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  1. #1
    Senior Member Can't Wait's Avatar
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    Dolly Sods Hang 2010

    Well I don't want to take the trip report from happycamper so I won't get into detail all I want is say was I had a most excellent weekend with some mighty fine people it was a pleasure to meet everyone . I will chime in more later cleaning gear and editing video.
    Last edited by Can't Wait; 09-19-2010 at 23:12.

  2. #2
    Senior Member HappyCamper's Avatar
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    Hey medicjimr, glad you got back home safely and can't wait to see everyone's pics and videos. No one has to wait for me to post just have at it!

    I got back home, put away some gear, too many visitors at house so still have most of my pack to deal with. Anyway, the short story is most everyone made it! (Sorry about work getting in the way NCPatrick.) Most everyone found each other Friday night, although Cool Days was just a smidge off, but we found him Saturday morning. Friday, Sat, Sunday weather gorgeous. Some of the hikers who came in early got hard rain and wind but lived to tell. Which was good because a lot of WV was experiencing harsh storms and even some tornado touch downs Thursday night. Hickory did some bushwacking and I was grateful that he did not find any unexpected unexploded ordinances. He arrived in one piece. More to tell but got to go to work. More later today!
    Exercise, eat right, die anyway -- Country Roads bumper sticker
    Fall seven times, standup eight. -- Japanese Proverb

  3. #3
    Senior Member HappyCamper's Avatar
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    Trip Report Dolly Sods, WV Sept. 17-19, 2010

    Arrived at parking lot by Red Creek Campground at about 11 am on Friday. Immediately saw Oh-No and Lisa in parking lot talking to some bird experts. We didn’t realize it but the Allegheny Front Bird Banding Station was in full swing and volunteers were banding birds each morning. (More info on this activity at the very end of this post.) Then came Trout out of the trees to let us know where they had setup just 5 minutes up the path of Blackbird Knob Trail.

    The rest of the day was getting setup, meeting and greeting everyone, looking at gear, hauling in some firewood, sharing food, stories and a campfire. Weather for Friday, Sat, Sun was as predicted. High 70’s during day and the low it 45/47 on Saturday night.

    People that showed . . . (I’m counting 18 people, plus Boney! -- if I’ve missed someone, my apologies and give a shout out below.)

    Happy Camper
    Lisa
    Oh-No
    Trout
    HamMike
    WV + Bonaparte
    MacEntyre + Thing1
    Merry Mary
    amclumberjack and his friend
    Medicjim
    Acer
    Fungus
    Hickery
    Cool Days (who has the greatest laugh)
    Bob and Andrew

    A fun surprise was VegaMike, who showed up with his scout troop. We got to chat with them in the campground and then again on Saturday when we found their campsite while we were day hiking on the Red Creek Trail.

    It was so much fun seeing everyone who made the trip and that they were able to find our Friday night campsite because we ended up in a slightly different spot that originally planned. Both WV and Mac brought their hammock tensegrity stands and there was lots of interest in those. It was a good thing we told people to bring water because the pump at the campground was dry due to the drought. Vegamike did show us where a spring was near the campground, but it was nice to have water. WV brought in a 5 gallon jug of water and it was empty by Saturday morning as everyone filled up for the day’s hike.

    I’m going to put my gear list and gear notes on another post if anyone is interested. I was trying to go light and with food and water I was at 19 pounds. I was planning on a 50 degree low (it got to 47). Food was only for Sat. lunch, dinner, Sunday breakfast, plus some snacks. So that certainly helped my pack weight. I knew there was going to be several creek crossing and camping by a creek so only 1 liter of water carried in.

    Friday evening a group of us got into our cars and drove the short distance down to Bear Rocks to see the sun set. It was cloudy so not much sun to see, but the view was quite wonderful and there was a photography class out on the rocks taking pictures, so you had to watch to make sure there were no tripods in your own pictures. The valley and ridges and evening colors and wildflowers made for great photography on both sides of the forest road. Thing1 got a great fire going Friday night and most of us enjoyed it for quite some time. HamMike passed around some awesome homemade pepperoni rolls and Lisa has a fantastic Southwestern Cornbread Salad. Most went into hammocks by 10 pm.

    Saturday morning people were up and around 7 am and a few of us went over to see the bird banding operation going on across the road and then back for breakfast. Others started packing up and getting into groups for the Saturday hike. Me, I’m still yakking to everyone. I’m not even sure what time Oh-No and I hit the Blackbird Knob trail (sometime after 11 am??) but within the hour we had hooked up with Mac, Thing1, Lisa, Merry Mary, Cool Days, and Hickery.

