It was another great bunch of guys that gathered at Yellow River State Forest in Northeastern Iowa. This one was initiated by Doody. The weather really cooperated. While I was prepared for temps in the 20's it stayed in the 50's during the day and only dipped to 27 on Friday night.
the park boasts 25 miles of trails, but a lot are for horses. I think the longest we hiked between camp sites was about 2.5 miles! Not real taxing walking but the company was good and the weather was nice.
The plan was to meet at the park headquarters at noon on Friday the 11th. Hanging Yankee, Hanging Yankee's brother ( HYB) Rod, and Walking Bear ( who I had met at the Hammock Forums- Northern Hang in Minnesota a few weeks before all had an extra night out on Thursday and walked out to meet us at the parking lot.
The walk in had Hanging Yankee, HYB Rod, Walking Bear, Hiking Dad, and myself. the day was a bit cool but the sky was blue and the hike in was a good way to work up a bit of a sweet
The walk in had some nice scenery. Northeastern Iowa looks almost identical to Missouri's woods.
We took the "long" way in to Camp Schultz by going around Camp Glen Wendel and through the woods. We passed a women camping alone, that we saw again on Saturday with a couple of companions that had joined her.
My rig for the first night. This was the first night I was using the full length Hammock Gear Incubator. I had them put in another 2" of down making it good to around 10 degrees. It kept me warm all weekend
Camp Schultz had a very nice section of pine trees that Hanging Yankee and HYB had strung up in.
Doody arrived at camp and the Bushcraft began. I have never seen so many knives, hatchets, saws in camp before.
Walking Bear went to town on a downed tree limb and I must say they created some splendid firewood. We have a fire that burned hot and long until the wee hours of the night... 8pm is when I went to bed! LMAO
My entire cooking kit for this trip was around 8 ounces total. Evernew Titanium .9L pot, minibull design QMH cup, alcohol wick stove ( so no pot stand needed) Thanks again Fronkey! and a home made wind screen.- Boils 2 cups of water in about 7 minutes and keeps boiling for about 12 minute on 1 ounce of fuel
It was a full moon and I was debating on whether to leave the tarp up or set it, The wind was pretty high during the evening so I set it up in porch mode.
A lovely sunset
The fire made it easy to cook without having to use any alcohol at all
A very pleasant evening ( Doody, HYB Rod, and Hiking Dad around the fire
Morning dawns- it was a cold night 27 degrees. the Coyotes were howling, the owls were hooting, and the cows were mooing!
Doody had taken off early so the 5 remaining mates head for Brown's Hollow Camp. Hanging Yankee is very familiar with the park having been here often, so we follow him on a slightly longer way to the next camp
A very nice day to be out
The Yellow River
The field we were passing was just getting plowed as the combine just moved onto the field
Brown's Hollow camp site was lovely grassy open area.
Walking Bear's bridge hammock set up at Brown's Hollow. I really like the way the bridge hammock look and this is a complete DIY set up.
All the hammocks spread out at Brown's Hollow.
another half dozen hangers are already at the campsite or show up later in the day. There is plenty of time to check out every one's rigs
Sunday morning- everyone gets up and does their own thing. I decided to hike back to my car and get a mostly early start around 8 am.
Some interesting and diverse scenery on the way back out to the car.
It was a very nice time this weekend with another bunch of great guys. it is so interesting to meet everyone and see what they are doing with their hammocks and backpacking arrangements. I did think that after talking with some of the guys, my pack weight of around 16 pounds with food and water for the weekend was probably the lightest. I believe that some may have knives and saws that weighed more!
I had a great time. Thanks to Doody for organizing the hang and thanks to all that attended.
Wildlife:
Coyote, Owl, Bald Eagle, Cows, Hammock Forum members.
