Great time at the 2012 Colorado River Hang...eh...I mean Summer Hang!
I got up there Friday night and set up in a light drizzle (but nothing major) before chatting with Food (****), OutandBack (Bob), TrailRyder42 (Derek), ice man (Frank) and Jimmy (sorry...didn't catch the forum name but I'll edit it in later), and heading to dinner at the Sundance just south of the campground. Since we couldn't have fires due to the ban (although I'm pretty sure nothing was going to catch fire this time), we just hung out at the Sundance for a while and chatted under OutandBack's tarp...then went to bed pretty early. It drizzled until around midnight, giving us a peaceful pitter-patter to keep us sleeping all night.
Saturday brought a great pancake breakfast thanks to Food, OutandBack and Derek...hash browns, bacon, sausage, and Village Inn pancake batter that we cooked up fresh and hot. (And Jimmy's dog got a few pieces of bacon...)
This was Frank's first good rain in a hammock, and the water ran down his supports and underquilt lines, soaking his underquilt. And he didn't seal the pull-outs on the Warbonnet tarp, so his top quilt got wet, too. He was ready to drive back to Iowa after breakfast. We had some dry gear for him but he said he lost his enthusiasm...understandable, given a miserably wet night. So he started the drive home shortly after breakfast. Don't give up, Frank!
A few others showed up to take his place, though - MustardMan (James), MrsMustardMan (Amy), Slowanderer (Ed) from Colorado Springs and Desert Reprobate (Bob) from California.
Late Saturday morning, we all tried to hike to Blue Lake...but only got as far as the river crossing just past Mitchell Lake. The bridge was two side-by-side logs over the river, and the water was flowing over the top of it. We probably could have crossed safely, but it was after 1pm and we thought a storm would come in and make it unsafe to cross back to the cars. So we went down to Brainerd Lake for a picnic...and that storm began rolling in!
The drive back to the campground pummeled us with rain and hail, and even washed some small rockslides into the road! We have some video of it that others will post...it was bad enough that lots of folks were pulled off the road waiting for it to pass. Not us, though...
Then we got back to the campground and Food said it had only drizzled a bit...not even real rain. But that would change soon! I laid down in the hammock for a little nap and woke up to some pretty pleasant raindrops on the tarp. Then it got harder. And harder...so of course I had to start getting pictures. And here's how that ended up!
The hard rain stopped, but it drizzled all night. All 9 of us had dinner in Nederland (with a few beers for good measure), then back to the campground for a little chatting and another early night. The rain didn't keep anybody awake or wet their gear, so we were all comfortable and warm. (At least nobody would admit to being wet and cold Sunday!)
I left about 8am Sunday morning...some folks were going to try the road to Left Hand Reservoir and fish, so I'll let them tell the story. OutandBack won't be able to update that until Thursday.
All in all, a great trip despite (or because of) the weather! Definitely ready to have at it again, and I'd like to fish Blue Lake when it's not so stormy.
Some more pics from the trip:
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