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  1. #1
    Senior Member
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    NJ/PA Dec 2010 Hang Trip Report

    OK - I returned home late yesterday after spending Friday night with the group at Dingman's. Before the rest get back and report in, I'll tell my lies... uhh, make that "give a report of the first half of the hang."

    Friday afternoon JD arrived early and renewed his acquaintance with the campground owners. The situation boiled down to:
    1) There is no winter porta-potty as it says on the website so we will leave a trailer unlocked with lights, a toilet and heat on. Use it as you wish.
    2) No one else is here camping so spread out as you like.
    3) We'll leave the firewood enclosure unlocked. Use the wheelbarrow to get as much as you need.
    4) As for payment, just pass the hat and give what you feel is appropriate.
    5) Hammocks? No problem at all.
    What more could you ask for.

    I drove up Highway 15 in very heavy flurries. The rivers, lakes and streams had a good bit of ice and snow in them but weren't covered entirely. To cross the Delaware River into Pennsylvania, you go over a long, narrow iron and wood bridge to be greeted by a friendly toll-taker standing between the opposing lanes at the far end. Three minutes later I was in the campground being hailed by JD with. "Hey, over here!" It seems they were signaling anyone entering the campground, much to the amusement of a father and son checking out the campground at one point.

    After signing in on the Hammock Forums poster board (good idea - who brought that anyway?) and saying hellos, I chose a spot and set up as the light was fading. My ploy worked perfectly as jloden had successfully started a fire by the time I finished putzing around. Not a small task given the cut wood was frozen and the downfall was, too.

    Attendees for the night were MerryMary, JD, jloden, Knotty, Dylan (good to meet ya) and me, JayS.

    Soon a stove or two popped out of hiding. To be quickly joined by many more - I think the final ratio was about 3 stoves per person, thanks in no small part to Knotty. There were propane camp stoves, canister stoves, alky stoves and woodburners. The next day when someone mentioned that we could have just cooked over the fire, I feared for their life!

    It got dark early so we were surprised when it was only 7:15 and everyone was fed and watching JD manage the campfire without lifting a finger. - "We need more wood!" The talk turned to about every camping/hanging topic relevant to our situation and to many that weren't of any concern at all. A great time and it wasn't too cold, staying in the upper 20s. It was nice around the fire.

    Kotty tried to organize an expedition to the river unsuccessfully until there were only three of us awake around midnight. We finally relented at which time Knotty pulled out his iPad, complete with downloaded topo maps to lead us down the campground road to the river. jloden remarked that he thought GPS was spotty here and asked how we would know we were at the river. I answered that we would follow Knotty and wait for the splash followed by the iPad light fading out underwater. The river was lovely at night with small islands of white ice and snow. Knotty got to indulge another hobby as he had the only flashlight that would reach the far side of the river. The light that is; we didn't actually try to throw flashlights across the river. We did, however, see a couple of lights up the river and wondered out loud if it might be kayak karl finally arriving (it wasn't). On the way back to camp, Knotty discovered three different scats and, after lengthy discourse at each sighting, identified none.

    The temperature at 12:40 AM was 28*F. We all turned in and slept in varying degrees of comfort. I was so snug after a little fiddling that I slept 9 hours! A check of our thermometers Saturday morning revealed the temperature dropped substantially in the early hours, hitting 18* around 5 o'clock. I was closest to the river although not very close but I was on the edge of a gully with a frozen seep that we noticed was considerably cooler than the surrounding area. Everyone commented on the drop in temperature as we walked to the river. Overnight, my thermometer was at my car which was a site back towards the campfire, near Knotty's hang. That's where we recorded a low of 18*. I reckon over by the Arctic air gully I probably saw a good 20* difference, putting me squarely below zero. By that same logic, JD, MerryMary and jloden must have never gotten below freezing since they were within 100 feet of the campfire. MerryMary was warm all night so that supports my hypothesis. jloden was chilly at times but he is young and had foolishly parked his truck between himself and the fire, which was only about 80 feet away! Dylan slept closer to me and left Saturday, indicating he must have gotten cold from the gully. He must have tipped off Pro Vagabond (who arrived Saturday) because Vagabond set up as far away from the gully as possible. Yep, I think I must have been below zero degrees F most of the night!?!

    As mentioned, Pro Vagabond arrived Saturday morning and Dylan and I took our leave. Less than a mile into New Jersey (about a mile an a half from camp), I had to slow down to let the cutest black bear cross the road.

    Some observations:
    + JD shared his Trader Joe's sesame crepes that were wonderful and a great hiking food as they are light, cost a dollar and have 1000 calories.

    + jloden's wife made chili for the group (thanks, mar dot). jloden left it in the freezer at home (boo, jloden). JayS offered to go by on his way home Saturday and pretend he was on the way to the hang and get the chili. jloden nixed the idea when he realilzed JayS would get ALL the chili (drats).

