-Robert William Service - Tomahawk on the road

Folks, Ill be leaving to depart for sudan this afternoon and will be off line for an unknown amount of time. Ill re establish a connection once in country.

I just thought it would be fitting to post this poem by my favorite author Robers Service.This poem says volumes about me and guys like me who are truly "The men who dont fit in"

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

-Robert William Service

The Men Who Don't Fit In.

There's a race of men that don't fit in,
A race that can't stay still;
So they break the hearts of kith and kin,
And they roam the world at will.
They range the field and they rove the flood,
And they climb the mountain's crest;
Theirs is the curse of the gypsy blood,
And they don't know how to rest.

If they just went straight they might go far;
They are strong and brave and true;
But they're always tired of the things that are,
And they want the strange and new.
They say: "Could I find my proper groove,
What a deep mark I would make!"
So they chop and change, and each fresh move
Is only a fresh mistake.

And each forgets, as he strips and runs
With a brilliant, fitful pace,
It's the steady, quiet, plodding ones
Who win in the lifelong race.
And each forgets that his youth has fled,
Forgets that his prime is past,
Till he stands one day, with a hope that's dead,
In the glare of the truth at last.

He has failed, he has failed; he has missed his chance;
He has just done things by half.
Life's been a jolly good joke on him,
And now is the time to laugh.
Ha, ha! He is one of the Legion Lost;
He was never meant to win;
He's a rolling stone, and it's bred in the bone;
He's a man who won't fit in.

-Robert William Service

New Job - Tomahawk in Sudan

Folks, I have just been notified today that I was offered a teaching position with a private school in Khartoum, Sudan.

I have been to Sudan before while serving on a UN mission in Darfur. I look forward to returning there and visiting my good friends in Khartoum.

Im just throwing this out there but if ANYONE is interested in donating ANY amount to the Tomahawks Sudan ticket fund please feel free to do so via the paypal button in the right column of my blog.

I can promise anyone who donates an autographed FREE copy of my book(once i publish it- SOON!).

Anyhoo, gotta sign off, I need to print out my visa and look at some travel ideas.

Tomahawk - scouts out!

A few days in the Huachuca Mountains

Over the past few days I have been spending my time in the Huachuca Mountains of South East Arizona. I love this little range of mountains for its bio diversity and lack of people hiking around in them. Most folks like birders,mountain bikers, hikers and even the Illegal aliens stick to the well established trails. I like to "bushwhack" and explore the side canyons etc.

My good friend Matt told me about a land slide that occurred a while back on the road in Garden canyon. He drove out and found me then we proceeded to hike up to the area to take a look. there were 10 large stones - some as big as Matts car - blocking the road. It was a cool thing to see and there must have been quite a bit of noise when it happened.

We hiked around taking in all of the Beautiful maple trees in their fall colors. The Maple is my favorite in fall due to the wide range of colors they make after the first frost. You can see in the pictures how pretty they really are.

After Matt took off I wandered around the woods looking for a perfect stick to make into my new walking staff. I located a branch on a small Maple tree that was growing out of the base of a large Sycamore. It had the correct dimensions and was easy to harvest. I sawed it off the main tree using my swiss army knife saw. I sat there peeling the bark from my new stick and sanding it down with some horse tail plant. I noticed that it was getting pretty chilly and growing dark in the canyon even tho it was only about 4:30 PM.

I wandered back to my camp and crawled into my tent, fired up the stove and made some coffee and then concocted a "Mulligan stew" using what i had on hand a la the way Hobos made it back in the day.

My main ingredients were 2 Italian sausages, 1 can of carrots, 1 left over turkey leg, some left over stuffing, a spice packet from a ramen noodles, 1 small bottle of tobasco sauce from an MRE pack, and a small packet of salt.

The resulting "Stew" was filling and tasty. I cooked it up in a bread pan that i was testing out as a cook pot.

