3rd Annual BPLers GGG: Henry Coe State Park 2011

It was a lot of fun. BPL folks are super cool people. Made me feel like they were old friends. Yea it could have been a little warmer weather but the up side is we all got to try out out cold camping skills and gear. Got to use my MLD Spirit Quilt 30 at 24 degrees!
Cameron's home brew beer was epic the first night.. I actually had to take a nap the second day to recover. ;)
Lots of fun!
Oh, and i seriously need to thank the fellow that gave me that Nylo-Fume packliner! It is a fraction of the weight of my old garbage compactor bag and tougher than rawhide.
I think my best score at the gear swap meet was the tyvek wind shirt. Definitely going on the AT with me this March… Along with Kat's "baby Alpaca" fleece hat.

"Henry Coe State Park: You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious."

Not to take anything away from Aaron, who was indeed very skilled with his stove, but to be fair, Cameron should get 1st prize among those who used wood found on the premises, versus brought from home.

I agree Kat – Cameron and a few others deserve a lot of credit for attempting to use rain soaked wood that had been on the ground. And Cameron was the first to get that water going, from that bad wood.

Had Ken H not informed us all in the original Henry Coe thread that, "The only wood for the wood buring stoves needs to be packed in. The fine is $250 for gathering wood. We might need this site again next year and I do not want to have issues" (page 23 of the original thread), I would have been collecting wood from standing deadwood. As a new guy here I'm just getting to the "light" side of this UL Thing, but I still knew that packing in wood wasn't something I really wanted to do! Perhaps it isn't necessary, but in my defense, I brought wood from home because we were told to, I wasn't the only one, and I did share. ;)

Cameron, brother – please send me a PM with your mailing address, if you would.

I really liked meeting and learning from you all, had a great time, and hate to think that this leaves a bad taste in anyone's mouth.

I did not hear Cameron nor others complain; it was just noted that the wood was different, and I thought it fair to mention that. You followed the procedure you were told to follow and I don't think anyone is blaming you. You and your wife were a pleasure to meet and spend time with. Your pictures are really beautiful and the lemon treats were enjoyed by all. I think it's safe to say that we were all glad to spend time with the two of you and hope to hike with you again.

"And Cameron was the first to get that water going, from that bad wood."

Yeah, but he cheated. I mean, with all that home brew on his breath, he OBVIOUSLY had an unfair advantage when blowing on the fire to get it roaring…….

And the only standing deadwood out there was me.

You won dude, fair and square. Next year I'm stealing wood from your pile instead of Jay's……

Thanks, Doug.

Katharina – indeed, your notes on the wood differences are appropriate.

Thanks for the kind words. Erin and I were a little taken back by the whole "BPL" experience. We expected good things, of course, but in the end, we were surprised by how much fun we ended up having (despite the cold and feeling like the new kids in school!). Everyone was a lot of fun and rather nice.
Aside car-camping as an adolescent, this was Erin's first trip out. She's already asked: "When are we going out again?…Are they doing something this Spring?"

Again it was very nice to meet everyone and check out all the cool stuff.
Here are a few pics I took.

It rained pretty heavy thurs. night

Nice and clear saturday morning

It froze these 1 liter bottles almost solid

Silnylon Solomid kept me dry thurs. night

Mark Verber and Richard Nisley. This conversation was way over my head.

Was impressed by the Gatewood Cape

They felt they didn't have enought insulation and decided to go back saturday night.

EJ and breakfast in bed

A beautiful walk out

I was almost able to keep up with Adan.

My brother came sun. night and we cooked some steak.

Here's what we did with the rest of the wood.

Great pics. Looked like alot of fun. Missed all my favorite guys this year
(and Kat)!! Even Doug…can't believe you made it.
As Ken T. knew, I had my son's H.S. wrestling Masters in Redding last wknd. He placed there, so we are on our way to STATE championships this wknd in Bakersfield!! Jack E., I'll wave as I go by. ;)
Heading down to Pt. Reyes end of month though..remembering BPL 2nd Annual
Cheers,
Sheila

What a great time!

It has been fun trying to explain to everyone when they find out that I went to hang out with a bunch of strangers who I know only via the internet on a night when it was supposed to drop 9" of snow. I guess they just don't understand…

It really was so cool to get to meet so many people from this great community. As a new bay area resident I am so happy to have met a bunch of potential hiking partners. PM's will follow soon about possibly getting out together.

