Great vid PF. Glad y'all had a good time!!!
Great vid PF. Glad y'all had a good time!!!
2015 John Rock Spreadsheet.
"If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing you should do is STOP DIGGING "
I'll have a short Roan Mtn video up tomorrow... today I'm busy surprising Smiling Face with a Valentine's Day home makeover, floor to ceiling house cleaning!
Also, it's the 8th birthday of Scuppers the Sailor Dog!
- MacEntyre
- MacEntyre
"We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." - Ben Franklin
www.MollyMacGear.com
Hey guys,
Just wanted to let you all know that I had a great time up on top of the mtn. The wind and deep, dry snow reminded me so much of Ely, Mn and our OKPIK instructors class. Thanks for your world class hospitality!
Nelson
40 nights out hammocking 2011...
Nelson, there is a pic of you and Mayday from Friday afternoon in the pics I posted above.
Roan Mountain most certainly did not disappoint if you relish cold, windy hammock hangs! I very much enjoyed hiking along the AT on Saturday with PuckerFactor, Darby, and Cooldays. The hike provided for some stellar views! A few pictures and a video are posted on my flickr account in the Roan Mountain Hammock Hang set.
Awesome experience! Met Wisenber and BikeCamper at Bobs Dairyland and along with SouthMark had lunch. Drove to Carvers and met AcerCanto/PuckerFactor....then loaded the pulks. I hiked up with SouthMark who had a combo backpack and pulk for the charcoal he contributed, and was joined mid-way by Nelson and Mayday (recent graduates of the MN school for COLD...the cross-country ski route (e.g. the road to the gardens) was a fairly steady uphill and gave me my first taste of pulling the sled. We found the shortcut to the AT and then the fun began! My pulk was TOOOOOO top heavy for the AT and after the second flip I backpacked a load to the shelter and then pulked the rest. Met Voyageur MacIntyre and NCWinterHiker (NOW KNOWN AS THE BELGIAN to be explained later) and soon joined by Wisenber and BikeCamper...setup was easy for me, my whole rig minus the tarp was already assembled-just pull out of the portage bag and clip to the trees. Met Mister Dark as he and Mac tended the fire (almost a challenge to get going). Met Darby (loved Darby's snow trench) before going to sleep.
Woke up at 1pm !!! Did the hammock tour and noticed the SUPER STEALTH ORANGE tarp that could only belong to CoolDays! I remembered seeing that tarp a half mile away at the South Mountains hike. Talked with him and ShutterBug for all of 10 seconds Saturday evening before they left. Darby left too on Saturday as did Mister Dark-all for different reasons. On Saturday most of the camp was abandon save me, Mac,MisterDark as the others were dayhiking.
The reported low was 1.6F, a record for me in the woods, and after stripping several layers knew I could have gone way lower--the double pod rules again
Saturday night was feast night and thanks for the brats, the potatos (BikeCamper), and the awesome fire (Mac and Mister Dark), but where did a lot of the wood come from? NCWinterHiker, as promised, pulked a load from Carvers Gap-thus BELGIAN as in draft horse! I also got to meet the famous Hickory! Now why did he remind me so much of Shug????? Well Shug was right, his twin Hickory is a great guy.
Sunday morning was much much warmer, when I woke around 9am it was 17F--balmy in comparison. The challenge of this hang was the wind...even at 17F I could only work with my fingers for seconds before having to rewarm them in the glove...you can imagine the wind chill when it was 6 and below.
My second night I put the tarp up and slept with only the MacIX Hammock sock with SEEP around the pod--again was too warm.
The hike out was a piece of cake compared to the climb up.
Lessons learned:
A pulk can tempt you into taking more than you need.
A pulk does best when wide and low--top heavy pulks will flip even with skegs if it is steep enough.
The connection of pulk poles to hipbelt makes a huge difference...I made efforts to eliminate any 'give' between the two and got rid of the lag in pulling and stopping.
From observation I think pulks and pulk poles are a given...a rope connection is just asking for more work and headache.
Reflectix wrapped around water bottles and bottles a foot deep in the snow didn't freeze even at the lowest temp BUT if you leave the bottle on the ground for a half hour and the bottle is pointing cap downhill it will freeze in the neck.
I think this was my 12th or 13th group hang, and as always great seeing the old and meeting the new. Mister Dark showed us all that sometimes its best to make a decision and act on it. The Belgian reminded me of lost youth and vigor!
I loved Mac's canvas sock...at these temps its a good choice...it snowed in my 'cave' but not enough to worry about.
The last time I hiked with Wisenber was the three day event in the Citico...both hikes a challenge for different reasons but what a contrast between the two.
Sad to see winter on the wane
Originally Posted by Mister Dark
Mister Dark, you made the right decision to lose some altitude to get to feeling better! Thanks for your firebuilding skills and the kindling wood you brought. I enjoyed watching you start the fire using the striker to light the strands of rope to ignite the campfire. Your persistence paid off making sure we had a fire.
Looking forward to seeing at the next hang!
Thanks!
Turns out, he's German and Irish! He looks elfin to me. I think his new trail name should be "Far Darrig."
- MacEntyre
"We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." - Ben Franklin
www.MollyMacGear.com
Mac where's the video?
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