After chow, I read for a while then decided to turn it. what occurred next was somewhat like the scene in "Mad Max Beyond Thunder dome" when Max had to check his weapons before entering barter town. Man....I had on my person and in my pockets the following, 2 neck knives, reading glasses,Swiss army knife,cheap chinese pocket knife, multi tool, small flash light. Opinel knife, water proof match case,camera,chap stick, small wallet, 3 thumb drives, passport/ID/Papers,a custom made pen, 2 books of MRE matches,2 bandannas, and maybe something else i have forgotten but regardless, I found out why my pants wouldn't stay up - too heavy.

anyhoo, it has been a good time. I am in town today to check out some Job info etc. and Ill head back to the hills this afternoon. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

3 teens rescued After 50 days adrift

This a truly good News! I admire these kids, this is real survival against all odds. Not TV Bullshit.

Tomahawk - Scouts out!

– Thu Nov 25, 3:04 pm ET

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Three teens who have been missing in the South Pacific for 50 days — and were already eulogized in a memorial service — have been found alive by a New Zealand fishing boat.

The boys — two 15-year-olds and a 14-year-old — disappeared while attempting to row between two islands in the New Zealand territory of Tokelau in early October and were given up for dead after an extensive search involving New Zealand's air force.

Their craft had drifted 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) to a desolate part of the Pacific northeast of Fiji, when the crew of a tuna boat saw them frantically waving for help on Wednesday afternoon.

"All they could say was `thank you very much for stopping,'" Tai Fredricsen, first mate of the San Nikuna, said.

"In a physical sense, they look very physically depleted, but mentally ... very high," told New Zealand's National Radio on Thursday.

The boys, Samuel Pelesa and Filo Filo, both 15, and Edward Nasau, 14, will be taken to a hospital in the Fiji capital of Suva on Friday.

The rescue came not a moment too soon: Fredricsen said they had begun to drink sea water because it hadn't rained in the past few nights.

He said that the boys survived by catching fish and eating a seagull that had landed on their boat.

Fredricsen said the boys were dehydrated, sunburned and very thin, but otherwise seemed OK. The tuna boat's crew gave them small portions of fruit and fluids.

He said the boat's crew didn't normally travel through that part of the region, but was using the isolated sea route to shorten its return to New Zealand.

The boys come from the atoll of Atafu, one of three that comprises the tiny Tokelau island group where 1,500 people live.

Tanu Filo, the father of one boy, said the news was broken by one of the teens' grandmother after she had a phone call from the fishing boat.

"It's a miracle, it's a miracle. The whole village, the whole village, there were so excited and cried and they sang songs and hugging each other, yeah, on the road. Everybody was yelling and shouting the good news," he told Radio New Zealand International.

Atafu, Nukunonu and Fakaofo, picture-perfect South Pacific islets, lie 500 kilometers (300 miles) north of Samoa, surrounded by 128 mostly uninhabited coconut palm-covered islets. The territory has a total land area of just 4.7 square miles (12.2 square kilometers).

Everything Survival

My Good Friend "DW" has started a new blog called "Everything survival" about preparedness and survival topics in a PAW(post apocalyptic world), you can view the site at;http://everything-survival.blogspot.com/

Check it out when you find the time there is a lot of good info on it.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

Baxter State Park in Maine - Pics

My good friend Brock Dangerman AKA "The uncoiled rope" has finally returned from the woods of the far north. I dont know for sure because Brock wouldnt say but, I think he might have spent some time in the Pokie up in Canukastan again. Anyway, He has sent me a few pics from his flicker page;http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmbushcraft/.

Tim Smith , Brock and the students from the Bushcraft Wilderness Semester course offered by the Jack Mountains Bushcraft and Guide service, headed to Baxter state park in Maine for a little hiking and taking in the Fall colors. These are pretty pics and really make me miss my friends at the JMBGS in Maine. I have attached a couple pics of the Moose Harvested by some friends and local Hunters of Aroostic County near Masardis, Maine. I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I do.

