The Greater Gainesville Gathering Mark 2 was a great time.
I left Gainesville on the bike around 10:45 on Friday morning and headed out into the steadily-building heat of the day. By 11:00, I was on the Hawthorne Trail, headed east under the shade of the thick forest that runs its length.
By 11:45, I had turned off of the trail and ridden the two-and-an-half miles down to the campsite. With only a few folks scheduled to arrive on Friday, I took my time setting up and settling in. Around two-ish, I decided to go gather firewood. My DIY MMP-inspired backpack handled 75+ lbs of logs like a champ and allowed me to drag enough firewood back to the ring for the weekend.
Around three-ish, the heat had already climbed into the ninety-degree-plus range, and I was feeling it. I decided to go for a short hike on down to the prairie overlook out at the Longleaf Flatwoods Reserve. I'd wet a bandanna from the pitcher pump at the campsite before leaving, but it was so hot and sere that the bandanna was completely bone dry by the time I returned--despite sweating into it the whole trip!
I decided that some more water and a nap would be a good way to avoid the worst of the day's heat. Waking around six-thirty or so, I rose and slowly made dinner for myself. I tried a new recipe this time: Minute brown rice, fresh uncooked stir-fry veggies, a foil pack of chicken, honey, and sriracha sauce. I boiled water and cozied everything but the sauces and the chicken for twenty minutes. It came out wonderful! And the veggies kept well, despite the heat.
I settled in for an evening of building a fire and then ensuring it didn't burn the forest down. It's been a very dry pair of years now, and the whole forest was one giant tinderbox that could've gone up in an instant without supervision. I had cleared a space around the fire ring down to dirt and kept a gallon of water on hand to pour out on anything that even looked like it might be an errant spark. But, the magic of a good fire when you're out in the wild can't be discounted.
After putting the fire out around ten-thirty or so, I settled into a much cooler night than the day had indicated. Pulling the quilts up, I fell fast asleep.
Around eleven-thirty or so, OldScout came into camp (he'd set his rig up on Thursday, so he could just come right on out after work). The headlights woke me up, but only to the point of saying hello. I fell right back to sleep and slept well for the rest of the night.
I woke just before dawn on Saturday, only to find that OldScout was already up and about. He'd made hot water already in his JetBoil, and I shamelessly took advantage of his offer of some to make my morning "coffee" with.
Some of the folks who had indicated interest in coming out for the weekend had cancelled on Friday, so--since no one else was scheduled to show until Sunday--I decided to head over to Camp Shands in Melrose to help OldScout with some volunteer work there. I'd never tiled a floor before, but I think it turned out pretty good for amateur work. And who can turn down a free lunch? Especially when the work goes to a group that does as much good as the Boy Scouts do.
After about one-ish or two-ish, we headed back to the campsite. After some conversation, we decided to hike on down to the prairie overlook again. It's awfully pretty out there, and that's the most shaded route through the reserve. After going on down to see the (currently dry) prairie, we decided to follow an old forest road and see where it went. Winding past ancient oak hammocks, longleaf pine stands, and cypress swamp, we marveled at the varied beauty of north Florida. The unpacked sugar sand we were tromping through was definitely wearing, though. After a quick stop to hang the ENO that OldScout had in his daypack and eat some snacks, we continued on until we found our way back to the trail.
From there, it was a short walk back to camp, and we decided to go get some cold beverages before dinner. There was a convenience store less than ten miles from camp, and it was a short round trip. That night, we made an hybrid Dutch Oven/dehydrated shepherd's pie dish that turned out really good. The salt content from the jerky we used was somewhat overpowering, but the whole still tasted wonderful. I think that with some low-sodium jerky (there are a couple of places here in Gainesville that sell it), it would have been perfect.
After a long night of finishing our beverages and BSing around the fire, we both retired. I slept well, waking refreshed in the early morning, just before dawn. I rose and stretched, quickly getting my gear together to make coffee from the hammock. I rested and enjoyed it while I waited for OldScout to awaken.
Sunday morning brought bad news again; two more of the folks who were to come on out weren't going to be able to make it. Ah, well, I guess it'll just be OldScout and myself. After breakfast, we set out to recover the bandannas I'd set up in various places around the Reserve as an orienteering course. We quickly managed to find all of them, even in the mounting heat of the day. Chatting about navigation methods as we went along, the bushwhacking wasn't too bad--there had been a couple of prescribed fires since the last G3, which caused some of the underbrush to be cleared.
Sunday afternoon, OldScout had to leave for some personal business, so I'd just settled in to take a nap through the worst of the day's heat when Mrs. FLRider called me. She actually wanted to come out to the site! (Note: this doesn't happen very often.)
So, I guided her on in to the site and we sat and chatted for a couple of hours while the sun continued to bake the area. She wanted to go get a soda, so I rode with her over to the convenience store. After returning and spending some time in the A/C in the car, I bid her goodbye and returned to the hammock. Laying down for another nap, I quickly fell asleep.
I woke just before dark and grabbed my headlamp before leaving the hammock. I made a quick dinner of instant mashed potatoes and a bit of beef jerky. Tasty. I also built another fire and waited for OldScout's return.
He arrived probably around nine-ish, and we spent another wonderful evening of talking on every subject around the fire. OldScout is a wonderful conversationalist, and I really enjoyed our chats. Around midnight, we both turned in for the evening.
I woke just before sunrise again, to find that OldScout had beaten me to the punch. I rose and made "coffee", talking for a bit before packing up my stuff. Around 9:30 this morning, I hit the road again, headed back into Gainesville. I arrived easily enough, having finished my liter of water literally the block before my house.
It was a wonderfully relaxing weekend, with just enough work to remind me that I was out in the woods. I saw a plethora of wildlife, including three white-tailed deer. OldScout was great company, and I hope to see him at the next hang.
All in all, a great G3!
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Originally Posted by MAD777
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