Invitation: BPL 3rd Annual Trip

Jeremy and I vote for 9:30am meeting time to drop things off to be loaded into the support vehicles.

Things I will contribute:

* 1 box of Costco knock off duraflame logs

* Name tags for everyone and pen for people to write their names

What are other people bringing?

Anyone bringing charcoal?

-Tony

I have some five gallon kegs of beer for the support vehicle, but people are also welcome to hike them in and test their pack frames.

I'll have a few coolers with ice, my large tent, water, a chair, lanterns, etc…

9:30 sounds good with me.

9:30-10am sounds good to me, too. This will give the lady and I time to cook up a good hot breakfast–on the ol' Coleman two burner–for ourselves and a few extra campers that may be sharing our campsite.

Along with a few camp chairs and another box of 'logs, I can bring an extra ice chest and tent (an older REI Half-Dome) if needs be – what say you all? I suppose we could take the big stove up, too?

I will be bringing firewood. Tony, just bring 3-4 logs. I have almond logs and splits that will make a very nice fire. Those duraflame's will come in handy starting a fire. I have a Honda CRV that I will be driving in and I should have some pretty good amount of space.

If someone has a truck that they would like to use, then that would be much better.. Just thinking out loud here

Jay and Marc E have both offered use of their trucks, Thanks guys!

I will also be in my pick-up………

Ken,

Just tossing an idea out there that you suggested a while back….making the trip about food and drink.

Your idea was that people bring something to share with the group…..cheese, crackers, snacks….desert thing.

Would people want to do something like that?

My thought was maybe bring hot chocolate to share with people for night time hot drinks.

Plenty of stoves there….something small to share with people.

What do you think?

Nothing fancy…just stuff to share over great conversation at night and to keep warm.

Though, I am sure that the "spirits" will be flowing and people will be keeping warm with Cameron's home brew beer.

-Tony

Dunno, Tony. We have done the food thing before and it worked very well. Now with 60+ in attendance I am not sure if this would work or not. Me being a foodie I am always up for that. I will post this on the main page and see what we get.

For those volunteering trucks, etc. Once the truck is at the site, it can not leave until the next morning. Just an FYI

Hey Ken, regarding the truck at the campsite, that's ok – remember, I don't like hiking!

You and I both…no worries. We will all figure it out once we are there

i have wood planned too. smaller stuff though. "recycling" a pedestal bed off craig's list from a church that gave me bedbugs. (they're all very dead now). this should be a nice tight load of cut scraps.

For those of you coming Saturday, we will be driving the support vehicles in on Sat. morning and would like to have time to do some things before you all get there. So 9:30 Sat. Seems good with most. Remember that water is not terribly convenient to camp (downhill as always) so plan on carrying in some for yourselves. I will have some on hand, but with +70 people coming I can't haul in enough for everyone.

2 weeks away. Don't let it catch up with you. I've started packing.

don t know if we need charcoal but i would be willing to bring a bag to haul in the support truck if we think we need it

also what about a couple cases of bottled water could we throw this in just in case so people could use this for cooking or drinking i could bring them as long as we have room to haul them in

thoughts??

kevin

I vote "no" for the bottled water. Waste of plastic IMO.

I might be bringing some wood. If I do, I'll leave it somewhere obvious with a BPL sign or something for ya'll to pick up. I'll be off hiking in the park before the trip.

Charcoal could get good if there is a standing BBQ grill like there was at Point Reyes….gives something to keep people's hands warm and maybe cook on.

Less useful if we just have fire rings.

I guess is someone knows what is available at the campsite, then we can figure out if we could benefit from charcoal.

I like the idea of having water available, if the water source is far away.

Recycle the bottles or have jugs of water.

An option is if people have platypus bottles like a water tank…they could fill them up with water and label them with their names and pick them up from the support vehicle.

Really looking forward to this!

-Tony

Remember that water is not terribly convenient to camp (downhill as always)

Roughly how far (horizontal and vertical)?

Tony, trucking in [extra] water in our own Platy’s could be a good idea, especially if Rabbit Spring isn’t flowing or if our numbers will simply overload it. I suppose Bass Pond is an option but looks to be 1/2 mile or so away from camp (looking at a map, as I’ve never been there).

Jim, it seems that “All the sites have at least one picnic table and an outhouse nearby” (see link below) but no proper BBQ, unless the website neglects this information. Perhaps a few grills for a fire ring or two can be brought and added to the trucks?

For those new guys like myself, here’s a bit of info that’s slightly informative:Henry Coe Backpacking Sites

And a topo from an unofficial Henry Coe website.

1200 feet down and 1.5 miles to the water. There is a muddy pond nearby but not recommended. This is what I have been told.

Hike in your own water

> Bottled water

I would say no. Not very eco friendly. I but bet that a number of us have 5 or 10 gallon water containers that get used car camping. I would be happy to bring mine filled and hand it over to the van that is driving in.

> Bass Pond

has always had water in on when I have go by, but it has always been very icky. It would be a great way to test how well your water filter works, and whether it's field cleanable but those who use UV or chemicals I would recommended to pass.

> Hike in your own water

I will do that. It's a short trip for a short time. No biggy.

–Mark

"Charcoal could get good if there is a standing BBQ grill like there was at Point
Reyes….gives something to keep people's hands warm and maybe cook on."

Tony I had to re-read that a couple times. I know you Bay Area types have some strange habits sometimes, but couldn't for the life of me figure why anyone would want to keep theirs on a hot BBQ grill…

I think that it'd be great if the truck brought in plenty of communal water! I'm talking on the order of dozens of gallons.

If not, I'll try to remember to carry water up to camp. I won't be coming from the parking lot.

Pretty excited about this!

no Cary, it is you folks from the Valley that don't understand our language

as to bottled water i could care less if we bring it in those containers the only reason i suggested it was in case anyone wanted to fill thier platy or other container instead of 30 + filters looking to get into the spring maybe a gott jug
full of fresh water would be the way to go

i have to carry enough for two people everyone else can do whatever they want