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  1. #1
    Senior Member FireInMyBones's Avatar
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    Official 2013 Smoked Butt Hang Trip Report Thread

    What a wonderful weekend! I arrived on Friday night after a long haul up I-85N with my dad, ED. It was raining for the whole trip to Falls Lake Recreation Area group campsites. Since the gates close at 8pm and don't reopen until 8am and I didn't get there until 8:45pm, I had Cwbybld come pick me up at the gate. ED is still new to the hammock camping scene and is used to setting up a tent in the rain...thus he is yet unaware of the great ability to stay dry while setting up camp with a hammock. Needless to say, ED drove into Wake Forest to spend the night with my younger sister.

    Once I found a nice spot to set up my site and a nice spot for my dad in the morning, I set up and joined some of the late-nighters for introductions and conversation. It was great to finally meet Gresh, Gunner, Paulie, Catavarie , and Pretbek.

    The night was really going to be interesting with a Tornado Watch just having ended at 9pm. Just as I started to walk around because the rain was letting off, the top of a tree fell right by where I was set up. I looked up in the dark and in the rain, but didn't see anything. The one big widowmaker was outside of my campsite's radius and I missed the one that came down. Yikes...that was close.

    Saturday morning I awoke to the sound of firewood being chopped. That meant breakfast would be ready soon. With a night low of 50F, I was a bit cool in my summer insulation, but I would be using a 1/8" Gossamer Gear thinlite pad with my UQ for Saturday night. 4WLO made an incredible mountain man breakfast.

    Everyone, with now full bellies, began walking around looking at different people's setups. It was great to be able to talk to Paul from Underground Quilts. What an approachable and helpful guy. Very willing to help.

    The day's events called for a paddle trip on the lake. JuneBugDawn, Pretbek, cbamos, Cwbybld, and I paddled from the campground East past the marina (where they were having a free wakeboarding demo) to the outlet of a creek the MST crosses. Five of us went out, only five of us came back. I would say that we lost someone of something, but really we just lost part of ourselves. That was a wonderful amount of paddling.

    Upon our return, we could see the smoke lingering hazily around the smoker. Our sense of smell was not sure the best way to interpret the sure ecstasy our tongues would be experiencing soon enough. Everyone was starting to pull out their dishes and I brought out two "meat pillows" of my chili. It was requested to be my "hot and spicy" version, but I felt the need to tone it down a bit, not knowing everyone's tolerance.

    Silverpalm2x, ED, someone's young boy and I got into a round of ladderball. I think the game went to ED and Silverpalm2x. Good game, though we didn't get to finish.

    I can't begin to describe the intensity of tastes at this hang. I was great and had to be experienced.

    After the food was the raffle. There were a lot of great items to be had. My dad, ED was able to get one of Underground Quilts fleece hats. His first win! Grannypat one a $20 gift certificate to Hammock Gear, but I had to accept it for her since she was not able to make this hang...what a pain in the butt it must have been to miss out. Between Loki and Gresh, few of us would have had a chance had it not been for their kindness and passing up on winning more than they did. They cleaned house, and passed up on winning more times than they choose to pick something out of the stack.

    Not long after we congratulated those who won and maybe coveted their winnings a bit, Cwbybld lead JuneBugDawn, Pretbek, 4WLO, ED and me on a night paddle across calm waters. As the moon's light reflected off the still water and we navigated the roughly mile and a half to our desination we found what we had not earlier. Last we paddled, I lost the calories I needed to build up an appetite, but here, I found a deep spiritual peace. This was easily more filling than the wonderful meaty meal that caused me to loosen my PFD for this paddle.

    The night continued long into the next morning with joking and much ridiculousness courtesy of Gresh and Appalachian Hammocks.

    The night was cooler: 47F. ED and I slept well in our respective hammocks near the parking lot away from the lake. In the morning,when we walked back down to the lake, ED almost lost his hat to the cold breeze. Visionarylion and his clan made breakfast burritos. It was fantastic to sit down with Old4Hats and Chigger. What really interesting people. Thanks for the wonderful biscuits.

    Sadly, we had to say goodbye for the 4.5hr drive. A great hang! Thanks Catavarie for organizing this hang! Aptly named, but I almost believe that it needs another adjective, like "Awesome Smoked Butt Hang."

    Last edited by FireInMyBones; 04-24-2013 at 08:26. Reason: Added video.
    -Jeremy "Brother Bones"
    Quote Originally Posted by FLRider View Post
    ...he's a mountain goat crossed with a marathoner.

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by FireInMyBones View Post
    Silverpalm2x, ED, someone's young boy and I got into a round of ladderball. I think the game went to ED and Silverpalm2x. Good game, though we didn't get to finish.
    That would be my oldest, Daniel, who almost beaned Silverpalm2x with the balls.

