July 9, 2013

If Ever There Was An Enduring Symbol: Hope and the Yarnell 19 Hot Shots

I can feel your blank stare.. how, oh how, can you get hope from this, the deeply saddening deaths of these 19 swaggering young USFS Hot Shots who died in this wind shift near Yarnell AZ... where are you going to go with this Grumpy? Will it be right on any level?
I can't guarantee it will be right.. nothing about this is right...I was a few hundred miles away when it happened, also sweltering in similar heat, and I resent the crap out of any good coming from bad, but in some funny way, that's what this blog is about, so follow if you will, on a trip that might seem a bit Machiavellian, a bit opportunistic, but if you were these 20 guys, the 19 departed and the one spotter who survived, I think you would be looking for any opportunity possible to make a difference to keep this from happening again, or becoming commonplace..