7th Annual Gathering of Gear Geeks

I think more events is great – those of us who are not sociialites who thrive on meeting 500 people at a time have a chance of remembering names….

I just remembered there was this guy, Ivan? he was a neat guy….

I finished packing the night before. I've never had more than 18ish pounds in my MLD Prophet. I stepped on the scale a couple times, calculated the difference… 32lbs thanks to a bulging food bag and twelve-pack of beverages.

Well it's good to know that this pack can comfortably carry that kind of weight on my shoulders for future hikes where I may need to load up on water.

3am alarm. 330 out the door. Fog. Rain. Black ice? Start to see the sun somewhere between Madras and Bend. Adios fog. Hello bluebird sky.

And then this sexy momma…

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Weed. I5. Magical Kingdom. Some water. Pretty hills. Thoughts of turning Northern California, Oregon, and Washington into a single super state. Parking lot. Domesticated deer. Sunset.

I found Ken's VW with the conspicuous purple GGG banner and my permit. Moon was very bright but I hiked with my headlamp on to keep an eye out for the critters who like to eat deer.

A three mile per hour pace was fairly easy to maintain on the double track trail. I found myself at Glen Camp a couple hours later and see some holiday led lights strung on a tree on the far side of the campsite. I've found my people.

Hellos. Who's heres. So and so showed up last weekend and won't be here today… $#!+ that sucks. Retired Jerry is here. WTF really? How awesome! (one of the best surprises of the weekend) Some old faces. Some new faces. A lady named Sheila Tequila and another named +1. Feels like we're friends in less than a minute. Dave. Ken. Kat. Jerry. Emily. Casey. Jay. Lori. Wayne. Dennis. Still waiting on the airport crew. Etc.

I found an empty campsite in the lower area. Forecast was clear so I decided to cowboy camp. Moments later I see a small patrol of ULers coming down the trail. The airport crew had arrived!

Jokes about Jen's plane being late. Shelters go up. Lies swapped. Jokes exchanged. Lots of laughter and smiles.

And then a scream…. and then more screams of an animal which is circling the campsite.

Bobcat? No mating call of a fox. A suggestion is made for Matthew to "take care" of the fox. Fox stops screaming so we wonder if Matthew really did. We see the fox trot though the clearing a few minutes later smoking a cigarette which answers the question.

No need for an early first call so I sleep in the next morning. Doug was caught in a crossfire of my snoring and the "purring" of someone who will remain nameless.

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~The Breakfast Club Josh, Tom, Doug, Kat, Jerry, Matthew, and Matthew's dead sexy wasabi MLD exodus.

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~Cuben Fiber goodness. Tom's Skyscape X behind the table, Jennifer's Duomid, Doug's Solomid XL. My yard sale in the foreground and Jennifer hidden in the background. Ken taking it all in on the CCF.

We left Glen camp mid morning on Saturday and hiked another two or so miles to Wildcat.

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~Hills? No one said anything about hills.

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~First view of Wildcat.

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~The league of extraordinary hats.

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~I welcome Jennifer to California by setting up my grace solo creepy-close to her duomid. In my defense, I actually cowboy camped creepy-close to Doug and just set up the tarp as something to dive into if the weather turned for some reason.

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~Not to be outdone by the twelve pack that emerged from my Prophet, Peter threw down the ultimate trump card when this bag of charcoal came out of his McHale.

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~Lori and Wayne's Cloudburst.

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As previously mentioned by Ken, you'd have thought that there was a MLD convention going on with some Tarp Tent interlopers.

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~Doug's MLD Solomid XL with inner.

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~Jennifer's Duomid with inner.

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~My old school (stitched) Grace Solo.

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~Dennis' TT Sublite.

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~Finally some ZPacks love! A twin which I believe belongs to the Bowdens.

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~Ken's silnylon Solomid XL suitable for ninjas in stealthy brown.

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~Another shot of Ken's MLD SoloXL with the Bowden's TT Rainbows in the background.

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~Dave's TT Contrail

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~An absence of trees forced Kat to the ground and under this Borah Gear Borahgami.

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~Someone help me out here. Not sure who this belonged to and is it a MSR Hubba Hubba?

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~Cameron's Solomid. "Aw crap I was hoping no one would catch that pitch!"

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~Peter has a way with the ladies. Us lesser-men took copious notes on how to be all that is man. Lori for the win with the photobomb!

Some people hiked out to the waterfalls. I spent much of the day lounging around camp and playing Betty Crocker with my Flat Cat Gear Bobcat baking system. There were a number of questions about this system so I'll post the details in a subsequent response below.

