On May 10th, 2014, 2 brave hammock forums members embarked on a quest for adventure ....and a good nights sleep along the I&M canal trail. We were ready to endure all that Mother Nature had planned to throw at us in regards to weather, paddling conditions and bike trail conditions. We arrived at the trail head at around 10 A.M. only to find out, that a ranger was nowhere to be found to sign us in or collect our camping fees, we decided to throw caution into the wind and and JUST DO IT! I packed up my bike, Magic Paddler launched his kayak, and the adventure was on. As i arrived at the camp site, I was pleasantly surprised to meet up with the missing park ranger, he was out doing his job of making sure the campsites were not trashed, safe, have plenty of T.P. and ready to be used and enjoyed, so i was able to pay the appropriate fees, acquire our permits, and start setting up camp.
Even though I have been to this campsite several times before , there were many personal firsts for me. It was the first time i have had the chance to hang and use my hammock after 2QZQ did a MOD4 on my Hennessy, the workmanship was flawless, second was the first time i got to use my Superfly with the no-sew mini pole mod, and last but not least, I got to use my new 20 degree Burrow top quilt that the folks at Hammock Gear got to me in time so i could use it this weekend, and my 20 degree Phoenix under quilt, now I know what downy goodness is. (Can ya tell I have read a few threads on H.F.?) More on personal firsts and lessons learned later.
While setting up I stopped , had lunch and was wondering if any hikers were going to make it this trip, but alas, none did. But then Magic Paddler arrived, set up his camp site and he shared some of his tricks of how he sets up his gear and why, very interesting and lots of stuff has been very well thought out. Thanks for sharing with me I learned a lot.
After setting up camp, we proceeded to endure the weather Mother Nature threw at us, 74 degrees, no humidity, no wind, not a cloud in the sky, and no bugs swarming around what so ever, I know, it was rough but someone had to do it. We collected dead fall firewood then spent the afternoon talking about places we have been, places we have seen and in general confirming the fact that we have been blessed to be able to experience the things in life that we both have been able to.
At around 5-5:30 we decided to have dinner, Magic had sausage, veggies and yogurt, I grilled Maxwell Street polish on the grill with grilled onions, mustard and sport pepper relish, along with macaroni salad , was delicious , even if i do say so myself.
After dinner, and clean-up we started the campfire and began solving all the problems of the world, joked around and just talked about places we would like to go, then something happened, I never imagined women would be at the campground...sometimes, what happens on the trail, stays on the trail.
We then turned in at around 9-9:30 and settled in for a night where temps plummeted to 55 degrees, didn't need to deploy the bug netting, and i had to open up the foot box of my Burrow to vent. Around 4:00 A.M. we detected a slight breeze.
Waking up at around 6;30 or 7, we both had breakfast , started to break down camp and Magic asked if i would like to try his kayak out, seeing how I've never been in one and always wanted to try one I jumped at the chance and after an intense 5 minute one on one crash course in paddling I was in the kayak and I was paddling out onto the river, everything was going great, till I tried to turn around, then in a split second, I went for an unscheduled swim, yes, I flipped the kayak, I walked the boat back to shore with paddle in hand (the water was 4 ft deep) and couldn't help but notice the grin on Magics face, that's ok, I woulda chuckled some too and thanks for risking it all and rescuing my hat that was floating away. But, it was fun and it is something that I will pursue in the future with more instruction, trying different boats, and getting more info on things, This is the stuff that makes life interesting.
Some of the lessons learned? I cant list them all but here are a few, Just get out and go camping, doesn't matter the destination or how ya get there ,
just do it. Next would be, after ya fall in the river, micro fleece pull overs soak up lots of water, and lastly, when ya take off your wet shoes and wet socks, put on dry socks and put your wet shoes back on, ya all of the sudden have 2 pairs of wet socks......
Was a great time, thanks Magic, hope to do it again.
Mark
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