Them Again

By J. Leigh

They thought they had destroyed the nest 40 years before. It started in the Alamogordo desert of New Mexico back then.  It was a nightmare untold, undreamed of by the United States government, again.  Unfortunately, it came back with vengeance. THEM, AGAIN! The story of unimaginable horror that it was to hard to recount in today's news.

• Language: English
• Publisher: James Hutchins
• Release date: Sep 13, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393688303

J. Leigh

James L. “Hutch” Hutchins aka J. Leigh (pen name) was born 1950 at Bangor, Maine  The family moved to Southern California.  He roamed the local mountains and deserts camping out several times alone.  An avid reader and watcher of adventure, history, philosophy and poetry all his life.  He joined the United States Marines in December, 1969 after three years of college.  He dreamed of following the career of his father a professional educator but after the marine corps enlistment in 1978 spent over 30 years working in Quality Assurance. While in the marines he travelled to Germany, Denmark, Scotland, Britain, Formosa, Japan, the Philippines and Thailand.  In Thailand he was stationed at the base named by the marines “MCAS Rose Garden, Nam Phong RTAFB, Thailand. With his career he moved across and back the United States for over 40 years.        A researcher of family heritage he writes of people he knew in his quality career.  His stories cover the areas of his own adventures. He now lives in Korat, Thailand with his third wife.

Book preview

Chapter 1

It was one of those hot spring days enjoyed by tourists in the winter. For us in the southern portion of the national park service it was late winter. Most would not believe a desert could get snow.  But, we do.  Coming out of winter with the shallow layer of snow melted.  It penetrates the ground.  When the mushy ground dries it returns to become almost cement like in strength.

My work takes me to patrolling the singular road through the lowest part of the driest earth on the planet.  Our average rainfall amounts to less than six inches per year.  Our desert area which is the joining of the upper Mojave Desert and the southwestern portion of the Death Valley natural preservation consists of 2.5 to 4 percent humidity each year.  South of us in the Mojave Desert it is double to triple that on average. Natural denizens of the areas are scorpions, tarantulas, rattle snakes, coyotes and scraggly rabbits.  Sometimes the bears come down into the valleys searching for food from the trash cans of people who live in China Lake and Redmond. But that has not been experienced for the last decade.

My patrol route takes me through Redmond into the Death Valley.  I drive through the salt flats and sand dunes, past central campgrounds and Scotty's Castle to the dormant volcano rim at the northern most edge.  It's the driest spot on earth.  It, without sufficient water, was not recommended to camp during the winter months and camping permits were not issued for spring and summer.

Even in winter when most visitors travel here we required they carry a gallon of water for each person. People don't realize it but even in winter the dry, arid atmosphere will suck the water out of your body.  

Dehydration is a constant hazard in the area.

When traveling my usual route, I always carry in my Land Rover an extra jerry can of water.  It’s for those misfortunates who do not realize they have lost over 7% of their body fluids through perspiration.  Occasionally, I would find an abandoned car where delusional, dehydrated fool victims wander off into the desert. They are tricked into thinking water supplies are just a few hundred yards away.  If we find them its years later as bones scattered by the coyotes after they died.  It is an unfortunate truism of Death Valley.   When they do that we don't waste too much time looking for them.  

Even our aerial searches usually didn't produce good results.  Some are never found.  Continually people instead of staying with their vehicles wander off in the desert heat and die.  They just disappear, fodder for nature and the elements.

My route as I said usually took a whole day out and back to complete.  It isn't a hard drive.  I enjoy the quietness of the desert except sometimes driving at night with the window down you hear the wind blowing from the surrounding mountains over the land.  It gives an eerie high pitched sound.  Almost a scrapping sound that could raise the hair on the arm.  It is almost as if the surrounding area was screaming at you.

Sometimes cars will breakdown and foolish people will not follow our advice to stay with their vehicles.  Wandering off is the most dangerous thing you can do.

Every so often we'd even find strange tracks around the wrecks.   I remember one set of tracks beside a car that had tipped over on its side. The only thing we could figure out at the time was how it happened. It was on fairly flat hard sand ground. It was a real puzzle with dozens of those strange prints pressed into the hard dirt. I made a mold of one and it sat on my desk at work.   But long ago