We made it safely back and had a grand time of it. Here's my trip report so Sarge, Baby Huey and others, enjoy!
[edit...]I just realized while going through my pics from the trip that Igot 0 [zero!] pics of our hammocks. I can't beleive it. I guess I was too engrosed in making sure the scouts were settling in ok and breaking camp the next morning. So for now all I have are pics of the trail and hike itself. I hope you enjoy these. I'll be going on another hike in a few weekend to hang so I will definitely gets pics there.
The trailhead for the Daniel Boone Scout trail [DBST] doesn't pick up until about a qtr of a mile into the Tanawha trail where you tie into at the Boone Fork parking area off the Blue Ridge Parkway [BLP] at around mile marker 299.5. We had 2 vans full of backpacks, 6 scouts and 2 leaders.
We didn't get to the parking area until dark so we had to hike the 1.6 miles up to the Daniel Boone campsite in the dark. From the trailhead to the campsite the elevation change was a quick 1000' ascent. The trail would wind itself over a few creeks [Boone Fork creek & Green Mountain creek] then up towards the Cragway trail. Right past the Cragway trail the Daniel Boone campsite is on the left. It had multiple tent platforms and an abundance of trees for hanging. So I was excited to get camp setup.
I had taken my son out the week before into our yard to teach him how to hang his hammock and tarp properly so he would be able to do it himself. My son and I were the only hammock hangers in the group. Everyone else set up their tents and we began to setup our hammocks.
The cold front BillyBob66 mentioned was starting to roll in! The temps were dropping and a light rain was starting to press in on us. I had completed my setup when I realized I had hung my hammock perpendicular with the wind coming in, not a great choice! I went to check on my son to see how he was doing and he was done and sitting in his hammock already. He had chosen a great spot protected from the wind and looked to be set for the night. I congratulated him on a job well done getting everything setup and went back to my hammock to reposition it for a more comfortable night. I couldn’t find 2 trees close to where I had originally setup where I could protect myself from the wind so I had to move away from the tent platforms a little ways down the hill. I was about 30 yards away from everyone else but close to the other leaders tent. It was getting late and I knew I had to get things setup quickly before the rain started getting heavier. I finally was setup and ready to climb in and get some rest before we hit the trail in the morning.
The heavy rain never came thankfully but it did rain lightly through the night. In my hurried state of re-setting up my tarp I didn’t realize it but I had hung it upside down with the seam sealed side facing down toward me. When did I find this out? The tarp was getting saturated by the rain fall and started a few small drips along the ridgeline and onto my hammock. It wasn’t enough to be concerned about so I left it alone and it didn’t get worse through the night [note to self –do a better seam seal on both sides of your tarp!].
I did have a wildlife encounter which was pretty fun after the fact. Around 4am I woke up to a heavy musky wild smell that was definitely an animal smell. Knowing these trails were pretty popular to bears my first thought was a bear was snooping around and wanting me for breakfast. We all had taken the precautions to hang our food bags well away from us so I wasn’t completely convinced it was a bear. Within a few seconds of realizing that something definitely was outside my tarp I squirmed around in my hammock to make some noise and hopefully startle whatever it was away. I reached for my flashlight hanging on my hammock ridgeline, clicked it on and pointed it out at my feet since that was where I had heard some rustling around. Standing there looking right at me was a white tail deer. It was curious enough to sniff around but not stick its nose in to find out who I was. The flashlight and noise I had made didn’t seem to bother it at all. My new friend just looked in and turned around wondered back into the woods following a few others. Wow! What an experience. I’m not sure what I would have done if it was a bear being curious though!
The temps chilled down considerably and into the mid 40’s overnight.
BillyBob66 wrote:… Do you have either pads or UQs to keep the chill off?
That was the one thing we did not have! Thankfully both my son and I brought our rain jackets and used those under ourselves inside our sleeping bags. That worked great believe it or not. I couldn’t believe the difference in temps after I had deployed my rain jacket under me. We were pretty comfortable during the night after we thought of using the jackets. I can’t see spending the money for the UQs since we don’t plan to hang in sub-freezing temps but I will definitely be purchasing some pads for us both to use in the future.
The next morning we broke camp and hiked back down to the Boone Fork parking, loaded the vans up and drove up to the Grandfather Mountain attraction to park one van. We left the van there at the mile high swinging bridge and returned with the other van to the Boone fork parking. Our goal for the day was to take the DBST to Calloway peak and then pick up the Grandfather trail leading to MacRea peak then down to the swinging bridge.
The rain was starting to pick up some but we were determined to get the hike in anyway. Our hike up to Calloway Peak was pretty wet. We passed several other hikers coming back down from Calloway Peak. We stopped to chat with them and asked if anyone came from MacRae Peak to find out how safe it was there and if it was worth continuing on in the rain. If you aren’t familiar with the trails to the west side of Calloway Peak, specifically the Grandfather trail, it is known to be one of the most technical trails east of the Mississippi. We did find a few hikers who had come from the Grandfather trail and said the rain was below the MacRae Peak. It was wet and a little slick in spots but the rain wasn’t hindering the hike so we pressed on. We made our way up to Calloway peak and stopped for a short break to refuel our bodies with lunch and take in the view. Unfortunately, the only view we had was pure white clouds. The smell of the spruce trees was everywhere though and the fresh scent was amazing. I can only imagine the view up there on a clear day!
After our break we started our slow descent to MacRae Peak. The most technical portion of the trail is there. Scrambling over huge boulders and around crevasses, skirting across cliff edges were all part of this section of the trail. Everyone was amazed at the variety the trail gave. The ladders to descend from a portion of MacReas peak was the climax of the trail. There were 4-5 ladders staggered on a cliff side you had to maneuver down. They were wet but not too slippery. We took precautions and made each scout wait until the scout below them had cleared the next ladder before starting their climb down. We all made it safely down and continued our hike into the Grandfather attraction trails which was around the last 0.4 miles of the trail leading to the parking lot.
We did not realize the attraction closed its trails at 5pm until we were off the state park trails and on the private trails owned by the attraction. We showed up at the swinging bridge around 5:45pm. Several cars were still in the parking lot along with ours so we knew we weren’t alone in being late. Signs were posted along the trail AFTER we left the State Park trail stating the park closed at 5pm and if we weren’t back to our cars by then a search party would be sent. A few employees were left at the swinging bridge to assist late hikers getting to their cars. They were really nice and allowed the scouts to visit the swinging bridge for some quick photo ops. After getting some pics we piled into the van to pick up the other van at Boone Fork then headed home.
Overall this was a great experience for everyone who went. From a hammock hanging standpoint this was a great first experience! My son and I are now officially hooked!
What’s next? I’m planning a 2 day hike/hang at Doughton Park in Hays, NC in a few weekends. There are some trails there that make a decent loop for some day hikes. I plan to go with a friend who wants to try out the hammock camping idea. Who knows, we may have another new member of the forum soon! Until then… happy hanging!
I've fiddled with the pics the best I can. All of them are landscape for some reason and I can't get them to go the other way. Sorry for that! BTW, that's me on the Mile High Swinging Bridge.
]. I'll be sure to report back on how things go early next week! Probably no video but I'll take some pics.
