Tday Strut trip report

“Set off from Illinois 3am Wednesday morning and after battling Holiday traffic through4 states I finally reached the red Creek campground. It was now dark around 5.30pm and threatening rain/snow. Pulling in I was surprised to be greeted by Santa with a head lamp !
Found a site big enough to take the cabin tent and got set up. Thanks to HOI for helping me out with that.
Had to happen and pretty soon freezing rain began an erratic through the night downfall.
a very restless night continually having to get out of a warm cozy bag to knock the accumulating ice from the tent roof. quite a few small mounds of the stuff by morning.
Daybreak and got the rest of the camp set up and ready for the others to arrive.
around 11am ridge Kalves and SNAFU turned up and after introductions got themselves sorted and set up. Cocohead arrived sometime later with a very welcome supply of wood for the fire.
With that arrival the wind picked up and so did the snow.
Everyone enjoyed the Turkey and ham and all the other goodies that spread out like any good Thanksgiving fare. Of course the libations also ran freely.
Marko arrived sometime later and all had a great time before turning in.
Friday morning arose early to prep the promised English breakfast, which I believe everyone enjoyed. Must have done because it disappeared faster than you could blink !
shortly after 4 of us vehicle shuttled out to the TH and hiked out to the Canyon Rim for some great pictures.
Amongst the trees and Rhododendrons the wind was well suppressed, the frost and snow made the passages through the dense growth quite magical and almost Grotto like in appearance.
We stopped for a lunch snack and continued on the rest of the 5 or so miles back to the road where we took the vehicles back to camp.
Marko still in his bag ! HOI keeping the fire going and SNAFU, enjoying the warmth in fridges truck camper.
HOI informs me the State Cops have visited twice !? Seems my ex-wife to be was concerned I had not checked in? (Bloody Hell Baldrick!) no coverage up there.
Oh well someone cares. Or as fridge pointed out she was after the money ! LOL
That evening I cooked up a ,if I say so myself, a great Hot Pot, very filling and welcome. Wind now was just constant and temperature was in a constant down slide.
Another evening of trying to get to the bottom of alcohol containers kept everyone's spirits at a warmer degree. (No Pun)
Saturday morning everyone milling around, forecast was for sustained 35mph winds and deteriorating weather. Marko was having to leave for work commitments.
I decided to drive up to bear rocks and take some photographs if the horizontally blowing snow would permit. It did though I had to edit the pictures to adjust the contrast so you could make out the shots. Little white comets zooming across the lens!
The wind was so strong at the top I had to literally get on my stomach and crawl to the edge of the bluffs to get pictures to avoid taking a dive over the edge!
Bloody freezing up there. Recorded 9 degrees on my vehicle ext temp reading with the wind chill I can only guess.
Spent an hour exploring the rock formations and drove back to camp.
Marko was leaving and Cocohead was going to leave too.
Taking stock of the wood pile the general consensus was to pack up and make for home.
Thanks to all for pitching in and helping me take down and cram the cabin tent into the vehicle!
I was supposed to go to VA for a realty appointment but I canceled and made for home , Traffic was atrocious and it got so late by the time I got to OHIO I stopped off at a Motel to get some rest. Glad I did as next morning (Sunday) i set off and it took me another 11 hours to get home!
All said i had a great time and the long drives were well worth it. Got to meet some great people (I was paid to say that) and enjoyed some excellent food , drink and company.
I look forward to another trail and hope to meet some more of the like minded backpackers from The Backpacker.com.
Here are a whole slew of pictures , about 190 ! enjoy.

http://picasaweb.google.com/nigelcollins924/TDayStrut?authkey=Gv1sRgCKCTnZrtjNOMMw&feat=directlink”

“Nice trip report and photos.
Trubrit, it was your first TT trip?”

“Thanks Euro. No not my first. With TT my first trip was to Dolly Sods. Same area. Then i went to the Deam Wilderness trip that Sticks organized.
Done a few others on my own here in the States, only found this site a few months ago.”

