Page 4 of 5 FirstFirst ... 2345 LastLast
Results 31 to 40 of 43
  1. #31
    Senior Member BearBurrito's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Ocala, FL
    Hammock
    Dream Freebird & Sparrow
    Tarp
    Cave Creek 12' XL
    Insulation
    Puffles & DIY
    Suspension
    Straps & rings
    Posts
    110
    Nice photo LifeScout!

    Great trip report, photos and video FLRider!

    I had a great time meeting everyone. As rain goes it wasn't bad at all. Just wish I could have made a weekend of it!
    ____________
    Numbers 35:34
    You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell...

    "You can lead a man to Congress, but you can't make him think." - Milton Berle

    "I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." (Calvin and Hobbes/Bill Waterson)

  2. #32
    Senior Member FLRider's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Gainesville, FL
    Hammock
    DIY Gathered End
    Tarp
    DIY Asym
    Insulation
    DIY Modular Quilt
    Suspension
    Whoopies/MSH
    Posts
    4,471
    Images
    14
    Quote Originally Posted by BearBurrito View Post
    Nice photo LifeScout!

    Great trip report, photos and video FLRider!

    I had a great time meeting everyone. As rain goes it wasn't bad at all. Just wish I could have made a weekend of it!
    Thank you.

    It was wonderful meeting you, too. Maybe next time on the sticking about!
    "Just prepare what you can and enjoy the rest."
    --Floridahanger

  3. #33
    Senior Member Life Scout's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    ocala, Fl
    Hammock
    DIY Bridge
    Tarp
    DIY silnylon 12'
    Insulation
    DIY Down UQ/TQ
    Suspension
    Kavelar/dynema
    Posts
    593
    FLRider i saw your on the go lunch and thought you might be interested in this find. found it at Wal-Mart peanut butter in power form.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  4. #34
    Senior Member Life Scout's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    ocala, Fl
    Hammock
    DIY Bridge
    Tarp
    DIY silnylon 12'
    Insulation
    DIY Down UQ/TQ
    Suspension
    Kavelar/dynema
    Posts
    593
    There is nothing like a bear bag hanging in the morning light.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  5. #35
    Senior Member Floridahanger's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    SW Volusia, FL
    Hammock
    Ridge Outdoor Gear Pinnacle 360
    Tarp
    UGQ Rect. and HHex
    Insulation
    DIY CDT/synth sets
    Suspension
    Straps/Speed Hooks
    Posts
    4,398
    Images
    10
    Very nice, Life Scout.

    And love that PB and Choco powder. Ideas....ideas....
    Enjoy and have fun with your family, before they have fun without you

  6. #36
    Senior Member SkunkApe's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Jacksonville, FL
    Hammock
    Simply Light Tree Runner SL
    Tarp
    HG Cuben 8x10
    Insulation
    JRB Quilts Top/Btm
    Suspension
    Whoopies!!
    Posts
    405

    Skunkape's Trip Report

    This was written for my blog so it may be worded funny.

    I have been off the trail for six months mostly due to the summer heat here in Florida. I was so glad to see a local Hammock Forums hang called The 2nd Annual Summer's Last Gasp happening nearby. One of the people responsible, FLRider, asked if anyone wanted to do a 20 mile hike into camp. Well, I am a sucker for hiking so I signed up knowing darn well my feet and legs would suffer.

    Meeting My Hiking Partner

    I took Friday off and got an early start on the road to meet FLRider at the Pat's Island Trail Head for 10am. I got there a few minutes early and found some strange tracks that turned out to be Florida Panther tracks. It's too bad I didn't get to see the maker. What a treat that would have been. FLRider showed up and he*shuttled us down to the Florida Trail SR19 trail head.

    Off we go, having lots of great conversations about hammocks, gear and our experiences. In my daily life I rarely have the opportunity to have such great conversation with like minds. hiking in Florida is not as common as you would find out west or even north.

    The Hike In

    Florida is an amazing place to experience outdoors. There are so many strange plants and animals to enjoy and the weather can push you to your limits while looking like you are enjoying a sweet summer jaunt on camera. The humidity and sun are constantly sapping your strength and will to move forward. It is truly a test of your persistence.

