Swatara Gap to Palmerton, PA - Section Hike - Day 5

PA Hike Day 5
1. Treesday, Winterfilth, 4. Goal - Palmerton, resupply for rest of trip. 18 miles.
2. Day 5
3. Morning temp: 55
4. Weather: perfect
5. Time start: 0620
6. Time stop and miles: 1420 13.9
7. End point: Palmerton
8. Events: Knife Edge, finishing section
Log: loud night with road noise so we were up and out early. Feet were pretty painful, but I soldiered on to get to Palmerton. The knife edge was sick, but the other constant rocks took their toll and I realized I didn't want to do this for three more days, so I decided to bring this section to an end. Sequoia decided to stop too and his wife Smiles A lot came and picked us up at the Jailhouse Hostel in Palmerton. I had enjoyed some ice cream and a beer while we waited around and tended to my torn up feet. Good ride home and now I'm on the couch.

Total hike: 77.1

Good hike. At least I got some of those nasty rocks out of the way.

Shared from home...

We were up even earlier this morning, with the trucks that must climb the mountain to this point and then immediately start using their engines to brake on the down hill.  My feet had ached most of the night.  The rocks had taken their toll and the blisters, although not too bad, could be painful of that area of my foot came up on the side of a rock or root.  We headed out at 0620 by the light of our headlamps.  I had noticed that Sequoia's batteries were much fresher than mine and I knew I would be starting out slow on the climb back up to the ridge top, so I asked him to lead for a bit.  My gait had changed due to the ball of my right foot hurting.  It felt like my tape was messed up or my sock had folded, so after a while we took a bathroom/foot care break.  The tape and sock were fine.  What I was feeling was the beginning of Metatarsalgia, (which I would find out later after using the magical google machine).  The swelling and deep blister can feel like you are walking with a pebble in your shoe.
I took the lead, but felt I was flagging.  Hind site shows that we still moved at a good pace, even though I was favoring that foot a lot and would have a sore calf for a few days after.  We were pretty much going to stay up on the ridge all day until we descended into Palmerton.  What laid ahead was some technical and fun walking across the Knife Edge and Bear Rocks.  The Knife Edge was pretty cool.

Through these bushes lay the Knife Edge

Me working my way up the Knife Edge (photo courtesy Sequoia)

Our original plan was to hike all the way to Delaware Water Gap, another 36 miles past Palmerton, with more rocks on the schedule.  When we stopped for a break, I told Sequoia that I might have to end this section at Palmerton.  What I needed was a zero to tend to my feet, but that is one of the challenges of being a Section Hiker.  Time constraints are usually much more... constrained...  I didn't want to extend the hike into Sunday as I wanted to be home to watch the Steelers play the Panthers (another hind site, maybe I should have kept hiking as that game was more painful to watch than hiking on rocks with blisters).

View from the Knife Edge

After my decision was made, Sequoia checked his guide book and when no alternate plan looked doable, he decided to end his hike too for now.  After our encounter with the W of H, he really didn't want to be sleeping out in the lonely woods and neither would I.

Grizzled Hiker

As we headed out towards Lehigh Gap, he made a call or two and the plan was altered to have Smiles A Lot come pick us up at the Jail House Hostel in Palmerton, sometime that evening.  We made our way down the ridge to the river and crossed the bridge.  We tried to hitch the 1.5 miles into town for a few minutes, but then I just called the Shuttle Service and Brenda was there in about 10 minutes to pick us up and give us a quick tour of the town as she drove us to the Hostel.  We had to really squeeze into her small Scion, but we made it.  She was very nice.

We checked into the Hostel, even though we didn't plan on staying the night and took advantage of their powerful shower.  Feeling refreshed, I took a limping walk down a few blocks and had myself an ice cream cone.  I then crossed the street and topped it off with a nice Lager.  There was an interesting hiker at the Hostel who had made a few gear changes and was heading out shortly.  Him and Sequoia had some pretty interesting conversation.  This guy was carrying his own sprout garden.  Basically a bag with various bean seeds in it that he could use for some nice fresh veggie wraps.  That was a first for me.

Jail House Hostel bunks

A rather large area able to accommodate lots of hikers.

