Today warmed up to about 40 degrees F and raining in the Great North Woods.  There is still plenty of snow in the forests and mountains, so that off the beaten paths snowshoes are required for hiking.

Recovering from my long bout with tick borne Lyme Disease, I decided my first Scout for Guerrilla HeadQuarters would be a relatively easy walk up Tunnel Brook Road off Lost River Road (Route 112).

Located near Mount Moosilauke in Benton, the weather is much influenced by this large, tall mountain. Total distance was about two miles round trip in high winds known locally as the Bungay Jar.

The narrow forest road is closed during winter months due to it’s usually not being plowed.  However this year there has been some construction work along it’s upper length which is being repaired by the US Forest Service after Hurricane Irene caused the brook to rampage out large sections of the road.  At one point a bulldozer appears to have been used to remove enough snow to allow pickup trucks to get through, though later snowstorms covered the road once again.

Snowmobiles, ATV’s, snowshoers and skiers have frequently traveled the road.  These activities served to pack the snow.  During this bout of warmer weather the dense snow has turned into a sheet of ice with water running on top, making it quite slippery to walk on.

Here you can see a picture of my boot onto which Micro-Spikes have been attached.  Micro-Spikes are a great aide to walking on ice and I often use them throughout the colder months.

A fall on the ice is not only inconvenient (especially on wet ice) it can also be very dangerous.  Every year several people I know are injured by slips and falls on ice.  Injuries range from broken bones, torn ligaments in the knees, to concussions and even death.

So for the Guerrilla who operates in cold weather conditions for extended periods of time, some sort of additional traction applied to footwear must be a standard part of his kit.

Kahr PM9 9-Millimeter Target Practice

Walking along the icy road, at a suitable location I did some target practice with my Kahr PM9 9-millimeter handgun.

As always, for the safety of others who may be enjoying the Great North Woods also, I chose a spot that had a large embankment as a backdrop.  Here I attached a 3×5 piece of paper to a large hemlock tree for use as a target.

Normally the ammunition I every-day-carry in my 9-mm handgun are Winchester PDX-1 Defender +P 124 Grain Bonded Jacketed Hollow Points.  These are fairly more powerful than standard rounds, 9mm being is what it is.  However they are much more expensive than the cheaper UMC 115 Grain Metal Case rounds I buy by the 250 round box.  So generally I target practice with the cheaper rounds and more rarely with the Jacketed Hollow Points.

This is not the place to discuss the relative merits of various handgun calibers, makes, and models.  In my limited knowledge on the subject, I feel the most important aspect of a handgun by far is my willingness to always have the handgun strapped to my belt no matter where I go, all day and every day.  The lighter and more compact the handgun the more likely I will carry it.  For me, the 9mm – and especially the svelte 9mm Kahr PM9 – fits the bill.

In a defensive situation, the best handgun is the handgun you have in your hand.  You can take that to the bank.

Standing about 12-feet from the 3×5 inch yellow paper target, I fired five rounds while adjusting my aim each time.  The handgun has not yet really been broken in yet, having seen only perhaps fifty rounds through it.  In my hands the bullets were hitting the tree several inches below the target. The last two rounds just clipped the bottom.

Loading another 5 rounds into the magazine, I replaced the target and adjusted my aim.  It was almost surprising to me the grouping these 5 rounds made.  But there you have it, pretty tight for an amateur like me.

All ten rounds, even those that missed the target, hit the tree which was perhaps about the size of a human torso in width.  So it’s a matter of adjusting my vertical point of aim, which continual practice will accomplish over the course of time and persistence.

Thoughts About My Firearms

In my experience of life, this is how it starts.  You simply go out and do something, however small and insignificant it may seem.  I am getting back into the game of life – my game of life.  It begins with a walk up an icy forest road and firing off a few rounds from a handgun.

My plan is to every day practicing using my handgun, rifles, or shotguns.  Fire at least several rounds and observing the results.  Over time, in the course of one, two, five years, this will add up to a significant amount of experience over a wide variety of conditions.

Exploring The Lower Portion of Tunnel Brook

I then spent the remainder of the afternoon enjoying the forest and exploring the brook, which wears a mantel of deep snow and thick ice.

Even as I watched, the level of the brook water was rising due to slowly melting snow and off-and-on cold rainfall.  There was some danger the ice could go out unexpectedly – which can happen in one sudden wave of immense power as is the nature of steep mountain streams.  So I did not linger too long on top of the stream.

The walk back down Tunnel Brook Road to my truck was uneventful. For the last half mile the rain fell hard, and I was forced to put on a raincoat and stowed the camera gear inside my pack to keep it dry. I like walking in the rain, it makes for perfect thinking weather.