    Every 100 yards or so there is a 3 inch banana spider waiting for you to walk into her web. I don't care what the texts say, they want to suck your life force out. So I held my polls high to stay them off. Keeping a close eye on where my feet went I saw blue-tailed lizards, anoles, black racers, a beautiful and huge fishing spider. There were tracks from deer, bears, coyotes, bobcats, raccoons. On one pond in the Juniper Prairie Wilderness we saw two beautiful whooping cranes dance under the setting sun.

    Around the halfway point we stopped at Juniper Springs Campground to replenish our water supplies. Let me tell you, water and A/C never was so cold and marvelous. At every one of these stops, my feet showed more signs of blistering. I have been down this road before. A few blisters isn't going to take me away from this great experience.

    At Camp (Hidden Pond, Ocala National Forest)

    Walking into camp we hear Grinder's warm welcome, "It's about time!". Good to see everyone again and meet some new folks. Found a spot to hand right by the fire with a view of Hidden Pond. Can't complain. The weather showed it was supposed to get down in the high 60s. I didn't bring my underquilt so I did a few sheet bends on the ends of my Tyvek ground cloth and had a makeshift one in no time. I was tired so I had a little dinner and got to bed. I took some ibuprofen and a bunch of Benadryl to help me sleep. Always the first night out I have a hard time sleeping. It was little warm and humid, but the humidity would cause me to get a chill on occasion. So the top quilt was on and off me all night. Slept pretty well all the same.

    Hike to Silver Glen Spring

    Saturday morning I was up to watch the sunrise. Nothing like looking out over the end of your hammock in the morning ro watch birds on a beautiful pond. The group woke up and we had breakfast. I was feeling pretty good. When everyone decided to do a 10 mile hike over to Silver Glen Spring I jumped in with both blistered feet. I replenished my empty water Aquafina bottle at the pond and headed out. First bit of excitement was that we thought we lost Grinder somewhere. He had headed out on the trail because he claims to be a slow walker. We met up with some hikers that headed out before Grinder and they said he never passed them so FLRider went back down the trail to see if he could find him. Well he came back, but no Grinder. Ah well, I am sure he got ahead somehow. We set back on down the trail. Some time later, I heard a familiar voice from behind. You guessed it, Grinder caught up. He had taken a side trail for a bit and caught up. Slow my ***.

    The first stop was at an old cemetery. The dates on the headstones dated around the late 1800s to early 1900s. On headstone, for a young girl, stated "she died playing with fire". I guess that was a warning to others.

    The second half of the trail got interesting and fast. Since FLRider's trip a few weeks earlier, the Southern Sandspurs bloomed. These wicket plant's seed pods latch on to anything they can find. My socks seemed to be well suited for their spikes to catch on like little mines of pain. As I walked they worked their way deeper into the thin socks and into my skin. I had to stop and take 15 minutes to scrape them off with my knife. My let was bleeding, but I felt a little better. This time I let someone else with pants lead hoping it would lessen the quantity of pods. Well nope, that didn't seem to make any difference. The whole groups suffered through this part of the trail. Grinder, being the wiser of the bunch, had enough and headed back to camp. He had already out hiked us and had seen the spring before. We finally pushed through and make it to the spring.

    Silver Glen Spring is a very pretty little park. The ranger was an older gentleman who would not budge on policy so we all paid the full rate to get in. Well worth it. The cold clear spring water was the best possible medicine we could have found. The lot of us just stood neck-deep in the water for about an hour.

    For the hike back we took an alternate path that took up a little further but we did not have to deal with the sandspurs again. Thanks for that FLRider. It's good when someone knows the area enough to give you options. Towards the end of the evening and the hike, I started to slow down. this would make 30+ miles and I was in no shape for a marathon. "Keep on swimming".

    We spent Saturday evening enjoying more talk around the fire. What a great bunch of people. I find these hiking trips a good filter. People who want to fight, argue, make enemies, do not tend to want to hike in to do so. All you are left with are a group of like minded folks who just want to relax and enjoy nature.

    http://skunkapeblog.com/2nd-annual-summers-last-gasp/
    Attached Images Attached Images

  7. #37
    Senior Member FLRider's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Gainesville, FL
    Hammock
    DIY Gathered End
    Tarp
    DIY Asym
    Insulation
    DIY Modular Quilt
    Suspension
    Whoopies/MSH
    Posts
    4,471
    Images
    14
    Quote Originally Posted by Life Scout View Post
    FLRider i saw your on the go lunch and thought you might be interested in this find. found it at Wal-Mart peanut butter in power form.
    Thanks! I've seen that one before, though, and it's fewer calories for the weight than regular PB or almond butter. Maybe I could use it in a smoothie or something like that. Hrm...