We relaxed for a couple of hours and before long, Smiles A Lot pulled up and we loaded up and headed back West.  It was cool looking to our right and seeing the ridge we had walked for the last five days and were now backtracking in a little over an hour or so.  We had hiked a total of 77.1 miles in those five days.

We headed back to their Gettysburg home where my truck was and I was pulling into my driveway sometime after 9 pm I think.  The next couple of days I would find out what had gone wrong with my feet and I'm now reading the book, Fixing Your Feet to try and learn the proper techniques to try to not have the problem repeated.  The main cause was doing too much too fast.  Once again a problem with Section Hiking.  I usually have no problem doing some longer mile stretches for about three or four days, but if it goes beyond that, it starts to take a toll.  If I plan another long(ish) hike, I will have to up the mileage slowly as not to overload myself.  I am also most likely going back to my New Balance Trail Runners.  I have never had major problems with them and the Merrells may have been just a little too restrictive.  I also am playing with different insoles.  My special made orthotics are wearing out and I'm just not sure the green Superfeet are the right ones for me.  I plan on making a good foot care kit that will be with me on my next Section Hike.

I am almost done with PA and the hikes will continue.  When you are out there, numerous times you ask yourself, "Why am I out here?", but I like to compare hiking to child birth.  It can be truly painful during the process, but once it is over, I start thinking about the next hike.  (mothers may disagree, but that is the closest correlation I can think of)

See ya on the Trail.

EarthTone
Section Hiker
2011 - Present

Thinking about my next hike...

Swatara Gap to Palmerton, PA - Section Hike - Day 4

PA Hike Day 4
1. Moonsday, Winterfilth, 3. My 52nd birthday. Goal - Allentown Shelter or spring .3N. 16.5 or 16.8 miles.
2. Day 4
3. Morning temp: 45
4. Weather: cool in am but beautiful all day
5. Time start: 0700
6. Time stop and miles: 1815 - 20.6
7. End point: Blue Mountain Summit B&B. Camping behind
8. Events: turned 52. Blisters.
Log: A crazy homeless guy came in near dark with a dog. Spent the night ranting in the shelter and left us a manifesto of utter crazy. Nice hiking today. Some cool views and two long climbs. Rocks, rocks and rocks, but some good trail too. Got to shelter and decided to move on for water and a shorter day tomorrow. Developed a couple blisters on both feet, but all is good.

Shared from the trail

So I lived long enough to turn 52.  Continuing with where I left off.  I got up about 5:30 or so and checked out the shelter.  On my way there, I found a Ziploc with a notebook page in it.  Written on that paper was the most bat shit crazy stuff.  The Wolfman of Helltown had written a little manifesto when he was ranting in the night and he mentioned things like being Appalachia's most notorious murder suspect and winner of some malicious wounding case.  What a crazy fuck.  He also mentioned how people out here "Obama enablers"??? wouldn't give him or his dog food.  Oh well.  I thanked the gods that the shelter was empty.

We were very glad that he had headed South and we were continuing North.  We headed back up the mountain and before long we were at Pulpit Rock.  This was the location where Lisa and I had did some repelling and ascending during an Adventure Race several years ago.  The drop looked scarier this time.  I could see Blue Rocks where we had camped and the view was nice.  We met a couple who were out on an overnight and they mentioned encountering the Wolfman. 

View from Dan's Pulpit

The rock we repelled off of during an adventure race

After passing the Pinnacle we came to a forest road that made the next few miles very easy to travel.  We eventually moved off of Blue Mountain and up onto Hawk Mountain, then back to where Blue Mountain continued, which would take us all the way to Palmerton.  At Dan's Pulpit there was a register at the view and inside was another rant from our favorite crazy guy.  In this one he mentions not being able to get grain free dog food for his dog or some such nonsense.  It is a conspiracy I tell you.  

At the Pinnacle.  A big ass pile of rocks.

As the day wore on we had decided to move past our scheduled stop of the Allentown shelter, where water was listed as scarce.  Any amount of distance traveled would save us some of our 18 miles planned the next day.  After checking the shelter (another rant awaited us) we headed on and the spring listed nearby was dry.  We didn't bother checking the lower one, but decided to head for Rt 309 and Blue Mountain Summit.  I had remembered that there is a B&B, restaurant, bar at the road crossing and you could maybe camp behind the building and get water if you had permission.  It would make our day a 20 plus miler, but we were feeling ok and the trail was pretty good.  I had developed a couple small blisters, but they weren't too bad (yet) and we made it to the road around 6 pm.

