A big Whooo Buddy to Shrek for pulling off the Hot Springs Hang !
Others at the hang should fill in any parts I left out. This was my first group hand and I had a great time.
Picked up Hoop Cheese in Greenville NC at 9am Friday and we got to Hot Springs about 5pm (got stuck on the interstate for an hour when a tractor trailer decided to catch fire). We did stop by REI in Durham where I picked out a new back pack to replace my old Kelty which finally died after 30+ years.
Met Shrek at the camp site and got oriented as to where everything was at.
We found some trees by the river and set up camp. A group of us (Hoop Cheese, Shrek, myself and two others (their names escape me at the moment) were given the grand tour of Hot Springs by Shrek which took a whole 5 minutes and we proceeded to have dinner at the Smokey Mountain Dinner. Nothing fancy, just some good food. Excellent ice tea.
Sat around the campfire to BS with the others and watching the stars and airplanes overhead. Detail Man showed up late in the dark with his family and several of us went over to help him set up his brand new DIY hammock and tarp. Very nice for a first time and we got to ooo and ahh at his work.
Hit the hammock and never did hear the trains people talked about. Decided to sleep on top of my sleeping bag and used my poncho liner as a blanket. As first I thought I had the foot end of the hammock too high but I decide to leave it as is for the night. My only complaint in the morning was that I had to get up due to natures call as I was sleeping sooo good.
Had my self some Spam for breakfast, the breakfast of backpackers everywhere. Good Stuff.
Went around and took some pictures of the hammock and the setups. I think we had just about every type of suspension set up possible and a good variety of hammocks from homemade to Enos to Warbonnets and a variety of tarps and underquilts and topquilts.
The folks familiar with the area studied the maps and decided on the hikes and we divided up based on who was hiking which route.
I went with the group of ten doing the 5 mile section of the AT ending up back at the campground. Excellent day for a hike and I got a chance to test my new backpack and it held up fine. Saw lots of other day-hikers out along the tail. We found an excellent spot on top of the mountain for hanging. Took lots of pictures of the hike of which only a few turned out OK. A couple of the hikers had to return to camp early as they ran out of beer on the hike.
Got back to the camp site and sat around BS'ing with the others until time for the great hot dog roast. Everyone got a chance to burn their dogs the way they wanted and there was some discussion on the proper fixins for the dogs.
There was a wedding party going on across the way so we got to listen to some Jimmy Buffet music that night while we sat around the camp fire, burnt marshmallows and told bad jokes. There was even some wild bear encounter stories.
Finally had to call it a night and hit the hammock. Sleep good and hated to get up Sunday AM but had to break down camp for the long drive back to the coast. While it was only 62 degrees Sunday AM, I was walking around in my T shirt and shorts enjoying the cool weather while most of the others were bundled up like it was cold.
While I can not remember everyone’s name at the hang just wanted to say thanks and I had a great time and hope to do it again.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks