Well I know it has been quite a while since I tended to the blog, but a lot has happened in the Thompson household since last I wrote. To name just a few of the important ones, we had quite a medical scare with my wife back in Feb of 2011, thank God it all worked out and she is fine, then the Military decided they didn’t need as many ATC now that we are winding down the wars so we parted ways. Then the trip to Alaska fell through because the military took so long. So we moved home to Michigan, I am now attending Lake Superior State University.  We are still going to Alaska this summer though, we just had to back up our plans by a year.  And last but not least, we bought land and were going to build until we ran out of time and had to move to Sault Ste Marie for school. Soooo here we are, a full year since my last post and those are but a few of the major events that have changed our lives. So needless to say I have not spent a ton of time in the Backcountry this last year hence nothing to post about.

BUT, now I am back in Michigan and here in the Soo. A veritable playground for the outdoorsman/woman. I had a small trapline out this fall and have not connected with much. I attribute it to not being able to scout the ground before snowfall. But I have collected a few red fox which are prime and simply beautiful. I will be setting out a water line and I am hoping to bring in a good catch of Mink, Muskrat, Coon, Beaver, and Otter. We shall see, good Lord willing, and the river don’t rise.  I have attached the few pictures I have from this trapping season, I have a few of my trapping grounds and a couple of one of the last fox that I got.

Until next time,

Stay Frosty,

USMCPatriot

Around this time of the year there are many things to be thankful for; family, friends, and the time we all get to spend together. For those of us who believe in a god we thank him in multitudes for the amazing opportunities the year behind brought us and we pray for continued health and prosperity in the future. As we near our lord’s celebration I specifically thank him and praise him for the love of my wife and children, for the blessings of a great mother, father and two awesome brothers. I also am so thankful that we can spend these days together here in Grayling. We will all be getting together for the New Year. Because of work obligations and the normal family give and take, my brothers could not get here for Christmas. Last year we had an amazing time for New Years; it was a typical Thompson get together. There was a lot of gas burnt in the sleds, and by the end of the night we were all gathered around a Bonfire. There was no wind, the temperature hit -5°F but it didn’t phase us. As the sleds were put away out came the New Years libations, there was a little Ginger Brandy, a little Gentleman Jack, a slew of different kinds of Barley Pops, and the ladies had some wine. We enjoyed a few fine cigars, and good conversation, kept warm by the blaze, and brought in the New Year together surrounded by god’s creation.

This year we hope to do the same thing, the conditions are almost the same, except this year there is about 18” less snow. As of right now we only have about 6”-8” of old crusty snow. Last year we had 2 feet of fresh powder to ride the sleds on, and a lot more time with which to play. We will make the best of it though, as we always do. We have some new plans this year too. We have always taken a few days to take advantage of the late season for Whitetail in Michigan, but this year we are adding a day or two for some varmint hunting, and a morning or two for some ice fishing on the local lakes. I don’t hold out a lot of hope for the deer hunting this year. The Michigan government has been almost criminal in its neglect of the Whitetail herd in this part of Michigan, but that is for another post, this one is to be all positive!

The ice I am told is about 9 inches thick on nearby Lake Margrethe and about the same or a little thicker on Manistee Lake. We may have a little trouble though as there is a warm spell in the forecast. So that may prohibit the ice fishing a little, but we will see. If it does warm up I will probably use those days to shoot some coyote. Also a little update on the RV situation, we have placed our deposit and signed the contract on the RV I pictured in an earlier post so it is officially ours. We will be picking it up at the end of January or beginning of February so stand by for that. I will post again soon with updates on the results of our forays this week.

Until next time,

Stay Frosty
USMCPatriot

When you start planning a vacation most people start with questions like, “how many days will we be gone?” “What can we afford?” or “will that work with the kid’s school?” After 8 years in the Marine Corps my wife and I decided it was time to take a vacation other than going to my parents on leave for 2 weeks. We had been hoping and dreaming of Alaska for years because although we got married during my second year in the Corps, I got out for 4 years and worked various jobs before responding to the Commandant’s Call to Arms in 2007, and reenlisting. So since about 2002 we have been planning trips to Alaska and cancelling them for one reason or another, usually money or too little time. We have planned all sorts of excursions, week long trips, hikes, etc, etc. They all started one of two ways though, either with a flight, which if we were lucky, we could get round trip tickets from where we were for about 3000.00 for the whole family, or a cruise which would have been the same or more but with a lot less time on the ground seeing what we actually wanted to see. We eventually gave up trying.

