Thenaturalmedic Adventures
Hello there, and thanks so much for joining us here! You are probably wondering what this podcast is all about? In this podcast, we will talk about all sorts of outdoor adventures, but primarily, for now, we will focus on hiking and backpacking. No other outdoor adventure is so accessible to so many people! So please join us as we talk about how to hike/backpack and learn how to hike any length trail from your local neighborhood parks to those long trails such as the Appalachian and others worldwide! Remember... "in every walk with nature; one receives far more than he seeks... - John Muir " See you on the trail!
Thenaturalmedic Adventures
Fireside Reflections: Exploring New Mexico's Beauty and the Mystique of Fire
Ever wondered why humans have an almost mystical connection with fire? Join us for an intimate evening by the fire in Pecos, New Mexico, as my mom and I reflect on our adventures exploring the mountainous beauty of the state. We reminisce about favorite sights like the Santa Fe Ski Basin and the unexpected lushness of northern New Mexico's rugged terrain. I share my journey from working as a contract paramedic on a power line job to an ER position in Farmington, drawn by the area's natural allure. Our chat naturally drifts to the captivating nature of fire, diving into the fire triangle's essential elements—fuel, oxygen, and heat—and pondering our deep, spiritual fascination with flames.
In our final chapter, we dig into the essential role of fire in survival situations. From cooking food to warming our bodies, drying clothes, and providing psychological comfort during tough times, fire's importance is undeniable. As we reflect on these thoughts during our last night together in New Mexico, we find value in the moments that allow us to share and gain insights about the significance of fire in our lives. This episode captures the essence of our experiences and the meaningful moments spent around the comforting glow of a fire in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
Hello, this is Craig the Natural Medic. I'm coming to you tonight from Pecos, new Mexico, just a little bit to the east of Santa Fe, up in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, right at the edge of the Pecos itself is not in the mountains, so to speak, but it is right there. I'm sitting here with my mom. Say hi, mom, hey, there she's visiting me from Texas. I'm just going to be becoming a New Mexico resident soon, taking a new job. I was doing a contract job as a medic paramedic that is, here in New Mexico on a power line job. I was a contract medic with that particular project, but I decided to leave that and I'm going to be in the ER up in Farmington, New Mexico, which is up in the northwest corner of the state, about an hour south of Durango, colorado, and there's a number of reasons I decided to change that and do that. But primarily, I'm not going to delve on that topic in this particular episode. What I wanted to talk about we're sitting here looking at a fire that's in this little. It's pretty much like a chiminea, that's a wire mesh one, and we've been here all week just been enjoying New Mexico. The weather's been perfect. We've seen a lot of different things, haven't we? Yes, we have. Yeah, what was your favorite thing we saw this week, I think even today, we went to the Santa Fe Ski Basin and saw the waterfalls. Okay, yeah, she said her favorite thing was the Santa Fe Ski Basin. We went up there today. Of course, it's not open right now for skiing, but there's a lot of trails up there. I did one of the trails when we were here about two years ago called Lake Catherine, which is up there Beautiful trail through the Pecos Wilderness and the Santa Fe National Forest, lots of water, lots of big trees and I don't know what. You don't think about New Mexico, right, you don't think about the mountains as much. You probably think about New Mexico having a desert-type environment, a drier-type environment, which is true. Probably I wouldn't be able to tell you exact numbers, but I would say larger than 50% of the state is a semi-arid to arid climate. The north-central part of the state, around Santa Fe, northeast of Albuquerque and the Sandias, and then up around Taos and places like that, it's a lot wetter and the terrain is different. It's a lot more rugged and mountainous, like you would think of as the Rocky Mountains. Of course, it is the Rocky Mountains.
Speaker 1:I wanted to talk about fire. I know Beavis would say fire, but I think the humans species, or we as humans, have had a long-time fascination with fire, and I'm not exactly sure why that is fascination with fire, and I'm not exactly sure why that is, but I would venture to guess that a lot of the reasoning is it's just so fascinating, the flames draw us in and cause us to mesmerize. So I think to some extent. I think being a human and looking into the flames is like we're looking into our own soul or something. We see that burning piece of wood in the fire pit or in the chimney in this case, and we kind of wonder what exactly is making that, even though we know what is making that, because if you're familiar with fire and what makes fire burn, there's what's called the fire triangle, and the fire triangle is basically three different things that fire needs to be successful, and that is number one. What's number one, mom? Fuel. Fire needs fuel, that is correct. So in this case, fire is using wood, so wood is able to burn. What's another thing? That fire needs? Oxygen. Fire needs oxygen In order to combust. Materials must use oxygen from the atmosphere in order to burn? And what's the other thing that's needed? Spark. You need a spark, of course, to start the fire, but what's the other thing that keeps the fire burning? Fuel, we already said fuel. Okay, we already said oxygen. So there said fuel. Okay, we already said oxygen, yeah, so there's only one left. What are we feeling right now? Whoops. How about heat? Okay, yep, need heat In order for fire to combust. To burn, there must be enough heat to continue that combustion to happen.
