Trip Report- The Maine Hang - Brunswick, ME April 25th-27th, 2014

**Snaggletooth** · 04-28-2014, 22:15

Thomas Point Beach is a fantastic place to camp as is. It has a scenic tidal water beach, a vintage playground, grassy fields, and lots and lots of perfect trees.
Add a few things like a meat tent, kayaks, impromptu music and friends and you have yourself a memorable hang.
My four-year-old daughter and I really enjoyed the second annual hang at TPB. Looking forward to the next one. There is no doubt this would be a superb destination for the NEHHA spring hang.
Thanks again Russ for making this happen!!!!

**McRat** · 05-02-2014, 15:58

Sorry to be late in posting my trip report. A lot going on in my world lately, which will be apparent.

Arrived to the campground Friday afternoon to blue skies and pleasant weather. The prospect of poor weather caused a lot of folks to back out, but aside from the breeze, it was pretty nice weather for Maine. Gastar and Gretchen were already set up and I began stringing up my hammock rigs for self and guests. As the evening approached, more guests arrived including summerz and Grey Eagle.

We were expecting a small crowd, but I got some additional well wishers who came to provide support while I spent the weekend sweating out teh wait on some unpleasant looking biopsies.

We weren't big on agenda - Hikerfast brought along a pair of kayaks, Rob brought along his son Griffin (to help rebuild the fairy village/Hall of Justice). A few brought instruments, Steve brought his portable speaker – the pickup truck.

The campground is a beaut, and boasts many tall pines that just beg for hammocks. Hikerfast had just purchased a new WBBB and Grey Eagle graciously shared his time and knowledge on set up as in typical of the HammockForums spirit. Bob and Jen had picked up their first hammocks (Hennessey), and Gary was up for his first overnight in the ENO doublenest. I had fun sharing the things I've learned here and through the years.

Always great having young guys who love processing firewood – we had access to unsplit wood. My usual wood source was not yet in business for the season, and the wood at the store was priced to make me wonder if it would be cheaper to just burn dollar bills. We had more than enough to keep the fire going for the weekend, and it became the gathering place for our group.

The drinkers drank, the smokers smoked, the jokers joked, and time flew by until bedtime.

Overnight the expected weather arrived. We hit an overnight low of about 35, but I was mostly snug barring a small moment when the underquilt slid out. The rain, while never heavy, was a persistent light drizzle for the rest of the day.

Gear was dampened, but spirits weren't. We feasted well under either of the two dining area tarps. Gastar introduced us to cevapcici, a delicious garlic and beef sausage with onions and a mildly spicy sauce. If he was selling them, he'd have done brisk business.

We ate more, watched the tide and the ospreys and herons going about their appointed rounds. Amid the meat fest, Grey Eagle had brought along some salads to the great delight of the vegetarian contingent. We jammed on the instruments for a while, and settled down around the fire and acted like a bunch of high school kids. While no where near as elegant as backpacking, it was good diversion and no one seemed to complain about the rain.

Got to bed late, but slept like a baby until it was time to make the pancakes. Grey Eagle had brought along a spiffy camp stove, and our resident camp chef Dennis couldn't resist a chance to use it. So, I got to stir some batter and eat 'em. A lazy continuation of a lazy weekend.

By late morning, rain had slowed down quite a bit. I hung around 'til afternoon saying goodbyes until it got too quiet to hang around more. I packed the mildlly damp tarps away and headed home.

While closing the gate, I looked back and saw blue skies peeking out over the green grassy hills. Looked like a beautiful day for camping, and it was.

Thanks to everyone who came by hang or even just to prop me up over the weekend. I wish I could say I had good news to report, but it looks like I have begun my large intestine's farewell tour.

At least it got to try cevapcici.

**2ply** · 05-02-2014, 16:32

Sounds like y'all had a great time. Nothing better than a jam session around the campfire with friends. Hope everything goes well for you.

**MAD777** · 05-02-2014, 21:45

Wow! Nice sounding hang. Glad you enjoyed yourselves.

**olddog** · 05-03-2014, 08:04

Sounds like ya'll had fun. Did anyone get any pics? Looking forward to another summer in Maine.

**SkyPainter** · 05-05-2014, 08:42

REALLY sorry I had to miss this one! Sounds like the usual hammock community good time! We should certainly plan another hang there!

Good luck Russ, with your upcoming issues!

Best,
SkyPainter

**summersz** · 05-05-2014, 20:45

Awesome time at the Maine Hang at Thomas Point. Its my home away from home and im glad to have been able to share it with everyone. Definitely be a great place for NEHHA. I have been camping at TPB for 22 years and i'm not a day older than that myself so you know i've been camping there a long time. Hope everyone had a good time, even with the persistent light rain we had, it was still a wonderful time. Met some new friends and ate good food. That is a good weekend in my book. Hope we can get even more people to attend next year and am looking forward to Hanging with everyone in the future. Next time we'll build that fire even bigger. Finally use some of those perks Russ. Anyways, Hope everyone else had a great time as well. See you all on the trail.