Then came a paradigm shift in my professional life, I chose not to be an Air Traffic Controller or Marine any longer. I started off in 1998 as a normal Grunt; I worked my way through Squad Leaders Course, Corporals Course, Mountain Survival and Winter Mountain survival courses, Scout Sniper School, and multiple others before ending my first enlistment and the subsequent reserve time. Then, as I stated before, I felt the itch again in 2007. I went to the recruiter and inquired about a lateral move. Basically what a lateral move is is a request with the military to change job specialties. The only way I could justify coming back in with a wife and two children was to move to something a little safer. So after 4 deployments in my first enlistment, one to Iraq and one to Afghanistan and two MEU(SOC)¹, I looked for a job where I knew I would get an employable skill and not have as many deployments. I found that in Air Traffic Control but, as fate would have it, I hate the job. The things I liked most about being a grunt, leadership, team work, creative solutions, did not exist in my new job. So I found a new career in the civilian world, as a Police Officer.

In making my decision to move on from the Marine Corps I created a few enemies and my work environment has deteriorated to the point where I hate going into work. So a few days ago I came home and told my wife we need a vacation, in my mind though I was still thinking just a little week or two week vacation either home to Grayling, or my other favorite, to the Appalachian Trail in the Smoky Mountain National Park. She, on the other hand, had bigger plans and she threw them at me. “What about a trip to Alaska,” she asked. I thought about it for half a second and dismissed it, it would cost too much and we don’t have enough leave saved. After listening to me for about half a second she cut me off, “you don’t get it, we leave on the trip the day you get out of the Marine Corps.” For those of you who don’t know, the military has a process called Terminal Leave². If you have leave saved near the end of your contract you can go home early, and still be paid. You use your leave up before your contract is up but for all intents and purposes you are out. I will have 30 days of leave to use up.

It all started to click for me, it will be the end of July the kids are out of school, we have a good bit saved, and I will technically be without a job, although I will be a certified Police Officer and there are quite a few departments hiring around here in North Carolina. So I won’t have to worry about taking too many days from work, I just won’t start till I get back. Plus as a bonus I will still be getting paid by the Corps. But, then my pessimist side kicks in, those plane tickets, the hotel rooms, food, the bill was getting huge, and we would have to be back in time for the kids to get in school. My wife and I mulled it over for a few days and realized we could make this happen and not only were we going to make the trip but we are going to go all out.

So here it is I decided I am going to blog about the whole process from inception through planning and implementation to conclusion. We have solidified past the inception phase (can you tell I have a military mind I’m about to break out a BAMCIS³ or OSMEAC) and are entering the planning phase. So there will be more to come and soon, because the ideas are flowing out and we are going to make this a trip of a lifetime. There are a lot of surprises coming, we may not go the “traditional” route, and we have a ton of events planned and sights on our list to see so check back soon to see how we get there and where we go.

Key to terms:
1. Leave – Military equivalent of Paid Time Off
2. MEU(SOC) – Marine Expeditionary Unit Special Operations, this is when we deploy aboard Navy ships to float as a 911 force for world events.
3. BAMCIS – Acronym for military planning meaning:
B – Begin the Planning
A – Assign Reconaissance
M – Make Reconaissance
C – Complete the Planning
I – Issue the Orders
S – Supervise the execution
4.OSMEAC – Another acronym for the way orders are written meaning:
O – Orientation
S – Situation
M – Mission
E – Execution
A – Admin and Logistical Matters
C – Command and Control Issues

Until next time
Stay Frosty!
USMCPatriot

This is a little outside of the scope of what I write about here at Backcountry but it needs to be addressed.  There is an outstanding, young, not for profit organization doing some amazing things in Africa right now and they need some help. I’ll be the first one to admit I’m hard on charities working overseas when we have so much suffering at home, but this is different. This is not a charity, it is not just some people showing up with some t-shirts or shoes and dropping them off, never to be seen again. This group of people is changing the course of whole communities.  I know I don’t have a large following here yet but I hope by getting this story into the blogsphere that others will pick it up and spread the word.