    + JD got a kick out of waiting until both Jays were together, then asking, "Jay, can you hand me that?" and watching them both reach for the same thing.

    + Several folks had trouble with a gap between the UQ and the "tunnel" created by the ridge in the center of gathered end hammocks. I think I may have a solution - I'll try it and put up a thread if it works.

    Well that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

  2. #2
    Senior Member Poppabear's Avatar
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    What not pictures? Sounds like a fun time.
    Terry

  3. #3
    Senior Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by Poppabear View Post
    What not pictures? Sounds like a fun time.
    The batteries froze in my camera.... Yeah, that's the ticket, my batteries froze below zero... Yeah.

    Seriously, I forgot my camera but others had theirs so they will post some. Besides, pix would be counterproductive to my story. Did I mention it got so cold the candle lantern froze and we couldn't blow it out?

  4. #4
    Senior Member jloden's Avatar
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    Thanks for starting the trip report JayS

    I didn't bring a camera but a few others did so hopefully we can have some photos posted. The Dingman's Campground setup turned out really nice. There wasn't a single other person out there camping for some odd reason so we had the whole campground to ourselves, access to as much wood as we needed and the generous use of the trailer toilet. Not to mention picnic tables - we started with two, borrowing one from another site. When he saw how many stoves Knotty brought along, J.D. decided we needed a third one, so we had a ratio of about 3-4 stoves per person and 2 people per picnic table

    Last night the forecast was for frozen pellets turning to rain in the wee hours of the morning. After huddling around the fire for another late evening fireside chat, Knotty, Pro Vagabond and I decided to walk down to the river again and try out the iPad Star Walker app (that's the one in the commercials where you can hold it up to the night sky and it finds the constellations). That was really neat and we had fun identifying a few constellations and stars with a nice clear sky. Not a moment too soon, either - we looked down for a few minutes and the entire night sky vanished beneath cloud cover!

    About 3 seconds after I climbed into my hammock for the night, the frozen pellets starting bouncing off the tarp, and I fell asleep to the drumming of ice on Spinn. I woke up to the sensation of a drop of water hitting the very corner of the BlackBird. One tarp stake had pulled almost out of the ground and the resulting sag allowed water to hit the corner of the footbox. I was warm and comfy so I just moved to less of a diagonal to keep the footbox inside the tarp and went back to sleep for another hour until J.D. came by. Shortly after, Pro Vagabond and MerryMary joined us and we had coffee and breakfast in the trailer before breaking camp in the rain.

    Thanks to everyone for sharing gear and info! I especially appreciate Knotty and JayS taking a look at my hammock setup to help me figure out why I was getting cold intermittently. Knotty nicely gifted me with a Venom alcohol stove (already used it at home to make hot cocoa), and JayS loaned me his BlackBird - which I had a great night's sleep in! J.D. and Dylan both also kindly loaned me some warm footwear so my feet could warm back up after my shoes froze the first night. On a related note, I am now 100% sold on buying a pair of NEOS, if I wasn't already - those things are great. MerryMary brought lots of goodies including a whole box of Starbucks Via which she shared with the group - thanks!

    JayS, looking forward to hearing your solution to the quilt gap issue. I was able to stay nice and toasty the second night but spent a lot of the first night fighting cold air around my legs. Definitely think that's worth a separate thread to share our findings.

    -Jay

  5. #5
    Senior Member jerzybears's Avatar
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    Sounds like we missed a great time! Love the Delaware Gap, bears and everything! Plan another, plan another, plan another. The NJ hangs are too close for us to pass up!

    You dont even want to know what our vet bill was. Overnight at the hospital, x-rays, blood tests, meds, etc. Sigh. Owning animals is a personal responsiblity not taken lightly.
    Peggy & Russ --The Jerzybears -

    I do not read advertisements. I would spend all of my time wanting things.
    -Franz Kafka

  6. #6
    Crash's Avatar
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    Aaarrrggghhh

    Sounds like you all had a great time!
    Wish I could have gone.

  7. #7
    Senior Member HappyCamper's Avatar
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    Great reports. Looking forward to hearing more and seeing some pictures!
    Exercise, eat right, die anyway -- Country Roads bumper sticker
    Fall seven times, standup eight. -- Japanese Proverb

  8. #8
    Senior Member Pro Vagabond's Avatar
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    I really got nothing to add, except pics!!
    Attached Images Attached Images

  9. #9
    Senior Member Pro Vagabond's Avatar
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    Just a couple more...

    We had such a great day!! Wish more people could have made it. Keep Hanging!
    Attached Images Attached Images

  10. #10
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    Great report and pics everyone! Glad all fingers and toes still accounted for!?!?!
    "yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift---thats why its called a present" - Master Oogway
    It's always best if your an early riser!

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