We circled around the building and I found a guy stacking wood.  I asked him if he could grant us permission to stay and he introduced himself as Ken, the owner of the place and yes, we could stay. 

He quickly asked if we would help with the wood and offered some food and maybe a beer if we would.  We agreed and quickly set up our camp and returned to work.  He first said "never mind", but I had already set my sights on a meal that I didn't have to prepare, and it was my birthday after all, so I kind of insisted that we help him.  A B-day beer was certainly called for.  

We spent about 20 minutes stacking and Ken made each of us a very good sandwich.  I enjoyed a nice Yuengling along with the food and we had some nice conversation until about dusk, when we retired to our camping area, finished setting up and hit the hammock.

Selfie: l-r, Sequoia, EarthTone and Ken

My feet were aching this night and the road noise had me putting in my earplugs for the night.  I still slept ok, but needed some Motrin to cut the pain down some.  The ball of my foot was hurting pretty bad.  

So we did 20.6, had a nice meal and were bedded down next to the woods on some nice grass.  All was good.  Tomorrow would be a much shorter hike as we headed to Palmerton, PA.  

Swatara Gap to Palmerton, PA - Section Hike - Day 3

PA Hike Day 3
1. Sunsday, Winterfilth, 2. Resupply in Hanover scheduled. Goal - Windsor Furnace Shelter. 14.7 miles.
2. Day 3
3. Morning temp: 55
4. Weather: windy but nice. Perfect for hiking
5. Time start: 0700
6. Time stop and miles: 1513. 14.7
7. End point: Windsor Furnace Shelter
8. Events: Bear
Log: Just a little rain last night but the wind dried it all up. Day started out fast with only some rocks then a loong down hill to Port Clinton. Before that I had a bear come face to face on the trail. (20 feet). We both said "oh shit" and he turned tail and ran. Awesome. We dumped our trash in town, then climbed out of the gap. Arrived at shelter. No one else here yet. Early day relaxing.

Shared from the trail

Another nice morning for getting up and out early.  It had rained for a very short time during the night, but the wind that came after had everything dry by the time I crawled out of the hammock.

It was my turn to lead again and  we were pretty much already up on the ridge and would stay there until the steep descent into Port Clinton.  About 45 minutes into the day as we headed along at a brisk clip, I was approaching a turn in the trail.  I caught a glimpse of something black coming along the trail and at first I thought it was a hiker headed our way.  To my surprise that flash of black became a large black bear with a brown muzzle.

We both said "Oh, Shit" and Mr be
ar exchanged head for tail and headed back down the trail.  I swear I heard the bear say "Oh, Shit" right along with me.  At first I quickly reached for my phone/camera, but realized quickly that I had left the phone off this morning to conserve some battery, but there was no way I was going to get a picture anyway, since he was gone in a flash.

I turned to Sequoia and ask if he had seen the bear and he hadn't.  I turned back and there was Mr Bear running across the ridge top in the woods and we both enjoyed his speedy exit.  It was quite an experience and it got my blood flowing for a good amount of time.  Very cool.

By 1100 we had arrived at Port Clinton.  The descent into the town is pretty close to 1000 feet in less than two miles, but it was the last 500 feet in about a half mile that did me in.  Some of the trail was very loose scree and I slid a couple times, going half down once.  But we did make it down without drawing any blood and we rested at the railroad area where some very big pieces of coal were displayed.

Behind those trees is the steep descent

Big ass piece of coal

Our original plan was to carry two days of food and resupply in Hamburg, which was about 1.5 miles or so down a highway.  We had changed that plan before the hike and had decided to carry four days worth of food and not lose any time trying to get a ride into town and back. (We would figure out later that we might not be carrying enough to get to Palmerton, but all would work out as it always does).

"Downtown" Port Clinton

Under bridge art work

Like all gaps, what goes down, must go back up and I slowly led us up the ridge after we had crossed the Schuylkill River.  We passed quite a lot of pokeweed on the way up, but once we finally reached the crest, it was time for lunch and we hung out at one of the trailside campsites to eat our chosen food.