We spent the evening enjoying good conversation with good company. As the temperatures dropped, a few of us hovered around a pile of warm charcoal and as could be expected, the conversation eventually turned to how horrible the remake of Red Dawn was compared to the original and that I like most red blooded Americans, dreamed of firing an RPG into an invading commie convoy whilst screaming "Wolverines!"

Katharina was concerned that I had desires to fire RPGs at random people but I assured her that I was reserving this for invading commies who shoot school teachers.

I think there's still some confusion as to what I was describing so Kat… this one is for you albeit sans RPG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoM6IFiyRjE

Both Tom and I cowboy camped that night. Condensation was hell and I regretted not listening to Tom and laying out my sleeping bag too early. Sleep was interrupted several times although I didn't mind the coyotes and their beautiful singing. While the temperatures (per my thermometer) never dipped below the high 40*s, the dampness made it feel cooler. Still, it was wonderful to sleep under the stars and the moon made for one heck of a bright nightlight.

Slept in the next morning. More jokes. Some wonderful Chai thanks to Tom. Breakfast.

I walked down to the beach and took a couple pictures.

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A roughly 500 foot climb out of the gate got the heart rate up. I harpooned Tom's foot at some point with my trekking pole. Dave and I shot the bull on the way back and we found ourselves back in the parking lot in no time.

A near perfect 96 hours later, I pull in to my driveway at 330am. Tired and looking forward to next year's GGG in California and the PNW GGG later this summer.

If you think this is something you'd like, you're a fool not to go. Both that I've gone to have been a great time with good people. It's a pretty diverse and pleasant crowd.

Thanks to everyone. I hesitate to start naming people, as I'll invariably forget someone, but honorable mention goes out to the Idester for traveling all the way from Maryland and Jennifer for flying in from Texas. It's always a pleasure to listen to Doug's well developed sense of humor and it was great to finally meet and talk photography with Jennifer. A huge thanks to Peter for the headnets and it was great to see you at this event. Tom, can't thank you enough for the Chai, previous tips for my India trip, and loved hearing about your adventures. Dave, glad we had a chance to talk more on this trip; certainly easier to do with a smaller crowd. Glad I finally met Jay as I missed him the year before. Lori, Wayne, Sheila, Marsha, Bowdens, Cameron, Dennis, and Jacob… thanks for making it to Pt. Reyes. It was great talking with you all. Jerry! It was great to finally meet you and I really hope to see your face at the PNW GGG! It's always great to see one of my favorite rockstars of Chaff, the mighty Katharina. Any future GGG attendees would be wise to make friends with Matthew; Grappa, shortbread cookies, and sriracha bacon… enough said. Thanks for the whiskey cup man!

Even with as comparatively small as this event was compared to last year, there were still a couple people I didn't have a chance to meet. Next year.

Last but certainly not least, the host with the most, Ken! You've done a tremendous job with the two GGGs I've been to and I've got my work cut out for me to deliver the goods at the PNW GGG this year! Thanks for all that you've done!

Lori, nice photos. The one of Peter surrounded by all the ladies is great. Also, is that Rick on the beach, shirtless?? Whoever it is, it's an instant classic :)

Ian, nice report and pics. It was funny hearing about "the scream" at Glenn Camp. The last time I stayed at Glenn Camp with Adam C. and Lori C. (late last year) we heard that scream too. There weren't too many people around and we thought we might be about to come face to face with Chupacabra… I never would have guessed a fox could make a sound like that… it was a little unnerving!

As for Sandra and I, we got a sluggish start on the day leaving San Rafael about 10:30, stopped in Point Reyes Station to pick up our dinner (sandwiches from the general store), then headed out. We took the scenic route going up the Mt. Wittenberg trail, then to the top of Mt. Wittenberg proper, which is the highest point within Point Reyes National Seashore at just over 1400 ft above sea level. We looped around Wittenberg, caught the Z Ranch trail, then took Sky trail most of the way. For anyone who hasn't explored the area much, walking the length of Sky trail is something I would highly recommend doing. There are a few nice vistas, but mainly the walk through the forest is what makes it special… one of my favorite trails.

