Awesome. More after nap and shower
Awesome. More after nap and shower
Give a man fire and he's warm for the night.
Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life. Dante
Ditto, long 6 hour drive back home, took a short nap. I feel like a french fry
I am still 18 but with 53 years of experience !
im wounded, but ill live. minus one eye, my fingers and hands for that matter. and my poor iphone to a dive whilst doing 35mph. best first hang ever!!!
pics or it didnt happen. cue for junebug
Glory to the Fallen, Honor to the Lost. Faith to the Missing. Carry on Forever.
Left home (Otway NC) at 5:30 AM Friday and got the Sante Park about 11 AM. Rev, Cap Smiley and a couple of others had beaten me there.
Found a place and set up my hammock along with some others for people to play with. Except for the gnats it was a great site for a hammock hang. Took a walk down to the lake a couple of times to swim and cool off. The water felt good.
Rev held a scavenger hunt for free raffle tickets and one of the items was for a picture of your pet. Someone whose name I will not mention produced a picture of his girlfriend as his PET. Guess what her trail name is now ?
For Friday dinner, a bunch of us went to the Lone Star BBQ joint. Decent BBQ, good fried chicken, ribs that had meat falling off the bone. Good stuff. I think I went back 3 times. If they had used mason jars instead of plastic cups it would have been perfect. Got the wife a T Shirt.
While I set up my UQ, I did not use it Friday night as it was too warm.
Saturday I took my Mt Bike out and did a little trail riding. Found lots of spider webs and saw one red headed woodpecker. Got back and took a dip in the lake to cool off.
That afternoon we got introduced to the shower police (we called them something else). Gadget and I think it was Doc went to take showers at the individual camp site area as there are no showers at the group camp sites. Gadget was accosted by the camp host who told him he was not allowed to use the showers. Later the camp host came over on her golf cart to tell us “that the Ranger” has told her to tell us that we were not to use the showers. Rev was very polite and told her we would wait to hear it from the Ranger. I was not there when the Ranger did stop by but the Ranger said we could use the showers. (When I drove thru the individual camp sites to check them out Sunday AM, about 80% of the sites were empty so overuse was not an issue)
Saturday after noon a bunch of us went to play in the lake and hunt alligators. We did not find any alligators but we did play battle ship and “sunk” Junebugs kayak. I think we spent about 3 hours in the water as it felt good and because there were no bugs out there. Not sure about the others but I know I got a good sunburn.
The raffle was a success and Capt Smiley wore his new “do”. I won a few items, wanted to get that new Wilderness Logics Summer UQ but it is not meant to be as someone else got it. So just want to say thanks to all the folks who contributed prizes for the raffle.
Decided to take a nap and woke up trying to figure out what that strange sound was and I realized it was rain hitting my tarp. Got up and had dinner and went back to bed. I was wore out from playing in the lake. Woke up about 4 or 5am feeling some CBS so I reached under my hammock to pull my UQ into position ( had set it up pushed off to one side in case I needed it) only to find out that it had slipped and I had to get out of my hammock to reposition it. Instant warmth, went back to sleep.
Got up about 8 and broke down camp. Rained just hard enough during the night to to be a pain but I stayed dry so its all good. When leaving, I had just gotten on the main park road when 3 deer walked across the road in front of me
Got to meet lots of hangers that I only know from the forum and a couple of brand new hangers for whom this hang was their first time in a hammock.
A big thanks to Rev for putting on a very successful hang. I think next year you will need more space.
I will be posting some pictures when I find where I put my camera/
Last edited by gunner76; 09-10-2012 at 06:46.
I am still 18 but with 53 years of experience !
I think you covered it, Gunner76. Thanks again for letting me try out the Jarbridge.
To Rev for organizing the hang, and everyone else for pitching in! Thanks to Bajahanger for the hammock tour, and Tato for the quilt hooks they did the trick. Also a special thanks to Wilderness Logics for my 1st underquilt, I looking forward to colder weather to try it out!! Thanks to all the other vendors as well.
Great to meet everyone, look forward to the next time.
Me too... The result of 3-4hrs paddling the lake - I have this weird burn/tan line going across my forehead from a bandanna and racoon eyes from sunglasses... showing up for work tomorrow is going to be interesting trying to explain the odd burn...
