On August 1st , 2014, 2 hammock forum members set out on a weekend expedition with the very detailed plan of, we're going for 2 nights of camping and bike riding, meet at the I&M trailhead at 6 pm after work . That was the plan .And even though we had to endure some adversities, I'm happy to say, we met all of our objectives. Here are a few details of our trip. I had gotten to the trailhead a tad earlier then Gallo did. That day, we had severe thunderstorms and hail all thru the area, was raining , wind blowing, had to put on rain gear to start getting my bike ready go, then as if we had divine intervention, as soon as Gallo arrived, we saw blue skies, was a very uplifting moment. We loaded our gear on our bikes and headed 3 miles down the trail to the spot we have camped at before . Because of the rain storms, we got started a tad later so we started to set up camp, get charcoal going, Gallo brought filet mignon, lobster, and shrimp for the both of us for friday night dinner, was great of him to to that. Or so we thought..... little did we know that as we were setting up camp we were being watched, We had put our dinner on the picnic table near the fire pit ring where we were going to cook them, I was about 30 ft away from that talking and setting up my hammock, And with the stealthiness, precision, and audacity of a well trained team of ninjas, the outlaw renegade raccoons stole our filets right off the table and they were going after the lobsters next. Gallo saw them and stopped them from getting the rest of friday night dinner. glad I packed an extra dehydrated dinner, Packit gourmet dotties chicken and dumplings, wasn't filet mignon but we didn't go to sleep hungry. As we were setting up a few more bike riders came by to camp there too , so we shared a fire with them and talked till around 10:30 or so. After a great nights sleep, got up, made coffee and breakfast, met with the ranger, paid our camping fees for the weekend and told him about the raccoons, he agreed , they have started becoming more of a problem.
We broke camp , cleaned up our campsite, and started riding down the trail, past dresden nuke plant, past the aux sable aqua duct, that was the turn around point of our last expedition, all the way to Morris Il. where we had to leave the trail because another aqua duct had collapsed last year and that part of the trail is still impassable. So, we rode thru downtown Morris to Gebhard Woods were we decided to have lunch, i had a sammich and protein bar, Gallo built a fire in BBQ grill and was testing out what we decided to call , the SPAM ROTISSERIE , never had rotisserie spam before but he thoroughly enjoyed it.
We were able to pick the trail back up at Gebhard Woods and we rode another 3 miles or so further down the trail. We really didn't see any campsites that would be good for hammocking so we decided to turn around and go back to the site we had the night before. Total millage for Saturday was 34 miles, not bad for riding with bikes on a crushed limestone trail, with all of our gear with us. We were really tired, a good tired, set up camp again, relaxed, and cooled down after our ride. Tried taking a nap but I was still too wound up from riding. Gathered firewood for the evening fire , made dinner, i tried one of my home made dehydrated meals of chili mac, wow it turned out great, first time i've done that, but will definitely not be the last time . Gallo enjoyed his chicken with noodles and alfredo sauce. Sat around the campfire, and then 2 more campers rode in with trailers on the back of their bikes, they set up camp in one of the empty sites, and were very respectful of our space which was great. One said he was a hammock forum member but i cant recall what he said his online name was, so if ya read this, GIVE US A SHOUT! . We went to sleep around 9:30ish and let me tell you, i have never slept so good for so long in a hammock in my life. I guess i was kinda tired from the ride. In the morning, woke up , made coffee and breakfast, enjoyed the quiet early morning, we packed up and rode back to the trailhead 3 miles to where we parked at 2 nights before. So total millage for the expedition was 40 miles, Had a great time, lots of laughs, great memories, and good eating. Gallo, thanks for coming my friend, was a great weekend, we will do it again soon and explore other parts of the trail and ride even further and explore other destinations.
And the adventure continues........
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Glad you had fun though.
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