The name of the organization is Nuru, its name in Kiswahili means the Light.  Kiswahili is the language of the Kuria region of Kenya, where Nuru is busy saving lives and changing the way people live.  The saying goes “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, Teach him to fish and you’ll feed him for life”  This is what Jake Harriman and his organization are doing in Kenya, teaching them to fish…kinda. Except their fishing is actually farming.

Ten years ago I met a Lieutenant who was assigned to 3rd Battalion 1st Marines.  In short order he not only earned my respect but my admiration. He is honestly one of the best Officers I have ever served with.  His name is Jake Harriman, at the time he was assigned to Weapons Company leading one of our Combined Anti Armor Teams.  During our first trip to Iraq we encountered a horrendous act of cruelty, he describes it in the video below. It has served as one of the motivators behind Nuru. After his time with the Thundering Third he went to Force Recon, which is known for its ferocity in battle.  There, on his second trip to the sand box, he earned a Bronze Star for valor.  After more than 7 years in the Marine Corps, Jake made the difficult decision to move on.  Jake graduated in 2008 from Stanford with his MBA in Non Profit Management, and started working on his dream, Nuru International.

Watch this video and you will know why he is doing what he is:

The End (Jake’s Story) from Nuru International on Vimeo.

I remember that day like it was yesterday, and it deeply affected each and every Marine that was there.  The difference is Jake has gone the extra mile and is doing something about it.

Nuru is not like other Non-profits, it is not the Christian Children’s Fund, Nuru is a short term, 5 year max, community education organization that is teaching small communities to provide for themselves.  Nuru is teaching farmers modern farming techniques that increase the yield of their crops.  Before Nuru gets involved the farmers produced enough food to supply them for 8-9 months. This obviously left 3-4 months with no food.  Through the use of modern techniques and fertilization Nuru has increased the farmers yield by 300%, allowing them to not only feed themselves but to store grain and sell their surplus to produce income.

The harvest in Kuria after Nuru got involved

Nuru recognizes the truth that extreme poverty produces extreme people, and through the eradication of extreme poverty, stability and security are fostered.  I am not an expert on how it all works, but I am smart enough to recognize that it is working, and this organization has amazing potential. I have attached another video that helps explain what it is Nuru is doing and how they are doing it.

How Nuru Works from Nuru International on Vimeo.

I will be keeping track of Nuru and posting updates from time to time. I hope to get an interview with Jake, and post that before too long. If you are interested in what Nuru is doing and would like to help you can visit their page at www.nuruinternational.org or visit their facebook page at www.facebook.com/#!/nuruinternational?ref=ts

If you are another blogger reading this, please link to it or repost it on your blog. This is more than just saving lives, its providing hope to whole communities, and we can be a part of it.

Till next time,

Stay Frosty

I had several dreams on my list when I was a kid; become a US Marine, check; marry a good woman, double check; have some kids, check; and then the lesser goals followed in my own version of a bucket list.

On my lesser list of goals was travel the world, hunt in Alaska, learn to sail, learn to fly-fish, learn to trap, and many others including hiking the Appalachian Trail.  After joining the Marine Corps I had managed to check off traveling, backpacking in the Rockies, skydiving, and scuba diving. Another one of my goals is to hike the Appalachian trail from beginning to end.  I had been on the trail once before with the family in February of 2009 but it was a little cold and the melting snow made the trail slick and a little dangerous so we didn’t go very far.