    Quote Originally Posted by SkunkApe View Post
    This was written for my blog so it may be worded funny.

    I have been off the trail for six months mostly due to the summer heat here in Florida. I was so glad to see a local Hammock Forums hang called The 2nd Annual Summer's Last Gasp happening nearby. One of the people responsible, FLRider, asked if anyone wanted to do a 20 mile hike into camp. Well, I am a sucker for hiking so I signed up knowing darn well my feet and legs would suffer.

    Meeting My Hiking Partner

    I took Friday off and got an early start on the road to meet FLRider at the Pat's Island Trail Head for 10am. I got there a few minutes early and found some strange tracks that turned out to be Florida Panther tracks. It's too bad I didn't get to see the maker. What a treat that would have been. FLRider showed up and he*shuttled us down to the Florida Trail SR19 trail head.

    Off we go, having lots of great conversations about hammocks, gear and our experiences. In my daily life I rarely have the opportunity to have such great conversation with like minds. hiking in Florida is not as common as you would find out west or even north.

    The Hike In

    Florida is an amazing place to experience outdoors. There are so many strange plants and animals to enjoy and the weather can push you to your limits while looking like you are enjoying a sweet summer jaunt on camera. The humidity and sun are constantly sapping your strength and will to move forward. It is truly a test of your persistence.

    Every 100 yards or so there is a 3 inch banana spider waiting for you to walk into her web. I don't care what the texts say, they want to suck your life force out. So I held my polls high to stay them off. Keeping a close eye on where my feet went I saw blue-tailed lizards, anoles, black racers, a beautiful and huge fishing spider. There were tracks from deer, bears, coyotes, bobcats, raccoons. On one pond in the Juniper Prairie Wilderness we saw two beautiful whooping cranes dance under the setting sun.

    Around the halfway point we stopped at Juniper Springs Campground to replenish our water supplies. Let me tell you, water and A/C never was so cold and marvelous. At every one of these stops, my feet showed more signs of blistering. I have been down this road before. A few blisters isn't going to take me away from this great experience.

    At Camp (Hidden Pond, Ocala National Forest)

    Walking into camp we hear Grinder's warm welcome, "It's about time!". Good to see everyone again and meet some new folks. Found a spot to hand right by the fire with a view of Hidden Pond. Can't complain. The weather showed it was supposed to get down in the high 60s. I didn't bring my underquilt so I did a few sheet bends on the ends of my Tyvek ground cloth and had a makeshift one in no time. I was tired so I had a little dinner and got to bed. I took some ibuprofen and a bunch of Benadryl to help me sleep. Always the first night out I have a hard time sleeping. It was little warm and humid, but the humidity would cause me to get a chill on occasion. So the top quilt was on and off me all night. Slept pretty well all the same.

    Hike to Silver Glen Spring

    Saturday morning I was up to watch the sunrise. Nothing like looking out over the end of your hammock in the morning ro watch birds on a beautiful pond. The group woke up and we had breakfast. I was feeling pretty good. When everyone decided to do a 10 mile hike over to Silver Glen Spring I jumped in with both blistered feet. I replenished my empty water Aquafina bottle at the pond and headed out. First bit of excitement was that we thought we lost Grinder somewhere. He had headed out on the trail because he claims to be a slow walker. We met up with some hikers that headed out before Grinder and they said he never passed them so FLRider went back down the trail to see if he could find him. Well he came back, but no Grinder. Ah well, I am sure he got ahead somehow. We set back on down the trail. Some time later, I heard a familiar voice from behind. You guessed it, Grinder caught up. He had taken a side trail for a bit and caught up. Slow my ***.

    The first stop was at an old cemetery. The dates on the headstones dated around the late 1800s to early 1900s. On headstone, for a young girl, stated "she died playing with fire". I guess that was a warning to others.

    The second half of the trail got interesting and fast. Since FLRider's trip a few weeks earlier, the Southern Sandspurs bloomed. These wicket plant's seed pods latch on to anything they can find. My socks seemed to be well suited for their spikes to catch on like little mines of pain. As I walked they worked their way deeper into the thin socks and into my skin. I had to stop and take 15 minutes to scrape them off with my knife. My let was bleeding, but I felt a little better. This time I let someone else with pants lead hoping it would lessen the quantity of pods. Well nope, that didn't seem to make any difference. The whole groups suffered through this part of the trail. Grinder, being the wiser of the bunch, had enough and headed back to camp. He had already out hiked us and had seen the spring before. We finally pushed through and make it to the spring.