After that we hiked down to Coast trail and along the coast for a short time, past Arch Rock, then had to climb back up to the ridge… the 72º weather is not the norm for Jan/Feb and man the sun was cooking us on that climb back up! Eventually we topped out and started heading back down again, lots of up and down :) A little over 10 miles and we finally we spotted all the Cuben Fiber and the bright silnylon shelters. It was neat coming into Wildcat from up above that way, we had only hiked there from the South (Palomarin trailhead) prior to this. I didn't take many photos, I wasn't really feelin it and could have left my camera at home I guess. Here are a few from me, and one from Sandra, of me.

Along Sky Trail

Sandra Dee

Jacob D

Above Wildcat

I got to check a few more trails off my list; I have hiked most of the trails within the park now and I'm working on completing that personal goal… not that I need an excuse to go for a walk out there! A "thanks" to Dennis H. for giving me one of his special edition Point Reyes maps which I'll be framing for the wall.

Again, it was really good to see everyone, meet a few people for the first time, and catch up with the others who we haven't seen for a while.

Would have been great to attend this one, but I couldn't get away. The photos are great!

It's all been said very well, so I'll only add that I had one of the best weekends ever. It isn't often I have a chance to meet so many really cool, interesting people, and I'll be forever in Ken's debt for setting this one up. AND inviting this old introvert. :)

What a helluva weekend!

I've been flirting with Jon's Bobcat Jr. baking system for over a year and finally pulled the trigger on one. Jon clearly states on his website that he (and rightly so) has a life and job outside of Flat Cat Gear and that delivery may in some cases take up to three weeks.

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In my case, he under-promised and over-delivered. I had it on Thursday (within two weeks), had a single opportunity to bake some brownies, packed it up, and was on the road the next morning.

I'm not going to try and pretend that I can explain this process half as well as he can but there were a number of people asking me about it and I'll share my weekend experiences and initial impressions here.

The down and dirty:

I paid full price, was under no obligation to review or post about this, blah blah blah.

I ordered the stainless steel bobcat windscreen, Toaks 900ml 130mm pot, Ti Epicurean stove, 4" baking pan with carbon felt insulation. I also received a complimentary prototype alcohol stove. I knew that I was going to be pretty busy with baking over the weekend so I left the alky stove at home and will try it out another day. Off the top of my head, total system is a bit over 10 oz including the baking stuff and not including fuel.

Prior to this trip, I was mostly a freezer bag cooker. My normal UL kit and all the fuel I needed for the Wonderland this year was under 8oz. Obviously I'm not going for fast and light with this Flat Cat kit. I bought this kit to kick the quality of my backcountry cooking up several notches.

For those unfamiliar, the Epicurean stove has two cooking options. With the crenelated side down, O2 flows freely and the Esbit burns the hottest. I use this option to boil water. Crenelated side up/flat side down, the Esbit is starved for O2 and has a smaller flame which is perfect for simmering and baking.

I've owned a few Toaks mugs and a single 600ml Evernew pot. I've been impressed with the quality and low price of Toaks so decided to take advantage of the lower price.

Aluminum was not an option for this particular Bobcat size. The weight difference between stainless steel and titanium windscreen was not great enough for me to pay the premium for titanium. Again, I bought this kit for the grin factor, not as a fast and light kit.

I had a choice between the 4" and 5" pans. I opted for the 4" as a single Esbit tablet was sufficient for most recipes I've seen with this pan and the 5" will (supposedly) require more fuel on occasion.

What I baked:

KEN LARSON has shared some recipes on Jon's Flat Cat Gear Facebook page. I stole and modified one of his recipes for brownies. Ken's recipe was for a 5" pan. From speaking with Jon, I reduced the portions to 60% of what Ken suggested and I think that worked perfectly with the 4" pan.

Basically the brownies were ghirardelli dark chocolate brownie mix, walnuts, Ova Easy egg crystal, powdered milk, decaff via espresso packet, vanilla, oil, white chocolate chips and water. Again, this deviates from Ken's recipe.

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~ A picture of the system. PLEASE NOTE that the crenelated side was actually up and not down as shown in this picture when I was baking. Blasting this recipe with the crenelated side down would have likely burned the brownies and possibly ruined the system. I had flipped it over after pulling the brownies off so the remaining fuel would just burn out faster. There's an easy bake option which is flat on both sides to avoid a potentially catastrophic mistake of having the Epicurean stove on the wrong side when baking ~

I mixed my first batch (at home) on the dry side and the brownies came out dry.

I mixed my second batch (at Pt. Reyes) a bit soupier, added more water to the pan, and steam baked it for the first 20 minutes. At 20 minutes I dumped the water and finished them off with dry baking for another 5-10 minutes. I removed the pot from the windscreen and let it sit in the pot with the insulated carbon felt lid cover thingy for another 10 minutes. I then removed it from the pot, covered it with the uninsulated lid (birds were relentless) and let it cool for another 10 minutes.

