...and one catches on fire.

3ETSers by merriwether, on Flickr
Three ETSers: ClarkTX, me (Blast), and John.

So, ClarkTX and I are out in the woods miles from nowhere when we run into a group of hikers. After chatting a bit one of them pipes up and asks if I'm Blast!! I get asked if I'm Merriwether a lot, but being spotted as Blast caught me by surprise. John and his hiking group were down from Dallas, ClarkTX and I were up from Houston. We met on the 4C Trail in the Davy Crockett National Forest. John posts on here occasionally, but his screen name escapes me other than it's "John-Something".

Yes, I lived up to my name that night while we were all together cooking supper. I thought my Trianga Swiss alcohol stove had run out of fuel and to check I held my hand over it (alcohol has an invisible flame). No heat was felt so I poured in more alcohol. WHOOMFF!! Suddenly my hand shoe, pants leg, shirt and ground was on fire.

People thought it was pretty funny.

Not exactly the impression I wanted to make, but oh well.

Some more pictures:

Between the hurricane and the drought, between 15% and 30% of the tree in Texas have died...and then fell over.

Hurricane by merriwether, on Flickr

A pretty...and deadly...stream. The ground water here is contaminated with naturally-occurring mercury and other heavy metals. You have to carry all your water.

Stream by merriwether, on Flickr

ClarkTX, ready for action.

ClarkTX by merriwether, on Flickr

Best hiking dog, ever. His backpack and sleeping bag were really cool.

PackinDog by merriwether, on Flickr

Blast's home away from home> a US military bivybag and a homemade, ripstop nylon tarp.

BlastsHome by merriwether, on Flickr

Everyone else was in Eureka! Spitfire bivy tents.

Camp by merriwether, on Flickr

One person carried in 28oz of giant marshmallows.

Marshmallows by merriwether, on Flickr

Blast.

Burn1 by merriwether, on Flickr

Blast again.

Burn2 by merriwether, on Flickr

I had nothing to do with the +600 acres of burning woods. The forest service was doing a controlled burn, I swear!
-Blast

A person named "Blast" goes into the woods, lights himself on fire, but has "nothing" to do with the 600 acre blaze that ensues. This is:
a) God's own truth
b) A likely story



HJ

ANSWER: Possible; not probable.

c) prospecting for new helium deposits ... nope, this one is flammable, so it can't possibly be ... but no-one dares fall asleep either, given the hardware these dudes are packing ...

It was great meeting Blast and Carl in the Davy Crockett NF. We (group of 11 from DFW) passed them along the trail after they stopped for a break. I immediately recognized Blast but said nothing at first. Then someone in our group, Ajay, brought up edible plants, so I told him about who I thought we had just passed. When Blast caught up with us again on the trail, we confirmed it was him.

In camp, Ajay and Kevin got some awesome pointers on edible plants. Don't worry about the stove mishap. Everybody is human. The watch I was carrying has dual time zones, and I didn't realize mine had gotten switched to mountain time. I was confused about how it happened, so when I got home I downloaded the manual and figured out how to switch between the two. That's after carrying the Timex watch for a few years ; ).

Blast, good luck with the edible plants book!

-John

A few hiking pictures...
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/if23b4jigln2gjp/ZhIoiY0YKl?m

I will buy it in a heartbeat!!

After seeing the first picture, I see why Blast wears those sunglasses; unless the first picture was taken right after one or other burn incidents described!

Blast, glad it was not serious.
Please be careful next time.

Question about that toxic stream.
Doesn't seem to have a warning around.
Somebody may think that a Katadyine filter is good enough to purify it.

Careful? What's the fun in that? But I would recommend nomex. . . Massif

Warnings about the groundwater are posted at the trailheads and other locations inside the Davy Crockett National Forest. They also have the warning on their website that neither boiling or filtering will make the water safe to drink and that you should plan to bring all your water along on your hike.
-Blast

Yeah, a lot of people tell me I have scary eyes.
-Blast

Blast, what's the situation with the heavy metal contamination? How is it so pervasive? What is the source? Any chance that heavy metals can concentrate in plants taking in the water? (to say nothing of higher trophic levels...)

Darn it! Water's heavy enough without adding heavy metal to it....

I would also like more background on the heavy metal issue.

I know there are many places in the world where natural (geological) arsenic is a major health issue. Exacerbated, unfortunately, by well-intentioned well drilling programs.

I also recall Colin Fletcher mentioning desert springs that might be poisonous due to heavy metals.

I suppose that for me (and many of us) the primary concern is methyl-mercury (fat-soluble) in aquatic animals (i.e., tasty fish). But that's a more complicated situation.

Anyway, details would be most welcome.

Texas actually used to be a large iron mining state. A lot of the soil is still very red from iron oxide, especially up in the part of the state where this trail is located. With iron you often get assorted other heavy metals including mercury.
-Blast