Pennsy's BFT ECT

“looks like you guys are going to have a great weekend. Sorry I can't join this one.

I love that whole area up North in PA!”

“I am on my way! Ya talked me into it!”

“Splash: There's a trail register at the Slate Run trailhead -- it's down toward the stream a bit from the roadside parking area. If you start there on Sat AM, check to see if we will have been through before you get there; otherwise we hope to see you at the Cherry Ridge site. Hope you can make it.

AmyG: Not coming! Bummer :-(”

“I'm out, sorry.

I've been working like a maniac lately trying to dig out from under a few things (has anyone missed me?) and I can't take 3 or 4 days right now.

Sounds like you are going to have a great time. I'm disappointed I won't get to see RichB, Lyndy, and Pennsy again, and meet the rest of you, but we'll make it happen...another trail, another day.

Be safe,

Fritz”

“Hey all - Bummer! Not sure I'm gonna make this one. My new hiking stick is ready to go, my gear's all packed, but my mom went into the hospital this week and it looks like I'm gonna have to make another quick trip down to Balamer. With any luck, I'll catch up with some of you on Sunday, but don't count on it. If I don't see you, lemme know how the trip went and when the next one's scheduled. Looking forward to meeting some of you new guys.”

“Fritz: Hope you get all your work done.

Stieny: Hope your mom is okay.

Catch you guys next time.”

“Rich - I've only been there once but I don't remember a gate on Naval Run Rd. I thought it just dead-ended into a picnic area?

Steiny - I hope all is well with your mother. We'll leave a light on for you too if you can make it Sunday.

Hey Mrs AmyG - don't get soft on us now that you're married! ;-)
We'll catch ya on the next one.

Fritz - we'll discuss this later. heh-heh

All packed and ready to go. 48lbs including food and water. Someday I'll learn to lighten the load.

See ya all tomorrow!”

“OK, I'll find it if I can be at Navel Run early. Otherwise I'll be up at Foster Hollow to meet up with everyone. Best wishes to all those who can't make the trip and hope to see you on another one.”

“Well, I couldn't make it. But they got good weather for Friday and Saturday at least. Sunday is supposed to be rain all day.”

“nice downpour... hope everyone remembered to seam-seal”

“I got home about 5 PM. I hope everyone else got home OK too. Great time, but I never expected the black flies to be out and I'm still swollen and scratching. Wish I brought a headnet or a net suit for that matter.”

“Hey Guys,
Everything went as planned on our end. We made it back to the car about 2:45. Some of those stream crossings were pretty wicked. The water was almost as deep as the Slate run crossing, at some of the crossing points.
Had a great time, and was happy that my son and I were able to complete the whole trail. I had doubt's at times after my knee went sour. I will be in touch after I figure out what to do with the pics I took. I'm going to check out the webshot site and copy them to CD as a slide show.”

“Landsurfer, congratulations on your completion of the entire trail. We had a pretty wet hike on the De Shay trail, but I didn't have to put the homemade waders to work. It was just swampy, but no serious stream crossings.”

“Made it home. Great trip as well as hikers. More later! Yo bear”

“Lyndy - yes, the weather was great Friday and Saturday, although the black flies had a feast on us. It rained all night Saturday and part of the morning Sunday.

We decided to go home Sunday rather than Monday and it looks like it was a good decision. Although the weather was fine after the early Sunday morning rain, I heard that Central Pa got hammered with severe thunderstorms later in the day.

It was a great trip none the less and it was a real pleasure meeting and backpacking with Jerbear, MSilver, RichB, Landsurfer with son Cliff, and Finewhine with son Alex. Oh, and I can't forget MSilver's wonderdog Sparky!

I'll have pictures up in a few days.”

“Penn, Storm was BAD! I had to pulloff 80 3 times wind was fierce, lighting. We made a good choice. I saw the hotel in warerville, we should have stopped for a monster burger! Hey where is my chili! LOL”

“Black flies already! I worried about a lot of possibilities, but that wasn't one of them.

I'm glad that everyone got home okay. I actually had us all four packed and ready to go, but with the rain that was predicted (Sat morn Weather Chan was predicting rain all Sat night and all day on Sun), we ended up deciding that this weekend's trip just wasn't meant to be for us. I really missed seeing everyone though.

Jerbear, sorry that you had that long drive just for two days of hiking. I guess that front that you mentioned was stronger than the tendency to be dry that we have had here over the past year.”

“wow, blackflies already!?!

the humanity! =:0

That storm was quite a doozy last night...glad you all got home safely. Can't wait to see some new PennsyPics!!
>:D”

“glad you all had a good trip! looking forward to the pictures.”

“M Silver and Sparky reporting here... All is well. A bit achy in the lower extremities, but no blisters, and only a few black fly bites continuing their itchy gig.