After we continued along, the going was a little more easy, with the occasional rocky area, but mostly good trail and the last of it was pretty fast.  We refilled our water at Pocahontas Spring, which had enough flow to fill, but also had a resident fish and frog.

We arrived at Windsor Furnace Shelter a little after 3 pm and decided to end the day's hike as planned.  It was still early, but we had done 14.7 miles so far and to continue on would have been a climb back up the ridge to an unknown dry camp, somewhere up towards Pulpit Rock.  Today, there was no one already at the shelter, but we each decided to camp across the dirt road away from the shelter.  A fortuitous decision we would realize later.

After dinner we walked back the .3 miles to Furnace Creek that is the Hamburg Reservoir outlet and filled our bottles for the next day.  Back at the shelter area, I was waiting for my Aqua Mira to do its job so I could take my meds, brush my teeth and hit the hammock and in walks a guy and his dog.

It was dusk and we were about done for the day.  I was once again too tired to make a fire and just wanted to text Lisa, write some, read some and sleep on air.  Right away this guy raised my warning flag a little.  Being out here and seeing all the hikers come through the museum, I get a feel for each of them and their situation.  This guy just seemed a little off and after some conversation we learned that he is basically a trail traveller with no permanent home.  His dog was calm and quiet and was just sniffing around for any fallen snack he could find.

The guy (Wolfman of Helltown) hinted that he was low on money and out of food for himself and his dog.  We had just taken stock of our supplies earlier and both of us realized we wouldn't have enough food to get to Palmerton unless we rationed some.

I basically stated that we were low on food too and we took our leave to our campsite.  It seems the Wolfman was quite restless.  I didn't hear him as much as Sequoia did, but there was an uneasiness in the air all night.  Sequoia said he heard him ranting most of the night.  Around 2:50am I saw his red light moving about the area and I watched as he came towards our camp, stopped for a few seconds then proceeded down the road back to the trail.  Thankfully headed Sobo and away from us.

More on that in my next installment.

Swatara Gap to Palmerton, PA - Section Hike - Day 2

PA Hike Day 2
1. Starsday, Winterfilth, 1. Goal - Eagles Nest Shelter. 15.1 miles.
2. Day 2
3. Morning temp: 60s
4. Weather: fog in morning then quite nice.
5. Time start: 0700
6. Time stop and miles: 1630ish 15.1
7. End point: Eagles Nest Shelter
8. Events: peanut butter cup s'more
Log: up at 6 out at 7. Foggy morning, but ok. My feet feel beat by rocks and we haven't even made it to the bad parts yet. Ran out of water late in the day after finding a dry spring, but the one near the shelter was great. Met Shamen at the shelter and later Weezie too.

After a night of continuous circles, I heard some drops on the skylight of the shelter.  I thought it to be rain, but it was too sporadic and localized.  Sequoia went outside for a bit and reported back that we were in heavy fog and the drops were condensation from the trees.  It was 6:00am and we were to be on the trail just before 7 this day.  Sequoia is an early riser and I was glad that we had that in common as we packed up and headed into the early dawn mist.  

Wet spider web

I thought it be best to alternate lead, so I asked Sequoia to take the front today.  There was a morning climb, but it was gradual and the trail was not too bad.  I saw quickly that Sequoia was quick on the uphills.  I would only catch up on large rocky areas, but this was fine with me.  I like to spread out and didn't mind that my climbing was slower than his. 

Today I knew that I would be fighting the Day Two Blues.  I have learned to deal with them and sometimes they never show their heads, but today I knew I would have my usual thoughts of "what am I doing out here?" and I knew I could push through it in my own way.  We had over 15 miles to cover today. 

Foggy white blaze

Around 9 am or so, we descended into  a gap that is a camping area.  It was Sunday and there were numerous groups set up around the area.  The first people we encountered were a group of twenty somethings and one of the girls was making a S"more with a Peanut Butter Cup.  I marveled at the concept and she offered it to me.  I usually don't like that campfire favorite, but the Reece's sealed the deal and before long I was licking marshmallow out of my mustache and beard.  Very good.  

