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Great hang! :D
Converted a few ground dwellers,
found some clams
and ate them! (the clams not the ground dwellers)
First pics - Can you tell what we were thinking about the whole time? :D
More in depth commentary to follow (along with gear cleaning).
Thanks to everyone who came out. What a great time!
Things started of roughly when we kayaked across the bay Thursday into a 30 mph wind. I was nominated to ferry over the gear in the dinghy since I was the lightest. With whitecaps breaking over the bow and sides of the boat and no bilge pump we ended up dropping half the load on an oyster bar and went back for it later. The paddle over was work, but on the plus side the high winds did keep the mosquitoes and no see ums away Thursday evening. With the clear skies I was able to sleep without a tarp and fall asleep watching the stars.
On Friday we kayaked back to the launch and hauled yet another load of firewood back to the campsite. I think we left about a week worth of firewood for the next campers. We also did some clamming on Friday. The larger clams were purged then steamed and put into a clam chowder while the smaller clams were kept to be baked on Saturday. On the way back a pod of six dolphins surrounded the kayak of one in our group but getting a picture of a dolphin cresting is like getting a picture of a lightning strike. Everyone picked up their paddles and watched the dolphins for a good 15 minutes.
On Saturday morning our tenting friends treated us to a breakfast of pancakes, bacon and eggs. It was a mountain of food. Later, I paddled around the bay near the campsite and checked out a nearby campsite that I had never scouted before. We welcomed three more hammockers and said goodbye to our 4 tenting friends (I'm sure you will be hearing from them soon with questions about hammock setups).
Sunday we all packed and said our goodbyes. On the way in we spotted two bald eagles flying overhead chasing a peregrine that had caught a fish. What a great end to the trip.
Hopefully it wont be too long before we get out to enjoy the sights and company of friends again!
Sounds like a great trip and lots of fun (and food). Wish I could have been there. Maybe next time. Also good pics Timberrr.
I had a wonderful weekend! Some great fishin', but not a whole lot of catchin'. Awesome weather, good friends, beautiful environs. And the food! Good Lord that Gumbo Chief can cook! The fresh clams hot off the campfire were just unforgettable.
Thanks for everything. Let's do it again soon!
I'm putting up a PIF of Medicineman's feed bag. It's got some trail mix, I think I saw some Cheerios, and oh yeah... there's a Back Country Boiler and an Esbit Stove and a nice titanium cup too! The first response gets it. :lol:
Okay. JK. Duffy's mailing it back to you.
Had a wonderful time. Y'all are a great group to hang with. Thank you for the great cooking and the friendly fellowship. I had a blast. Hope to see you again soon.
Looks warm
Had a great time on the first night of this hang and got my first taste of kayak camping!
Gumbo and Timberrr were great hosts. Hope we can do it again some time. Sorry I missed the rest of you, hope you found a place to hang. I had a 15 hour drive on Saturday, arriving home to snow on the ground. Hope to get my photos up this evening.
Thanks again!
Wow! I knew you folks would have a great time with Timberr and Gumbo organizing things and there was no doubt that the food would be spectacular. I can't wait to see more pics and hear more stories.
One day I'm going to have to pick up a kayak and join the fun!
The day I left east TN it snowed. I made it to Palm Coast the first night, crashed, and woke up to 72F-before the day was over it was in the 80s! I paddled around in Mosquito Lagoon before heading to the campsite and was blessed to see dolphins doing their thing. Set up camp, took a nap and heard Chief Jumbo calling my name. Got to meet a lot of ground dwellers who will probably convert. I slept 12 hours the first night in a Warbonnet.
Dinner was remarkable--this Gumbo is the master of anything she touches, I think she could cook rocks and make them wonderful. The whole process of getting the clams onto the dinner plate was very interesting---especially the way Timberrr tricked them into pooping :) If you ever get to hang with Gumbo just know the meals are multi course and gourmet.
I was surprised by the number of Florida hangers who are also AT hikers and one of the ground dwellers is thinking about a SoBo Thru-hike.....so it was another awesome gathering of hikers/paddlers and hangers.
My second night I only slept 10 hours, woke up thinking about the long drive and promptly left my food bag---thanks to Chief Jumbo and Duffy for taking care of it!
I remember lying in the hammock staring at a blue sky behind Spanish moss and the green oak leaves and behind me the lagoon--what a contrast to the last hang on Roan Mountain.
I got home to find 36F and snowflakes in the air-sometimes you wish you'd never left a certain place!
Great meeting Scott,Bruce,Karen, their daughter; of course Gumbo, Timberrr and their son. Also Duffy, Zukiguy, and Johnny Walker. I've done a lot of these hangs, I think this was no. 14 and in all those folks I've not met a one I would want to hike or paddle with again.
Thanks again for inviting me.
p.s. working on a funky vid-funky when you don't have batteries.