In one of the pics I notices a short tailed weasle nibbling on a chunk of moose meat. These little animals are a welcome site around the cabin because they are wonderful mousers, better than a cat! I hope that this little guy hangs around the cabin at the field school in Maine. I want to get a look at him myself next summer.

For anyone interested in a Maine wilderness adventure - summer OR winter , please feel free to contact Tim Smith directly at;jmbushcraft@gmail.com and please feel free to check out the JMBGS website at;http://www.jackmtn.com/

Gotta go for now and meet up with my friends for a fun filled day of hiking and scouting for deer and Javalina.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

Street Weapons from Romania

Howdy folks, my good friend Roderick sent me this info written by "Mad Wolf" about the Street Weapons from Romania.It is from his website, you can see it for yourself at;http://www.donrearic.com/main.html.

This is a good article and reminds me of my time in Kosovo and Monte Negro. The Monte Negrans are well know as some of the best knife fighters in the world. The Knife in Eastern Europe is like the six gun was to the american west.Give this site a check when you find the time , it is both informative and interesting.

Tomahawk - scouts out!

Street Weapons from Romania

By Christian "MadWolf"

I was born in Bucharest- Romania, and I think like many others that my birthplace is the most beautiful place on Earth. Of course, its an arguable subject and no matter how nice a town is, it has his own dark sides like every town of the world. And yes, there are black sheep in every flock and where there are many different people, different interests can lead to violence. And violence has its own language and tools. In this article I will mention only the tools of violence.

Yes, I believe its a true fact that adversity makes a man (street)wise, but anger cannot stand without a strong hand. And how strong can a hand be to take you out of an area in one piece when a gang has made a circle around you? Maybe an armed hand would be stronger? Yes. Absolutely!

Like in most cities of the world, my town was divided into many zones an"controlled" by gangs. Some things never change... "Casualties" in most cases are people who have nothing to do with these gangs because when a gang goes to "war" and the other party is not "home" they end up generally beating people from the zone which is "controlled" by the other gang...

Even from my early days I earned a "reputation,” having a native attraction to fights. Growing up in such place, where fights were not so uncommon, I had to develop some kind of awareness...to see in a glance what could save me and what could hurt me. And in both cases I found a single term: weapons.

So I started to look and ask for information everywhere...my martial arts Sensei/teachers, police officers, friends, and of course ex-cons. Along the time I found that there were weapons for certain times and certain "ages.”

Like the waves of fashion, some weapons were more "cool" and more used than others. I found that some weapons were used only in summer time, others only for cold season...

Some weapons arrived on streets only after 1989 when communism has fallen and Romania opened to the world entirely...for weapons too.

Anyway, streetfights can be (VERY RARE) one on one or can look like a medieval battle with organized groups with various tactics but for sure, streetfights as I know and saw them have nothing to do with chivalry, "au contrairre,” its a real bloody matter where those involved can take serious (or permanent) damage, where crippling your opponents can be your usual "modus operandi" or a way to save your own life. Receiving some baseball bats on the back of your head and having it transformed into a soccer ball is an experience that sometimes you cannot have again because you are already a vegetable on a wheel chair or worst- in a coffin.
Now back to the weapons. Briefly I will try to describe what I used/found/saw with little descriptions:

Bats and Pipes- are very common. These are the main street weapons. All shapes,lengths and materials are allowed. Drivers that travel a lot have a wooden bat or a length of pipe under their seat for sure. As well as taxi drivers which are attacked sometimes. Bats are widely used because are effective, inexpensive and with a good reach. I saw bats between 30 and 100 cm long. Among martial arts practitioners police batons, tonfa, and lately ASP batons and spring telescopic batons are very popular. Various lengths of hockey sticks are used because they are light and tough. I saw also, for "life and death" situations, bats wrapped with barbed wire or with bolts in them. Thick rebar on various lengths are present. Pipes can be iron, zinc or lead.

