HangCon '18>Doe Lake, Ocala National Forest>January 12-15, 2018> Hangcon '18

[Timberrr]

Wishing all a Happy New Year and may see y'all at some point during the weekend.

WooHooo old friend!! Gumbo and I, et al, really hope you can make it!

[Timberrr]

Gumbo and I just got back from a scouting trip to Doe Lake. Here's what we found:

• Overall, Doe Lake itself is in good shape.
• The water in the lake is high. I don't know if that's better for fishing or not, but it looks good.
• The storms last summer took out a couple dozen trees at Doe Lake, mostly within the gates...a few of which were good hanging trees. But there are still plenty of good trees and good sites. The trails looked relatively unaffected.
• The storms also damaged the roof of the lodge, which, because it's a historic building, has to be replaced by historic roofers. This weekend the roof was covered with tyvec...historic tyvec, one supposes. They expect to be doing roof repairs during HangCon. We'll still have use of the building, but expect it to be noisy.
• Some of the 6x6 hitching posts are showing their age. We saw one that broke off at ground level. As always, we encourage using a lot of discretion in site selection.
• There is a huge brush pile from downed trees and branches in the parking area. Plan on working around it.
• The last mile, approaching Doe Lake, is a dirt road. It is in TERRIBLE shape. Deep washboarding, big potholes, soft shoulders, etc. We had to drive ~5 or 10 mph. It's unlikely that the road will be graded before HangCon. DRIVE CAREFULLY. AND SLOWLY!!
• The ice machine is kaput. HangCon's donation to Doe Lake this year will be an ice machine. We hope to have it installed in time for our use, but that's a long shot. We'll update this issue as we can - so you'll know if you need to bring ice in a cooler.
• Gumbo and I met the acting hosts. They are excited about HangCon as well. It seems HangCon has a reputation among the ONF rangers and all the campground hosts (in a good way).

The weather this weekend was mid 30s to low 40s most of the time. Not terribly cold, but the rain and drizzle along with the wind made you notice what cold there was. We were loving our UGQ quilts!
More updates as I remember them.
Looking forward to seeing everyone soon!

[Timberrr]

While we were gone, some loving showed up...
THANK YOU everyone who raced to get their ticket requests and donations in by the end of the year!

Mark/mbal1856
Luz L.
Lonny/Draggingcanoe
Paul C.
and starting the new year with some good karma:
Lori/Citizen Z

[flatline]

gonna try to make this big ole group shindig!

[DiverJim242]

Can't wait to go back to Doe lake and HangCon! Missed last year Will lend a hand when and where I can. Thank you Timber & Gumbo in advance, you always run a great event and have no doubt this one will be too

[lilricky]

Good to hear you'll be there Jim, you were sorely missed last year!

[Timberrr]

lilricky just reminded me of something very important!

"Make sure you bring shower shoes and a towel, the 2 things most often forgotten to bring!"

Every year, someone (probably a lot of someones) neglects to bring a towel. So after a shower, they use paper towels to dry themselves. Which means we quickly run out of paper towels. Then the folks who come in after them - who also neglected to bring a towel - don't have the option to use paper towels. So they resort to drying themselves with toilet paper. Which is a picture I just don't need! And which results in having no toilet paper when it's needed the most.

Please bring a camp towel.

[ChinoUSMC]

So... bring towels, sandals, and extra toilet paper, just in case.


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[SailingandSuch]

A class on how to kayak hammock camp? Can't wait for that one!!!! For anyone looking to talk kayaking and adventuring, I love to chat about it.... As long as there isn't something more fun to be doing!

The kayak trips seem cool as well but I'm not sure if I'll be able to allocate the time to take them on. I get much more time to kayak than I do to hang with other hammockers so that's probably what I'll be trying to do the most of.

A set list? Lol That's funny, I certainly am not the caliber that has a set list. But I did come up with a list of a few songs that I tend enjoy to play and are probably some of the most popular I'm capable of playing (at least around my circle of friends). I someone wanted to bring some lyrics, that would probably be a huge help all around. Maybe print them with chords on them as well just in case there are others that play guitar who may want to join in and help keep the tune..... in tune.....

- Dock of the Bay
- Drift Away
- Bama Breeze
- Brown Eyed Girl
- CHanges in Lattitude
- Coconut Telegraph
- Fins
- Hey Good Looking
- Pirate Looks at 40
- Son of a Sailor
- Trubador - George straight
- Shoulda been a Cowboy
- Sittin at a Bar
- Last Dance with Mary Jane
- Dixie Land Delight
- Friends in Low Places
- Fat Bottom Girls
- Kurtis Lowe
- Right Where I Need To Be
- It would be You
- Tennessee Whiskey
- Call me By My Name
- Dinosaur
- The Joker
- Drift Away
- Good O'le Boys (Dukes of Hazard)
- Wagon Wheel
- Dust on the Bottle
- Folsom Prison
- Simple Man
- Can't you See

I'm capable of "playing" more of course, but I'm certainly no pro. When I play, the saying "You get what you pay for!" is certainly proven, since I play for free

Really looking forward to meeting everyone and "hanging" out! I'll be coming in Saturday around mid day solo. Hope I find a lot of laughs (that's the good stuff to me) and a lot of good friends. I'm sure I'll learn quite about and expand my narrow-mindedness about hammocking as well.

[Floridahanger]

Flatline- so glad to hear you're coming down after many years. Love sending folks to sign up on the map. eh hm, Florida. Go sign up. We have more hangers.

DJim- welcome back. This is where you need to be.

Trip- would love to hear "Dock of the Bay" right at Sunset as the fire pit comes roaring to life. Also, since you're getting here Saturday, it's right at the time as we're finishing up making a huge Low Country Boil and Gumbo's famous Gumbo. That list is perfect...except fat bottom girls. Never did like that song.

Reminder, because we love our local community, to please bring 1, just 1 non perishable item for our food drive. Thanks in advance.