It's important to put some parchment paper on the bottom and some cooking oil on the sides to reduce sticking.

The final product was on the gooey side which is perfect for me.

I also baked cornbread and blueberry muffins. In both cases, I cut the box mix in half, added egg crystals and powdered milk as the box recipe required. In both cases, I found steam baking, dumping the water, and finishing it off with dry baking yielded better results when compared to dry baking alone.

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~Cornbread stuck to the sides in spite of the oil but was about perfect moisture wise. It was as good as the box recipe would allow but I'm going to add jalapenos and cheddar cheese next time.

Again, I'm new to all this and am finding that it's an art as much of a science.

I made Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo for dinner Saturday night. I had the stove on WFO to bring the water to a boil and then flipped it to simmer the noodles. Worked great.

None of this is intended to be a comprehensive view of the system but I really enjoyed using it and am excited to add fine dining to my wilderness experience. I see some double crust pizza, cheese burgers, lasagna, calzones, rice pilaf and more in my very near backpacking future.

Those Brownies look great!

On something savory like Cornbread, no reason not to oil the pan liberally.

When you get the chance, try using 4 or 5 mini Tealights in Jon's setup for baking instrad of Esbits.

Bake for 30 minutes. Should turn out great.

Great pics!

Wow – this looks like a lot of fun.

Those brownies look awesome Ian… wish I could have been there a little earlier to check out the baking kit… and of course sample some of the finished product. I've been wanting to try out some more baking, my current skills and gear are both somewhat limited.

And that Grappa… wow that stuff was intense! I thought I had drank some of that before… until I had a little sip. Nope! Wow, I would have remembered that. I want to thank Matt for bringing it, but at the same time I'm not sure if it took some years off my life?? It's a Grappa conundrum.

Finally back home after getting stuck in Chicago yesterday. Ugh.

Ken, thanks for another delightful weekend, it was nice getting together with old friends and making a few new ones. And what weather! Wish I could have met a couple of the folks over at the NorCal GGG as well, but there's only so much time in a short weekend. I have no doubt I'll get an opportunity to meet them at a future GGG.

Wow….looks like a lot of fun and thanks for everyone posting up lots of photos.

This is actually the 1st GGG that I have missed. :(

I had my evil daughter that weekend and was not able to trade weekends with my ex. :)

That said, I am enjoying having a closer relationship with my monkey butt girl post divorce.

Anyway, glad to see that people are getting together and making some memories.

Does not matter if there is ONE GGG or others.

If anything, I say THANK YOU DAVID for stepping up and carrying the torch and running with your own GGG when Ken has been a bit burnt out on organizing the large events for the past number of years.

Hope that there isn't any bad blood between BPLers as a result of the two events.

All that matters is that like minded people are getting together and sharing their love for the outdoors and all things gear geeky.

Looking forward to seeing pictures from David's GGG.

I hope that I can make the next one.

Tony

Thanks for organizing this Ken, my family and I had a great time.

Getting my 4-year-old daughter to walk all the way to Glen and Wildcat wasn't really an option so we opted for bikes.

Mei Mei in her chariot. The route from the Five Brooks trail head to Glen Camp was tougher on PJ than we expected. Much of the road was too steep for him to ride up and too steep to ride down.

But we finally made it to Glen Camp.

Miner's lettuce.

Saturday stroll on the beach.

PJ and Mei Mei at Alamere Falls, about a mile south of Wildcat Camp.

I brought my empty pack along in case Mei Mei didn't want to walk the entire way to and from Alamere Falls.

I was pleased that Tom Kirchner joined us for our walk to the falls.

After the trip to the falls Mei Mei took a nap on PJ's jacket, so he somehow squeezed into hers. Thank goodness for Costco puffies.

Heading out Sunday morning. We locked our bikes about 1 mile and 600 feet in elevation above Wildcat Camp since it was too steep for anyone but me to ride.

Once we reached the bikes we still had to push them to Fir Top, at elevation 1,324 feet.

Back at the trailhead!

Drying out gear back at home.

Celebrating the successful adventure with a trip to the bar at Ramen Shop in Oakland, CA.

Casey with little Mei Mei and Tom Kirchner heading toward the waterfalls.

Why I go to the GGG (it certainly isn't Ken's personality….): http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/group-social-activity-keeps-people-mentally-sharp/