Chains and Flexibles - Another easy-to-find item on street "arsenal,” the chain can be seen in all his forms, long or short, thick or thin. Very popular in rock/hardcore/punk gangs is sometimes used weighted at end with a lock. It is mainly used against knives and short weapons. From my own experience, a thick piece of chain can crush the flesh with those sinister terminal links since a thin chain can, literally, cut you. I saw on the streets both regular chains and distribution and bike chains. Bike chains are not so flexibles in all planes like an usual chain but can be wrapped over fist in a more suitable manner ( and its not so painful when you strike).
An improvement was when on the streets appeared the chainsaw saws. They have dents and they are used for strikes. The chain is held by an improvised rubber hose put over chain and the dents must face the hand to grab better.

I saw years ago in winter time a guy with an feather insulated coat stroked with such chain, his coat was ripped and the image was similar with an exploding pillow. Another form of chains is called here "japca" and consist in a very thin chain with fishing hooks tied with strong fishing line one inch apart from one another. Just imagine... A very rare form it is a slightly big fishing 3-hook anchor (around 8-12 cm. long) used to hook limbs, shoulders, or the back of the neck.

Not very popular but still there are chain flails or chain whips. These improvised "morning stars” have a lock or bike motric pinions for weight. Most used handles are from broom sticks which are used also for homemade nunchaku (which had his own golden decade on streets between 1980-1990). I believe these weapons never grow in popularity because their big mass and dimensions.

A personal idea, yet still in a project stage, was to link between them 3 - 25 cm. long steel pieces. Folded, could be used like a palm stick and released, the three pieces will be just longer than 75 cm. A striking device with a good reach, not too stiff, not too flexible...I wonder if someone had this idea before?!...not Chinese 9 or 7 section whips...just this hybrid ...

Steel and electrical cables, rubber hoses with or without steel insertions, military belts with heavy buckles, fiberglass rods, steel metal saw blades are flexible and I have seen them in the alleys. Whips with steel wire shafts are common in rural areas...sometimes with wire fall or with a bolt nut.

Knives and Swords- So many that I cannot describe them in this article. Anyway, a great galley themselves. I believe that here knives were used in fights many centuries ago before towns and streets were made. I'm a "blade lover" and according to rumors "cutzitar"- how here people name a person who carry a blade and will rely on it in case of an armed fight/ knife fighter. (this Romanian term also describes a handy person who makes (nasty) tricks with knives or even a circus knife juggler but most times can be translated by "handy with knife") .Yeah, maybe that’s why I cant feel one finger on my left handJ. Don’t make boots with skin of my hands! You’ll get wetJ

Being related with these weapons I can say that I saw hundreds of models, both commercially, manufactured and homemade blades. As a rule, homemade blades are fixed but I saw some very nice custom spring knives. Spring knives and folders are very used as well as Balisongs. Fixed blade knives are used less because of laws and police officers can look at you pretty weird in a street search. Big knives and swords are used more on serious organized "wars" where possibility of an injury is higher. Many wiseguys carry knives as back-up weapons and many of them are brave enough to show you his blade from very near...of course, there are also many asses in lion skins...

Of course, here can be mentioned all-time favored neck bottles among short cutting devices and broken, big, lightbulbs which, as I saw, leaves ugly round scars on cheeks.

Swords, most of them are "ninja" models because of short length and bigger handle that can allow a strong two-handed grip. The swordsmanship is not at all Oriental but purely European, blocks being made with the sharp edge and not by deflection...a style developed by trial and fatal error. I saw many swords that appeared to be saw blades because of nicks in the blade and I also saw homemade swords constructed from big metal saws sharpened on a side. The bad thing about these destructed edges is that the flesh usually is tear not cut and if somebody survive such experience will have a hell of a "memories" on his body...

Swords are more a psychological weapon and many people use the unsharpened edge to strike but when it comes...can be very bad...

