the hangout at hot springs was a blast

**dutchtreat** · 06-11-2007, 16:31

Man, did this weekend turn out to be beautiful,

after some dire predictions about thunderstorms. Dodged the bullet. Great to see Ed & Pog (thank you both for a great weekend). Wonderful to meet Fish Bone and get a chance to play some music with him. Same for Slowhike. Great to meet all the other folks Hummingbird and I had never met. We had not been back since a hangout there in 2002. We were not disappointed.
Dutch Treat

**headchange4u** · 06-11-2007, 17:19

Originally Posted by dutchtreat

Man, did this weekend turn out to be beautiful,

after some dire predictions about thunderstorms. Dodged the bullet. Great to see Ed & Pog (thank you both for a great weekend). Wonderful to meet Fish Bone and get a chance to play some music with him. Same for Slowhike. Great to meet all the other folks Hummingbird and I had never met. We had not been back since a hangout there in 2002. We were not disappointed.
Dutch Treat

Welcome to the forums dutchtreat. That's a mighty purty guitar you got there.

**Frolicking Dino** · 06-11-2007, 17:21

Originally Posted by headchange4u

Welcome to the forums dutchtreat. That's a mighty purty guitar you got there.

And he really knows how to use it. He and Fishbone were wailing.

**smithobx** · 06-11-2007, 17:48

Hello to all, it was great meeting each of you this weekend and to have a chance to see everyones equipment. The weather was good, the equipment was interesting, but the company was great! See you next time.

**Just Jeff** · 06-11-2007, 17:49

Yep - great time at Hot Springs. Met a few new folks, saw a few folks I already knew (notice I didn't say "old folks"), and had a big ole plate of pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream at the diner. The music was awesome and the kids had a blast building a dam in the river. And best of all - you ladies convinced my wife to try out a hammock soon...I'm gonna set one up on the back porch tonight and see if she'll try it tomorrow while I'm at work.

I'll write up a mini-review of the Warbonnet soon. It was as comfortable as the Hennessy with the same setup time. The side entry is pretty nice, too.

And a few lucky folks scored some of the $1/yd fabric I had left over. (Don't worry...I'll get some more together soon and offer it up here.) And some other lucky folks got some free hitchcrafts to test. And everyone got Ed's traditional Saturday night hot dogs!

**Shadowmoss** · 06-11-2007, 20:30

I learned that it can be dangerous to wander around town with Ewker and Darby. Around 5pm on Saturday we were a bit restless and headed to town from the campground. I was looking for some iced tea, they just wanted to walk. We walked through downtown but everything was already closed except the pub. Ewker and Darby were talking about the trail. We walked to the diner, but the folks inside hollered out to us that the diner was closed already. Geez, all I wanted was some iced tea. Ewker told Darby and I about various things in town, and the two of them told tales from previous hikes and dreams of hikes to come. We wandered further out of town following the AT markers in the sidewalk. At the AT crosswalk we stopped for the guys to take pictures and peer up the trail on the other side of the road. Next thing I knew we were headed off to see just where it went. We followed it behind the yards to see how far it went before it headed up. We found the stairs. At each juncture I turned to head back, but the guys just launched into more stories of dreams of hiking the AT. First it was pictures of the stairs, then the next thing I knew we were hiking up the stairs to see where they went. We were in the parking lot of the Forest Service headquarters, and spent some time checking out everything on the bulletin board there, sparking more tales of what the guys want/hope from their AT hikes. As they were looking longingly off at the trail as it headed on from the parking lot I finally tethered them and drug them back to town. If I hadn't I think that they would still be hiking just a bit further to see where the trail went from there. On the way back they were checking out the town from a hiker's viewpoint trying to figure out things like shuttles and laundry and various features that they will need to know when they hike through there. Had the outfitter's not been closed we would have stopped in yet again, I'm sure. As it was we just looked in the window like kids at a candy store window. Discussion turned to things we coulda/shoulda bought earlier when they were open. Reluctantly we crossed back over the railroad tracks and back into reality. But for a while those two were like a couple of kids on an AT adventure.

**Shadowmoss** · 06-11-2007, 20:51

I also learned that in a Hennessy it is impossible to be discrete about the middle of the night trips to the bathroom. That darned velcro will give me away every time. Jeff sorta grinned when he mentioned he heard me get up a couple of times during the night. Really, the only clandestine date I had all weekend was with the bathroom up the way.

The complete inability to be discrete about my entrances and exits has been noted though.

**FanaticFringer** · 06-11-2007, 20:58

Originally Posted by Shadowmoss

I also learned that in a Hennessy it is impossible to be discrete about the middle of the night trips to the bathroom. That darned velcro will give me away every time. Jeff sorta grinned when he mentioned he heard me get up a couple of times during the night. Really, the only clandestine date I had all weekend was with the bathroom up the way.

The complete inability to be discrete about my entrances and exits has been noted though.

You could try taking the velcro apart really slowly. Would probably be a royal pain though. I'd like to water the leaves more stealthy also.

**angrysparrow** · 06-11-2007, 21:00

Originally Posted by Shadowmoss

I also learned that in a Hennessy it is impossible to be discrete about the middle of the night trips to the bathroom. That darned velcro will give me away every time. Jeff sorta grinned when he mentioned he heard me get up a couple of times during the night. Really, the only clandestine date I had all weekend was with the bathroom up the way.

The complete inability to be discrete about my entrances and exits has been noted though.

You could always remove the velcro, no? I thought it was only there to keep bugs out when you aren't in the hammock. The same thing could be accomplished by just tossing something of weight in the hammock when it isn't occupied, perhaps a clothes bag.

**Shadowmoss** · 06-11-2007, 21:09

I usually had things in my hammock, and the velcro didn't close unless I closed it. I probably won't modify my HH, but I am starting to think about making my own.