GGG in Southern CA

Looking forward to joining you on Sat/Sun and am bringing a friend (on Sunday) who I'm trying to bring around to a lighter-weight way of thinking. And I'll get a chance to use my new Borah Gear tarp that just arrived this week.

Planning on hiking Friday evening…I should be at the trailhead by 7PM. Please save me a spot :)

Henniger Flats is a long way from Mountain Laurel Designs in Virginia, but I happen to have a small assortment of MLD mids, in a mix of silnylon and cuben, which I'd be glad to bring up for anyone who wants to see them in real life. Ron says I can be an unofficial MLD mid rep, and he'll send along some stickers, etc. I'll also bring some unofficial flyers of some of the new mids and tarps Ron's been coming up with recently.

So here's what I can bring:

Duomid, Cricket, Trailstar, Big Star, and an old Solo. I'll be camping in the Duo; which others should I bring?

"be an unofficial MLD mid rep"

Ya gotta start somewhere Stephen. Maybe you'll end up with a whole new career.

All kidding aside that great you'll be bringing up some of the MLD stuff. If anyone wants to see something specific from MLD speak up and/or contact Stephen.

I haven't actively solicited any vendors but I'll put out this informal invitation. If anyone wants to show or send info about any of their products arrangements can be made. This would be a cheap (like free other than shipping costs) way of advertising your wares. It might be like preaching to the choir but I know there will be some attendees who are trying to transition to the light side and are in the market for gear. Contact me direct via email for information.

Hi All, relatively new here to BPL. Heading up to JMT this summer in July. Bought a tent from Lonna, bag from Bayden, just need to locate my pack and I will be ready for April. Can fill in the blanks with my not so light gear stash that I have laying around. Are people heading up on Friday, or is most of the group heading up Saturday and Sunday?

We have about 43 signed up including family members and a few tentative attendees. Many say they are coming on Sat and staying overnight. A lesser number are signed on for all three days and a few are just coming in for the day on Sat. Sat. Is the day for most of the demonstrations, show and tell and of course socializing. I'm not sure as of now what time we'll break camp and head down the hill for the gear swap and tarp giveaway but for those interested in picking up some gear it should be well worth hanging around for that.

Don,

Wow!

Fantastic turn out you have anticipated for your SoCal GGG!

Beats the 14-16 we had at our 1st one and you have manufactures coming out to share in the fun!

Looking forward to seeing any pictures that you and others take of the event.

I am sure that people really appreciate the work that you are doing for putting it all together.

Glad to see that it is going to happen.

Tony

Thanks Tony. It is going to happen. As you know the number signed up doesn't always translate to the number that shows up but I feel confident we'll have 40-50 there. We have a pretty large gene pool to gather from down here plus the advantage of good weather and a close by place to go.
We'll definitely have pictures to post. Want to come down and take some shots?

Tony ! Tony ! Tony !

This was meant as a chant,

Tony, just cut the bracelet off like I did mine

Don,

With good weather on your side, I am pretty sure you are going to have a great turn out.

Yeah, there will be people who sign up who won't be able to make it due to something last minute.

On the other side, you may have a few people join in at the last minute.

Thanks for the offer to come out, but the ankle bracelet that I am required to wear won't buzzing once I pass the County Line!

Tony

A little bump for this event!

Really looking forward to meeting other like-minded UL folks. A couple of weeks left till April 11th!

Time is getting short for this event so I'm starting a minor advertising campaign to get some of you motivated. If you want to make the trek more than a relatively short jaunt there are some trail alternatives to make it a 12+ mile one way trek with a 4000ft+ elevation gain. Make it a training hike. I'm not a big fan of mountain bikes but the road up the Henninger is wide enough accommodate hikers and bikers in a nice state of peaceful coexistence. Give you legs a workout and peddle your way to camp.

Does everyone need a campfire permit, or is there one for the group?

edit: nvm

I'll avoid the technicalities of this issue at the location we're going and just say yes, you need a CA campfire permit. They're easy enough to get online.

Use this link: http://www.preventwildfireca.org/Campfire-Permit/

Thanks for the link! Took about 5 minutes, 2.5 minute video, 8 question test for the intellectually challenged, and print it out. Great thing is, it is valid for a year anywhere you go! Love it!

They changed this year with the addition of a dedicated site with the video and a "harder" test. Maybe it will prevent a fire or two by increasing awareness. We can only hope.

Where is everyone parking?

I'll be parking at the nearest legal street parking spot. :-) There is plenty of street parking near the trailhead. Just pay close attention to the parking signs. I'll be talking to the Sheriffs Dept that patrols the area to inform them that there will be more cars parked up there than usual. They might patrol the area more often than they usually do. I have never heard of any car break-ins up there but I would suggest not leaving any valuables laying in plain site in your car.

I am heading up from San Diego Mid-week to get some work done Wed / Thurs in West LA. Anyone heading out from Culver City Santa Monica Area on Friday that would like to carpool?

So far my gear swap collection is pretty meager (see the photo). I'm going to have to dig a little deeper to see what I can come up with.

What are the rest of you bringing? Show us what you have.

Only 9 days to go! We've reached the magic number of 50 who are signed up. Magical for me anyway since it was the number I was hoping for. That includes family members, guests etc. Time for those of you sitting on the fence to commit!

Bringing up the subject of the gear swap again…. What do you have to offer?

Hey everybody,
Due to the loss of the tip of my index finger 5 weeks ago and and a huge amount of trap orders it looks like the tarp set up competition may be on hold, and the proto type backpack also may not get finished, I'll bring what I can.

I also won't be there until late Friday night

Hey Jack, I hope the injury was the result of some fun adventure at least. Do what you can and bring what you can. See ya on Friday.

Just got a note from Ron today – he's sending out a new prototype tarp for the event! This is an asymmetrical 2.5 mid that you might have seen recently on MLD's Facebook page. He's looking for comments and suggestions, so I'll bring my JMT pencil and onionskin notebook to record your ideas! He's also sending along a gadget for connecting two trekking poles together for a longer center pole.