NJ > Batona Camp>8th Annual New Jersey Winter Hang TRIP REPORT

[kayak karl]

Just thought I would get a thread started. Will post later.

[Black Foot]

Despite the lack of cold temps and some rainy weather it was an awesome hang. Great people, food, raffle, and campfire.

20150124_130751-EFFECTS.jpg

Thanks to all of the organizers and people who pitched in to put this hang together. Now to dry out and clean up the gear

[SilvrSurfr]

How many people does it take to replace an oil pan? Monkeynono and a boatload of spectators. Actually, the spectators did help in lifting the car so the ramps could be placed under the front end.

20150124_162248.jpg

Here's Iafte reenacting Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. Kayak Karl was not impressed. He said, "The lyrics were great but it didn't have the best beat and was hard to dance to. I gave it a 75."

20150124_191341.jpg

[Pretbek]

That was another boatload of fun!
Great people (which makes great hangs), great food (which makes greater hangs) and an awesome fire on Saturday (thank you fireboy).

For the next one I vote for snow again, in stead of rain and sleet. All in favor say "aye"...

[The Tree Frog]

For the next one I vote for snow again, in stead of rain and sleet. All in favor say "aye"...

Aye aye. I'll give you two!

Sorry I had to leave early. Had a great time anyway. Great food Iafte, Stkk, Suede, Jerzy Bears peppery soup and Joe's rum balls and the brownies! Yum.

Who won what at the raffle?

Who won the grub de gra? (Spelling?)

[lazy river road]

Great food, great people, it's was great to see old friends and make new ones. Had an awesome time.

To everyone who lended a helping hand with my car I can't thank you enough. Monkeynono thanks you epically for getting down and dirty and to Stix for getting the ramps and to everyone who lent tools and Ratdog for directing from his camp chair and to everyone else for their moral and muscle support I trully appriciate it. It really felt like fam when everyone kept saying no worries well get it fixed and we did so thanks again. Tree stump one, oil pan none. Till next year, buy you tix now for round two. Maby Dutch can make me a reinforced ti protector to give me that bit of edge I might need to win. Awesome weekend.

[monkeynono]

I had a great time, met some great folks. I also learned a lot about different set-ups all ready planning for next year.

[jwright]

I also wanted to throw out a big thank you to all that endured the rain and made my first Batona such a great hang.
A lot of effort was put in by a lot of people to make this a great weekend - I couldn't begin to name all the culprits. Just know that it was very appreciated. From the main organizers, to help with the permits (that's you KK), the firewood, the group shelters, the chefs, the 'kitchen', puddle navigation(syb), raffle organizers, the vendors and members who contributed such great prizes and everyone else I've left out - thanks.
I didn't get a chance to talk to a lot of you but I appreciated the camaraderie and look forward to seeing you around the fire next year.

And "Aye" for snow next year.

[Meckie]

I want to take some time to say that I had a great time this weekend and look forward to next year. Thanks to all the organizers and everyone that made it such a great time. Now to get all my stuff dried out so I can get ready for the frosty butt hang next weekend.

[SilvrSurfr]

I got a late start and didn't roll in till around 4:30 pm on Friday. Most of the tent stakes for my tarp were push-in, but I had to borrow a socket wrench from Wilson to hammer stakes into one piece of frozen dirt.

Lazy River Road was the only casualty driving into the site; in an effort to avoid a rather large puddle he hit a tree stump that took out his oil pan as well as parts of the front and rear bumper.

The snow came down Friday night, but turned to rain later. There were a lot of tarps sagging from the snow load in the morning. A couple of people said goodbye to their popup shelters that didn't survive. It rained pretty much all day Saturday, but there was a break when a group of us got in a hike. There was a call for someone familiar with the area to lead the hike, and SilvrSurfr stepped up to the task. However, some members of the hiking party were familiar with my propensity to get lost and began to have serious doubts about my leadership ability and general sense of direction. There was GPS and Google map checking that confirmed I have a potential career as a Pine Barrens hiking guide, with my encyclopedic knowledge of trails and roads that I have hiked, intentionally and unintentionally.

We went west on the railroad tracks to High Crossing (flooded, as usual), then we took another road back to Carranza Road and back to Batona camp. It was a healthy five-mile hike that had its share of bushwhacking along the overgrown railroad tracks as well as the flooded roads and giant puddles.

Parts were obtained, lazy river road's car was lifted onto car ramps, and monkeynono replaced the oil pan. That's something you don't often see at a group hang!

Saturday pot luck was great - there were some roasted elk appetizers, stuffed cherry peppers and stuff to tide us over. Then came venison sloppy joes and some other venison dishes, chili, etc. Mmmm, mmm, good. We did the raffle and a 50/50 which was fixed: Dutch won the 50/50 grand prize of $100. There was general storytelling and merriment around a wonderfully warm pallet bonfire. Somebody called me an archetype, but it's one of those words I don't understand - reminds me of paradigm shift. The weekend was over all too soon.

There was such a wide range of weather: snow on Friday with plenty of condensation problems and saggy tarps; rain and sloshy, muddy weather all day Saturday (I waterlogged three pairs of boots); and then Sunday morning the whole place was frozen slick as an ice hockey rink. The low Friday night was 32 and 29 on Saturday.

Thanks to all the vendors who donated raffle prizes, including Dutch, Hammock Gear, Ribz Packs, Hammeck, and Booskerdoo coffee. And thanks to the HF members who organized, cooked, donated raffle prizes, and made this such a memorable hang.