Boy, am I out of shape; six miles in and out kicked my butt. It sure was great to get out in the Pine Barrens with fun folks for a little exercise (well, some of us), rest and relaxation.
Boy, am I out of shape; six miles in and out kicked my butt. It sure was great to get out in the Pine Barrens with fun folks for a little exercise (well, some of us), rest and relaxation.
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson
It was a good time. Thanks to Ratdog's Sherpa service, not everyone was so worn out!
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Make with the pics and trip reports, so I can live vicariously through you all.
I made it to the Atsion Office by 9:30 AM and met the early group. We made with the usual chit chat, discussed the veracity of the rabid squirrel reports and then set to adventuring. Which in this case meant hauling wood and a little bit of gear back to the camp site cache drop off site.
When I arrived near camp, at the No Motor Vehicles signs, I ran into a couple other vehicles and thought "uh oh". And while I was stashing the gear and dropping the wood a couple of folks came walking up. Mentioned how they had much of the camp locked up for the weekend and I thought, "huh?". Moments later I learned they were Wilson's friends come to join the fun! Great folks and I didn't get near enough time to visit with them, more on that later. Fully confident now that the perimeter was secured, I headed on back to civilization only to run into the hiking contingent on the road. Seeing those folks walking in the sugar sand in the July sun, well I felt for them as I sat in my air conditioned truck so I thought the least I could do was offer to haul any gear of folks that would want some relief. Picked up a little gear but not one person would take me up on the ride. Later as I headed out again it was about time to for the afternoon contingent to arrive and I just happened to bump into them at the Office. So, loaded up a little more gear, offered a ride to anyone interested and then back into the woods for one more drop.
At that point I had to take off and handle some responsibilities at home which involved sewing up some more hammock gear and prepping for a family gathering. Didn't make it back to the woods until 10PM and with it being a 3 hour walk in, putting me in camp around 1AM, I opted to drive. (shocker, I know)
So I'm walking that strenuous 10 minutes into camp, enjoying the light of the full moon, no headlamp needed and just waiting for someone to leap out of the woods as a "welcoming party" but the walk was thankfully, uneventful.
Arrived and campfire stories were in full swing. Setup my hammock, talked a little and crashed early. About 1AM I realize the sub 70 degree temps are giving me a chilly back and what the heck is wrong with my under quilt? Oh yeah, had loaned it to one of the youngsters for the Father's Day hang and it was totally not set for me...grrrr. 4AM and I fumbled with it again and then finally slept. But I'm telling ya, that "super moon" light was so bright I had to cover my eyes with a buff as I didn't bother rigging a tarp. Morning showed up too early and that sun just wouldn't let me be, so up and out of the hammock.
Naturally NJRedneck was up and had the coffee working, others were sitting around wrapping up breakfast. I opted for the PackitGourmet chicken and dumplings which was pretty good. Weather looked like it might get a little iffy so I chatted with folks, offered to haul gear and anyone interested back out in the truck. A couple sherpa runs later and my day was done.
Plenty of memories, even for such a short trip.
I did get to eat a few blueberries and huckleberries, didn't have to walk more than 10 ft from my hammock to find them.
NEVER offer to hold the bag while Aircoder pours the boiling hot water, just saying.
Lot's of laughs with Jshep and Matty around the fire and a real education on the finer points of IPA, all theoretical of course. Bob and I could yak about 4 wheeling in the Pines all day if Carla let us. Treefrog graciously endure some good natured ribbing as the finer points of coffee making were discussed and of course SilvrSurfer did not disappoint, gotta love the stories and every single one of them true! And King Crimson was thing of beauty, well done sir.
NJRedneck never travels light, don't care if it is just an overnight, who packs in a Dutch Oven??? Dang that is one heavy pack lol .
Gotta give props to Mychal's crew for hanging tough in heat and humidity. Intrepid bunch there but I still will not trust anyone under 10 yrs old offering me a jelly bean, I don't care how many times they promise it's root beer, cherry or whatever. I've been burned before and it's not gonna happen again.You are one tough bunch, and make sure you bug your dad about a canoe trip on the Mullica with an overnight camp at the Mullica River camp.
Have sherpas, will travel...
Triangles, it's all about the triangles.
H30º ™
HTA
8.7167º
Great report and most thankful for the sherpa'ing! I'll add some tomorrow.
My sister and I slept in _that_ last night?
I must admit that I was very tired from making my King Crimson tarp, and the accompanying Little Red Rooster hammock all week. Sewing ain't easy for a one-eyed man. Peggy's hair would match my ensemble perfectly! She cannot resist my Crimson Bordello.
crimsonbordello.jpg
The humidity was oppressive when I got to Atsion Ranger station. NJRedneck, and a strong strapping lad who turned out to be a girly man were there (I cannot mention his name). Ratdog offered to take people or packs to the campsite in his truck. Girly Man jumped on the ride, and njredneck willingly gave up his pack. I wore my GoLite Jam 50 and Ribz pack for the hike and njredneck joined me with his Ribz.
Man, it was hot. I turned red as a beet and I think njredneck was concerned for my welfare. I've been extremely inactive due to a back injury and I am badly out of shape, so six miles was a lot for me. I was so hot and tired I didn't wanna stop till I got to camp - I think we did six miles in about an hour and a half.
Along the hike, I had a coupla girly moments. A lizard ran over my boot and about gave me a heart attack. Then somebody left a plastic snake on the trail that gave me a startle. Njredneck picked it up and put it in the Lower Forge latrine for others to enjoy.
In the morning, The Tree Frog (slackpacking), njredneck and I hiked out - everybody else took the Ratdog shuttle.
It was again hot and humid, but I handled the heat a lot better. I had the AC blasting all the way home!
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson
Here are some pics of the hang...
Lower Forge - Batsto River.jpg
Lower Forge laughs.jpg
Lower Forge crew.jpg
Lower Forge Fun.jpg
Lower Forge hang.jpg
Lower Forge laughs.jpg
Lower Forge - NJ Redneck.jpg
NJ Redneck
Lower Forge - Tree Frog.jpg
The Tree Frog
Lower Forge - Wilson.jpg
Wilson
NJ Hammock Club Facebook Page - Come join the party!
I have some other pics from Lower Forge and the Batona hang in my profile pics if you care to see them.
NJ Hammock Club Facebook Page - Come join the party!
Your videos are awesome!
Loving the kids photo bombing...SS link to Scaramanga, next thing you know he'll pull out a golden gun.
But maybe the Rain, isn't really to blame !!
So I'll remove the Cause
But Not the Symptom !!
Have sherpas, will travel...
Triangles, it's all about the triangles.
H30º ™
HTA
8.7167º
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