2019 MI Fall Hang & Chili Festival: Oct. 11-13 - TRIP REPORT

[Karla "with a k"]

I'm starting a trip report thread so everybody has a place to post pictures, weather stories, and suggestions for next year.

[Just Bill]

According to Dogger: Shorts and sandals weather all weekend, with just enough of a nip come Saturday morn that he had to put on his fancy robe fer a bit.

Others seemed less convinced about the great weather.

Good time as usual... though a few of the gals round the fire got a little too deep into the green m&m's on Saturday.

I'll get to work on the "Loving Spoonful" bridge for Neil and his special someone as soon as possible.

Sympathies to Karla who had one of the Duck Hunters shoot her right in the bridge when she was camping lakeside.

Suggestions for next year:

More Green M&M's.


Fer those of you dumb enough to still want to get a hold of me after meeting me- my email/website is in my signature.

[Karla "with a k"]

Sympathies to Karla who had one of the Duck Hunters shoot her right in the bridge when she was camping lakeside.

ooooh, am I part of an exclusive club and now qualify for a patch? I love patches!

[dantolz]

I'm hoping there will be some good Chili receipes coming ? I used the "Schill Brothers" receipe on my recent hang in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario. Was a BIG hit.

[boulderv7]

Snagged this one off FB.

Good time as usual. And as usual, I now have a longer list of sewing projects to get to.

Glad everyone could make it out.

And thanks to Nanook for spearheading everything this year so I could chill...hahaha, yeah right. Supposedly, me sitting down is a rare sight.

The people walking around in sandals all weekend are the real MVPs. I'm looking at you, Dogger and Deisel. I'm not sure Bill counts, he at least had socks on.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

[Karla "with a k"]

Rain dominated the Friday forecast when people arrived. Rain kept falling well into the early morning hours which left many of us setting up in the rain (good practice!). The drop in temperature by 20 degrees and the high winds meant it was difficult to stay dry while sitting under a tarp and canopy and I was one of those who enjoyed heading to bed at 9pm for a long night's sleep. Low only got down to 45 degrees.


Was anybody able to find the big Bob Ross Happy Tree sign? I looked for it, but only found this little sign.


Saturday morning greeted us rain free and most headed down for our group breakfast (and I don't know everybody who cooked, but thank you! The eggs, sausage and bacon were all delicious. And thank you to whomever brought the apple cider!)



Then off for our tour of hammocks!









Our high of 51 degrees for Saturday felt really cold with the strong wind which accompanied it, but everyone was glad it wasn't raining. Not much participation in the gear swap/sale this year, but strong interest in the raffle! Top prizes were a 10 degree top quilt from UGQ, a $100 gift certificate from Warbonnet and a DIY hammock from Nanook. Hopefully, he will let us know the total being donated to the North Country Trail this year as the cost of the campsite, wood and food was already donated so 100% of raffle proceeds went to the NCT this year.



After the raffle our taste buds turned to chili and this year we had a plethora of selections. Were there 13 this year??? Is that a record?









With full bellies, we enjoyed conversation and storytelling around the bonfire and enjoyed a rain free evening. Low of 40 degrees on Saturday night.


A HUGE thank you to Nanook for coordinating the event AND the raffle this year! And to BoulderV7 because you still were on-deck with assisting. To Pam and Eryn (because we know who still does a lot of the work with little credit). And to Gallo for cooking (and for lunch even though I didn't know about it - I heard the tacos were good!) And for all those who brought your own items to donate to the raffle. All of y'all rounded out the raffle so nicely.

A special thanks to those who came from long distances! We had many from out of state! Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina!!!!

Thank you to those who signed up on the sign-up sheets, changed/deleted when your plans changed, volunteered with KP duty, brought gear swap items, raffle items, food for the weekend, purchased raffle tickets, and showed off your sleep system on the tour!

And to those vendors for donating raffle items! UGQ and WARBONNET !!! You guys rock!!!! We can't shout your name loud enough!



See y'all next year!

**Thank you Roogles for the use of your picture. And if you are in one of my pics, feel free to use it! **