Bodine Field - There Will Be Hypothermia 3/27-3/29/15

[SilvrSurfr]

What an epic hang. PBTB12 and I met up at Bodine Field at 3:30 and paddled upstream on the Oswego River. We portaged over Chatsworth Road, and explored Harrisville Lake. After a few hours of paddling we headed back downstream to Bodine Field. About five minutes from camp, we spotted an underwater obstacle a bit too late, and capsized the canoe. Cell phones were not properly secured in ziploc bags, so there was a stupid tax to pay. The water temps were, um, chilly, to say the least, and I lost my Hammock Forums hat.

We rushed back to camp, turned up the heaters in the cars, and changed clothes. PBTB12 took the wet clothes to a laundry on Rt. 9 and dried things out. Ratdog, Chris183 and Diane arrived later and we had Jersey Mike's subs for dinner.

Next day all 25 hangers showed up. Some hearty souls got a shuttle from njredneck and Chris183 to Hawkins Bridge so we could paddle nine miles back to Bodine Field. Pretbek and effensmurfy were in my boat, when all of a sudden we capsized again around mile 4. I have no idea what happened this time - it all happened so fast. I lost my Boston Red Sox hat and a glove. Krust paddled downstream and retrieved a paddle we had lost. Daytime temps were in the thirties, and we were pretty hypothermic. We paddled into Godfrey Bridge and lit a fire to dry out the swimmers, which definitely stopped the uncontrollable shivering and teeth-chattering. It started snowing for a bit, which definitely wasn't in the forecast.

I started shivering again at mile six, around Evans Bridge, so we pulled over to take a rest and jog in place. When we had warmed up a bit, we started to shove off. Njredneck's friend Jim got in his canoe, and as it slid into the water, it capsized and he took a swim. Departure plans were postponed; a fire was lit, and the swimmers all warmed up again.

The final three miles were excruciating for me, trying to stay warm. We got into camp at 6:30 pm and switched into dry clothes. It took me a couple of hours to stop shivering, but njredneck had a warming tent, and there was a nice fire to warm up at.

It was great seeing old friends and making new. Many thanks to njredneck for organizing this trip. The food was amazing!

Pretbek, effensmurfy and PBTB12, thanks for taking the Polar Bear Challenge with me. Let's not do it again, ever!

[Jolly]

Great meeting you guys; special thanks to ratdog, silvrsurfr and njredneck for organizing and making sure we were all fed.

[The Tree Frog]

When the paddlers got back, it was obvious they had gone in the drink. SilvrSurfr just shuffled by with red face and wet clothes. You looked bad. The others were cold as well, but not as bad.

As said, thanks to NJRedneck especially for the great kitchen setup and all of his culinary genius. Ribs and chicken were great. One more shout out to PBTB for his awesome crab cakes. Excellent!

Thank you to SilentOrpheus, Ratdog, and SilvrSurfr for the loaner quilts for my guests. You helped make their first cold weather hang warm and cozy.

Had a great time!

[Chris183]

Here are some pics, in a random order.


Nice meeting you guys, and nice seeing familiar faces.



PBTB's method for drying his soaked clothes



Some ovens



Early AM breakfast smoke through the trees



1 of 9 pounds of bacon



9 racks of ribs, 5 (?) Chickens



cookin




crabcakes



The fleet



Iron chef njredneck



1 man wrecking crew



Assembly



More



Almost here



Ultimate basecamp



Some night time shots


















Antics and people















haahaha

[SilvrSurfr]

I now have photographic evidence of the people who stuck my canoe in a tree. You will be dealt with; there will be retribution!

[Fishkiller]

What an epic hang. PBTB12 and I met up at Bodine Field at 3:30 and paddled upstream on the Oswego River. We portaged over Chatsworth Road, and explored Harrisville Lake. After a few hours of paddling we headed back downstream to Bodine Field. About five minutes from camp, we spotted an underwater obstacle a bit too late, and capsized the canoe. Cell phones were not properly secured in ziploc bags, so there was a stupid tax to pay. The water temps were, um, chilly, to say the least, and I lost my Hammock Forums hat.