In prisons edged weapons are improvised from many materials like tin, glass, Plexiglas, and PVC. I heard also from various sources that cons improvise swords from bed metal sheets... The self-explanatory "Button hole makers" or "tire killers" exists also in form of short "Phillips" screwdrivers and awls made from bed steel coil springs with wooden handles.

Fist Enhancers- A very vast topic because those items were and still are very used and most of guys who hang out on streets know how to use them. Door keys, butterfly keys, thick nails wrapped with thread, aluminum and brass valve cocks (You know, the thing that you turn to turn on/off water in a pipe) used like a knuckle-duster along with "classic" aluminum and brass knuckles. Metal or wooden "Ts” (just like a push knife), "T" shaped double window knobs, usual door knobs, coins, plastic disposable lighters held between fingers, 1.5 volt batteries (walkman type), brass hardware pieces and round hose clamps worn on finger like a ring, small chain circles worn over fist. Half of small scissors with the ring on finger and the bar held in palm or the ring held in palm and the bar sticking between fingers (a versatile item!), small wrench keys, small pliers, elastic band wrist watches (put inside palm with the glass screen inside and used like a "slapper") and even sun glasses saw action in brawls and street fights.

A well respected item is the dented motric wheel from bikes. Known like a "knife deterrent" is used as a defensive weapon by knife fighters. The handle is just a portion of wheel which was wrapped with a rag and taped over. That gives a reasonable grip for hitting with it. Another variant of wheel is a steel or brass disk between 10 and 15 centimeters diameter which is bend 1/3 around a broom stick. The bend part is held against palm heel.

Lately I heard and I saw in hands thick markers, pens, CLOSED carpet cutters, and even small/thin aluminum deodorant spray units as well as commercially or wooden homemade kubotans. If an object can hurt, just take a strong grip and make it part of your opponent...simple huh!?

Concussion- here the background of small/hand hitting weapons consists mainly in use of blackjacks, named after his French term "CASSE-TETE" which can be translated as skull crusher. The are made from a coiled spring with a steel or lead ball. Sometimes they are just that and I found that in use, the spring can pinch your skin. There are no commercially made blackjacks here (they are especially mentioned in laws) and all pieces I saw were manufactured by individuals.

my way of making a blackjack is to make a mold from plaster of Paris and inserting in it, still wet, a 35mm film canister, a medicine bottle or a yellow "Kinder" chocolate egg canister (to eliminate further file work to get a rounded head shape).

After plaster is set/dry, take out the canister. Put in the remaining hole a suitable coiled spring and fill it with melted lead. After lead cools down, insert a rubber hose over spring. Tape all. If you want a lanyard, just force and glue into the spring a short wooden dowel, pierce it and attach a string.

The "old timers" used a big lead ball and as I learned from an old ex-con, God rest his soul; the ball was made in a round mold. To make a ball mold, you must put in plaster a wax ball ( or a small balloon or condom which is punctured with a pin and pulled out after plaster is set). I didn’t saw too much "slappers" but I think with 2 lead pieces melted in a soup spoon held in place with 2 screws on a steel sheet someone could make an usable slapper. (Flat Sap)

Other concussion items used are pressure hoses with wire outer-layer and metal fittings on ends, small chains with locks, metal whistles with lanyards, door keys with a longer lanyard, bike rubber inner tubes tied on ends and filled with sand , short heavy chains or weighted steel cables and inserted in rubber hose. A hard hitting item is a small Coca-Cola plastic bottle shrinked (so made smaller and thinner) with boiling water and filled with sand.

Slingshots are very rare used and usually are just short pipe fist enhancers with a nylon cord. An Ukrainian friend of mine, Alexei (Nazdrovyie) served in Navy and told me about a slingshot he used made from a lead ball encased in a monkeyfist knot made from nylon cord. I understood that variations were made with big nut bolts and machine gun bullets or brass casings filled with lead. The lengths of string was measured from elbow to the finger tips of user because it was swung safer, used a little space and was controlled better.

