H.F. One Night Hang at Bell Mountain November 9th

A Hammock Forum member "Gideon" organized an overnight on Bell Mountain. I never turn down a chance to hang from the top of Bell Mountain. Nice 6 mile hike to the top to get the blood pumping and then a glorious view to hang with a bunch of really nice guys.
This time out it was Gideon, his son Pyro, Haribear, RNGN, myself and a surprise new member for us Smaug all the way from the Chicago area.

 As usual the walk up Bell Mountain has some great granite outcroppings

The small mosses and even some wildflowers were left out, as it was 60 degrees today




On the way up I get water from this small pond that has always had water. It means I don't have to carry the extra 4 pounds of water I need for cooking an extra 4 miles.

We got out favorite campsite on top of Bell Mountain, despite it being very crowded with cars and people at the parking lot. We saw a group of 10 and another group of 6 at the trail head. In fact, the group of 6 was camped about 200 yards from us and was partying loudly from 2 to 4 am !!!

I got a spot where I could watch the sunrise and sunset without having to get out of the hammock!
 The Panorama when we arrived in the afternoon

Evening panorama. the shadows were long all day from the low sun angle but the shadow of Bell Mountain moved in quickly

Once the sun went down Pyro made an excellent fire and we all sat around talking everything from family, the stars in the night sky to politics and of course hiking and hammock gear.
The true surprise of trip was Chuck "Smaug" who regaled us with a couple of poems from memory that were just mesmerizing around the campfire. check out the video to listen to what we enjoyed.
 The dawn was a wonderful as promised by the clear star filed night sky.

Panorama of the dawn

 The early morning hike down was cool and crisp with the long shadows of the morning sun

Thanks Guys for a great time.
Left to Right
Joe "Gideon", Jeremiah "Pyro", Woody "RNGN", Brian "Hairbear"
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