9th Annual Bay Area G.G.G.

[Ken Thompson]

Post your photos and words from the 9th G.G.G. below

[Kattt]

 

I popped in to say hi and it was great to see everyone and to finally meet Craig :)

Thanks David for making it happen. Thanks Nick for driving this far; very nice to see you again . Craig, it was nice to talk about kids with you; I hope to do a real trip with you some time and thanks for the pottery you made. Denis thanks for the little gifts, they will definitively be used. Rick, nice to catch up with you, neighbor ; good luck with your roof! Peter V. thanks for being my buddy, for walking me in and out in my not quite 100% state and for always having my back :)

dk good to see you and your brownies too ;)

Short but sweet visit that was the highlight of my week for sure.

[Rex Sanders]

I shot video until my phone battery died; after recharge at home I let Apple work it’s magic for a quick highlight reel:

Sorry about the music, don’t have any control over that. Might take this down when I produce a better video.

I had a wonderful time at GGG – great weather, and great people. Unfortunately, I can’t remember names worth beans. DM me if I promised something.

Many thanks to Dave for putting this together.

— Rex

[Ken Thompson]

Just a few…

First night in my new tome rig, WBBB, Mamajamba, AHE top quilt, JRB under quilt.

Some furniture keeps it civilized.

Beautiful weather.

Old gear

Really old gear

New gear too.

Intimate group size this time gave plenty of opportunity for some in depth discussions on a wide range of topics.

Craig’s handiwork. So generous and well received.

Man!, you can haul a lot in with a bit of creative thinking.

And thanks to Emily and Casey, a catered lunch!

 

Thanks again David for running the circus this year. Was nice to just show up and be a guest.

[David Gardner]

Many thanks to all who attended and helped out!

Ken T: For inspiration, $$$ support, and showing us the UL way to hike in with a mini-keg of beer;

Michael H: For volunteering to make an extra round trip hauling firewood (and many thanks to the ranger who spared us from having to do it by taking the wood in with his jeep);

Craig W: For the excellent commemorative ceramic mugs/shot glasses:

d k: For great brownies and showing us the many cool things that can be sewed from a $20 Costco down quilt (especially the “viking horns” hat you gifted me, which I traded to Erik G for a bitchen mini-Leatherman);

Dennis H: For the cool alky stoves and the priceless original Heineken can you gave me, the Cracker Jacks you passed out to everyone, and the Jiffy Pops;

Michael and Caleb D: For volunteering to help clean up and do final inspection of the site, and to haul out garbage;

Holly M: For sharing the hilarious text exchange with your boyfriend about the Zpacks Duplex tent, for the S’mores, and for hauling out the trash;

Erik G and Jared E: For the tasty baked treats, for “that’s a knife!”, the glow-stick light show, and final inspection of the site;

Rex S: For demonstrating the flammable wonders of Coffemate, and passing out glow-sticks galore;

Kat L: For making the hike at all, and the cold steel “toys”;

Peter V: For hiking in with Kat, and your annual cheese cake delights;

Rick N: For your enthusiastic participation in the weigh off, the saw off, the wood burn off, and the alky burn off;

Mark E: For taking home 1st prize in the adjustable trekking pole weigh off;

Les W: For pushing in the stroller full of all the cool packs, quilts, CF UL ukelele, sandals and other stuff you made;

Ben H: For the variety of home made jerky you shared;

Danny M: For Massdrop Klymit inflatable pillows you donated to the cause;

Jane B: For making the trek in with your husband, despite your eye problem;

Nick G: For demonstrating the dollar value over time for investing in first class UL equipment;

Casey B: For bringing the family again.

Apologies to those I forgot to mention or give credit, and for not having any pictures worth sharing (but looking forward to everyone else’s).

 

 

[Tony Wong]

Rex,

Thanks for taking the time to post up the video.

Really was nice to see familiar faces and to see what happened.

The GGG is really becoming an annual gathering of friends and it puts a stupid, wide smile on my face to see you all.

Glad the weather was good and that you all had a wonderful time.

Tony

[Rex Sanders]

Mythbusters and non-dairy coffee whitening substance:

— Rex

PS – I learned this trick in the late 1980s around a camp fire.

[Rex Sanders]

A couple of people mentioned that they enjoyed the impromptu “shelter tour.”

We went from shelter to shelter (tents, tarps, hammocks) with each owner giving a little show and tell, including their favorite and least favorite features. Very informative, and I saw a lot of wheels turning. Some sessions ran quite long with rapt audiences.

Next day I noticed that out of ~20 shelters visible in camp, no two were exactly alike. Even the three Zpacks Duplex tents in camp were different. Truly a bunch of gear geeks.

Thanks to everyone who showed off their shelters on short notice.

I hope future GGGs include this event.

— Rex

[Nick Gatel]

First, thanks to David Gardner for his hard work. Also thanks to Craig Wisner for driving 12 hours round trip to get us there.

Fortunately it wasn’t a bunch of backpackers “geeking” over gear, but a group of great people who happen to share backpacking as a part of what they do in life. Without exception everyone was great to be with and their were many, many enjoyable conversations and often not backpacking related.

The shelter tour where everyone discussed their shelter and shared what they liked and disliked about it was a fantastic idea.

Henry Coe State Park — the 2nd large state park if California and my first time there. What a jewel. I’ll be back. I took 3 pictures.

Deer…

 

Turkeys…

 

and an obligatory gear picture….

 

[Tony Wong]

Nick,

You nailed it on the head.

The GGG is really about people who enjoy the outdoors…..have a common passion and happen to do it in a lightweight/UL style.

