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Once again, We have the same, old, boring, attendees. Tent pairings are: Dave & Murray, Mike & Steve, and Billy’s" This is the second year of staying at the "Inn at Cotton Mountain". Murray’s folks place. Spud gun was again a brief source of entertainment. Too cold to hang around outside. Steve’s pre-camping meal of chili and fresh baked bread is enjoyed. "Trinity" returns to the small screen. 8 inches of snow falls overnight. As we are returning to Oliverian trail, we have breakfast at Zee’s. Uneventful trip to the parking area. Some cars are already there. There is a freshly broken trail leading into the woods. We come across other campers not too far in. 2 guys and a gal. We pass them coming out for another load of beer and cut wood. Dave and Mike, being the "old guys" have new camping sleds from Christmas. They work pretty well. Mike still packs a pack with light, bulky articles…Sleeping bag, coat…Etc. During the hike in, Steve finds it amusing to hike in a zigzag, thinking he is upsetting Dave and Mike hauling the sleds. Not having a small turning radius, they forge straight through. Steve eventually tires and straightens out. Campsite is found, no problem. There is 3ft of packed snow with a foot of fresh powder on top. Makes for good fire pit. Once the location is decided for the "boy’s room", pictures begin to show up each morning, taped to the tree. Lovely pictures of lovely ladies. The area is visited often. We get snow, of some sort each day. Particularly on Sunday, strong squalls blow through the area. Steve and Billy decide to go off on a day hike. Being the expert mountaineering types that they are, they forego the need of taking a map. They get "bewildered", but eventually find their way back. It is mentioned that they did a similar thing last year, going for a hike without snowshoes, which they could have used. Food was interesting this year. Mike brought along pre-cooked turkey legs for lunch, re-heated over the fire. The real interesting food was brought in by Dave and Murray. They are going to cook fresh porketta. Murray goes for the "hang over the fire for a while" route, while Dave opts for the "place it in a blast oven for the afternoon" route. Murray has a pretty good meal! Dave had keilbasa chunks on a stick. It was indeed "A tale of two porketta’s". Billy wants "Excyldis Untie!!" to make the camp stories. Claims he spent a lot of time thinking about it. Conventional wisdom dictates, that this should not be included in the annals. It remains to be seen as to when it will not be included. Again being the "old guys", Dave and Mike bring in duct tape wrapped bottles to avoid having to take a walk in the middle of the night. They work out well! Just have to remember to empty in the morning. Wouldn't’t want to have to chip it out if it froze. Due to the gusty winds, smoke is problematic all weekend. "Mother of all smoke!" First year Murray doesn't’t bring his camera. Too cold for Dave’s stove to be used. Fuel won’t vaporize. Wondering, what else of Dave’s doesn't’t work when it’s cold. On the hike out, a sidetrack is taken to the other camper’s site. They had built an igloo and demonstrated that they had been "hygienically incorrect". All in all, it was a pretty uneventful trip. Only real downer was discovered upon our return to the cars. Dave’s was broken into. Nothing apparently was taken and no "trashing" is evident. |