    For all who want to try the Dump Cake (or Cobbler if you like), it's really simple:

    Mix 1 can cherry pie filling and 1 can crushed pineapple in DO. Sprinkle 1 box yellow cake mix on top. Top with 1/2 to 1 stick butter, sliced. Bake for ~45 min at 350 or so (something like 8-9 briquettes on bottom and 14 on top).

    And it was my wife's idea - I just happened to make it.

    We had a great time and enjoyed putting faces to pseudonyms.

  3. #3
    Senior Member grannypat's Avatar
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    Sounds incredible. Yes, FIMB, it really was a pain in the butt to miss this.
    Keep movin', keep believing and enjoy the journey!

  4. #4
    PappyAmos's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by grannypat View Post
    Sounds incredible. Yes, FIMB, it really was a pain in the butt to miss this.
    And I hate you did have to miss it. Your ears must have been burning with the (truly) kind things folks were saying about their "favorite fire tendor." I hope to get to meet you in the future.

  5. #5
    gunner76's Avatar
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    If you missed this hang...shame on you, it was great, tornadoes and all.

    Made it home safe and sound. Will submit a report as soon as I have time to write it up.
    I am still 18 but with 52 years of experience !

  6. #6
    PappyAmos's Avatar
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    Cold!

    Thanks to FireInMyBones for posting our story. An Addendum:

    The Friday night low was predicted to be 63*. I rigged my new PLUQ and PLTQ for the night. I was good at 61* at 1AM. I woke up cold at 3AM - it was 53* and going down - had to grab more warmth. Apparently I wasn't the only one who did "the insulation shuffle" during the night.

  7. #7
    Senior Member Gresh's Avatar
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    So, I typed about a REALLY LONG trip report post, then hit the back button on my mouse by mistake. I suck SUPER hard.

    TL;DR version (since I'm lazy): A GREAT time, thanks to everybody who came out and lent to the spirit of fellowship and camaraderie that make these hangs what they are. Thanks to Catavarie for organizing this, and the people who generously donated time (to cooking or cleaning), money (to the raffle, the funds from which went to some very worthy causes), and raffle items (I'm looking at you, Underground Quilts, Warbonnet Outdoors, 2QZQ, Hammock Gear, Appalachian Hammocks, and so many others).

    I always have a good time when I go on group hangs (and thanks to HammockForums members, my non-member friends now think I'm "internet famous") because of the people, and this was NO exception. God willing and the Creek don't rise, I'll be there again next year.

    In the meantime, see y'all at the Fall Sprawl, if not sooner.
    Last edited by Gresh; 04-21-2013 at 20:25.
    I used to be a somebody, now I just camp.

  8. #8
    Member mullinax95's Avatar
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    I wasn't far from where that tree fell either. It woke me up and I heard you guys talking about it. So realizing that nobody got hurt including myself I just rolled over and went back to sleep. lol
    Marland

  9. #9
    Senior Member grannypat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cbamos View Post
    And I hate you did have to miss it. Your ears must have been burning with the (truly) kind things folks were saying about their "favorite fire tendor." I hope to get to meet you in the future.
    I like poking the fire.
    Keep movin', keep believing and enjoy the journey!

  10. #10
    Senior Member Catavarie's Avatar
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    I had a great time this weekend and would like to start off by thanking everyone who showed up for making not just my first organized group hang, but my first ever group hang a success. And so being my first every group hang I didn't know what I didn't know. Luckily Gunner76 was there and knew what I needed and hadn't thought of ahead of time. Thank you, Gunner and Trish, for all you did to help things flow smoothly.

    I arrived at the group site around 1 pm on Friday and was greeted in the parking lot by Paulie, JunebugDawn, and Cowboy. Handshakes and introductions were immediately made and could instantly tell that them South Carolinians were some fine folk. Was then greeted by Loki, Old4Hats, Chigger, and 4WLO who were also already on site. I felt like a bad host for not being the first to arrive and greet them all, but that feeling soon went away thanks to everyone's wonderful attitudes and genuine joy at being there. I walked around a bit and found myself a pair of suitable trees which were reasonably protected from the predicted weather and proceeded to setup my rig. The next few hours were a haze of people arriving and unloading and adding to the merriment in camp. A few were first timers to group hangs and even more greeted each other as old friends. Paul and Missy from UGQ had made the drive down from Michigan on the promise of warmer weather and BBQ and I don't think they were disappointed by either. Pretbek had also made a true journey out of coming from Pennsylvania having taking the scenic route through West Virginia and spending the previous night Monongahela National Forest. He had spent a good bit of time riding his motorcycle that day through the rain and storms we had been promised.

