Altoona, PA April 27 & 28, 2013 (inaugural!)

[Chainsaw]

Well we're back in Altoona, PA after a brief respite and this is a good thing.

On April 26th I arrived at Blair County Game, Fish and Forestry.  Now I've been to some nice ranges, but this one just about takes the prize.

If I lived closer I would live there... no I would really live there.  I don't know know how they would feel about a squatter in one of their many log cabin range buildings, but at least I think I could talk Ray the Groundskeeper into sharing some chores in exchange for a room.

I think the cabin at the rifle range would do me just fine.  Yes, it's only about 12x12, but it's got a fireplace and well, I've always wanted to "go Thoreau."

For this weekend I settled for a campsite next to the babbling brook that cuts the property in half, it's water is icy clear being only a short distance from its headwaters at the top of the Alleghenys.

BEAUTIFUL range, more like a state park actually if my description so far hasn't painted a picture.

This shoot was two years in the making.  Scott C and Eric W attended a shoot way back and were the last two standing in some horrible weather (the shoot where the Porta Potty blew away).  At the time Scott said that he had a range in mind, but that "it might take awhile..."  Well here we are.  They came through even though it "took awhile" to get into a position to make it happen.

Seven folks attended this first event and I was happy to meet them all.  Excellent patriots.

Saturday was the nicest day in my memory and since we had used up all of our good weather karma we got rain on Sunday.

We got to whack some targets at 100 yards and next time I am bringing some steel to ring at 200 and 300 (and an oxygen tank to make the climb... you have to be a mountain goat)

No new riflemen to report, but significant improvement by all.  Way to stick with it Hannah!

I can't wait to do this again.