We got water and continued on.  Another climb and more rocks here and there.  We had lunch in a campsite near one of the road crossings and then continued on.  Water is scarce up on Blue Mountain at this time of the Year and we found one spring, Sand Spring, dry. I was pretty much out of water by this time, but I hoped that the spring near the Shelter would be flowing.  We headed down the blue blaze towards the shelter and we found the spring flowing good.  We filled up and headed to the shelter where we found Shamen sitting in the shelter.  He was a Sobo hiking home to Georgia and we had some nice conversation.  He was contemplating putting his ENO knockoff hammock up in the shelter and he found a good way to do it without taking away from Sequoia's area as he had decided to sleep in the shelter again this night.  Later, another Sobo came in called Weezie.  

I gathered some wood as Shamen mentioned maybe making a fire, but I didn't feel like using the energy to make one myself, since he wasn't moving to make one himself.  A family came down a trail that was behind my hammock and we had a nice conversation.  He had brought some family up to check out the place since the road was open and he could drive up close to the shelter.  He told us about another spring that is below the Sand Spring we checked and that it sometimes is flowing when the main one isn't.  I had thought about heading down to check lower when we were there, but being out here you measure and contemplate any off trail walking.  I laid my odds on the Shelter spring and it had paid off, but it was good info to know. 

Sally Mander

Before long, I was once again in my hammock, listening to the others chat by the cold fireplace and reading and writing a little before calling it a night.  I had good signal again, so I traded a few texts with Lisa before turning in.  

We had completed our daily walking by 4:30 pm and we had covered the 15.1 planned.  I had once again defeated the Day Two Blues and was ready for another day of hiking.  

Swatara Gap to Palmerton, PA - Section Hike - Day 1

Ready to start the hike.  EarthTone and Sequoia

Note:  Each day I would write a few notes in my notepad and then make an entry in my Google Keep notes using the following template.  I'm not sure exactly where I got the template, but I seem to remember that Earl Shaffer used something similar.  It is a good way for me to gather my thoughts and events of the day for later publication.  I would write up my 8 items and a short log entry and post it to Facebook each night before going to sleep.  This hike was marked by a lot of good signal at our stops for the day and I was able to post each night as we hiked along.  Below are my five posts along with expanded log entries of the daily happenings and some pictures.  I hope you enjoy coming along with me on my hike.

PA Hike Day 1
1. Highday, Halimath, 30. Hike starts. Goal - 501 Shelter. 12.8 miles.
2. Day 1
3. Morning temp: 60
4. Weather: clouds at first then a perfect hiking day.
5. Time start: 0910
6. Time stop and miles: 1600 - 12.8
7. End point: 501 shelter
8. Events: stung by bee.
Log: Nice chat with boy scouts. Some hikers and day hikers out all along the trail. Sleeping in shelter tonight since it is a nice shelter. Two other hikers here so far.

I left home around 6:30am with my full pack weighing in around 37 lbs.  I had packed it up a couple days early with four days of food and just under 2 liters of water and it came in at 38.6.  The next couple days I would think of what I could eliminate to try and get it lighter.  About a pound was all I could manage, but that is better than nothing.

I arrived at Sequoia's house in Gettysburg just before 8am and we were on our way to Swatara Gap with Smiles A Lot (Sequoia's wife) at the wheel.  We got to the starting point where I had finished my last day hike to even us up on the northbound trail and after a couple of pictures, we were on our way with me in the lead.  The morning was overcast, but the temperature was fine, with some humidity in the air to get the sweat flowing.  After a nice walk through the park we started up our first climb.  

We were hiking good when I came upon a hole in the ground right on the trail.  It looked as though someone/thing had dug it up.  Looking inside I saw a mass of yellow jackets.  I also noticed some comb laying about the area.  As I lollygagged by, I felt a sting on my calf.  I guess I went a little too slow and the bees were still pissed off.  I knocked it off and continued on.  

We continued along for a good three hours up on the ridge.  The trail was mostly good, with a few rocky places here and there.  After about six miles, we came on a group of four.  Two scouts and their leaders.  We had a nice conversation about the trail and all.  

Our first "view".  This is near the 1002 mile marker for Southbounders

Boy Scouts took our picture

We ate lunch by the William Penn Shelter.  I went to get water and it was just a trickle.  I only needed to fill my 24oz Nalgene, so it didn't take too long.

