Hey folks,
Well, another hang put down in the books. As a quick disclaimer, I’m not all that great at summarizing, but here goes! I'm also horrible at remembering to take pictures, so feel free to tack them on underneath.
It was a great weekend in Twin Lakes State Park for our annual service hang to give back a bit to the parks. The heat of Friday broke a bit and the rains kept their distance; it turned out to be a beautiful camping weekend with some amazing sleeping weather (That’s the important part after all).
Since I skipped out of work on Friday, I got to the park around noonish to bright sunshine and 90°. Firelakecondo and her other half were already there to enjoy the spectacle of me setting up..and tweaking...and then resetting up. After that, there was only one thing to do – sit down them, enjoy an ice-cold barley pop, and watch everyone else trickle in. All in all, we had about 29 people there with Jimbo bringing up the rear. He and his clan wanted to be there so badly that they went the last 20 miles on a dead alternating and dying battery. Let’s just say we pushed their truck the last 15 feet to the parking spot. Friday night was a bit warm, but there was a nice breeze to keep the air moving and the vampire insects at bay.
Saturday started too early with the sounds of birds chirping, folks chatting, Dutch ovens clanging and Starthru ringing the food triangle. Breakfast was that beautiful mixture of too much sugar, too many carbs, and so much hearty goodness that seconds were a necessity. After cleanup, it was on to do what we set out to do: pay our way and help out the park! They had a mixture of chores for us to do – build bluebird boxes, do some trail maintenance, and some basic litter patrol. That’s the point things fell apart a bit. The crew at Twin Lakes SP is so efficient and motivated that the folks who cut the wood for the birdhouses went ahead and put them together and the Rangers handling the chainsaws to cut the blowdowns earlier in the week went ahead and cleared them off the trail then and there! Now, having little to do, we sent some folks out for some litter patrols and then on to fun. Some folks went to an archery event the park was holding while others hung back, went for a walk, chilled out, or played around with the Tensa4 stand I set up to show off.
As everyone was prepping for dinner and cooking, the Park Interpreter came around and gave us a brief little demonstration regarding the park’s colorful and controversial history. It was a truly enlightened conversation that brought a little more depth to the park itself and, for me anyway, was one of the highlights of the weekend! Next, came the most important event of the entire weekend – dinner. Since it was Cinco de Mayo, there was a definite Mexican theme to the meals. Everything from quesadillas to fideo to carnitas to salsa and chips was laid out on the picnic tables. We invited the Park Rangers and campground host out for some food – the latter of which also happened to be a bluegrass player and guitar picker so he happily serenaded us over some food. He called it paying his way. The best was still yet to come though – since Corey and his wife came in their trailer, they also brought along their ice cream maker. Dessert was an assortment of delectable pies, brownies, and fresh homemade chocolate and vanilla ice cream! Thankfully, the ice cream slid in between the multiple servings of dinner. After dinner, all anyone had the mobility to do was sit at one of the fires and watch campfire tv until we all passed out from too much food. Saturday night, by the way, turned out to be just about the best sleeping weather in my opinion, high 50s with a slight breeze.
Unfortunately, great sleeping weather usually means dawn comes too quickly and, before we knew it, it was time to pack up and return home. All in all, it was a great hang with plenty of fresh faces. I’m glad everyone was able to come on out and it’s always great meeting new people who jump head first and go bravely camping with “a bunch of people from the internet.”
We also passed a hat as people were packing up on Sunday and raised over $100 to donate to the Friends of the Twin Lakes State Park. That money will go to help fund the projects that the park desperately needs to continue to run such a beautiful park chocked full of activities.
A special thanks to RunningwithScissors as she was the brains of the operation and also the heavy lifter as far as communication with the park management.
..and, I promise, next year earlier and WAY less pollen!
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Originally Posted by runningwithscissors22
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