y'all the bears and hogs would be more scared than TD. ;-)


Fridge and I have the same trekking poles.”

“I bring cipro on bp trips.”

“Could we retitle this thread, FRIDGE LOST?

Thanks TownDawg for the trip report. I tried to bushwack through those rhodedendrum forests to get back to our car, and it was hell. Our group averaged less than one mile per hour, and in the 1.25 miles we covered, we had to crawl on our hands and knees seven times. It IS a green hell.”

“makes the wide open spaces of SoCal look pretty good right now.”