We arrived at the 501 Shelter around 4pm after a 12.8 mile day.  It was a decent mileage for the first day.  There were two other hikers there.  Sobo sectioners from Jim Thorpe, PA.  

At first, I put up my hammock in a small area to the west of the shelter, but after some conversation, I decided to sleep in side.  That would turn out to be what I call a circle night.  I would lay on my back, roll to my side, roll to my stomach, roll to the other side.  All. Night. Long.  Lesson (re)learned.  Sleeping on air is worth the work it takes to break camp if the alternative is sleeping on plywood.  

"Famous" 501 Shelter

Interior of 501 Shelter.  My plywood bunk on right.

The other hikers had a nice fire going, so I did some firewood gathering as my contribution and enjoyed the fire for a while.  But as usual, by the time dusk was settling, I was in my bunk, reading and resting.  Day 1 had come to an end.  

Some Cabins in the Woods

Ok, back to the story I promised a couple weeks ago.

So after finishing up at The Gathering, I headed to the bar in Shippensburg where Turk, Tom, Ed and Dave were waiting.  We watched the rest of the Steeler game then headed out of town, over the ridge and up to Big Flat where our first night's cabin was at Gypsy Springs.

We got to the cabin and unlocked the gate.  The day was pretty nice, with decent temperatures and no rain in the forecast.  We unpacked, claimed our beds and got a fire started out at the fire ring.

We were having a good time outside and we saw someone walking up the driveway.  Turk and I went down to talk to the couple and we had a nice conversation.  They were an older couple and the guy had had kin just up the road.  He mentioned an old ruins that just had the chimney from a small house up by where the AT crosses the road and I knew exactly where he was talking about.  He said his grandfather used to live in the house.  They also told us that if you drink the water of Gypsy Springs, all that ails you will be better.  With all the rain of the last few days, the whole hillside was sprouting water, but later Tom and I went down and filled up a bunch of bottles of the magical fluid.

This was a modern cabin with electricity and running water and we had a nice dinner of spaghetti and sauce.  After a nice hike up the hillside to a power line and along that trail for a while, we spent the night sitting by the fire.  We all eventually hit the sack to prepare for the next day's adventure.

Gypsy Spring Cabin

The next morning, we had a nice breakfast and then we headed over to the AT Museum to return some retail stuff I had from The Gathering and we explored Pine Grove Furnace State Park a little.

Fuller Lake

After that, we went to a nearby general store, bought some supplies and lunch and then headed back to the cabin and got ready to move to the next cabin.  We only reserved this cabin for one night because the other cabin wasn't available until Monday and Tuesday nights.  This cabin would be more rustic.  No electricity or running water, but there was a good spring nearby and when we arrived we found the creek that goes by the cabin running nicely.  When I had checked out the cabin the week before, the creek was all but dried up.  It was nice to have the sound of the water next to the cabin.

We unpacked once again and started preparing the outside fire ring for the night's fire.  The cabin was cool, but very dark inside.  Even when we had opened every shutter and even some of the windows, it stayed quite dismal inside.  It was still cozy though.

Milesburn Cabin

Hanging around the cabin

Shortly after we got to the cabin, two hikers came by.  We invited them over, but the seemed reluctant to bother us no matter how much we assured them we liked their company.  They filled their water and we asked them about their hike.  They were Rooster and Chicken and they were on an extended section hike through the area.  They were headed for a campsite nearby and after some pleasant conversation, they headed out and we had a nice dinner and hung out around the fire all night.  We had noticed how the fire pit looked in need of some work, so we made a plan to rebuild it on Tuesday.

I set up my hammock next to the cabin and Turk took on the challenge of sleeping in the "canopy" as he kept call calling it.  We took bets on how long he would last.

Turk's "Canopy"

Well, the night went well.  Turk lasted until sometime after midnight, but he had to get out to pee and couldn't remember how to work the bottom door of the Hennessey and had a small panic attack.  After that he came into the cabin and found an empty rack to finish the night.  

The next day was another decent one.  We rebuilt the fire pit, getting rid of a lot of the small stones and recycling the multitude of ash into the forest.  We incorporated a keyhole style grill device into the ring and it turned out very nice.

Rebuilt Fire Ring

We planned a hike to the nearby Birch Run Shelter about 2.4 miles away.  The trail was nice once you got up the hillside and we hung out at the shelter and explored the area.  We found a really cool campsite across the creek that someone had put a lot of time into.  I will remember this site for future visits.