Specific thanks go out to:

The Kens for pulling this whole thing together. I'm so grateful to them for making this happen.

Cameron for the tasty tasty beer!!

Tony for organizing and sharing all these photos. Tons of work, but we all appreciate it

Adan for lugging a few pounds of beer to the campsite… and sharing!

Jay and Ryan for some sweet gear at the swap

And to everyone in general for being so friendly and welcoming.

…and I know they are not checking this thread, but also thanks to the rangers for shuttling our firewood to the campsite and being so cool about letting everyone park and such.

"It has been fun trying to explain to everyone when they find out that I went to hang out with a bunch of strangers who I know only via the internet….."

Sounds just like my adventures on Match.com!

Only without the tents……

Ha…yea, and then trying to explain to those matches why you have "cuben" listed as one of your interests.

"and then trying to explain to those matches why you have "cuben" listed as one of your interests."

You might not believe this, but I do, actually…….

Been rather busy and today was really my first time to pour through the whole thread. A few things I came away with from this trip

a. everyone is just plain awesome! The turnout was a little lighter than Ken and I had hoped for. Most likely due to my scare mongering about the weather that I got from the weather reports. But I was blown away at how much fun everyone was having. Keep in mind, it was around 32 degrees at 3pm. What was even cooler was watching others come hiking in later in the day!
b. The Ranger at Coe was awesome! The car situation to bringing water and firewood to us was just plaing amazing! I really appreciated that!
c. Cameron's beer….dude time to hit the bigtime! Your beer was outstanding
d. Beer……………..Well that was my last time drinking beer. I had a gout flair up on Sat morning after having a few too many adult bevies on Friday. Something to do with the malt or yeast or something. My rhumitoligist (is that the correct spelling) agrees with me. I really only have gout attacks when I have had a few beers. So hey,why not go out with a bang and have some great beer from Cameron!

Sorry for being so low key and quiet. As Tony noted, I had about two hours of sleep the night before and between that and my flare up, I was hurting pretty bad. My hike out was an interesting one to put it midly. I ended up taking a left turn where a sign said Coe HQ with an arrow. I turned left and followed it. About a mile in I started getting that funny feeling that I have not been there before, and sure enough, I was on a different trail. No worries though, I came to a junction and it said HQ one mile. So I trooped on. What a way to spend a weekend!!!! Thank you all for coming and making this the best CA BPL event yet!

I need to know: what WAS it? I'm imagining porter, but that's just my bias for porters showing.

Tony, that looked like everyone had a great time, I'm jealous. Thanks for sharing the wonderful photos.
Tom

I brought some Dusseldorf style altbier (brown), single hop pale ale (yellow), and west coast amber ale(orange).

After seeing Doug and his Backcountry Boiler fire breathing display, I propose we dub him the trail-name: Smoke Jumper. Any seconds?

Will be doing this again next month. I don't know about anyone else, but I am excited

I'm in for Coe. Say Ken, in your avatar, what's out the window?

Very exciting. A squirrel.
See you there

This is a little valentine from Andrea and me for all the wonderful friends we’ve made, the many helpful things we’ve learned and the amazingly creative gear makers we’ve met. With long hours at work and a family member ill, we had to do it in little bits and pieces whenever we could.

We hope this brings a few laughs, and helps remind everyone that it’s not just about the gear and technique, but about the friendships and great trips together. And hopefully it also helps us all avoid taking ourselves too seriously at times.

For those sitting on the fence about coming to the 4th Annual SF Bay Area GGG next weekend, don’t be shy – you’ll have a great time and learn a lot.

And for those of you who aren’t yet BPL members, hope this encourages you to take the very modest plunge and help support our community.

Backpackers Gone Wild: BPL 3rd Annual SF Bay Area Gathering of Gear Geeks (GGG) Feb 26-27, 2011 from Mountainwalker on Vimeo.

Some memorable moments:

-The Gear Stove Boil-Off – WARNING this gets HOT!
-What happens in Coe stays in Coe and things that go bump in the night
-How Tony makes it through a cold lonely night
-Richard Nisley guest interview
-Styrofoam snow and picnicking BPL style
-What lightweight backpackers really sound like
-Debbie’s first place win for shared item
-The next Backpackers Gone Wild casting event

[NOTE – the 2011 trip was in January not February, will correct on the video soon]