Great pictures, guys! Can't wait for the video!
Great pictures, guys! Can't wait for the video!
I may be dumb, but at least I'm ugly!
I've done so much, with so little, for so long, now I can do anything with nothing.
It's not peer pressure, it's just your turn.
Originally Posted by arczeneb
Sounds good to me. Let's see what is available site-wise in the Fall.
Did anybody lose a brass button with what I think is The Navy emblem on it? It has an eagle holding an anchor.
It looks old, so I thought it might have some sentimental value.
Looks like a great time!
-Klauss
My YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/rexmichaelson
"But hey, 2 trees anywhere is a bedroom waiting to happen, right?"
Full Trip Report:
Leading up to the hang, we were all set to get up there with some pretty great turnout (set to exceed last year) but unfortunately we did have some issues with road work being done on the Ortega Highway. On Thursday morning someone had posted a link from a newspaper in Lake Elsinore that there would be some closures on the Ortega Highway. That post declared the event cancelled with the header “This event just got canned! Read it and weep gang.”
It took me about a half hour to get the complete story about what was going on by contacting the district office for Cal-Trans and speaking with a project coordinator, then contacting the Fire Station at North Main Divide road to get information about how work like this affected this distinct small area in the past that would be crucial to the logistics of the event. It ended up being that as long as people got in before Midnight on Friday, they would have access to the campground. The Interstate 5 side would be closed on Saturday/Sunday, but campers would be able to leave the campground via the Interstate 15 side all weekend. This would have had no effect on anybody except SoCal Mike (who had planned to get up there on Saturday).
At the end of the day, the only problems I heard about coming up the mountain on Friday were that there was a ten minute delay coming up from the Interstate 15 side because of the road being temporarily set up to one lane. Chetter and I came up the San Juan Capistrano side and experienced no delays. As for coming back on Sunday, we knew ahead of time that the exit would need to be from the Interstate 15 side. Chetter and I didn’t experience any issues with getting to the 15. It took us an extra 30 minutes to get home (compared to if we could have headed out the I5 side) but it wasn’t bad. Desert Reprobate mentioned some issues but I haven’t ascertained if he attempted to leave via the 15 or the 5. We knew the exit towards the 5 would be blocked.
In the half hour it took me to get some solid information, I started to receive PMs about people who were cancelling because of the previous post. By the time I got the information up, the damage had been done and confidence in the event had started to wane. I can’t help but think that had there been a more measured response to the roadwork being done and more complete information posted, there wouldn’t have been a handful of really great guys that backed out and missed a fun, relaxing weekend with some of the best hangers out there.
Hopefully, if a similar circumstance happens in the future. We will all remember to investigate the possibility of a problem, address it properly to avoid confusion, and have a contingency plan at the ready instead of inflaming a situation that causes people to lose out on a great time.
At any rate…
Chetter and I arrived on Friday at about noon to find Arz waiting by the gate to the park. After greetings were exchanged we drove up to the end of the Blue Jay Campground next door where we could get cell reception sufficient to post the confirmation that the roads were open on the site. We hung out there at Blue Jay with a couple of ice-colds for about an hour then headed back to the entry to the Falcon Group sites. We lucked out and The Ranger showed up about an hour early and let us in. Just so we know for next year…. The field office lady said that we could park as many cars as we could fit. The ranger had a different story but a viable solution. If we get more than ten cars next year, anybody that has a wilderness pass can park in an area just outside the campground for $5 a night. So it’s good to know that can be mitigated next year.
The site was really great for our needs. A huge open space with a large fire pit surrounded by about 8 picnic tables. Trees lined the main area and we hiked back further into the site and found other places to hang both on the trail and off. When we have more people next year, I’m not too worried about running out of hanging spaces. I can’t stress the benefit of the large fire pit enough. Last year we used a site with one of the smaller fire rings and everybody ended up jockeying for position all night to get either close to the heat or away from the smoke.
The tree of us began setting up our rigs and other people started drizzling in. I think WhoIsMikeTroung and MedicMikeP were the next two to show up. Shortly followed by everybody but Desert Reprobate and The Dude and his crew (Little Dude, Mach, and his son) who showed up well into the evening.
Final list of attendees:
Chetter
The Dude
Little Dude
Arczeneb
iRokk
Boots13
whoismiketruong
MedicMikeP
73Mach1
Kenney
Desert Reprobate
WillieCash
Gentlemen and scholars, every one.
As the day went on and more people drizzled in and set up we enjoyed some food and adult beverages, discussed different hanging techniques, backpacking gear, etc… and had an all-around great time. By the time the last of our crew showed up they had some serious catching up to do.