Speaker 1:You might be familiar with the book. I remember reading this when I was in grade school. You know, fahrenheit 454? Is that right? I don't know, but it's a Ray Bradbury book, and it was talking about the temperature that books burn in the future. Firefighters were suppressing information. They were part of the companies that worked for the government and would burn books because it would take away knowledge. With that in mind, it's a very interesting story. I think they even made a movie. I think Michael B made a movie. I think Michael B Jordan is an actor in that movie. I guess the B differentiates him from Michael Jordan, the basketball player, but nonetheless, I didn't see the movie. But I have read the book, at least once, probably. I've read it a couple of times very interesting.
Speaker 1:But going back to my original thought, fire is very interesting because it still mystifies us, because there's just something deeply spiritual about it. I think I don't know what your spiritual beliefs are out there, people that are listening, but I think there's just something magical or mysterious about it. Even though we know, chemically and all that, what fire requires to burn, it still just mystifies us. I think, as human beings. There's something about being by a campfire. That's just I don't know like you can't take your eyes off of. It's like a train wreck. You don't want to look but at the same time you can't help it.
Speaker 1:And with that in mind, the way I got this fire started is I used a fire starter. So, number one if you're going out on an adventure in the outdoors, one of the ten essentials is fire. You want to be able to start a fire, not to be malicious. Of course. New Mexico being a very dry state and having a very hard time with forest fires, you have to think about how you're doing fire. Fire's not always appropriate in the backcountry, even in the frontcountry, because it's just sometimes too dry, but it's an important survival skill, part of your 10 essentials as an outdoors person to be able to start fires, so it's good to have at least a couple of different ways to start a fire and to carry a fire starter.
Speaker 1:If you're out there when it's raining or it's inclement weather Other than rain, like snow or ice or whatever you want to be able to start a fire, and having a fire starter in your pack could be very helpful. A lot of those are very useful. I used one tonight just because it made it easier. It's just a regular little fire log from I think I got this at Walmart. It's a Duraflame Fire Start. I'm going to pull that meat off the grill. It's a Duraflame Fire Start, but I did pick up some at REI. Today I was at REI here in Santa Fe and had these little cake things. They look like little cupcakes that are made out of wood chips and some other stuff. They're real compact and easy to stick into your pack for fire starting, into your pack for fire starting. I always want to carry some because there are some times. I've been starting fires a long time since I was in the Boy Scouts.
Speaker 1:Did you really put that on there where the raw meat was? Huh, it was black on this side and you turned it on the other side. Yeah, but that was a raw plate. Okay, you probably need to get a fresh plate or rinse it off, okay, or rinse it off or whatever. So you want to be able to start a fire, because what does fire do?
Speaker 1:Fire, going back in ancient human history, was a mystery how to start it. We didn't know how to start a fire. Billy Joel said we didn't start the fire that was true back in the day because what we did was we would wait until we had a lightning strike or some kind of natural cause of the fire and then we would protect that at all costs kind of natural cause of the fire, and we would protect that at all costs. If you've ever seen the movie the Quest for Fire, that's a very interesting movie because it shows these primitive men trying to collect fire. And luckily we have all kinds of ways to start fire now.
Speaker 1:But you definitely want to have that ability in your outdoor bag that you take with you on your adventures, whether you're camping or kayaking or backpacking, whatever, just even hiking, it's good to have that fire, because fire can boil water. That's one aspect that fire does for you If you don't have a purifying setup, a filter or tablets or whatever. You can use fire to purify the water, isn't that right? That's correct. You can use fire to purify the water, isn't that right? That's great. What's another use for fire? What else can it do? You can cook food. Yep, that's exactly right. You can cook food. You can cook food. You may have run out of fuel and your stove doesn't work. If you can start a fire, you can cook food to sustain yourself.
Speaker 1:The body needs energy. Energy comes from food that we consume, and if you need to cook some to eat it, consume it. Then fire can help you do that. Fire can also warm you If you're in a situation where maybe you're in a capsized boat, maybe you were caught in a rainstorm and you're miles and miles from your destination, whether it be the next shelter or Could help you dry your clothes. Yeah, help you dry your clothes and warm your body Absolutely. And I think fire just provides like I was going back to the original point, provides that kind of a psychological I don't know a missing I don't want to say missing link, but a missing something or other in our brains.
Speaker 1:I think we feel if we can make fire and sustain that fire, then that is a great source of comfort for us. Anyway, I was just thinking about these thoughts as we were sitting out here. This is our last night. We're going to be together here in New Mexico. Mom's going to go back to Texas. Tomorrow I'm going to go on to Farmington, and times like this is when you can have a deep thought and think about stuff like that and that's when I have opportunities to share that with you myself and I hope that gave you some insight and some knowledge. And, anyway, I hope you're having a good evening or day or whatever time you're listening to this and I hope you listen again.
