why we live in the desert...

Search
Go

Discussion Topic

Return to Forum List
This thread has been locked
Messages 1 - 62 of total 62 in this topic
Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 19, 2013 - 01:50am PT
This is why;.........
Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 19, 2013 - 01:51am PT
He likes Jude's painting too..
Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 19, 2013 - 01:52am PT
crusher

climber
Santa Monica, CA
Aug 19, 2013 - 02:03am PT
YIKES!!! Did it stay for dinner?


Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 19, 2013 - 02:06am PT
My wife will be right over...



































with her shotgun.
Dr.Sprock

Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
Aug 19, 2013 - 02:22am PT
Tarantulas are cool, they eat all the scorpions,

Keith Ferguson, bass player for the fabulous thunderbirds had a Gecko in his basement that ate roaches and baby rats, made a weird sound that use to scare soldiers in viet nam,
NutAgain!

Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
Aug 19, 2013 - 02:26am PT
I caught one on a road outside my town when I was growing up, kept it as a pet for a day or two until my brother and I (in the midst of some stupid trick that began with "I bet you can't...") knocked over a dresser with the glass container which broke.... In short, we made it temporary living quarters, and the tarantula escaped that night.

Mom was afraid to come home for lunch, found it a few days later on the living room curtains. I took it out back to the creek, and it hunted down my mom in the service yard of the hardware store where she worked at the time (which happened to be downstairs from where we were living).

So I didn't get tarantula pets after that.
Dr.Sprock

Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
Aug 19, 2013 - 02:35am PT
had a friend who passed out jn his sleeping bag one night in a park near portland oregon, woke up with about 50 baby garter snakes, they like the heat i guess, then he got food poisoning for 3 days from some homemade onion soup that his mom sent him from los altos, ca,
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Aug 19, 2013 - 03:52am PT
Uh.... That's why I don't live in the desert. Or in the South.

I don't like bugs.
Patrick Sawyer

climber
Originally California now Ireland
Aug 19, 2013 - 05:28am PT
Tarantulas are harmless for the most part, their 'hairs' can cause some irritation apparently. We used to have them on our property in Saranap (WC/Lafayette).

Okay, was it Dr No that James Bond was 'threatened' with a tarantula? Any other films where tarantulas were a threat?

In fact any other films where a 'creature' was to be used to kill? And forget about that dumb Star Wars prequel.

Put your thinking caps on, or else, I'll drop a large spider down your shorts.
Delhi Dog

climber
Good Question...
Aug 19, 2013 - 05:35am PT
Silly me, I thought it was for the killer sunsets, great climbing, lots of space, views that disappear into the distance, dry air, fewer people and summers that just keep on giving...

Top five most poisonous spiders:

Brazilian Wandering Spider
Australia Funnel Web
Black Widow Spider
Red Backed Spider
Brown Recluse

http://andyoz.hubpages.com/hub/The-Worlds-Most-Poisonous-Spiders

I'm knott a big spider fan.

cheers
justthemaid

climber
Jim Henson's Basement
Aug 19, 2013 - 09:09am PT
Fast, small and bitey spiders freak me out way more than big mellow tarantulas. I saw one crossing the road in Calabasas last week.
Charlie D.

Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
Aug 19, 2013 - 01:34pm PT
Ever see the movie Home Alone? The would be burglar would be me screaming, large spiders creep me out!!!
happiegrrrl

Trad climber
www.climbaddictdesigns.com
Aug 19, 2013 - 02:06pm PT
Gaaa! Here, I deal with Wolf spiders, which are huge enough. The problem is, they can move FAST if they want to, which makes them even worse than tarantulas, I think.
NutAgain!

Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
Aug 19, 2013 - 02:11pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]

This was filmed in the town where I went to high school. I was a senior, 4th year on the football team, stoked to be an extra like all my teammates in the movie, but I quit the football team and dropped out of high school so I could hitch hike to community college and get enough college prep classes to get into a real university.