    Creek crossings were extremely easy due to the drought. We got to our Saturday campsite early afternoon for setup and a late lunch. I think our quick hike in was 3 miles. If someone had a GPS they might be more exact. Others who had come in from different directions and made longer hikes started finding the campsite. Again, I was a bit in awe of our hikers because we were not EXACTLY where I said we would be, but we didn’t seem to lose anyone. Bob and Andrew found us Saturday afternoon. (They had spent Friday night at a motel since they got a later start.)

    Oh-No enjoyed some time in the creek and told me he saw trout in some fishing holes. Acer found a good swimming hole south of our campsite, but it was getting later in the afternoon so I stayed out of the water.

    Late afternoon just as I had eased into my hammock for a nap I heard people talking about “going to the falls” that Fungus had been telling us about. I jumped up but had missed the boat on the first group out. But Andrew thought he knew where to go and Merry Mary was game for another hike too. So the three of us took off in hot pursuit of the first group. We finally caught up with them AT the falls by asking anyone we saw on the trail if a guy in a kilt had passed by. EVERYONE remembered seeing Mac’s kilt so we knew we were always heading in the right direction on Red Creek Trail. Quite a few people and VegaMike’s scouts were camped around the falls so I was glad that I had set our group up on the west side of Blackbird Knob Trail where we had a ton of sticky pine trees to hang from. All the pine needles made it feel like you were walking on sponges in our area.

    This day hike was about 4 miles total and the group was back to the campsite at around 6:30/7:00 pm-ish, just in time for Thing1 to start up the campfire again and to bring out dinners. The guys did a great job finding firewood in an area that is used frequently. Of course the different woodstoves came out and all talk turned to them. Cool Days had a BushBuddy, Mac had a 4Dogs LT 1 and I think Acer’s was a homemade woodstove.

    I can’t tell you much more about this evening because I turned in early, ahead of most people. But THE COOLEST THING happened. A few yipes and yaps started at about 1 am and then were followed by a full cacophony of coyote howls that lasted quite a long time. It sounded like we were surrounded by them and that they were only 10 feet away. It was amazing! It then started up again a few minutes later but didn't last as long and wasn't as loud.

    Sunday morning it was a leisurely breakfast by the campfire for me. Some starting packing up early for long drives home while others lingered at the morning campfire. The time goes by too fast and you hate to say goodbye. Lisa, Mary, and I were the last ones out of the campsite, but we caught up to Oh-No at a small creek crossing before getting back to Red Creek Campground at about 12:30 pm. On the driove out, I saw that Mary had stopped along the side of the road where several cars were parked. Seems there were still some blueberries up on the mountain! Dolly Sods, ya gotta love it!

    I hope others who made the hike will add their thoughts and comments!

    Bird Banding Station at Dolly Sods (pulled from the web)
    The Allegheny Front Migratory Observatory (Bird Banding Station) is located at the overlook across the road from the Red Creek Campground. Established in 1958, the station is open from August to October depending on weather. It is the only cooperative banding station is West Virginia, although banders, who must be licensed, do band from their yards. Banders are volunteers, usually members of the Brooks Bird Club, who cooperate with staff from the Monongahela National Forest and the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.

    In the fall, songbirds are most likely to migrate after the passing of a cold front, and the migration usually is along a broad front. Many birds fly along the Allegheny Front in the fall and often are funneled through the dip in the ridge to keep on a southwest course. Birds banded at the station are mainly songbirds, and about one-third of the species banded are warblers. Most birds that fly down the Allegheny Front during their migration do not nest in West Virginia but in Canada and farther north; they winter in the tropics, the Caribbean,and Central and South America.

    In order to secure the birds for banding, as many as 20 nylon nets are set up in 'net lanes." After birds fly into the nets they are removed carefully to avoid injury. The birds then are placed in a canvas sack and taken to the banding station, which is a plywood shelter where the bands are kept. The birds are identified for species, sex, and age, and then banded. Some are weighed and checked for fat. Migrating birds usually put on fat just before migrating. The fat is used for fuel for what may be a 200-mile night flight. After this information is recorded, the birds are released. This type of data is used to determine status and distribution of bird populations.

