Camping Fever

It has been a while since I have headed into the woods and gotten disconnected from everything and everyone around me. There is nothing like grabbing a few buddies, packing up a pack, and heading into the wilderness where you can relax and enjoy the goodness of nature. With me being from the North Georgia Mountains a staple place for me has always been the foothill of the Appalachian Trail. Most everyone has heard of this grueling, yet spectacular, 2,160 mile trail that reaches from the good old Springer Mountain to Maine. The fun part about hiking in the area that I like to call my usual is seeing the usual thru-hikers that are just starting their voyage (or attempted voyage) through the mountains of the east coast. Below is a map of the trial and shows the path that many people each year try to tackle in a 3-6 month hike.

My Bucket List includes this hike. I just hope I have the chance to do it.

With that being said the most recent trip that I have made hiking and camping in the Springer Mountain area has to be one of the most memorable. I went with two other guys that I know and we started at the drop off at Springer and hiked up to the shelter that is on top of Springer. We got there and setup the hammocks and I decided since we were at a shelter and it looked to be pretty well built, I would just go ahead and sleep in there. I helped the guys with me get their hammocks setup and gather firewood to get a fire up. About the time we stated getting some fire wood a couple of guys came up to the shelter. One looked like a grisly old man and the other an overweight son. The proceeded to assist us in gathering the firewood with us. We met them and the Dad stated that he was retired and that his son was a Chef but he was in-between jobs at this time (which translates to he cant find a job because he chose a limited career path and he eats more than he shares with the people he cooks for).

The night progresses and we have a couple more people come into the shelter (one of which almost set the shelter on fire, but that story for another time) and it gets time to go to bed. It is probably around 25 maybe colder at this point. Well I was in the loft of the shelter and the father son duo got up there also. The son had (with the disapproval of his father) brought a 45 degree sleeping bag because it was lighter and would pack smaller. So, naturally they go to bed before us and the dad comes down 4-5 times in about an hour stating that his son is freezing and cannot get warm. He took Jackets, hats, socks, extra clothing, and then even their tent up there to wrap around this guy. I finally get tired and go to bed. I get up to the loft and see this monstrosity of fabric wrapped around this 300 lb kid and he is snuggled up against his dad and is still complaining about being cold.

The night moves on and about every 5 to 10 minutes this kid keeps talking about being cold and waking me up. I overhear it over and over again. "Say a prayer for me Daddy", " I really think I am going to freeze to death", and he even had the guts to ask me if we could hike down to my buddies truck in the middle of the night so that he could sleep in it. I told him that it was not my truck and that my buddy would be pissed if he bothered him with this in the middle of the night. He finally dropped it and might have actually gone to sleep.

Me and my buddies at the Springer Mountain Shelter. The morning after "Daddy I am going to freeze"

The next morning I wake up and I hear the kid (I say kid he was probably older than me and I am 24 years old) telling his father that he is going to get the fire started with his stove. Now this did not register with me at first but then I realized that he was using a pressurize fuel can stove that is sort of a mini version of a gas grill. I start thinking to myself, "Self, surely he is not downstairs with a lit up stove turned upside down trying to light the firewood on fire." I then decided it was too big a risk to not check. Naturally that is exactly what he was doing. See the deal is there is a chance that the flame could double over itself and go back into the can and essentially become a very very large firecracker or grenade if you will. I jumped down off the loft and looked at him mean and said very simply "are you as much of a stupid ass as you look right now. Down here with a gas canister turned upside down about to plow us all the hell up?" He looked at me and stated "I am still cold." I told him simply and finally "I don't give a shit if you are cold if you turn that lit stove upside down one more time I am going to kick your fat ass!" Needless to say he never did again. I started a fire with some brush and I made me a cup of coffee.

We always speculated how long they made it when the first night they were actually considering getting a hotel in the middle of the night becuase it was too cold for fatty. I wished them all the best but I feel like they either died on the trail or they finally said "to hell with this" and went home. I will say this though. I really appreciated the saw that they left at the shelter and I wonder how their time cutting firewood went the rest of the trip.

Well that is my spill for the day. It might not be the most exciting blog I will put out but I just have been really wanting to get that out with me in the camping mood. I hope that some of the people that have read have enjoyed and will come back for some more next time.

Good bye and Good Day,

Kingmachine