So I missed my movie star opportunity, but at least I don't work as a bus boy in a restaurant in that town still.
Spider Savage

Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
Aug 19, 2013 - 02:17pm PT
Obviously one of my relatives.

Tarantulas are highly intelligent (for bug) and lucky. However, they do not belong in the house.


I predict Todd will have 3 years of very good fortune followed by only moderate good fortune after that, unless he meets another tarantula in which case the very good fortune will be renewed.
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Aug 19, 2013 - 03:01pm PT
real attention getter when one rares back on the hind four
and offers to take you down with those remaining grapplers
Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 21, 2013 - 01:14am PT
He's back.......................................


Chaz

Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
Aug 21, 2013 - 01:30am PT
We don't see them around here until late September or early October.

When we were kids, we'd put them in people's mailboxes.
giegs

climber
Tardistan
Aug 21, 2013 - 01:49am PT
Check your boots.


Delhi Dog

climber
Good Question...
Aug 21, 2013 - 01:57am PT
Back on one of my first GC river trip one time I woke in the morning went to put my ballcap on...just before I placed it on my head I decided to check it (hadn't been doing this) and pulled down the band inside it...whoa man there were two of these little dudes curled up together. I was pretty lucky and forever afterwards I always check my clothes before putting them on when camping.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_bark_scorpion

I also sleep in a tent now on GC trips...

10b4me

Ice climber
Wishes-He-Was-In-Arizona
Aug 21, 2013 - 02:02am PT
Years ago I knew a person who never slept on the ground in Jtree(he didn't have a tent).
He took his chances sleeping on top of the tables, even if it meant he might roll off.
Sioux Juan

Big Wall climber
Costa mesa
Aug 21, 2013 - 02:14am PT
Delhi Dog

climber
Good Question...
Aug 21, 2013 - 02:37am PT
That picture of Tucker says it all:-)
Nohea

Trad climber
Living Outside the Statist Quo
Aug 21, 2013 - 02:48am PT
Let me speak for all of us who live in my home..."dear desert dwellers, Thank You for doing your part to keep the beaches, these soft sanded beaches, hugged by the beautiful blue and clear Pacific, clean and uncrowded"

Aloha
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Aug 21, 2013 - 03:30am PT
hey there say, todd and all...

this was a nice and interesting share...

just little bits of folks life experiences with
'connections to the desert' in various ways, :))

kind of like nice casual 'kicking back' in the backyard, talk...


nice share, everyone...



i'll add a bit:
we had them in south texas...

when the now-ex, me, and the first-half of our kids first moved there,
i was watering the plants there...

the warning--though it came as a joke-hoax type thing--as that was how my ex sometimes was--was this:
"don't put any water down that hole, or a tarantula might come up"


me, well, i thought the ground was just dry and cracked... so i let the
water go down, wondering why he said that...


well, he wasn't joking, that time,
and he was just letting me know:

yep--i reckon i jumped about two feet, when the critter jumped up from the hole... split second, there it was, and not seemingly very happy to have been disturbed!! :O
*never did THAT again, :O



(the side of town where we were, was none for them... so he knew)...
saa

climber
Bleau, cham, pink granite coast
Aug 21, 2013 - 09:50am PT
Hey Todd

When do we clean your garage so the boys
Can climb in winter?
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Aug 21, 2013 - 10:31am PT
Here's a nice and interesting article about a disgusting subject.

neebee, I give up! :>)

http://www.myhousecallmd.com/arachnophobia-the-truth-behind-spider-bites/
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 21, 2013 - 11:04am PT
I know the dood who was the spidey wrangler for "Arachnophobia".
Let yer imaginations run wild, very wild, and you'll have an approximate
vision of his abode. Did I mention he makes a nice living raising and
milking Black Widows?

"So, Johnny, just how do you milk a Black Widow?"
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Aug 21, 2013 - 11:05am PT
Hey Todd

When do we clean your garage so the boys
Can climb in winter?