    Silver Glen Spring is a very pretty little park. The ranger was an older gentleman who would not budge on policy so we all paid the full rate to get in. Well worth it. The cold clear spring water was the best possible medicine we could have found. The lot of us just stood neck-deep in the water for about an hour.

    For the hike back we took an alternate path that took up a little further but we did not have to deal with the sandspurs again. Thanks for that FLRider. It's good when someone knows the area enough to give you options. Towards the end of the evening and the hike, I started to slow down. this would make 30+ miles and I was in no shape for a marathon. "Keep on swimming".

    We spent Saturday evening enjoying more talk around the fire. What a great bunch of people. I find these hiking trips a good filter. People who want to fight, argue, make enemies, do not tend to want to hike in to do so. All you are left with are a group of like minded folks who just want to relax and enjoy nature.

    http://skunkapeblog.com/2nd-annual-summers-last-gasp/
    Beautiful trip report there, SkunkApe. It was truly nice hiking in with you, and I agree--that A/C and refrigerated water was the bees' knees.
    "Just prepare what you can and enjoy the rest."
    --Floridahanger

  8. #38
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Palm Beach County, FL
    Hammock
    12' Dutchware Gathered
    Tarp
    12' Dutch's Bonded
    Insulation
    W Logics UQ 40F
    Suspension
    Whoopies
    Posts
    351
    Thanks to FLRider for getting the ball rolling on this past weekend. As always it was a good time with Great Friends both old and new. Although the hike in and out was a bit on the warm side, the campsite was shady and cool and the pond was very refreshing.

    If this was a warm up for FHT in SC next month, I'll be lucky to make it halfway through that trail. Duffy, PM me if your coming. Good Luck up there FLRider!!!

  9. #39
    Senior Member olddog's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Lakeland, Fl
    Hammock
    WL Snipe
    Tarp
    WL Tadpole
    Insulation
    WL SS UQ, WL SS TQ
    Suspension
    Dutch speedhooks
    Posts
    4,323
    Images
    3
    Ok, ya'll are making me think that I should have tried to be there. A lot of positives about new and old friends, some negatives about the heat, humidity and rain but no mention of mosquitoes.

    Good trip reports by all, thank you.
    Most of us end up poorer here but richer for being here. Olddog, Fulltime hammocker, 365 nights a year.

  10. #40
    Senior Member SkunkApe's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Jacksonville, FL
    Hammock
    Simply Light Tree Runner SL
    Tarp
    HG Cuben 8x10
    Insulation
    JRB Quilts Top/Btm
    Suspension
    Whoopies!!
    Posts
    405
    Quote Originally Posted by olddog View Post
    Ok, ya'll are making me think that I should have tried to be there. A lot of positives about new and old friends, some negatives about the heat, humidity and rain but no mention of mosquitoes.

    Good trip reports by all, thank you.
    There were three mosquitoes. I got one of them good.

    Quote Originally Posted by olddog View Post
    ...I should have tried to be there...
    Are you telling us you didn't ven TRY to be there? Olddog.....

    Would have been great. It was very nice and honestly wasn't that hot on the trail. And that is coming from a Canadian who hates the heat.

  • + New Posts
  • Page 4 of 5 FirstFirst ... 2345 LastLast

    Similar Threads

    1. Replies: 168
      Last Post: 09-28-2014, 20:35
    2. Replies: 35
      Last Post: 01-05-2014, 22:07
    3. Replies: 26
      Last Post: 02-04-2013, 08:25
    4. Poll & Planning: North-Central FL: Summer's Last Gasp Hang
      By FLRider in forum Hangouts, Campouts, and Trip Planning
      Replies: 45
      Last Post: 10-15-2012, 11:51
    5. Good warm days/cool nights setup!
      By pixelgator in forum Bottom Insulation
      Replies: 1
      Last Post: 06-27-2012, 16:39

    Tags for this Thread

    Bookmarks

    Posting Permissions

    • You may not post new threads
    • You may not post replies
    • You may not post attachments
    • You may not edit your posts
    •