Smooth, flat trail

Secret campsite of Yetimen

We found a lot of firewood up at a campsite next to the trail and we "collected" all said wood for our night's fire.  

After another nice meal of fire grilled venison, we settled around the camp fire and told stories all night.  The guys were also trying to plan the next part of their vacation and lots of map reading and gps testing ensued.  

Sometime during the day, Turk acquired the Trail Name Kangaroo Joe.  He had on a hoodie and would fill the front pocket with as many beers and other things as he could to carry across the bridge to the cabin area.  He seemed to like it.

Turks Kitchen - These boys eat good on their trips.  Dave in background chopping wood

Group Photo

camp fire

Bros - No, we weren't hunting, as everyone who passed by would ask...

Ed and Kangaroo Joe

The next day we headed our separate ways.  I headed home, as did Tom and the rest headed up to Northwestern PA to continue their adventure.  

I haven't been car camping in a while and this was a fun experience.  It is kinda nice having a 2000 lb backpack parked 30 feet away and spending time with friends from my old home town.

 

Weekend Cold Weather Hammock Tests

Copied from my Postholer.com Journal:

2/15/13
Last night I slept in the hammock on the back deck. I'm not sure what the temperature was when I headed out a little after 9 pm, but when my bladder forced me out around 3:30 am, it was around 33 degrees.

Overall, I slept good. Every once and a while I would feel a little coolness around my arms where the side of the hammock touched and wasn't on the pad. There was very little discomfort that a long day of hiking wouldn't mute.

One slight concern, but not entirely unexpected, was quite a bit of condensation on the bottom of the tarp and within the hammock. The top of the sleeping bag was quite damp, but should dry quickly with the dawn. I may have to bring it inside though since that northern facing part of the deck doesn't get any direct sunlight this time of year.

After the bathroom break, I returned to the hammock, but already was feeling quite awake. I read some, dozed some and decided to get up just before 5:00 am. I felt refreshed enough.

After being inside for a while and getting a couple cups of coffee in me, I went out to the deck and the top of the tarp had a heavy frost on it.

I'm pretty satisfied with my setup down to around 32 or so. Any changes I would make would be adding weight I may not want to carry.

Being dressed well also helped I'm sure. I wore all hiking clothes. A thermal/under armor base layer, with a fleece on top and hiking pants down below. Head and feet were covered with fleece and wool respectively.

The GA/NC mountains in late May shouldn't be a problem at all. We shall see.


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2/16/13
On Friday I made a few adjustments/changes to the setup and slept out there again.

I ran a ridge line and moved the tarp up to it to provide a little space between the hammock top and the tarp.  I also rigged the homemade woovie under quilt (UQ) between the under cover and the hammock.

I had added a loop to the edge of the UQ and leisurely adjusted it to where it covered the bottom properly.

I headed out about half past midnight after our wallyball league into a drizzling rain.  It was around 37 degrees.  When I got myself adjusted in the sleeping bag I realized the fleece was going to be too much, so I removed it for the night.  I was warm throughout the night.

I awoke some time after 7 am.  The drizzle was still intermittently hitting the tarp, but there was far less condensation this morning.  The temperature had remained rather steady during the night at about 36 degrees.  Every once and a while a drop will fall to my face from the tarp and screen, but that is mainly because I have to angle one side of the tarp rather steeply due to space limits.

This would be a good cold weather set up, but the UQ weighs in at about 1.7 lbs.

I wanted to try one more configuration, but tonight it is supposed to get into the lower twenties and snow is in the forecast. 

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2/17/13
The temps were forecast to get into the mid 20s last night, so I decided to go one more night in the current configuration (under cover, DIY Woovie UQ, 30 degree bag with Thermarest inserted in bag sleeve).

Slept good again. No major coldness felt. No condensation problems at all this morning. Temp in the morning showed 28 degrees or so.

I have some minor adjustments to make on the UQ to make installing it a little easier, but I like it. If I can handle the weight, I may bring it. If not for me, my cold sleeping bride may want to use it.

I will do one more test with the full Super Shelter setup (add the thin under pad) and complete my research when the temperatures are forecasted to be somewhere in the 40's or so.