“Well, I knew it surely wasn't your first camping trip. Your photos you were too seriously equipt to be a beginner :-)
I thought it may have been your first TT trip.”

“Might be joining you all in Alaska. I have to shuffle a lot of stuff around first but I am doing my best.”

“Are you going to bring your tent castle, plus generator and house butler?”

“ROFL! no way. I only do that for a base camp. Can you imagine getting that lot onto a 2 seater bush plane ?
Working on a better idea for base camps at the moment. Its on the QT till I get a patent.”

“:-(”

“sounds like a winner!

I noticed you have the same camera as my wife. How do you keep it clear of dirt and moisture in bad weather? I stopped taking ours on trips because I kept getting crap on the lens and ended up never being able to get a good photo with it...”

“Thanks Pepsi. Canon Rebel XT. I usually carry it in a fanny pack, keep the lens cap on till ready and keep a lens cloth in my pocket. Once back in camp give it a good blasting with canned air ! like used for keyboards. I wipe all the camera body and lens casing with a good silicone cloth. I also learned a trick of placing a small silica gel pack inside the housing absorbs the moisture.”

“LOL@ Fridge delivering a baby Nissan.”

“HOLY CRAP THAT LOOKS COLD!”

“Holy crap it was ! LOL actually out of the wind it was not to bad. At Bear Rocks, it was atrocious but worth it for the pictures.”

“Looks like a killer place for sure!”

“Fall between some of the rocks and you would be there a while! Easy to navigate but the wind was brutal, pushing you around like a 6th grader in a kindergarten.”

“OOPs me bad I nearly forgot to mention..... SNAFU makes the best stuffing you ever tasted !!!!!! ;)”

“True dat Brit! Best stuffin on the planet!

All the food was great,thanks to everyone!
I really enjoyed the breakfast Brit, I even fried up some mushrooms, sausage, eggs, cheese and added some tomatoes for Sunday breakfast, washed down with a beer, it was bloody good!

Although we had clothes for the weather,my summer tent was no match for the Sods winter, even with the heater. Friday the hiking was good, windy along the canyon rim, but nice in the Rhodo thickets, with the leaves covered with snow.The wind was whippin up something fierce Saturday, it was too cold for the dogs, It was the right thing to do to head home. Tikka slept the whole way home and thru Sat night, I think she was glad to be somewhere warm.

I have some pics I'll post tomorrow.”

“Hopefully Ive started a fad for the English breakfast ! The dogs sure did start to feel that cold. Baron appreciated the long drive in a heated vehicle.”

“That was a real TT trip - crappy weather and lots of booze.”

“There sure was plenty of both TJ !”

“Great trip report, thanks for sharing.”

“Your welcome. Tango”

“Trubrit, just looked at all 196 photos! Looked like fun, too cold for me, but fun!”

“Thanks tango. It was fun. I think we might have stayed the last night but wood supply was not enough. Packing up was erring on caution.”

“Way too cold for you Tango! But we missed ya!”

“Still snapping the icicles off my nose !!”

“You guys are funny! Gotta come out here in the summer. Hike in 100 degrees! It's fun! And GORGEOUS!!!”

“Where you at ? I will come visit . 100 degrees sounds a little chilly but I suppose I could bring thermals ! LOL
Got to be able to diversify, adapt to the weather whatever it is. Very cold wear the gear, Very warm carry the water. Thats the only difference I see really.
Look forward to meeting you sometime Tango.”

“I do want to get out there maybe this spring/summer.

When some cranky guest is demanding to see the campground manager, that'll be me LOL”

“Ahem ! so Mr Cococamper, how can one be of service? What the breakfast not up to your liking? I see. well you just go to bed and The staff here at camp FU will ensure you awake to a collapsed tent and a Copper Head in your bag !! Bloody campers moaning all the time !”