    The information is very important because birds serve as a kind of ecological indicator of the health of the earth which all species must share. Destruction and fragmentation of North American forests due to urban development and agriculture have caused a serious loss of habitat for many woodland birds, especially warblers. Destruction of the rain forest in South America has meant loss of habitat for some birds that winter in the tropics. Banding stations
    such as the one at Dolly Sods provide information to help monitor the number of birds and keep track of fluctuations in populations.

    It appears that numbers of woodland bird species are declining.Approximately 115 bird species have been banded at the Allegheny Front station. Not all species are banded. Because of their small size, hummingbirds are not banded but notes on their occurrence are kept. Species most often banded include Tennessee warbler, blackpoll warbler, Cape May warbler, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blackburnian warbler, bay-breasted warbler, ovenbird, dark-eyed junco, golden-crowned kinglet, and Swainson's thrush. Other birds that have been banded include merlin, sharpshinned hawk, yellow-bellied sapsucker, and several flycatchers including yellow-bellied and least flycatcher. The station bands over 6,000 birds in an average year. (For complete lists of birds banded and dates, refer to the Redstart which has annual updates of bird banding activity.)
    Last edited by HappyCamper; 09-21-2010 at 05:58.
    Exercise, eat right, die anyway -- Country Roads bumper sticker
    Fall seven times, standup eight. -- Japanese Proverb

  4. #4
    Senior Member Can't Wait's Avatar
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    Well Done happycamper describing the hang. I didn't want to take away from you as the hostess/planner but I had to say how great everyone was as soon as I got home. Once again it was a pleasure meeting everyone and look forward to hanging out gain sometime.

  5. #5
    Senior Member HappyCamper's Avatar
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    Words are OK, but I hope you and others start adding pictures and video! That's the best! (Currently I don't have a camera. I gave mine to Goodwill because it chewed through too many batteries. I figured if I was without one, I'd get a new one sooner. Now it's killing me because I didn't have it for this trip!)

    Yes, same here! Seeing old hanging friends and meeting new one is the best part of any hang!
    Exercise, eat right, die anyway -- Country Roads bumper sticker
    Fall seven times, standup eight. -- Japanese Proverb

  6. #6
    Senior Member HamMike's Avatar
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    What a sweet trip! I'm tired, my feet are sore, and I have some chaffin goin on. Trout and I arrived thursday afternoon to a nice sideways rain. We drove up to bear rocks for a little look see then back down to the campsite to check it out. We ran into WV and Boney(thanx for the water and traderjoe crepes) on the way back to grab our gear. There was a lull in the rain long enough to get setup relatively dry. We decided to eat at the truck and leave most of our gear there. Dark came quick and we all settled into our hammocks. I woke up to lightening, thunder, and rain a couple hours later. Now let me tell ya I strapped up to some decent sized trees and I was getting bounced around in the wind as those trees were being blown around. I slept in a little long friday but got up and went to the truck to grab the rest of my gear and have some breakfast. I was honored with a visit from a passerby on a morning walk. He was a 95 year old guy that was with the bird banding group and said he has been doin it since 1927. He told me where the term deadringer came from too. Me and Trout went on a litle day hike starting at bear rock trail headed west then south to come out on beaver dam trail. When we got back folks had arrived and we gathered around the pit to swap food and socialize. I met some really nice folks. Happycamper, her friend Lisa( who had a tent but was nice nonetheless) thanx for the awsome salad, Mac and Thing1(thanx for the fire), Hickory and his KrispyKreme hat, and The Doug's. So many others but my ability to remember names is slippin. We opted for a longer hike saturday and rounded up some other to join us. We planned to check out the falls once we got setup but I was tuckered out and spent the evening relaxing and hangin around camp. We were on the other side of the creek and had a good time hangin around the fire and tellin jokes. I must have slept well because trout said I snored all night, sorry buddy! We broke camp early to get out to the truck for our long drive. Sorry I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to everyone! I hope to see many of you on the trail again soon. A huge shout out to Stormcrow and the 3-season Incubator! I love it!!!! What a piece of craftmanship and easy to setup! I was so warm and cozy every night! Thanx Brutha!!! Nice to see ya and chat for awhile.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    "He who makes a beast of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man." Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

    Please check out the link below to show your love for hammocks!www.zazzle.com/hammocklife

  7. #7
    Senior Member Can't Wait's Avatar
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    I will work on pics and link to the video which isn't much wasn't sure of protocol for videoing the members and there gear so was limited Great Pics there Mike

  8. #8
    Senior Member VegaMike's Avatar
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    Thumbs up I shook the hand that shook Shug's hand

    Hey hangers, glad to have met up with a few of you at the forks of Red Creek on Sat: cooldays, Hickery, Lisa, MacEntyre & Thing1, medicjimr (sweet knife!), Merry Mary, and Oh-No (did I miss anyone?) Good to see WV in the parking lot Fri night, sorry I didn't have more time to talk. I wish I could have been hangin' with you guys but as a Scoutmaster, the Scouts take priority. We usually camp on the third weekend of the month.