Somehow I thought landsurfer, Craig, finewhine and Alex were also bailing out via Santiero di Shay. Sorry I missed the good-byes, guys. Thanks for coming. It was a pleasure trekking with youans.

Lyndy, sorry you couldn't make it. We hoped that at the end of our long climb up to Chestnut Ridge late Sat afternoon, you'd have a campfire and hot meals for us, but alas, it was not to be :-(

I thought the rain was timed nicely -- started Sat night around sack time (the pitter-patter on my tent fly was like a lullaby), and ended right after we broke camp on Sunday morn. Hope finewhine and son Alex survived yesterday afternoon's downpour and the remainder of the County Line Branch swollen stream crossings.

Great time with the Boyz in the Wood.

Will try to have some pics posted later today.”

“The fire was great up on Cherry Ridge, though! (That was where you said you were going to meet us, right?) I had hot frogs' legs and snail soup waiting for you all.
:-P

Well, after reading Wanderer's thread, and bailing out on this trip due to a wee rain and other issues, I can hardly show my face here anymore. I'll meet everyone someday. Right now I am kinda focused on getting my family out backpacking, but I need some more favorable weather. Otherwise, they probably won't give it half a chance.

I ordered the Kelty Torrey daypack that was onsale at Global Mart and the kids loved it (it came with a Platypus hoser which they thought was way cool). They were fighting over it, so of course when I went to order a second one, it was no longer on sale, so I'll just use one of their school packs for now. I packed a sleeping bag, thermarest and water, and there was room for all their clothes, but I put those in my pack so they wouldn't be overloaded. I packed my husband's pack and then found out that the waist belt was too small (Tommy T. gave it to us; he must have skinny sons). So we cannabalized a belt off the old pack, and things weren't bad. Us adults only had 33 lbs each. But of course, then we didn't actually go anywhere. But I'm not annoyed ....... much.”

“Yeah, we did the right thing Jerbear. Darn, I forgot to give you that bag of chili. That's what you get for taking off so fast. LOL! I just ate it for dinner. It was yummy, but I'll make you a batch for the next time.


Lyndy - actually, Jerbear and I got 3 full days of hiking in. 30 miles of the rugged BFT, I'd say he got his money's worth. I know I did and now I have an excuse to get up there again.

Landsurfer and his son Cliff started on Thursday so they completed the trail. An exceptional feat, especially since Landsurfer twisted his knee and Cliff got blisters on the very first day. You guys get your certificates! ;o)

Amy - the black flies weren't humane at all! All my 95% deet did was make it easier for them to find me. It was still a very enjoyable weekend and I am working on the pics. It will take 2 Webshots albums to do it and I'm finishing the first one soon. Stay tuned!”

“Lyndy - hot frog's legs and snail soup? Is that normal Morris County cuisine? ;-)
But hey, we'll catch ya on the next trip - no worries.”

“Finewhine and Alex reporting in...I agree M.Silver, good timing with the rain showers. I wondered about the quick exit, glad to hear you had a good time. It was great meeting you all and sharing the trail with you. I even learned me a few things thanks to Jerber! Happy trails ber! That storm was bad. I drove home in the storm most of the way. It didn't seem to be worse than most thunderstorms but I avoided interstate 80 due the heavy rain and ran into a detour anyhow because of an accident. Found out later two people were killed. Got home to find out we lost power...what...no hot shower? Waaa...whine...whine...whine! Lucky, Alex and I got one hot shower each out of the hot water heater...there is a god! Looking forward to the pictures Pennsy!”

“See some highlights of Pennsy's ECT BFT at
http://community.webshots.com/album/36807021YHvFBE

They're all less than 100kb (easier to view), but within a few more days I'll try to post all of them at full resolution (c. 5 - 5.75 kb) for anyone who wants to download the originals.”

“Lyndy: you can show your face anytime anywhere, though perhaps you might leave the frogs, snails and other such New Jersey delicacies in New Jersey.

Glad to see everyone has now made it back alive and well.

Pennsy: Looking forward to seeing some of your pics.”

“MSilver, I just checked out the pictures and they look great. Lots of nice memories. Thanks for posting them.”

“Great shots Mr Silver. You saw things that I didn't see. :o)
Here's the link to M_Silver's BFT pics.

I just finished my pics. I had to make 2 webshots albums and since there is no link from one to another, I'll post the link to my Webshots main page. Both albums are at the top.

Link to my BFT Trip Pics

I'll probably start a new thread in case other folks want to see our pictures.”

“M_Silver - "Boyz in da Wood." I love that!

BTW - M_Silver, RichB, Landsurfer, Finewhine, and Jerbear - if you email me your snail mail address, I'll send you a CD with all 275 pictures full sized. Note to Jerbear: NOT to be inserted into car CD player. ;o)”

“No problem!
All one needs is the new and improved
SuperSwat 2000!

See our website for details...”

“LOL Gojo!

Woops guys, I forgot my email address. It's bjj@fast.net”