I was able to demo an upside-down fire building technique I have switched over to lately that works really well. It would have burned for an hour or so longer without touching it had I not knocked some of it under the grill to make some Carne Asada.
Everybody seemed stoked about the SoCal Hangers patches. They came out really well and most people picked up a couple of them at least. I’ve got plenty more if anybody is interested. Next up… The SoCal Hangers flag.
I want to thank and congratulate the following guys for making it out to their first SoCal Hangers event: WhoIsMikeTroung, Desert Reprobate, iRokk (AKA: Ta Feta). You guys certainly earned your stripes this weekend!
All of us caroused and commiserated well into the evening. This was probably my personal favorite part of the trip. There must be something about hanging off the ground that leads to having great stories, anecdotes, and jokes. Arz was on fire patrol and making sure that the campfire never fell below 4,000 degrees. It really was a sight to behold and just perfect for the evening.
The night was a little chilly but some pretty hefty warm wind gusts came in through the night that heated things up nicely… even if it was at the cost of tarp noise. The good news is that we were able to see how our tarp/guylines held up in the wind and experiment with different techniques to mitigate the situation. It was handy having everybody with their different setups in place so we could compare how they worked in the situation.
The regular gusts of wind continued on into the morning and through the second day to the dismay of those of us that wanted to get a good poker game going.
The majority of Saturday was spent checking out each other’s gear, eating, and BSing. It’s always cool to see rigs in person that have parts and pieces I’ve only seen in catalogs.
In the afternoon WhoIsMikeTroung started making his Gnocchi Goulash and I started on my Chili. Great smells started to lurk in every corner. We set dinner time at five but people started putting out food earlier than that. We must have been hungry because Mach and Dude were still working on some chicken tacos and a salad while the horde descended on the potluck. I somehow managed to save some room for the tacos when they were ready in spite of all the delicious food on the table early and boy was I glad I did. They were amazing. And the homemade Salsa Verde was incredible.
I’m sure I will miss something, but what I recall from the potluck was:
Appetizer plate with smoked salmon, anchovies, prosciutto, grilled green beans, olives, and French bread
Gnocchi Goulash
Chicken Tacos with Homemade Salsa Verde
Chicken Quesadillas
Boots13’s Incredible Jalepeno Poppers with (DIY bacon!)
Dude’s “Homemade” Cornbread
SoCal Hangers Chili with pork, beef, and steak
Potato Salad
Macaroni Salad
Homemade Fudge
Chocolate Cake
Fruit Pies
Peanuts
S’mores Rice Krispie Treats
There was so much food. Even taking just a little bit of each item would leave a person stuffed! I was thinking that next year it might be a good idea to split up the potluck into two nights. Meaning; have half of the hangers do a pot luck on Friday and the other half on Saturday. It would give us all a chance to really enjoy every item and make things easier as far as cooking goes for everybody, too.
Right after dinner, a couple of BSA, Irvine Scout Masters from a nearby camp came through to take a look at the rigs. While they initially seemed hesitant to speak with our ragtag group, Arz gave them a tour of the different set-ups as a primer course for hammocks and they seemed really interested. By the time they finished, the SMs had loosened up enough to chat for a short while before heading back to their relatively more civilized camp site.
After that, there was a lot of hanging out around the fire, talking and laughing into the evening. Not as late as Friday night but certainly late enough.
Everybody got up relatively early on Sunday morning, packed up our rigs, made plans for next year and possible other hikes/camps during the year, said our goodbyes, and rolled out.
I’m already looking forward to next year. There has been some talk about starting it up on Thursday night for anybody that would be interested in coming up early. We’ll get into planning that at the end of the summer.
Thanks to everybody who came out and continue to make this event such a joy. It was a lot of fun last year getting to know everybody. But this year had the added bonus of not only getting to know new people, but also catching up with people that I would consider more like old friends. The hammocks are great, but it’s the people that really make these things outstanding. Hopefully we see more and more of you guys as the years go by.
Definitely a great trip! Thanks everyone cant wait for next year
Great photos guys. Looks I like a good time was had by one and all.
What...> Gentlemen and scholars, every one. I certainly not referring to me ???
And Boots you need to edit your Avatar... ? for I have "Irrefutable" Evidence that Boots is one of the Soggie Bottom Boyz...> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08e9k-c91E8
Last edited by The Dude; 03-20-2014 at 22:50.
"You Can't Be Hardcore... If you Don't Live Hardcore"
Nice!!!!!!
That's right, I need to talk to the mods and change my name to "Ta Feta Oblongata"!
I may be dumb, but at least I'm ugly!
I've done so much, with so little, for so long, now I can do anything with nothing.
It's not peer pressure, it's just your turn.
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