Wow another awesome Modern Mountain Man Rendezvous in the books! Now what is a Modern Mountain Man Rendezvous, well I will tell you a couple years back Brady Pesola with San Diego School of Survival and John Heffron the one and only Wingman115 came together to get people out doors working on outdoor skills and having a fun weekend bonding in the outdoors. Shortly after Triple B Adventures a nonprofit focused on getting Vets and Active duty outdoors was born from the new friendships we made there. So the logical next step was turning this event into an awesome way to reach out to the community and raise money for this awesome organization.
The event alone is a great exercise in team work among the veteran community with all of the hard work that goes into making this event. Juan from Lendit was a pivotal factor in the organization and execution of the 3MR. This year we changed venues and the Motolla family opened up their amazing ranch in Delzura California to us for the weekend. The ranch was great with ample room for parking and camping we had a dedicated range for both archery and tomahawk throwing. On the lower part of the property we had a shady oak grove for vendors and nonprofit booths by the stage and BBQ area. One of the best parts was the pond stoked with bass to keep our anglers entertained.
Friday was a nice relaxed start our volunteers were on it making sure campers where set up and taken care of before heading down to get some BBQ from Smokin J’s and mingle with each other around the campfire. Speaking of campfires our amazing CFO Stephanie made up a bunch of S’more packets so no one would go without campfire treats. I think one of the coolest additions this year was a screening of Jeramiah Johnson in the woods, I don’t think you can get much more Modern Mountain than that, ha-ha.
A relaxing Friday night was exactly what we all needed because Saturday was an early start, after breakfast and the opening ceremony, John added a new event this year the “try sticks” a test of your whittling skills. It was a busy day; I started with our class room portion of the ground to air signaling class with the help of our good friend Todd Gildge, covering hoe to be seen with ground signals and mirrors.
Talk about a busy day after that I was teaching improvised fishing lures from 550 cord and casting from a water bottle which made for a fun afternoon around the pond. Our EMT “Doc” Johnson did a great job teaching improvised trail first aid and the classes kept rolling… this year we had a couple of special interactive classes that we were very excited about! After a minor delay we had the culmination of our ground to air signaling class and our good friends Matt and Ralph flew out from Ramona to provide an actual plane for us to signal to! This was one of my favorite classes, mainly because I got to set off smoke grenades and talk to the plane while everyone took turns flashing them with signal mirrors. Look for that blog post coming soon…
Todd peeled off to prep for his small game class right after the plane. I have really come to enjoy this class where we cover humanly harvesting a rabbit what you can eat and how to prepare the game in a survival situation. What is real neat is exposing the younger ones to where their food comes form and a new appreciation for it; this is definitely a “don’t miss” class.
The afternoon kept rolling with primitive fire classes and an in depth class and discussion about packing lists and gear for surviving the outdoors from San Diego School of Survivals founder Brady Pesola.
One of the unique experiences the 3MR provides is the opportunity for people to have a blast throwing tomahawks and shooting primitive archery on a fun and save range. This year Gino Gonzalez founder of Tricorne Spool Tool and Dan Coon of Black Heart Building knocked out out of the park with an amazing array of traditional and modern hawk targets. Their time and craftsmanship ensured a great time as well as having one of our favorite hawk instructors DJ Rousa on hand to mentor young throwers.
The archery range was top notch as always led up by Jaime De La Para from JLd instinctive archery and Wingman115. These guys are on point with an amazing array of targets and an awesome shaded shooting line. New and experienced shooter had a blast learning and honing their traditional archery skills in a relaxed and fun atmosphere.
What a busy day, you would think everyone would be tuckered out, but no. We all meet back up by the BBQ for great evening of hanging out and socializing. We were very fortunate to have our very special guest and friend Rudy Reyes here for another rendezvous. His energy and generosity is mind blowing not only is he a fellow Marine veteran but has gone on to make a name for himself in Hollywood and in the outdoor community. His experience on Ultimate Survival Alaska and as a conservationist with Force Blue always makes for some great conversation and mentorship.
We really enjoyed the atmosphere and Club Kit Fox was going into the night as we all hung out swapped stories and relaxed after another successful event. The whole crew was there to include our friends form Vaguest gear and Triple B Adventures.
I can’t thank say thank you enough to all the people who put in a lot of hard work and made this event happen for a great cause. The donors, volunteers, vendors and campers really nake the 3MR more than just a fundraiser it feels more and more like a family reunion every year. So if you missed this one we will see you next spring and hope between now and then we cross paths, Getting the Fox Out There!
