Mt. Rogers Winter Hang 2015

[Home Run]

This starts the trip reports for the Mt. Rogers Winter Hang. Please use this thread to post. We love pictures and videos!

[Home Run]

Gray Jay and I still on our way back to Ohio along with Mountnman, Hammike, and Nightranger. We all had a ball visiting with everyone. The hike up to Wilburn Ridge was spectacular with it's 60 mile views. The ponies were all furry and wanting Kashi Bars, but Hickery wasn't with us so the ponies had to settle for hay. We took a day hike on Sat to Wilson Creek and marveled at the icy waterfalls.
The weather tested us all as usual. Freezing rain, snow, and 60 mph winds did their best to chase us, but this group's fortitude outlasted the elements.
Group hangs always seem to bring out the best our cooking abilities. We had Dogbone's Hungarian Goulash and cherry cobbler, The Professor' s American Goulash, Litefoot's Chile, Campfire Burritos from Jimjim and The Love Dr, Maztrain's Most Excellent Japanese Vegetables (sorry Maz, I forgot the name!) Allhandsondeck's Banana Bread and Jalapeño Corn Bread, LD Cakes Scrumptious Peach Cobbler...dutch oven style with hot apple cider, Hickery's Outstanding Shrimp Cocktail, Davey Ray's baked taters, and Home Run Beans.
The campfires were really cool as Maztrain played guitar and sang 'til the wee hours Thurs night. His hot tent was just what the doctor ordered when a little extra warmth was needed.
The efforts to keep the wind at bay were provided by the valiant Tarp Team led by Slowhike. We escaped the worst of the wind because of the efforts of many. Good job all!
I myself had some tarp issues as the wind tore off most of my d-rings, but thanks to all who came to help!....Visionarylion, Mountnman, Hickery, and many others. That's what's cool about HF folks; they all rise to the occasion when adversity strikes a Mountain Brother.
I hope I haven't neglected anyone in recounting the story. It was so much fun to be with you all.
Well, we've crossed the state line into Ohio. Wrapping it up for now as I thank everyone who made this hang a time to remember. I enjoyed every moment friends.

HR

[DavyRay]

We had tarps.

I think we learned quite a bit about tarps. I learned that I have to get much better at staking out my Old Man Winter tarp. It got quite flappy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this weekend. The food at the potluck was fantastic. The company was very good. I met some new friends. The old friends were there, and were generous with gear where it was wanting. Thanks, guys, for all the help!

Also, thanks to Home Run for organizing the event this year. Thanks to the crew who took down the large tarps on Saturday night (in driving wind). And thanks to the crew who stayed to police up the area and make sure we left it just like we found it.

Also thanks to the park crew, who were extremely helpful, and who manage a beautiful park.

DavyRay

[L.D. Cakes]

[L.D. Cakes]

[Wraith6761]

Had a complete blast out there...beautiful scenery, good food (and lots of it), interesting weather, and most of all, just great people to be around. This was definitely a bit of a learning experience for me, as well as the coldest that I've ever taken a hammock (according to the NOAA link that ranger Marcia put up in the planning thread, Sat night was hovering around 15-16 degrees with the wind chill). Hopefully I'll be back out there next year, though I'll be making some gear changes between now and then I think, such as bringing less fleece and more down, bringing better stakes (as shepherd's hooks don't hold up well in 50+ mph winds), making certain to keep as much gear off the ground as possible to prevent things from getting wet, and several other odds and ends. I'm going through the videos I took (including HomeRun's tree-climbing demonstration) and will upload some of them, but that will take at least some audio editing (another thing learned: GoPro microphones are ridiculously sensitive to anything touching the case, so hold it by some kind of mount instead of directly on the case). Thanks to everybody who came out for generally just being awesome to hang out with, and especially to Slowhike and HomeRun for getting this trip organized!

A couple pictures that I took while on the Wilson Creek trail:
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[L.D. Cakes]

Cool Pics Wraith!

I learned about Ti Shepherds Hooks on Roan Mt a few years back when the wind pulled em up & flung them into the snow never to be found..... I use Aluminum Gutter Spikes now spray painted blaze orange.

[Wraith6761]

Cool Pics Wraith!

I learned about Ti Shepherds Hooks on Roan Mt a few years back when the wind pulled em up & flung them into the snow never to be found..... I use Aluminum Gutter Spikes now spray painted blaze orange.

Yeah, a couple of mine are still up on Mt Rogers...spray-painting them sounds like a really good idea.

[slowhike]

Hopefully I'll be back out there next year, though I'll be making some gear changes between now and then I think, such as bringing less fleece and more down, bringing better stakes (as shepherd's hooks don't hold up well in 50+ mph winds), making certain to keep as much gear off the ground as possible to prevent things from getting wet, and several other odds and ends.

I try to use as few stakes as possible, as long as I can find trees, limbs, roots, etc to tie off to. But that's more of a challenge in those conditions because you want be more specific about angles & heights.

I've learned that having a large plastic tub under your tarp is extremely helpful when you are that close to your car, as well another tub or two for stuff you want to have close by were people are hanging out & eating.

BTW, I see the need to upgrade to better storage tubs in those conditions, rather than the flimsy ones I had with snap on lids.

[slowhike]

Love seeing those pictures & vids. I've got 2 or 3 I should have up by tomorrow.