RangerDanger - Storyteller, Grower, Teacher - Fallen Warrior

[User]

Me
I first got high in '67.

The very first bag I bought I saw seeds and my first thought was "Wow!!! Now I can grow my own!!!"

The very next morning I planted my first seeds. And I've been smoking and growing (and helping others grow once I learned how) ever since.

The internet was a boon since it allows me to help hundreds grow.

Weed is such a major part of who I am I've left instructions that when I die I want to be cremated and have my ashes mixed in with a friends potting soil, as a nutrient.

Thats the way RD introduced himself to us in July '06'. He was only with us for a couple of years. RD was much loved here at 420 Magazine and is missed by those who knew him.

RD joined shortly before I became a member here. I didn't come to 420 Magazine expecting to stick around. I was just bored and surfing. One of the first things I read was one of RD's stories. He wouldn't just tell you the entire story in one post, oh no, he'd make you wait for it in pieces while we tried to guess the ending. I'm not going to re-post all of his stories in this thread. You can easily find them using our search features. But I will give you a taste. Here are a couple of my favorites . . .


Marijuana Militia
For outdoor activities I've always enjoyed camo's.
You know, military clothes.
They're tough, cheap and have lots of pockets.
And of course they help you blend in.

It was the early 90's, shortly after Ruby Ridge and OKC and all the talk was of militia's.

So I'm on this hike with a group of people in my Wilderness Center Docent program and a woman is eyeing my clothes and says "Oh what militia are you a member of?" (she didn't say it mean, just conversation)

I said "Oh I'm a member of the Marijuana Militia."

She says "Oh, and what do you guys do?"

And I say "If we feel like blowing up a building, we sit down and smoke weed until the feeling passes."


This Is True
I swear on a stack of kilo's the following tale is true.

Circa mid--70's, late summer.
One day I go to my folks house. They were on vacation and asked me to put the trash out on the curb. I rarely go all the way back to the property line out back.

So I grab a trash can and get ready to haul it out front when I notice, on the other side of the 5' wall-- 6 pot plants, all big and bushy. Whoa Nelly.

I got to know the guy who used to live next door and got high with him a few times. He'd clean his weed and toss the seeds out the window.
And nature took it's course.

The guy no longer lived there. He had married and moved back east months earlier and I had lost all contact with him. No one had lived there since.

The plants weren't fully ripe but I had no weed, so I hopped the fence and picked a little, intending to leave the rest there for when it was more ripe.

I took the weed I had picked into my folks house and was quick-drying it in the stove.

I happen to look out the window a few minutes later and I see cops walking down my neighbor's driveway.

I go outside and say "hey" in a friendly way "what's up officer?"

"We had a report of a burglery in progress. Did you see anyone over here? It's a white male with long hair and a beard."

Then he looks at me. I'm a white guy with long hair and a beard.
"were you just over here?"

I look down the driveway to where the plants were and there's another cop standing there looking at the plants.

So I said "yeah"

(Apparently someone had seen me jump the fence and called the cops).

"I saw what looked like pot and I jumped the fence to get a better look."

Which was true.

I also mentionerd that no one had lived there for months.

So we're at the back of the properties by now, me on my side of the wall next to the trash cans and the cops on the other side.

One cops does a quick 20/20 and see's there's no obvious sign of a break in.
So then one of the 2 cops said. "Well we gotta rip this up."

One of the cops does, and then to my utter amazement, he hands me the plants over the wall and says "Here throw this shit away for us"!!!

I say "No problem", take the plants and throw them in the trash can.
And they split.

The best thing about this is I didn't lie. Everything I told them was true...I just left out a part.

I talked to a cop I know about this and he said "well there was no one to bust and the cops didn't want to hassle with it."

Of course as soon as the cops left I retrieved the plants from the trash can and took them home with me.


Backpacking And Guerilla Growing
To me, they go hand-in-hand.

My first 3 outdoor grows were pretty sorry. I didn't know thew 1st thing about cultivation of anything.

But it wasn't hard, I just scratched a furrow in the dirt in my back yard, dropped some seeds in and a few weeks later I'd have little plants (I knew enough to plant in the spring).

But they were always getting ripped up by my asshole anti-pot brother in law.

So 1 day me and a friend deciede we'd go out to the woods and plant weed.
Since all we had to do in my backyard was simply plant some seeds, kick back and watch them grow, I did the same out in the woods. We figured we'd go back every few weeks to water.

Not realizing that in my back yard the soil was fertile and loamy, and the soil in the woods isn't.

We tried many times over the next few years with no success.