We rushed back to camp, turned up the heaters in the cars, and changed clothes. PBTB12 took the wet clothes to a laundry on Rt. 9 and dried things out. Ratdog, Chris183 and Diane arrived later and we had Jersey Mike's subs for dinner.

Next day all 25 hangers showed up. Some hearty souls got a shuttle from njredneck and Chris183 to Hawkins Bridge so we could paddle nine miles back to Bodine Field. Pretbek and effensmurfy were in my boat, when all of a sudden we capsized again around mile 4. I have no idea what happened this time - it all happened so fast. I lost my Boston Red Sox hat and a glove. Krust paddled downstream and retrieved a paddle we had lost. Daytime temps were in the thirties, and we were pretty hypothermic. We paddled into Godfrey Bridge and lit a fire to dry out the swimmers, which definitely stopped the uncontrollable shivering and teeth-chattering. It started snowing for a bit, which definitely wasn't in the forecast.

I started shivering again at mile six, around Evans Bridge, so we pulled over to take a rest and jog in place. When we had warmed up a bit, we started to shove off. Njredneck's friend Jim got in his canoe, and as it slid into the water, it capsized and he took a swim. Departure plans were postponed; a fire was lit, and the swimmers all warmed up again.

The final three miles were excruciating for me, trying to stay warm. We got into camp at 6:30 pm and switched into dry clothes. It took me a couple of hours to stop shivering, but njredneck had a warming tent, and there was a nice fire to warm up at.

It was great seeing old friends and making new. Many thanks to njredneck for organizing this trip. The food was amazing!

Pretbek, effensmurfy and PBTB12, thanks for taking the Polar Bear Challenge with me. Let's not do it again, ever!

effensmurfy was Jim, Fishkiller was in your boat with you. Guess the cold froze your brain a little. lol!
Thanks to NJRedneck for all of his cooking and setup. Even though I STILL haven't completely thawed out. It was a memorable trip.
It was great swimming.....I mean hanging with all of you guys!

[SilvrSurfr]

effensmurfy was Jim, Fishkiller was in your boat with you. Guess the cold froze your brain a little. lol!
Thanks to NJRedneck for all of his cooking and setup. Even though I STILL haven't completely thawed out. It was a memorable trip.
It was great swimming.....I mean hanging with all of you guys!

I guess my brain is still frozen. When I got home, my wife said, "What's wrong with your face? Is that a sunburn?" I assured her there was no sun, and that the skin damage came from extreme cold. I love cold weather; my face doesn't.

[Jolly]

Oh man I forgot about those crab cakes. Those were fantastic!

njredneck, you are the ultimate chef. If you ever come out hiking with me and the crew I may be tempted to trail name you "Chef".

Great trip, so glad I drove down from Westchester Co, NY.

[SilvrSurfr]

Congrats to noob Rob for surviving his first night in a hammock. I'm not sure if I could have dealt with a 23 degree night for my first night. Then again, I did loan him my HG 0* Burrow and Incubator, and gave him almost five minutes instruction on how to lay in a hammock.

And thanks for bringing the fresh-roasted coffee from Booskerdoo coffee roasters. It's the official coffee of the GSHDA-NJ!

And Vagabound did NOT forget his topquilt this time (or did he leave it at home to save pack weight?). However, he did leave his hammock suspension at home, but I loaned him a spare whoopie hook suspension.

[Fishkiller]

I guess my brain is still frozen. When I got home, my wife said, "What's wrong with your face? Is that a sunburn?" I assured her there was no sun, and that the skin damage came from extreme cold. I love cold weather; my face doesn't.

That's funny silvrsurfer - I had the exact same conversation with my wife.

Glad to have shared the hypothermic adventure with you and Pretbek. I agree - let's not do it again - EVER!