Mountain Man In Training

This post is all about Guitar and his long road to becoming a Mountain Man. Last October, Guitar and I and our ladies went to the Spanish Market and Mountain Man Rendezvous at The Fort Restaurant here in the Denver area. At the Rendezvous part we watched a bunch of re-enactors demonstrate pioneer skills.

Guitar was particularly mesmerized with the fire starting exhibit. No matches here. No electronic gadgets. No gasoline. Fire was started using flint and steel, some charred cotton cloth, lots of tinder and a lot of lung power. I'm not sure why Guitar is so infatuated with fire, most guys kinda grow our of that after a while....I did, after I set the school on fire in my younger years. #1 could tell stories about that, but I digress.

So, Guitar really thought it would be cool to start a fire with a rock and a tire iron. Being the observant friend that I am, I tucked this bit of information away and for Christmas I got him a fire starting kit....complete with instructions, because novice mountain men need a little direction.

Guitar told me that he had tinkered with the kit a bit in his back yard a few times but had never had the chance to try it out for real. Our trip to Tucson and back gave him the perfect opportunity. On our last night out, while camping in Navajo Lake State Park, he decided to take the Mountain Man Part One test.

I helped him scrounge bits and pieces of wood and tinder from around the empty campground. We got enough for just a little fire....if he was successful. I watched him for about 20 minutes and periodically would offer him a little gasoline, which to his credit, he declined. He's a determined guy.

After 20 minutes I got cold and went inside the RV to the "sure thing modern fire". Every couple of minutes I would go back outside and give him words of encouragement like "Putz!", "The Indians would have what's left of your scalp by now!", and go back inside the RV.

I was inside the RV getting ready to do my Mountain Man lasagna in the microwave when I heard him shout and bang on the side of the RV.

Sure enough he had a fire going. Now I wasn't there to see the actual ignition point...and the gasoline can for the generator was sitting outside next to the RV. I guess I'll have to take his word for it that he didn't use the gasoline because the silly grin on his face couldn't have come from using gasoline.

I'm pretty sure that if any readers, wherever you might live, need to have a fire started in your back yard to burn leaves or whatever, Guitar would be happy to travel there to start a "Mountain Man fire".


By the way, Pic-E, Too Tall, K and The Bride...what do you think of Guitar's hair do in the third picture down from the top?
Thanks for visiting.