Backpacking!!!

My weekend started off Friday when my friends J & L both called me to let me know that we were having a get together at J's to discuss the upcoming houseboat party (June 1-June 3) and that they would take no excuses from me, that I needed to show up at least for a little while...so I did! Even knowing that I still hadn't packed my backpack for my trip Sat & Sun...

I didn't drink knowing that I needed to be my best for the climb the next day (altho there was still plenty of booze from our last get together...a week ago). I just stuck to drinking water but ended up staying until 12:30 am...got home and threw a few things in my backpack...tried to sleep for a couple of hours and finally got up around 5 am to finish packing and get to the park n ride to meet the rest of the gang...figuring that I would be able to sleep a couple of hours on the ride up to the trail head (which is in SC)...Which didn't happen because I ended up riding with Lee & Kelly and had to play catch up on all the news since I've seen them last...I've missed a couple of outings because of work that they were on...this was my 5th trip with Lee and first with Kelly (his girlfriend) but have been partying with them outside of the AOC...they are fun...oh yeah, John rode with us too...he's a 27 year old who looks to be 19...he's a sweetheart...

This trip we had a pretty big crowd...16 in all...usually there is only about 8-10 peoples but Bruce (our leader) decided "the more the merrier" on this trip...and boy was he right...
there were 4 new campers that I had never met...but mostly I knew everyone...altho I was the oldest in the group..there were a couple of other guys around my age...Bruce is 56 and Buck is 55...(there were 6 gals & 10 guys...a good combination if you ask me...) the youngest was Kelly at 23...

The first day we hiked in about 3 miles wearing our backpacks (mine weighs about 37 pounds..just can't seem to get the weight down...so I was glad that this one was a short trip with backpacks) to our campsite...mostly down hill ( which meant that we would be hiking uphill all the way out the next day...never a good thing)..

We then set up camp and ate lunch..then set out to explore the area sans backpacks....we had 3 waterfalls to see that day...we figure we covered about 6 miles..lots of up and downs but it was a pretty good hike...the waterfalls were beautiful..this area is full of them..it's so amazing..you'll be climbing and all of a sudden you look up and there is this gigantic waterfall in front of you...I'm still a little leery of water so i didn't go swimming but a couple of the guys did...I did take my shoes off and wade in the water a bit..let me tell you it was freakin' cold..I don't know how the guys could stand getting fully submerged...

After spending a great day hiking we all got back to camp and built a fire and fixed our dinners...I had rice & veggies (a convenient dehydrated meal bought from REI that you only need to add boiling water to the bag and eat out of the bag itself...how cool is that...) Then began the fun...normally with the smaller groups you will sit around the campfire and relax...well, this group had other things in mind. (and I must admit that I was one of the instigators OOOPs)..out came all the booze (I had brought a small box of wine) and Bruce dug out his cards..one of the guys (I think it was Matt, the army survivalist who likes to skinny dip) had a little radio with speakers so there was music...(if I remember right there was dancing later...) any way..Bruce had brought this big box of wine (3 liters) and 4 of us (Bruce, John, Lee & I) played cards, a game that I think Bruce made up..it's called Knock...and every time you lose a hand you have to drink....well, I must have lost more hands than I thought (altho I won the game) because when the game was over (I WON...and I never win card games...hmmmm I wonder if the guys let me win just to keep the game going) any hoooo..when I stood up from the ground..the world was spinning and I was feeling no pain..by this time it was around 10 pm and we all decided to go star gazing..an amazing thing in the mountains...something I always love to do...there was this sandbar after crossing the river that we had seen earlier that we decided was the perfect spot for stargazing...so about 6 or 8 of us all trooped off to check it out...now I hate water crossing in the daytime but for some reason I had no problem that night....I just took off my shoes & socks and holding onto a couple of the guys crossed over without any problems...didn't bother with stone jumping, just walked right in up to my knees and crossed it barefooted and all..I know that water must have been cold but the guys said I told them it was "warm" talk about feeling no pain..that was me....We all laid in a pile on the sand bars and watched an amazing sky..I found the Big Dipper...then one of the guys (I'm pretty sure it was Matt)...decided to go skinny dipping in the river (which was only a few feet deep but swift) so there was even a full "moon"!!!!!

