NJ > Mullica River > 4th Annual Thanksgiving Turkey Trek > Fri. 11/27 - Sun. 11/29

**silentorpheus** · 11-07-2015, 12:05

That's right, it's almost time for the 4th annual installment of the Thanksgiving weekend "Turkey Trek"! Here's some details (I stole a lot of the copy from last year, if it looks familiar):

What: Halloween is over, the weather is getting colder (or is it?), nightfall is coming sooner, and the leaves are falling: must be time to think about the 4^th Annual Thanksgiving Turkey Trek!

When: We’ll be hiking in on Friday, November 27^th (Black Friday

) and hiking out on Sunday November 29^th.

Where: This year will be at Mullica River Camp again. Having a water pump is a definite bonus, and there are plenty of route choices to accommodate anyone’s mileage proclivities. It's 4.5 in from Batsto, 5 miles in from Atsion, or you can hike via the Batona trail and make it as long as you'd like.

Important Note - This is a hike in hang. Mullica River Camp is not accessible by car – you can technically get within a mile or so of the camp by service roads, but you cannot legally park overnight there. So if you’re interested, plan on walking (or canoeing … brrr!) in. Besides, the whole purpose of this hang is to walk off some of the feasting we’ve done in the days before – cold piney air is good for the soul and digestion. The NJ Winter Hang is just a few short months away, so all the car campers can get their fix of the Pine Barrens – this is for the intrepid souls that want to get out and stretch their legs in the crisp pre-winter air.

Sites: We have already reserved site 8. That’s good for a decent group of hammocks. There are plenty of other sites with decent trees, but please do not go paying for extra sites until we figure out what our actual needs are. We'll book extra sites as our numbers flesh out, we'll get the ones that we know are best suited for hammocks, and we'll work it into the overall cost of the weekend (see below).

How: I’ve created a simple spreadsheet HERE so we can get a headcount.

Food: Lunches are BYO. Everything else will be a shared meal, based on the menu tab from the spreadsheet. See below for more info. Feel free to bring your own snacks and beverages, though I'm sure there will be plenty of those as well.

Cost*: As we debuted last year, we'll look to do a full budgeted meal/supply plan for this hang. This is an easier way to handle everything, we'll guarantee plenty of firewood so we stay warm, awesome meals for all, and people don't have to worry about what to bring or how to carry it. We even arrange for strategic drops of supplies. Lunch is bring your own, but everything else will be covered. Take a look at the second page/tab of the spreadsheet for the proposed menu. The final page is a work in progress but shows the budget and how things break down - that's copied from last year, so it will change as we shop and update. At the moment, I'll tentatively suggest it will be less than $30 per person for the full weekend.

(* note - if for some reason cost is a factor in whether you can/can't attend, please contact me directly to discuss.)

That about covers it. I realize it’s a holiday weekend, and many will have plans and family obligations. But I’ll be out there regardless, and so will a few others - feel free to post here if you're interested in joining us.

Cheers!

**Ratdog** · 11-07-2015, 12:13

#optoutside

The junction at Beaver Pond

Beaver Pond

2013 was cold, water froze as you were pouring it

Camp

**The Tree Frog** · 11-07-2015, 12:37

Thanksgiving checklist
Turkey...check
Feeling full....check
Walking it off to the Turkey Trek...absolutely!

**silentorpheus** · 11-07-2015, 12:43

For reference, here's last year's trip report:

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...t=thanksgiving

**SilvrSurfr** · 11-07-2015, 13:08

Ratdog's +64 is getting to be a tradition. Did you know that the theoretical capacity of Mullica River campsite is 82 people? While the actual hammock capacity of Mullica River is probably closer to 18 or 20 people, Ratdog says we can stack the hammocks and hang bunk style! Who's hanging under Ratdog? Volunteers?

Looking forward to another Turkey Trek and my wife accusing me of abandoning my family to go hang in the woods with relative strangers.

**silentorpheus** · 11-07-2015, 13:45

Some history of the Turkey Trek, for anyone new:

The original Turkey Trek was the first trip I organized/spearheaded, my first hike into the Pine Barrens, and in fact my first backpacking trip is a good 15 years. We camped at Lower Forge - I hiked in with SilvrSurfr (it was the 2nd or 3rd time we had ever hung together), his friend KY Bob, and a canadian hanger visiting family in NJ named Matthiastrek, and met the Jerzybears who had been there the night before. It was 7+ miles, and by the time we got to camp I thought I was going to die and my legs were completely useless. It was the first time any of us met NJRedneck and his boys. Lows were in the 20's, and we had one attendee leave in the middle of the night because it was too cold for his dog and he didn't want to risk it. They hiked out at 2 am. Our hike out was via the Batona, was even longer than the hike in, and by the time I got to my car, and drove home, I could barely walk. I hobbled around like an invalid for a good week.

Year two we held at Mullica, due to the water pump and not wanting to deal with filtering in sub freezing temps, plus it was easier to have more hammocks. I believe that was the first hang that I met Ratdog (he had showed up to the Winter Hang the year before, but did his usual hover by the edge of the fire, and I didn't actually 'meet' him at that one). Jerzybears and NJR hiked in earlier, and SS and I night hiked in with Matthiastrek and Vagabound. We cooked steak and shrimp over the fire. Black Foot and Tinkr hiked in the second night with multiple pounds of Brats, plus we had all our backpacking meals and thus started the tradition of eating well with our crew. That hang also saw one of the new guys nearly freezing because he didn't bring a topquilt (and henceforth we check with all newcomers to make sure they've got gear that can handle our trips), Ratdog's first sherpa family rescue mission, plus we met a group of guys that were passing through - one of whom collectes vintage canvas tents, and always packs in a 12 pack of Doctor Pepper as his luxury item when he hikes.

Last year was the first of our multi-day planned meal feasts and excursions. Old and new folks joined in, and we had 2 cold nights of food and friends. Much apple juice was consumed, both breakfasts and dinners were epic (Dutch Oven Ribs for all), it got nice and cold (less than 20 overnight), and at one point the fire was so big with our burning pallets that there was a good 10˚ difference in temp 20 feet away from the fire versus 40 feet away from the fire.

Who knows what this year will hold in store?

**monkeynono** · 11-07-2015, 14:42

I may sneak out Saturday and stop by just to say "hi"

**njsurfer** · 11-07-2015, 14:59

Im going to try for at least one night, maybe bring a kid or two. Ultimately going to depend on my wife's work schedule, which we dont know yet.

Jon

**SilvrSurfr** · 11-07-2015, 15:02

One could technically call this the 5th Annual Turkey Trek. I was going through the archives and found that I hung at Batona with kayak karl, Kaia and Syb after Thanksgiving in 2011.

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...ghlight=batona

**The Tree Frog** · 11-07-2015, 18:38

Originally Posted by SilvrSurfr

One could technically call this the 5th Annual Turkey Trek. I was going through the archives and found that I hung at Batona with kayak karl, Kaia and Syb after Thanksgiving in 2011.

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...ghlight=batona

I re watched the three videos from way back when...good stuff. Interesting to see how much you've learned about the pine barrens since that time! You are much more knowledgable now.