Start of the Appalachian Trail at Newfound Gap

Well over the 4th of July holiday I managed to check off another one of my goals, kinda.  Now obviously I did not hike the whole thing, or even a large portion of it, but the part I chose was amazing none-the-less.  We had put off hiking for a while now because the kids were at that age where they could no longer be carried, and they weren’t quite big enough to keep up the pace.  Well those days are behind us, and we are back to hiking.  My oldest, now 9 and my youngest now 6 accompanied my wife and I on a short day hike. You may notice that the pictures in this post are from the early spring, that’s because we had a major malfunction with our camera the day before our hike this year (I fell in the Oconaluftee river with it in my pocket) so the only pictures I have are from the 2009 trip.

The boys climbing on the AT 2009

We started out at Newfound Gap in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and turned around at the Sweet Heifer Creek trail-head.  Not a long hike, only about 3.4 miles round trip, but when you consider that in the 1.7 miles out we climbed in elevation from 5024 feet to 5850 feet, it was still challenging for a 6 year old.

We got started a little late in the day after lounging around our campsite all morning.  I loaded up my day-pack with some granola bars and two bottles of Gatorade.  I filled my hydration bladder with 100 oz of fresh water and we hit the trail.  We noticed quickly that most of the average sightseers turn around after about a quarter mile, because the trail becomes quiet accept for the wind.  It was a beautiful day for a hike, 79°F about 54% humidity, and a light 5-6 mph northwesterly breeze.  We had a little broken cloud cover that seemed to conjure up a cloud at just the right times along the trail.

Neo & Josiah on the AT

The footing through this area of the trail is excellent, and easily definable.  As we walked along my boys would stop every so often and climb a rock that was calling their name.  More than once they were shy’d away by their mother from one that was a little too close to the edge.  For the first half of the outbound leg the uphill was to our left and an amazing view of Newfound Gap was to our right.  In the distance we could make out the squiggly line of the road making its way down to the town of Cherokee.  The huge boreal forest stretched for miles around us, and the fragrance of the pines filled the air.  There were all manner of wildflowers growing in dispersed patches along the trail.  God’s work was on full display and we were gently trekking in the midst of it.  As we continued on the trail rose steadily in front of us and disappeared around a bend.  That is what keeps me going down the trail, I am constantly wondering what beautiful sight is just around the corner.  After about 30 minutes of steady climbing we came to a slightly level area where the trail crossed over a saddle to the other side of the ridge line.  With the uphill now on our right the breeze was a little more steady and it kept us fairly cool.

We took a short water break near this saddle and just lounged on the rocks sipping some water and catching our breath.  As we sat several hikers passed us going the opposite direction, I quickly discussed with them the trail conditions ahead and the approximate time to our turn around.  As they moved on we bid them happy hiking and they were gone, around the bend.  After a few short minutes we gathered ourselves and continued up the trail, every so often I could hear my youngest say to himself “this is awesome,” talk about making a parent happy!

We moved quietly along the trail, coming across several other groups headed in the opposite direction, always wishing them happy hiking and moving on.  The sun was now directly overhead and the temperature was rising.  We made it to our turn around point after about an hour and a half on the trail.  The temp had risen to about 84°F and the breeze was dying so we took a short break, munched on some granola bars and sipped some Gatorade.  After a 15 minute break to relax and enjoy the scenery we started back down the trail. We arrived back at our vehicle about 45 minutes after turning around!  The trail going down was so much quicker that even though it took us 1.5 hrs to the turn around the whole trip only ended up taking 2.5 hours.  When I was loading my pack in the car I checked the temp and it read 89°F, it had risen 10 degrees in just under 3 hours.

Needless to say we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and plan to make another trip before too long.  I hope next time to bring back some pictures of a new section of trail.  While I may not have completely checked off hiking the AT I at least got it started, and like the saying goes you have to get started if you want to get done. So till I have the time and the money to make the long walk, I’ll keep taking these day hikes.  Hope you enjoyed the hike as much as we did, till next time

Stay Frosty,

USMCPatriot

I am excited to get started with Skinny Moose, and I look forward to building a “fan” base!  I hope everyone enjoys what I have to say or at least disagrees enough to stay tuned.  I will explore and comment on all matter of outdoor activities from my daily trapline runs, to hunting, shooting, hiking, snowmobiling and whatever else I happen to take interest in.  I look forward to any and all comments. Lets get started!

Till next time Stay Frosty,

USMC Patriot