My Meetup backpacking group Virginia Backpacking, Hiking and Camping went back to Belle Isle State Park on Saturday January 4 for an overnighter. This is becoming an annual thing for us right after the holidays. Belle Isle is an undiscovered gem in eastern Virginia. The primitive campsites which we used are top tier in terms of amenities and views.
This year there was about 15 of us, about a third hammockers. About half were repeaters from last year which was neat.
Our group has come to enjoy sitting around the campfire talking and telling stories as a highlight of our trips. This year the weather intervened unfortunately. You'll see some tranquil views in the video below from earlier in the afternoon. What we didn't realize was the power of the cold front that was heading our way. Darkness masked its violence. My hang right on the river bank was pretty exposed and when winds reached 40-50 mph my stuff took to the air. Fortunately I was able to furl it eventually. I ran to my hang at the first gust but too late. Everything was wrapped and tangled up. It took me almost 15 minutes to untangle enough of it to get the tarp and hammock down.
Lots of lessons learned in this experience but my hang was the only one of the 15 campsites that was completely upset. Everyone else got through the night although there were a couple of tent poles broken and one tent fly damaged from flying pine cones. You can sense some of the wind in the video. But thanks to folks on the Forum for their advice about how to manage a tarp in high winds. That will help the next time.
Picture below shows the view before the cold front came through. It would be a great place to hang in mild weather. I'll go again.
Before storm.jpg
Picture below shows the river the next morning in the aftermath of the storm.
22m 600_487907560.jpg
https://youtu.be/3gP9nST5iek
I had one neat experience Saturday night as I walked back to my car to sleep. I'd shoved everything wet into my backpack and headed back. Fortunately I'd inserted fresh batteries into my headlamp that trip so walking was easy. And the bright light illuminated three pair of eyes facing me about midway back. I couldn't see anything but the yellow reflection from their eyes but they were deer. All three were probably puzzled of my headlight, I hadn't made any sound walking on the road. The eyes blinked out after a few seconds but sprung back in my direction when I spoke quietly to them not to worry. Then the eyes blinked out one by one as they trotted away.
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