I have always loved the fact that the GGG’s have welcoming to ANYONE who wants to come out…..traditional or lightweight.

What I have found over the years is that the people who tend to go UL/lightweight are a bunch of interesting characters from all sorts of backgrounds and each with different reasons for going light.

As such, there are plenty of fun stories to be swapped, laughs to be shared, a chance to check out different people’s UL gear and to see if it is something that might work for them, generous amounts of food and drink to be shared and friendships to be made and maintained.

Though I did not make it this time, it really warms my heart to see familiar faces in the photos and in the video, who I would have never had the pleasure of having met if it were not for the GGGs.

I know that for Ken T., the GGGs have brought out something better in him and it has pulled him out of his shell….and he has done it for the love of this thing and the people who have come.

Dave G….thank you for taking the GGG going forward to continue this “tradition” and for adding yourself to the history that is the GGG so that it may continue.

With a little bit better planning on my part and effort, I hope to be at the next one.

Tony

[Ken Thompson]

Next up #10

[Kattt]

After reading Nick’s post….yes thanks to Craig for driving all this way.

[Window walker]

What a great weekend! Thanks to all that made my first GGG a pleasant experience.  It was great to meet you all and enjoy conversation.

David, I am not sure who donated the pillows but it wasn’t me.

I also really enjoyed the shelter tour!

 

Ben

 

 

[W I S N E R !]

It was great to meet everyone, especially Ken and Kat, both of whom I feel like I’ve “spoken” to for many years but never in person.  Thanks to all for the good time and for inviting me.

[Kristin Tennessen]

Thanks to David G for planning a great trip. We hiked in for the day with the family and it was great to see everyone and experience some great weather.

Thanks for the brownies and cookies!!!!

We saw a bobcat on the way in and I made the mistake of telling my 3-year-old that they eat little kids. Oooops. #parentfail

[Nick Gatel]

We saw a bobcat on the way in and I made the mistake of telling my 3-year-old that they eat little kids.

Big mistake… they only eat naughty kids ;-)

[d k]

This may read like one big run-on sentence, but I wanted to put this down in a way that resembles the whirl of my impressions from this weekend.

Many thanks to everyone – to Ken for setting the bar so high (and showing us how to camp in true style), to Dave for giving us another great gathering, to Craig for the beautiful cups (and the sage words on impermanence and letting go, along with Dennis’s similar ceramicist outlook), to Casey and Emily for the fine eats and delightful presence of their kids, to Dennis for cracker jacks, jiffy pop, and giveaways galore, to Rex for the nostalgic video (with its unspoken reminder that if I leave my down hood on around my neck underneath my windshirt, I resemble Quasimodo), to Rebecca for the amazingly soft handful of lichen from her walk to the creek, to Nick for putting up with my razzing, and then sharing the touching history of his marriage, to Erik for his delight in what has to be the most spectacularly odd thing I’ve ever sewn, to Holly for her encouragement on my other spectacularly geeky down attire, to Les and especially Jared for meticulously preparing the wood and getting a respectable performance on the maiden voyage of my Penny wood stove in the competition, to Rick for letting me try out a hammock, to Ben for showing us his cool Aaron Sorenson quilt, to Jane and Kat for the gift of their presence despite medical issues, and most importantly to one and all for just generally being an incredibly friendly, welcoming group of people happy to share information, answer questions, and most of all just talk and share stories.  Maybe it was the relatively small size of the group, but this seemed like the warmest experience I’ve had yet at a GGG, despite the cool temps.

Debbie

[Michael Hill]

Saturday afternoon:

[Casey Bowden]

A big +1 to what everyone else has already written; my family and I had a great time. It was great to see old friends and meet new people, even Nick Gatel!

Food to share.

Schedule of Activities.

A beautiful day.

Kat brought “throwing knives”.

Which both of my kids stuck into the stump before me.

Wood-fire burn-off.

Kids playing with fire.

Playing Les’s custom carbon-fibre ukulele.

[Kattt]

Ah, love your pictures Casey! Knives, fire, ukelele, great food…..lucky kids :)

[Rebecca 510]

Thanks for a fabulous weekend, everyone!  I really enjoyed catching up with folks I haven’t seen in a couple years and meeting so many new ones.  David, thank you for getting us all together (and arranging that perfect weather).

 

I’d love to have the shelter tour as part of every GGG.  Very informative and also such a fun social activity!

[d k]

Erik G getting in touch with his Viking roots

[d k]

Carbon fiber ukelele made by Les

[Jane Baack]

Thanks to David for getting us organized for another GGG. Great that Ken got to take a year off. I had a sore eye and couldn’t wear a contact lens in one eye so driving was out for me and hiking in was a bit strange. My husband actually was glad he volunteered to take me this year and he really enjoyed meeting and talking with many of you.

As many have already said, I thought the mellow feeling of this year’s gathering was very nice. We really had a chance to talk and catch up with one another. I, too, think the shelter tour was a great success and should be repeated. Wish I could have stayed overnight but with my poor eyesight without that contact lens, it wasn’t possible.
I really appreciate that some drove so far to join us this year. From the north and the south some of you put on many miles over many hours to be there. Thank you!

Thanks David for your work before and at Coe. Craig, your beautiful ceramic work is perfect for my tea throughout the day, thank you. dk and Emily, your food specialties were great and better than my bag lunch contents for sure.

I enjoyed catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. I’m still backpacking (and hiking each week) because so many from BPL and GGG attendees have been so generous with their advice on gear and on potential trips. I’ll plan to see you same time next year!
Jane

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