An almost close
haircut
By Louis Killius
It was April 1977 in Pinedale Wyo. Mtn Geo Crew 02. Was still a newbie cause all the work Jihad done so far had been in Littleton getting the crew ready to launch. Don Olson, Spanky, Barry Fritz, John Aquilar and let’s not forget ole Crazy Ray (not to be confused with Cool Ray) well we went to Pinedale in Caravan of course and settled in to Rookie’s Lodge out by Daniel Junction. Of course my first night there was in a room with 2 beds and about 7 juggies so I got the floor of course but it’s the first time Meet Earl Baker RIP
You remember him one brown eye one grey eye used to say UUU BETTT all the time. Well anyway we had a good bottle of vino and no corkscrew but Earl sez no problem proceeds to slam the bottom of the bottle perpendicular to a stud in wall and out pops the cork clean as shit!! Without spilling a drop of wine mind you. I was impressed! Next couple of days I flew my first Mtn. chopper ride stomped and retrieved my first jugs and pretty much got stuck on back crew with good ole Spanky. Liked back crew we were tight and picked up jugs in the Gros Venture like nobody’s business so we could get more ass time for recreational pursuits on the line. About 3 days into the job we got a call from the dog house Emergency! We need 3 or 4 more guys up front laying out cause those lazy bastards on the front crew ain’t slappin’ down as fast as you guys on the back are jerkin’ em out. So here comes the 500 to get us and I volunteered like a dumb ass to go forward. Now let me tell you there weren’t too many LZ’S in this here country so getting picked up and getting out always required a hike off line. So we get up front and the pilot says OK boys here it is there is an LZ over there about a mile from the front crew or------ I can toe in to this cliff and let you’ all out real easy right? Well the other guys in the back are giving me the crash course on commando departure from the aircraft and I say I GOT IT! When my turn to hop off came I got of OK with out wrecking the balance but I did the stupidest thing of my life (up to that point) I ran straight uphill from the front of the ship (sure I was crouched over) but later found out from the other guys I was a silly millimeter away from getting a haircut that wouldn’t grow back. So the morale of this story goes listen to them assholes telling you what to do and what not to do. Thank God I still got my brains in my scull.