This monkeyfist slingshot in Romania, could be found more frequently in harbor towns as keychains. Even its not an "Mariners only" weapon seems that seamen have a pronounced tendency to use it. Kind of legacy I presume...

A weird (and also very rare) mix between a slingshot and a slingshot its a slingshot made with a strong elastic band. It can be used like a slingshot or can be upgraded to a devastating level aiming the opponent and shooting the lead ball like a slingshot...

Please note that all information about above mentioned weapons were collected in more than 15 years. Of course, I will not stop here because I will never be too old to learn something new...Anyway the people who use these weapons are exceptions...

Many thanks Don for your web page, so unique and so interesting. Thanks for searching this field. A nice lot of work but remember -you are not alone. Here comes the well known wolf/pack strength quote :)

I wanna dedicate this article to all those who made me what I am...

To Sid, Manole, Vasile, Maitre Renard (Merci Beucoup mon Proffeseur! Tu es avec moi dans chaque jour de ma existence.), Alexei, Misha, Sasha, Vlady, and many others from my neighborhood or not...anyway too many to be mentioned here.

Christian "MadWolf"

June 2002

(And thank you, Christian. I think it is important for everyone to realize that no matter what “ban, law or regulation” comes down the road, in whatever country you live in, the criminals will always have weapons. Always, and because that is a reality, you must always be aware of what they are using.

Former communist countries always amaze me, the people in these countries were tough under communist rule and they are tough now. They survived in a very harsh and oppressive environment. Real world survivors and we can learn from them.

It’s pretty funny actually because I have been making a few Sailor’s Slungshots which you folks will be seeing soon enough on here. Neat to see that so many ideas are being kept alive by people all over the world.

Christian contacted me quite some time ago, I believe over one year ago about possibly writing an article about Streetfighting in his part of Europe.

Thanks for taking the time to do this Friend.)

- Don Rearic

copyright DonRearic.Com

"Ago Puteus Foris" It means Live Well Outside.

Live Well Outside
Here is another great blog post from my friend Tim at Jack Mountain Bushcraft and Guide service.

Tomahawk - scouts out!

Borderland Beat: Mexican Marines Reconstruct the Death of Don Alej...

Alejo Garza was a brave man, one that I would be proud to call a friend. Here is a little info about what happend.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

Borderland Beat: Mexican Marines Reconstruct the Death of Don Alej...: "When Mexican Marines arrived at the San Jose Ranch, 15 kilometers from Victoria, Tamaulipas, the scene was bleak: The austere main house w..."

Tomahawks Birthday Presents

Folks, I just wanted to post a pic of the Knives and tactical pen my good friend Trapper Jon of Trapper Jons Knives in Sierra Vista, Arizona gave me for my birthday.

Jon invited me over to his house for Dinner to celebrate. Jon gave me an Opinel folder, a "fury" tactical pen and a cool old Cresent multi tool in a leatherman belt sheats that has a small flashlight on it. cool stuff. Ill use all of them when I hit the woods.

In addition, my good friend Matt and his wife gave me a small bivvy tent and a large container of home made cookies and a bag of trail goodies.

The Turkey dinner was excellent.

Tomahawk - Scouts out!

Jack Mountain Bushcraft Blog post and Pics

Elliott Merrick On Wasting Food
My good friend Tim over at the Jack Mountain Bushcraft blog has posted some new pictures of the Maine woods in Autumn for you all to enjoy just click on the Elliot Merrick link and it will take you to the JMB blog.

These photos really make me miss Maine and the deep woods there in. Also, the book Tim Mentions; "True North" by Elliott Merrick is one of the best books I have ever read on north country travel and real adventure. And i totally agree with what he says about wasting food, that is why I never waste ANY food.