I did some reading and talked to friends who were into gardening. And learned that I had to work the soil and amend it, and water it often.

The next year I did all that but I planted too close to the road and they got discoverd and stolen.

The following year we found a almost never traveled road. That was when I had my first guerilla grow harvest. Man oh man was I jazzed. But the road got closed that winter so there was not gonna be any more opportunities there.

It was right around then that I took my first ever backpacking trip. I discovered that I dug the hell out of it and started going out with several friends every freaking weekend.

And in exploring we came across several clearings deep in the brush and figured it would be a great place to grow pot.

It was too late that year to plant, but the next spring we were ready.

We already had a site picked out (after many days/miles of searching) and we hiked in pre-dawn by the light of a full moon. We had hauled in potting soil & shovels and at daybreak got to work. From backyard grows I determined that the ideal depth/width to work/amend the soil was 3' deep by 3' across.

We prepared 6 holes, and a few days later hiked back in and planted seedlings that we had started in the city.

I don't recommend guerilla growing to people who don't like hiking/camping, but we were there every weekend during the spring summer & fall any way, so it wasn't too bad.

We only watered that first backpacking grow once a week and because of that the plants didn't grow that big or bushy, but we did get over an oz. of primo buds per plant.

The next year we expanded and planted twice that many and watered twice as often. Those mid-week trips got to be a drag but seeing how the plants grew and the promise of LOTS of money saved and possibly sales kept us going.

And THAT year we harvested a couple of pounds.

The next year we planted 3 area's. 2 got ripped off, but we still ended up with over a pound.

To me, guerilla growing was a no brainer. In to-days terms, a pound of weed was worth $3,500; it was like someone was paying us thousands of dollars to hike.

We had a "bandito" campsite about a mile or so from our site's, and often we'd go backpack in, camp out overnight and tend our garden the next morning.

Besides ending up with mucho weed for pennies per oz., we enjoyed the "regular" benefits of backpack camping. Catching wild trout, observing wildlife, lazing around in a hammock in the peace and quiet, getting drunk around the campfire, and of course lots of smoking weed.

P.S. After harvest, manicuring and drying, I'd stash my share, selling very little. R-dog on the other hand would put aside an ounce and sell the rest. He's be out after a few weeks and would be buying it off me until I got low.

The next time your out in the wilds burn one for RD.

[Soniq420]

Originally Posted by User

RD joined shortly before I became a member here. I didn't come to 420 Magazine expecting to stick around. I was just bored and surfing. One of the first things I read was one of RD's stories.

That's pretty much what happened to me as well.

Ranger had some great stories; I feel inspired now to search for that one about the rocking van. I'll post it if I find it.

Such a loss; next smoke in RD's honor

[GanjaGardener]

I as well joined almost exclusively after reading some RangerDanger material

[HappyKitty]

wow, how did I miss this one?

Thanks User, for putting this thread together of some of RD's great tales. I have laughed till I cried at some of his stories...my favorite was being chased by the rangers in a little john boat. The engine was wound out and they were still sputtering across the lake. And of course, still toking on the doobie.

I really miss RD, he was a very cool guy. I know wherever he may be he's in a good place. And man, what a story he'd tell.

[Racefan]

Oh Man! I miss RD. he was a good guy and knew cannabis. his stories were the best too. I'm happy to say I was here some while he was and got to interact with him quite a bit. We both had a lot of the same ideas about growing and what it takes and would back each other up sometimes when challenged. He lived about 45 minutes west of me and I even visited his town once although this is after he left us so we didn't meet. Hayfork was the name and the cannabis growers there are under attack from the area officials who want to control things too much. I could go on and on about old RD but I won't. I think I'll hit the vape in his honor though. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. it was enjoyable.lol

[zolar]

sure is fun to remember those good old days when vietnam was the news and tricky dick was prez and we all hoped jimmy C would do the decrim for all of us ....

[RooRman]

He was surely a great asset to the team here, his absence has been felt ever since.

[Pinch]

Mr Danger was a great story teller... one of a kind and a kind soul to boot!

RIP, Mr Danger, RIP.

[HappyKitty]

Isn't it interesting how many times a perfect stranger can make such a big impact on you.

I showed up about the same time. RD, SmokinWizard, purplemonkey, and several people in this thread are some of the many reasons I stayed. When I read his goodbye, I bawled like a baby. Then my husband wanted to know why I was crying. I showed him. He got a little teary eyed himself. He liked reading RD's stories too.

Everyone here should take a minute and check out the many other stories of RD. I think he was one of the best storytellers I ever knew.