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August, full of surprises Troop D Rangers were kept busy this August with Searches, Rescues and Trainings, sometimes all at once! August 3rd saw the majority of Troop D updating their 1st Aid/ CPR/ AED training prior to the monthly meeting. Following the meeting, a report that a hiker was overdue, came in. The following morning a call-out was initiated and Rangers responded with horses. The missing person was found very quickly and the Rangers, all dressed up and no band to dance to, decided to use the time to do a training ride prior to the SAR training which was to be in a couple days. August 7 & 8 was scheduled for the La Plata County Search and Rescue training. This was to be a Multi-Agency training and the Rangers proved their worth on foot, horseback, at the IC and with ELT location. A group of Rangers packed in a camp for a remote command post which became an important location when a real call for help came in. Two people on mountain bikes had a mechanical breakdown late in the day. They were not equipped to stay out all night and wet weather was moving in. Rangers from the remote camp responded and patrolled the trail, willing to offer a dry place to sleep and some food, however the bikers made it out of the woods on their own. Again on August 11, two other mountain bikers, dressed in tee-shirts and shorts, were caught unprepared by a thunderstorm and darkness. Rangers responded on 4-wheelers and spent the entire night negotiating mud and lightning to reach what was believed to be hypothermic cases. Upon reaching the bikers, rescuers gave them warm clothes and hot cocoa, only to have the "rescued" ride off on their own. Rangers then had a long ride out and some needed rest coming. July 31 - August 1, 2010 - Busy Weekend for Troop D Rangers With two events on the same weekend Rangers geared up to handle the tasks. The Durango Fiesta Days parade was held on Sat. July 31 with Rangers carrying the Colors at the front of the parade and lining Main Ave. for traffic and crowd control. While all Rangers mustered at the same location, they deployed to their assigned posts via 4-wheelers and horses. A concert at Three Springs occupied Rangers most of Sunday August 1. Again, Rangers deployed via 4-wheelers and provided traffic control before, during and after the concert.  Both events went well, without mishap. May 16, 2010 - Ranger and La Plata SAR rescue dirt-bikers at Mitchell Lakes Troop D Rangers responded to a callout to rescue two young dirt-bikers near Mitchell Lakes. Capt. Bryce, who lives near the scene, responded to the call on his ATV. One of the boys had slid his motorcycle down a very steep hillside and was unable to move it back up to the trail safely. The boys had a cell-phone and were able to call for help. SAR and Bryce, along with his son, headed up the mountain. The rescuers were able to retrieve the bike, but with the sun setting, had to load the dirt-bikes on the ATVs before heading back down. The boys were fine, but tired. Additional Rangers were on "standby" and ready to go, if needed. March 15,2010 - Low income families, disabled and elderly persons benefit from food allocation. Troop D Rangers put on work uniforms and helped the Durango Food Bank with the USDA commodity allocation in the largest distribution known for this area. There were around 480 recipients of the 27 pallets of food.   Ranger Herb Young and his wife, Renee have been involved in this distribution over the past several years and since becoming a Ranger, Young has found a group of folks eager to help out. Jan. 10, 2010 - Winter survival / LZ training @ DMR an informative success! A recent training session, involving the Purgatory Mountain Patrol, La Plata SaR, CareFlight and members of CMR Troop D was held at the T-1 patrol station. A mock "life threatening injury" was staged and CareFlight helicopter was called in. Troop D Rangers were involved in both, the mock rescue and preparation of the LZ. After "hot loading" the "victim" and taking off, the chopper set back down and the air crew joined the other participants in some Winter Survival skills training, including; Fire Starting, Avalanche Awareness and Beacons, and  Snow Cave Construction.