Take the time to check out Tim's blog for some good reading and beautiful pics.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

Tomahawks Desert Walkabout - personalized survival trek

Folks, Over the past few months I have been getting a lot of emails about what type of survival classes I teach , well....the truth is I dont teach anymore and do not want to run one of those hokey type survival schools you will find in the east USA, and other places ran by TV personalities that really dont know their collective asses from holes in the ground...anyway, I digress.

I will be providing one one one (or maybe 2 on one) personalized Desert survival training to those interested over the winter. I am booked with a few people for the next month and a half but will be available for January, February, March for anyone interested in a full blown Desert and Mountain expedition.

These trips can be from one week to 30 days.

We will travel Light in the Huachuca ,Dragoon and possibly the Chiricahua mountains, forage, cover shelters,locating water, plant and animal foods, bows/arrows, apache throwing stars, sling shots, stealth camping, tracking, fires,crafts and other things I can think of.

For anyone who has the time,desire,money and freedom to attend a Tomahawk desert Walkabout feel free to drop me a line and we can make the arrangements for your personalized desert trek.

Just throwing it out there for anyone interested.

Tomahawk - scouts out!

Tomahawks final leg Hitch hike to arizona

It was Saturday afternoon when I said my good byes to my new friend Doug and shouldered my pack to begin a short hike to the Highway.

The Highway is just a short hike from Doug's "Earth ship" house so it was an easy hike, I stood around for about 1/2 an hour before catching a ride with 2 guys to Lordsburg, New Mexico. In Lourdsburg tho ,my luck ran out and darkness fell before I could catch a ride out of there towards Arizona.It was only around 5:30 PM when it got dark so that - to me, is way to early for bed sooo, I spied a days Inn motel and went over there to "Borrow" wifi internet for 2 hours or so. Next, I walked across the road and simply jumped the fence, and walked out into the Creosote bush, after a short search I found a rockless place to lay out my bivvy sack/pad and poncho liner. Once I had my bed laid out I laid there eating trail mix and sipping water until I was sleepy. I was surprised to find myself sleeping for about 10 hours.

In the AM, I walked over to the Days Inn and bummed a cup of coffee from the receptionist then went out to the interstate ramp and soon caught a ride with a trucker named paul who drove me to Benson, Arizona. I called my friend Matt in sorry vista and he drove the 30 miles to benson to pick me up.

It was a good trip, Tomorrow after taking care of some personal business, Ill head to the Huachucas to camp for a few days.

See you when I get back.

Tomahawk - Scouts out!

Jack peak in the Burro Mountains of New Mexico

Folks, First I would like to thanks my good friend VINNY from BCUSA forums for the note.Im not a member of BCUSA any longer so I cannot reply there. I have gotten several emails from other folks of a similar nature, I do appreciate it Thank you very much. Ill keep traveling as much as I can in the future.

Anyhoo, yesterday, My friend Doug and I decided to take a break from cleaning up pack rat shit and junk around his property and take a 8 mile round trip hike to Jack peak on the continental divide trail in the burro mountains . the trail is a short drive from Dougs property , so we took one beer, and one liter of water each and piled into his hippy fan for the drive to the trail head.

The hike up was pleasant and the temps were around 60 or so, it was a beautiful November day in New Mexico. The bright Blue dome of a sky blessed us with abundant sunshine. About 1/2 way up the trail we took a break and drank a beer then finished the hike. along the way i was munching on cactus tunas and juniper berries, they all looked so good I couldnt pass them up.

At the top of Jack peak there is an old forest service camp with many of the foundations still intact. I took a pic of myself in front of a cool looking old chimney.

The hike down was uneventful but enjoyable, here are a few pics from the hike.

Tomahawk - Scouts OUT!

The "Horno"

My New Friend Doug and me fired up this "Horno" that he salvaged from a dump in Ketchum ,Idaho. This stove is a very efficient way to keep warm. just the shape of the stove kicks a lot of heat out front and it is then reflected back by the cabin wall about 10 feet away. over the past few days, my friend and i have enjoyed cooking and sitting around this "Horno".

