A Night on Bell Mountain- Nov 21, 2015

Que the Mussorgsky music. It could have been that dramatic, but in the end it turned out to be a good time had by all. We missed the fall colors on Bell Mountain this year, so Disco (Corey) invited a few of us to head up to Bell Mountain for a night of hanging in the late Fall/early Winter.
We were going to meet at 10 am on Saturday morning and head up the mountain. The weather has been fairly good as I have mentioned in previous posts, but Saturday night promised to be brutal. high winds, snow early and a low temperature that could get to about 10 degrees F.  Corey was bringing his daughter Taylor and Joe, his daughter Olivia. I would have brought my daughter but she is 34 weeks pregnant!

As I waited in the parking lot Saturday morning is started to snow and snow hard!

 It wasn't cold enough to stick to anything, but it was a surprise.

Olivia and Gideon (Joe)

 Taylor and Disco (Corey)

moving up the trail it was overcast windy and cold

 The familiar Bell Mountain cut off.

We stopped two or three times for breaks and snacks. We didn't need too as both girls ran up the hill with no effort what so ever! 

 Surveyors marker on the top of Bell Mountain.

 Making it to the top the world looks cold and blustery 

Joe and Olivia- "Wait Dad I have a text" 

Corey and Taylor set up their hammocks in the wind

Joe having a hard time keeping a hold on his.

Finally got mine set up and anchored down

 Doors closed and as low as I could make it, to try and stop the wind.

 The moss and lichen don't seem to mind the weather.

 Joe making some hot soup for him and Olivia, who is warming herself in the hammock

Toward the end of the afternoon the winds died down and the weather started to change. The weather was actually clearing and the cloud cover was blowing off. This would mean a clear night but very low temperatures! 

I kept warms by helping collect firewood and then breaking it into small pieces to start the fire. Bell Mountain is beginning to get loved to death. We noticed a lot more cleared spots for tents and it seems that some people might be cutting down trees for firewood. While we were there, there were three other large groups of tenters on the mountain.  

We got the fire started early to warm everyone up. 

 sitting around the fire ( Corey and Taylor)

Olivia and Joe

 Dawn came to the mountain about 6:45 am. 

 Sunrise 

 What a difference 24 hours make. by 8 am it was blue sky and sunshine but it was also only 20 degrees. It had gotten to around 15 degrees during the night. 

 Corey and Taylor lounging in the hammocks trying to unfreeze their water bottles

I left the father daughter teams at the top and headed down the hill to get some TGO speed training in this morning. I made the 6 miles to the car in 90 minutes. 

 Some beautiful "Frost Flowers" on the way down

The sun was shining but it was still very cold

 Back at the truck at 10 am it was still only 30 degrees.

 Thanks to Disco for organizing and thanks to Joe, Olivia and Taylor for coming along you were all great company and let's hope we can do it again soon.