    There had been talk of the impending "bad" weather throughout the afternoon and around 6 pm it finally hit. The winds picked up and the rain started coming down. Thunder could be heard rumbling in the distant, but I never saw a flash of lightening. Thanks to the topography of the camp ground the site was mostly protected from the apparently strong gusts of wind that Gunner and his wife had encountered when heading out to the store. Five minutes later the winds died down, the thunder dissipated and the rain slacked to a steady sleep inducing rate. Not wanting to sleep just yet I tossed on my rain jacket and escaped the dry security of my tarp to venture out.

    I wondered around camp a bit realizing that I was the only one out from under my tarp and came upon Loki's setup and found him amazingly not enjoying his Ridgerunner, but instead sitting under his tarp with a great view of the lake. We talked for several minutes there before deciding to head back up to communal area to welcome any other people who arrived before the gates were locked. Slowly people began making their way from there tarps and ventured back out to join us and an Easy Up was provided by Gunner76 and his wife (I seriously can't thank you two enough.) for everyone to enjoy. FiMB arrived around 9 pm and we had a bit of excitement upon hearing the tree fall in the general vicinity of his setup and all going on a hunt to make sure everyone and everything was okay. I retired to hammock around midnight and was quickly welcomed into slumber's warm arms.

    I awoke around 4 am feeling as if I had slept an entire night, it is amazing what a hammock can do for you sometimes. I laid in my hammock for around an hour enjoying the silence and stillness of the woods at night while simultaneously wishing I had dropped the porch side of my tarp as the wind had done a 180° turn after the rain and it was now blowing right in my face and leaving my quite chilled even in my quilts. Unable to find my insulated jacket I had packed (I know I packed it because I found it when I was packing up on Sunday.) I tossed on the fleece vest and wind jacket I could find. I decided that in an effort to warm up a bit that I would get up and start moving around and it was nearly another hour until there were signs of others waking up. The fire which we had forgone the previous day due to the impending weather was lit and as people woke up breakfast was made ready. This meal would prove to keep my fed until nearly BBQ time.

    Gresh was generous enough to assist me with the transportation of my grill which was used to smoke apparently twice as much meat as was needed, but hey go big or go home right? During the quick drive to my place I realized that Gresh is one of those people that I could easy hang around everyday and never tire of. He truly is good people with a hilarious sense of humor. Butts were in smoke and the waiting, along with the continuing chorus of is it done yets, began.

    FiMB led several people on paddle on the lake and few decided to hike the Falls Lake Trail section 13 from Hwy 98 back to camp (approximately 4 miles). More people showed up, including many that had decided not to tempt fate with the Tornado and Thunderstorm warnings we were under, and soon it looked like a homeless camp for hammockers. Some people wondered around and looked at different rigs that were setup, some decided to do a bit of arts and crafts with Reflectix making pot cozies, and some seemed content to just sit around the fire and pass the day away in great company. We had about a half dozen people show up for just the day and look around and ask questions. Some stayed for the meal and raffle and some didn't. I spent the day keeping the charcoal fire and smoke going in the grill. All the while I was trying to not looked stressed out over getting the pork on the table in time for those not staying to eat and get out before the gates were locked. Finally about half the pork was done so I pulled it out and got it on the serving table for the stomach growling masses to enjoy. Everyone was filled and satisfied at this point and it was raffle time. I would just to thank everyone who donated prizes to the raffle:

    The raffle went well (No it wasn't rigged ) and we raised $532 to be split among the three charities:


    The evening went on longer than it probably should have with wonderful conversation and company around the camp fire.

    Sunday morning was bitter sweet for me, it was pack up day and though I wanted to spend time with my wife and daughter I didn't want the weekend to end, nor the wonderful people I had met to leave. I blew the fire back into life and had a good flame going for those few who woke earlier than the others. Visionarylion and his wife Loren made wonderful breakfast burritos for everyone and we all packed up our gear with happy stomachs. Goodbyes where said. Hands were shaken. Many people had a far further drive than I and were in just as much of a hurry to get home to loved ones as I. A final walk through of the camp site left things looking better than I had found them to be when I arrived on Friday. We really do have some wonderful people who think nothing of picking up someone else's trash that had been left for us to find, it warms my heart.

    Again I just want to thank everyone who came out, whether you stayed all weekend or just popped by to chit chat for an hour everyone added to the experience.

    Now to start planning for Smoked Butt Hang 2014.
    *Heaven best have trees, because I plan to lounge for eternity.

    Good judgement is the result of experience and experience the result of bad judgement. - Mark Twain

    Trail name: Radar

    2014 Smoked Butt Hang Planning Thread | Sign up Sheet

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