Last night we made a pot roast in the dutch oven using this device. it turned out pretty tasty.

Tomahawk - scouts out!

The great Basin Highway(93)

I was standing at this very sign, just outside of wells, Nevada eating a Quiznos chicken sandwich that a previous ride bought for me when my New Hippy friend Doug pulled up in his fan.

I recall looking south and noticing nothing but very cold looking mountains with a storm front approaching.

The view was spectacular tho and I was Lucky to get such a long distance ride.I just wanted to share this picture.

Tomahawk - scouts out!

Venison stew a la Tomahawk

Folks, I just wanted to share a picture of some tasty and colorful Deer ans Antelope stew that I made when I was in Montana.

It is a pretty simple recipe using one pound of each type of meat, some canned vegall, and what ever else my friend Jager had in the 'Fridge.

After eating dried foods and misc junk for a few days, I could sure use a bowl or two of this stew!

Tomahawk - Scouts out!

Idaho,Nevada, Utah,Arizona, and New Mexico

Folks, at my last post I was in Great falls Idaho. After spending the night at a cheap hotel I called a local taxi company for a ride to the edge of town. I fella named Dave showed up and gave me a free ride (about 7 miles) to Hwy 93 south, the only payment he wanted was my blog address, he was a very nice and generous person.

After the Taxi dropped me off I managed to catch a series of short rides until a nice fellow names Steve and his lovely wife Barbara picked me up and took me to wells Nevada where the bought me lunch at a Quiznos sandwich shop, after that steve and barb dropped me off on the edge of town and and we said our good byes.

I stood around in wells Nevada for about 10 minutes when i spotted a "Hippy looking" van approaching with a bed tied to the top. Doug pulled over and asked me where i was going, I told him arizona and he told me that he was headed to silver city new mexico. SA-weet!

We drove for a few more hours and Doug knew of a decent camp spot off the road in an beautiful aspen grove, we stopped there, made a big fire, ate some munchies and drank the last of my whisky.

in the morning we stopped off in Ely Nevada to buy some food the that night and headed for Utah. in Utah we camped south of Kanab, made a bunch of food and headed out the next morning for some hot springs in New Mexico, that night we camped in a spot off of Hwy 180 in NM.

we drove the rest of the way to SDougs place in the Burro mountains near silver city.
Im going to hang around here in NM for a while to help Doug rebuild some of his cabins etc on his property here.

He will head to arizona in early Decamber so Ill catch a ride there with him instead of hitch hiking. After all, Im not in a hurry and have no where I need to be.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

Congratulations to my friend Melinda

I forgot to post this the other day, my good friend Melinda from the NE USA got a nice little "Forky horn" white tail buck. She used a Ruger muzzle loader.

It was a good shot and a clean kill. In her own words;

I got out in the woods by 7 over by 7:30. shot the walking deer at about 60 yards broadside with a Ruger 77/50 muzzle loader right behind the left shoulder. Ran 30 yards. no blood trail. just piled up. Small deer. just a fork horn about 105-110 pounds.the end :)

Tomahawk - Still Hitch Hiking

Tomahawk in Idaho

Howdy Folks, just an update to let you all know Im currently in Twin Falls Idaho. I hitched out of Helena , Montana Wednesday morning about 9 AM or so.

My friends wife dropped me off at the mullin road historical marker on the west side of Mcdonald pass near Helena on wed. I caught 1 ride to Missoula,and then a series of rides to where I camped last night some where south of Salmon, Idaho.

I was Lucky to catch some decent rides today and made it to Twin Falls, Idaho and In the AM, Ill pass into Nevada and make my way south to highway 56, then head East toward St. George, Utah. I hope to get to Page Arizona by Sunday. Im toying with the idea of hiking through the grand canyon from the North rim to the south rim, just for shits and giggles.

Ill post some more pics by and by.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!