No telling what you would find in there.
Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 22, 2013 - 10:18am PT
we are working on cleaning the garage.....it's already cleaned up enough to boulder in....but more work is needed........It's coming along..
10b4me

Ice climber
Wishes-He-Was-In-Arizona
Aug 22, 2013 - 10:23am PT
Boulder, Todd?
Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 22, 2013 - 10:57am PT
It's a desparate attempt to get more fit.......yeah....indoor pebble wrestling.....pad people;.......I have sunk to the lowest depths of climbing form;.....the boulderer.....(I hang my head in shame...)......All of this is a sacrafice ....so we can better ourselves in REAL roped climbing;....a means to an end ONLY............none of it will be even remotely fun...
Magic Ed

Trad climber
Nuevo Leon, Mexico
Aug 22, 2013 - 02:08pm PT
Found this guy recently among some gear I had stashed at the base of my latest project.

hossjulia

climber
Aug 22, 2013 - 05:07pm PT
Wolf Spiders are fun. Love watching them stalk and kill crickets. I've tried feeding them, but when they jump, so do I, and the cricket goes flying.

Used to pick up tarantulas as a kid. One day, I found a tarantula town near my house in Santee. Teased one out of it's den by touching the trap door. I scooped it up and must have scared it, it bit me right on the palm, drew blood. I dropped it, afraid I had hurt it, but it went back into it's house. Never picked one up again. No reaction to the bite, other than to make me think twice about picking up any creature and taking it away.

I miss being a tomboy.

goatboy smellz

climber
Nederland-GulfBreeze
Aug 22, 2013 - 08:39pm PT
I would travel 2000 miles to boulder in Todd's garage.
That chit is doper than CAT's gym, despite not having a trampoline.
Rolfr

Social climber
North Vancouver BC
Aug 23, 2013 - 12:59am PT
That picture of Tucker says it all:-)

I was wondering how Tucker would make it into this thread? Right on!
Rolfr

Social climber
North Vancouver BC
Aug 23, 2013 - 01:06am PT
we are working on cleaning the garage.....it's already cleaned up enough to boulder in....but more work is needed........It's coming along..

I have holds that need a new home ,if you can use them, plus a hang board. Let me know, i'll bring them south in December. send PM
Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 1, 2013 - 10:22pm PT
Laundry room tonite..
Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 1, 2013 - 10:58pm PT
He was going for my jugular vein....I know he was..


ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
extraordinaire
Sep 1, 2013 - 11:08pm PT
Was just setting my feet, when this one dropped down between my legs ...
dee ee

Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
Sep 1, 2013 - 11:50pm PT
Hmmmm, Spiders....fuzzy little bastards.

I have a great shot of one little Aussie unit. It gives a bite like a Rattlesnake, dissolving flesh etc........ It's on the other computer.
thebird

Big Wall climber
palm desert, ca.
Sep 1, 2013 - 11:55pm PT
wow tod that the new family pet
Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 2, 2013 - 03:41am PT
They are everywhere, Jim......it's mating season......I think he's in love w/my arm..
Dr.Sprock

Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
Sep 2, 2013 - 03:56am PT
one time i took shrooms and drove all night, ended up at hunter liggett down by paso robles, 4 am, had to crash out for a while, threw down a sleeping bag and woke up in the middle of a field jam packed with tarantulas, thousands of them walking around my head so i got the hell out of there and took more shrooms, there was a big cow walking around too, lucky he didn't squish my knoggin, or maybe he did,
Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 2, 2013 - 07:15pm PT
Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 9, 2013 - 07:15pm PT
Big horn male at split rocks today...