Had a blast, met a lot of new friends - finally got to try out my new DIY gear (tarp, under cover & under quilt)- it got put to the test Saturday night/Sunday morning (it was still dark, so who knows which one it was) when the winds picked up and turned my 'porch' into a 'sunroom'
Tato, you make some of the best BBQ!!! Thanks for sharing - I SO wanted to pack an extra nalgene with leftovers to bring home...
Lots of nice folk, lots of fun, and definitely looking forward to next year (and sunscreen )!!!
Thanks REV!!! And tanks to all the vendors who made the raffle possible
(let us know the finally tally that went to the park, if you can)
We all know of the original "Walk off the war" thru-hike - but, check out these guys, they're helping folks 'walk off the war' today -
Donate to help fund gear for the warriors who are coming back home and need help walking off the war!
WarriorHike.com
ok guys, heres my take:
I was so busy i never got a final count of hammockers, but i know it was over 30!
Friday was a blur as i hadnt slept in close to 48 hours and was running on hopes, dreams and the tears of those who couldnt make it. CaptSmiley was given his "present" of a tobacco pipe and different tobaccos and some accessories, but it was encased in 2 boxes, 2 layers of gorilla tape, 2 layers of masking tape, and 2" of concrete.... he made quick work of it and had a big smile on his face that earned his name.
People started to trickle in and setup began with moving tables, arranging firewood and the pit, raffle gear ETC. We were lucky to get there right after some rain, so it was burning off while we were setting up. i bounced around between greeting and helping get the camp ready, and all went as smooth as it could.
A good handful of people decided to go to Lone Star for dinner, and that was a fun outing. Came back to sit around the campfire and BS as we do
Saturday rolled around and everyone went off to do the activities the park had to offer, and i spent the majority of the day in the lake with a bunch of other hangers.
the raffle came around and tons of gear was given away to deserving hangers. RCRacin got the bulk of the kit, and a good start. i cant remember all the winners but i know Gadget (whom was using the 3/4 Syn UQ from WL he got off me) got the ENO DN/ Strap setup.
So, Sunday came around and Junebug followed me to the offices with her camera to take pics of the reaction to the donation from the proceeds of the raffle. All i can say was the ranger was SHOCKED beyond belief!
Before i tell you the total, i have to say this. When I got there Friday, both the Asst Ranger (Todd?) and the woman behind the desk remembered us from last year and had NOTHING but positive things to say about us, and even remembered the donation and the amount from last year because no one ever does that.
When we tracked down the Ranger again, to give him the proceeds, he was really excited. They even had a Grand Trunk Hammock display in the camp store.
As Junebug snapped away, I told him we did better than the $50 donation of last year and handed him the wad of money. He looked at it, and I told him we had raised $700 for the park!!! He dropped the money on the counter, stood back and braced himself. He actually turned pale, started to stutter and was at a loss for words. He had to count it 3 times and he was shaking the whole time, and told us that he didnt even know how to put it into the system as hed never had anything like that happen. He sent the park manager a cell pic of it splayed out on the counter and asked for my phone number so the manager could call me when i got my phone charged. THANK YOU to all that participated and made that happen for the park
So they'll remember us next year for sure....
Last edited by default; 09-09-2012 at 23:33.
Give a man fire and he's warm for the night.
Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life. Dante
Now, for my THANK YOU's:
First, to HammockForums for giving us a place to meet up and talk, and organize these things
Second to everyone that came and made this possible. There were a ton of people from bordering states that made the trek down.
Now, a few personal THANKS:
Gunner, for the Pop-Up tent that covered the raffle gear then the food, and all the gear for testing
CaptSmiley for cooking up some bourbon chicken and sharing (and Dalton for being a big help again, even if he was distracted)
TATO for the delicious BBQ and generous raffle gear and awesome display. Glad I got my Ti Element.
RCRacin for helping tote my gear up, since i was so overloaded
Junebug for taking pics (still waiting for those...)
ITMike, Cowboy, and Gladius for being so entertaining.
Im tired still so i may have left some out, but trust me, i thank you all from the bottom of my heart for making this such a great hang and look forward to seeing you all at mine next year and others in between.
Give a man fire and he's warm for the night.
Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life. Dante
The shower police attack much quicker than Zombies and are relentless, they gather in pairs and drive golf carts to chase you. I had a great time and won the Eno Hammock, Whoo hoo. Got to meet a lot of new people and see a few I allready call friends. I cant wait until next year.
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