    At our camp, MacIntyre and I were geeking out with jargon near my hammock as Lawrence (Asst. Scoutmaster) listened. Then MerryMary walked up and gave me a great big hug! I'm sure Lawrence thought, what the heck is going on? We drove three and a half hours from home, hiked all day with the Scouts, now who are all these people that know the Scoutmaster way out here in the middle of Dolly Sods?! It was pretty funny.

    I ran in to HamMike, Trout, and cooldays on Sunday heading out on the Blackbird Knob trail. You guys rock for driving so far! Trout, thanks for edifying the Scouts about trail etiquette for passing.

    HappyCamper, thanks for the pad when I had to GTG on Friday night. The Scouts were camping in Red Creek Campground on Fri and the USFS changed the regs since I was last there -- camping is on the gravel pad only so we couldn't tent on the grass of a treed site. This required us to select a site with a larger gravel pad and ZERO trees. (I called USFS before departure but I must not have used the right codeword to receive the correct information.) The camp host said no tree hanging in the common area in the middle of the campground loop, so I had to take down my hammock and GTG. Ugh.

    Please thank Lisa for the blanket offer, it's much appreciated. I slept on two pads with a JRB High Sierra Sniveller, Mt Washington 3 Under Quilt, and Montbell Ultralight Thermawrap Parka and kept warm (hey, I'm a cold sleeper). Turns out Lisa's dad was my metal shop teacher at Belair Junior High School, where my mother taught science and knew her dad well. She grew up in Bowie, MD, as did I. Man, it's a small world!

    cooldays, you asked about the tent my son was in, it's a three man Tarptent Rainshadow 2.

    One thing is for sure, it's been way too long since I've been to a hang so I'm going to ask an ASM to take the Scouts to the local camporee so I can hang with y'all at MAHHA. I'll post in that thread if it comes to fruition.

    I did enjoy meeting Hickery; now I can say, "I shook the hand that shook Shug's hand." Hickery, that's what you get for starring in Shug's videos. Hope to catch you in Linville Gorge sometime.
    Last edited by VegaMike; 09-20-2010 at 15:18.
    ..Mike the Weed Warrior bio // Think globally, act locally: Remove an invasive plant

  9. #9
    Senior Member WV's Avatar
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    Bonaparte and I arrived Wednesday afternoon and saw the longest sunset I've ever seen as we ascended the Boars Nest Trail in the Flatrock Plains area adjacent to Dolly Sods. It was long because the sun ducked behind the 4600' ridge to the West as we set out about 5:30 PM, but it kept popping back up and disappearing again as we climbed 1200 feet to the plateau. When we reached the top the sun was still up - just barely. It warmed us up for a few minutes more, and then it set for good. We camped near the S. trailhead of the Boarsnest Trail (named after a bar used by loggers way back when - they didn't like liquor in the towns in those days).

    It happened; I took one photo - see attached.

    Thursday we set out to connect with the South Prong Trail via FR 70, turned right and took the section along the escarpment of the Eastern Continental Divide. It started raining about noon, and the temperature dropped quite a bit. There were some views from side trails, but we didn't linger very long. Took FR 19 back to our starting point at the bottom of the Boarsnest Trail. Bonaparte had carried his pack gamely and deserved a reward, so I drove down to the town of Harman and purchased him a hamburger (I also partook). Then we drove back up toward Dolly Sods, stopping for 15 minutes to cut up a tree that had blown down on the road while we were gone. When we got to DS we met Ham Mike and Trout and set up camp. Lots of thunder and lightning that night, but we slept warm and cozy in our insulated hammocks. (Yes, Bonaparte has one, too. He needs the insulation because he has no coat to speak of.)

    The rest of our trip has been described well by others. I am always impressed at how much I learn from my fellow hangers. I have gotten so many tips and learned so much on this forum that I sometimes feel that I know just about everything there is to know about hammock camping. Then I go to a group hang and see all the great ways people are using this information in ways I haven't thought of. It's downright humbling.
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  10. #10
    Senior Member Can't Wait's Avatar
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