Ward Trotter

Trad climber
Sep 9, 2013 - 08:58pm PT
Great photo Todd.
The look in his eye is like he knows you.Seriously.

at hunter liggett

My dad was stung by a scorpion as he slept while on Army maneuvers at the Ligget in the 60s.
His shoulder swelled up to the size of a small cantaloupe. He vomited for hours.
AP

Trad climber
Calgary
Sep 9, 2013 - 09:29pm PT
How many times have you seen bighorns?
My only desert sighting was in the San Rafael Swell in Utah. Of course we see lots of mountain sheep up here
StahlBro

Trad climber
San Diego, CA
Sep 9, 2013 - 10:37pm PT
Great photo Gordo. He is giving that "get back stare" for sure.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Sep 9, 2013 - 10:42pm PT
More like
I'm just lookin' for someone to buck heads with!

Time for the fall rut.
Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 10, 2013 - 04:36am PT
Loomis

climber
Svět
Sep 10, 2013 - 06:02am PT
justthemaid

climber
Jim Henson's Basement
Sep 10, 2013 - 09:04am PT
I *heart* the desert.

Great bighorn shot Todd. He's like "you lookin' at me pal?"

Last time I saw a bighorn was kinda weird.. I was driving back from Red Rocks and saw one on the side of the darn freeway. WTF?

also .. great shot Scott. Classic high desert sunset.
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Sep 10, 2013 - 12:53pm PT
why i live behind this door
Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 12, 2013 - 07:25pm PT
Here are more bighorn shots from a distance...

http://www.joshuatreeclimb.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1379027607/0#4[photoid=320948]
Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 13, 2013 - 08:29pm PT
On our patio this PM....hope 7 billion more don't show up....

Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 13, 2013 - 08:31pm PT
Located in the house.......

BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
Sep 13, 2013 - 08:43pm PT
Reporter to T. E. Lawrence: "Captain Lawrence, what is it that attracts you to the desert?"

Capt. Lawrence: "Because it is clean."

Three Pillars of Wisdom, the autobiography of Lawrence of Arabia, is one of the finest books written by man.

The movie is as good as it could have been, but that very long book is full of perfect language.
BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
Sep 13, 2013 - 09:02pm PT
Have many of you ever heard (or been) in Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge"

Edward Abbey wrote about it in his story "A Walk In The Desert Hills."

I used to go there and sprint from Ajo to Yuma, cross country (Abbey took an old road) in 4 or 5 days. Always right around New Year. I would hike in the Arctic during the summer. Now I have a knee replacement that won't hold that weight or abuse again. I'm a connoisseur of wilderness, though.

Only the north area is now the Barry Goldwater Gunnery Range, but back after WWII, pretty much the whole place is full of debris. There are lots of big 4-finned wooden tow targets, covered with thin shiny aluminum, in some of the valleys, but you are likely to find them anywhere more than 15 miles north of the Mexican Border.

The San Cristobal Valley is filled with them, and there are all manner of empty cartridges laying everywhere from .50 cal on up to those big suckers that the A-10's shoot.

Some of the tow targets would "lawn dart."

It isn't much of a secret that Ed Abbey is buried there. He would turn over in his grave if he could see what the illegals and smugglers have done to the place. It is like a garbage can of empty water bottles and tuna cans. I don't go in there anymore because it is crawling with border patrol helicopters and their ninjas.

I love deserts, though. Take off with a pack full of five gallons of water and a few extra large snickers bars. When you begin to sweat, stop immediately and get in some shade if available. Then resume after you have cooled off. That is the trick. Man, have I drank some green goo that passed for water in some potholes in AZ. I really love Utah, and know of some secret spots in SW Canyonlands and Dark Canyon. It is easier to find water in there.

I saw this scribbled on an old tow target:

Todd Gordon

Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 14, 2013 - 12:55pm PT
Spied this creature on a hike this AM.....


Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Sep 4, 2015 - 11:52am PT
http://spiders.ucr.edu/myth.html
Messages 1 - 62 of total 62 in this topic
Return to Forum List
 
Our Guidebooks
spacerCheck 'em out!
SuperTopo Guidebooks

guidebook icon
Try a free sample topo!

 
SuperTopo on the Web

Recent Route Beta