On the trip back to camp it seems I decided that I didn't need my pants on to cross the river again...at least this is the story that I was told the next day when Mike C returned them to me....I think this is when the dancing started...

When we got back to the camp I was met by Hamilton (who all day hadn't said more than 10 words..this was his first trip with us)...I'm not sure what he had been drinking but whatever it was he was feeling no pain..he decided he was a big bird and wanted to fly off with me...Well after some more dancing...Bruce and I got him back to camp but he couldn't remember where he had set up his tent...with 15 tents we were pretty spread out...I knew where my tent was but couldn't remember where he set his up at...so the few of us that were still up (this was around midnight) went on a hunt for the extra tent..his tent ended up being next to mine just a little ways off...Bruce was across from me and Buck was on the east side of me...so that finally left the one man tent on the west of me...All I know is that I was the first to pick that area and set up..those guys set theirs up after me....I guess I just know how to pick a good spot...I always try to get way from the main group but it always seems like there are others that like to camp where I am....I know why Bruce always sets up by me...it's because he knows that his snoring won't bother me.....Connie was going to set her tent up where Hamilton was but I had reminded her of Bruce's snoring so she found a spot further away....any way while the guys were trying to settle Hamilton in his tent (not an easy task, he still wanted to fly away) I crawled into my tent and just laid there while the world was spinning until I fell asleep...

I woke up and it was still dark and I had to go pee so freakin' bad..but it was freezing (it actually only got down to about 40 degrees) and my sleeping bag was so warm (altho it was filled with sand) that I had to really talk myself into crawling out..the world was still spinning so I don't think I had been a sleep that long but I could hear Bruce and someone else snoring (I think it was Buck) so I knew that all was well. There is nothing worse than having to drop your drawers in the middle of the cold night and pee...especially when you've been holding it for so long that it doesn't want to come but your bladder hurts and you know that it will eventually come..you just have to bear the cold for what seems like forever (in actuality it's only about a minute) and since I was on all fours anyway I decided to crawl back to the tent...glad no one could see me...
where i now not only had sand in my bag but leaves and sticks...talk about roughing it...I fell back to sleep and didn't wake up until I heard Rob at my tent asking me if I needed some aspirin and coffee...it was about 7:30 and camp was stirring...usually Rob and I are the first up...I whispered to him that I was afraid to move...he laughed and then I hear Bruce laughing too..so I knew there was no hope for me...that I might as well just get up and face the music...

After everyone finally got up and had breakfast (and spent lots of time laughing and catching up those who went to bed early on all the fun they missed the night before..) we decided to change the plans for the day and take an easier hike not the strenuous one we had planned on, due to the fact that there were a few of us not feeling our best...the only trouble being we would have to hike out wearing our packs instead of hiking all day and then coming back to break camp...I have to admit I was glad of the change altho it meant wearing my backpack for 6 miles instead of the planned 3 miles...at least there wouldn't be any of the going off trail and lots of climbing with river crossing...We ended up at Schoolhouse Falls..where there was more swimming and one of the guys actually caught a small perch (which he threw back) ..we ended up leaving Sara there to enjoy (she was feeling worse than the rest of us altho I didn't realize she was that drunk the night before...some young things just can't take it like us older people...altho Buck and I were moving pretty slow most of the way back) the waterfall and to start back slowly to meet us at the trail head in a couple of hours....so we left the Waterfall counting only 15 heads instead of 16...it felt weird leaving her but since she has done this hike before I knew she knew the trail back..she does a lot of backpacking on her own...normally we won't leave one of our numbers behind....from there we went to this overlook where you can see forever over the mountains ...ate lunch and took our time getting back to the trail head..only to find that Sara wasn't there yet...We spoke to a couple of mountain bikers who told us that they had seen her and she was about an hour behind us..so Rob (the sweetheart that he is) went to find her and to carry her backpack the last mile of which was a bitch of a climb....

So that was my Backpacking trip to Panthertown (which was where I went on my very first backpacking trip last Sept)....it seems that I am now an experienced backpacker...all I know is if I was born rich instead of beautiful I would just forget all the rest of the world and spend all my time backpacking...my dream is to do the AT starting from Georgia to the end...all 2200 miles of it...I can't even imagine all the wonders i would see...of course it would help if I had a hiking buddy or two to go with me...just to keep me out of trouble...Oh well... I guess we all have dreams....