LOL! So you aren't exactly on the wireless net,yet, huh!
It was an old Forest Service system that I first used as a child when visiting my friend at the ranger station where his dad was ranger.
At that time, all the permanent outposts, fire lookouts, guard stations, and the ranger station were connected by these old crank phones, and they were the only service to town, which was about 60 miles away. When I talked to my mom on the phone it sounded like she was at the end of a long tube that had pebbles rattling in it.
It was the old style switchboard system, so to connect we first had to call the operator in town and she would link up to the town system. All the phones on the remote system were hardwired together, and you called a particular station by turning the crank for a long long short, long short, short short short, etc. depending on which station you wanted. If anybody had a mind to, others could listen in on that call.
After I started working for the Forest Service, one of my jobs was to maintain this phone line through the wilderness, and it was one of the best jobs I had. We just followed the line until we found a down tie, then climbed up the tree with our spurs to rehang it. Sometimes there was a real rat's nest if several trees fell across the line. One such rats nest had been there for years and other crews were too lazy to clear it, but we cleared it and rehung the line.
That was probably the best job I had after being a fire lookout, except when the pole I had to climb leaned over a steep boulder slope down to the river. If I had fallen, it would have been a very uncomfortable roll clear down to the river.
The man I worked with that day was "Thor, the wild Norwegian," and I had heard stories about him ever since I was just a kid. He was legendary. |
