Are we officially moving to next weekend?
Are we officially moving to next weekend?
Yes, we were just waiting to give anyone who may have only been able to come this weekend a chance to chime in... maybe they took time off from work and couldn't reschedule it, or something. Anyway, consider the FBH officially bumped to next weekend Feb 3-5. Runners_low, can you change the thread title to reflect that? Hopefully this postponement enables more folks to come out and join in the fun.
I wasn’t going to be able to make it if it had happened this weekend as originally scheduled. I’m 80% sure I’ll be able to make it Feb 3-5 though. I just need to make sure I can get off half a day on Friday and I need to see if my test hang tomorrow night goes well (I expect it will).
I’ll need to bring a 9 week old border-newfie pup with me. I took him for a test walk today. He definitely takes more after his Newfie dad than his Border Collie mom. He walks well on a leash but is SLOW…nose to the ground the entire way. He only walked maybe 1,000 feet of the one mile we walked. I had to carry his 12 pounds most of the way. It worked fine, though, for me to wear my regular pack on back coupled with a day pack in front, holding the Newfster. Then I set up a hammock and he’s a PRO at that!!! What he lacks in hiking skills, he makes up for in hammock resting skills! I’m going to do an all night test hang with him tomorrow and see how that goes. I think he’ll do great with it.
Since I’m old and out of shape(!) and will be carrying an extra 12 pounds (maybe 14 pounds by then!) of pup, I’m not even going to try to make it to the top of the mountain. I’ll join you all Friday night and then Saturday I’ll just hike until the pup and I are tired, call it good enough(!), throw up my hammock, then putter back down to the car Sunday morning.
It’ll be fun seeing everybody again! Too bad I’ll have to leave Rem home. Maybe next year for him!
Change of plans. Don’t have to bring the puppy after all and my 18 year old niece will be meeting me there. Guess I lost my excuse not to do the full trail! This means Rem (the old German shepherd) can come.
Thank you Joe! That’s really kind of you! I should be able to handle my gear, though, since I won’t have a 14 pound puppy to carry, too. I do have a question, though…I’m assuming we will need to pack in all our water—that there won’t be a water source along the trail that can be counted on? Seems like when I hiked it years ago for an earlier FB hang, there weren’t any moving water sources, if I’m remembering the right place…?
That is correct, the trail does not cross any moving water sources on the way up to Bell Mtn. so folks should plan to carry all the water they will need to overnight on the dry summit. The map that runners_low linked to on page 6 of this thread indicates a "pool" about 1-1/2 miles up the trail, but if it exists I did not see it the last time we were up there. I intend to search for it on this trip to satisfy my curiosity, but I wouldn't count on it as a resupply point. That said, if anyone reading this has specific knowledge about this pool or pond, please share!
As I recall there is a pond to the right of the trail, on top, just a short ways past entering the circle loop portion when going counterclockwise. I would not rely on it as a water source however. If my plan to arrive early and hike up to cut firewood for Saturday night works out, I will check the pond for water and for quality when up top.
Added later:
On Google Earth I do see a small pond on top, but since the trail location does not show on the map, I cannot confirm it is the one I recall visiting.
And yet again:
As I look more closely at the OTA map I see the pond right next to the trail just short of the 5 mile mark.
Joe
Last edited by runners_low; 01-31-2023 at 00:05.
I seasoned that big skillet, and will be sure to bring it for Saturday morning eggs.
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