Tryo to the site

“Im new to this site, kinda stumbled on it by accident. My name is bryan...kinda obvious....and i just wanted to say hello. Ive been serving in Iraq with the NCANG since oct of 2003 and finally returned home this month. Im looking foward to communing with nature again......ok ok, so i just like the woods. Is that a bad thing? Just kinda looking for some new faces to hike with. Well, nice meeting you folks. Hope to hear from ya soon!”

“I serve with ARC”

“Welcome, Bryan from NC.”

“Dang, lots of trolls today.”

“Welcome, Bryan. Ignore the people calling you a troll. It's become a rather silly tradition around here.”

“ok welocme aboard.
enjoy your visit”

“Dub, grow up. The troll bit is very old.

Welcom Bryan and thank you for your service.”

“Don't feel bad if the posts drop down in a few minutes.
Very few post thru the weekends.”

“ignore treebait, she's a giant troll. "tryo," what is that?”

“Bite me, Lyra. :)”

“*Pops the popcorn*
waits for the action.... ;-)”

“"first time try." lyra learned it from an old old outdoors book from my high school library.”

“LOL!! just pickin'.

hmmm, learn something new every day.”

“the love throughout this web site LOL!”

“anyone with military service under their belt”

“OMG THAT IS SUCH A LOADED QUESTION
NOT FAIR!”

“There are a good many military folks here. A few Rangers and one special forces. They'll probably chime in later.”

“Welcome Bryan! And welcome back from the war.”

“In March there is a trip scheduled for the Smokies. It's called Breakneck Ridge, or something similar. That should be in your neck of the woods.”

“Several TTers are in Iraq now.
Several vets.”

“yup. quite a few of us here.
Me, Army - 92-96.
Where in NC are you?
last edited: 1/28/05 3:45:38 PM”

“well, peidmont area off I77 north of charlotte bout an hour. I had some SF friends who helped with our convoy security. Personally im a commo dog, but also a gun bunny as a second mos.”

“yeah i saw that trip, dont know yet. All my gear, other than the military stuff, is in storage. I need to go through it all, cull out some old stuff, and update throughout it all.”

“for those who drink, whats your favorite outdoor drink, or drink recipes? Mine, for a straight nightcap......Eligah Craig burbon, for coctail.....Vodka Martini.........shaken not stirred! LOL!”

“Well bpb, we are all gear experts here on TT.”

“you an expert stovie? on what?”

“I'm an expert on Clown Trolls, LOL.”

“do you speak from experence?”

“LOL”

“the article why i go by rob coleman in the reflections section. Just read it and it was great. just curious about others i suppose. BTW, what does anyone think of the MSR Pocket Rocket? any users out there, feed back greatly appreciated”

“s.s. is a donut puncher . hows that for feadback?”

“MSR Pocket Rocket?
If I was to get another stove for other than ultralite packing, I would get that one.”

“Eddie, be a man, ditch the troll name.”

“Welcome Bryan. You're in awesome country down there in NC! Should try and hike all of the 6000 foot peaks you got at your disposal. Pay no attention to the troll calling. Welcome back to stateside. Watch the trips page for trips in your area, or if you don't mind traveling, trips in other areas.”

“Ewker/Eddy just called me and said he wasn't doing the trolling.
I believe him.
Sorry Eddy, I was wrong to assume that.
Just some a$$hole trying to stir the pot.
No big deal.”

“I have a pocket rocket and used it for the first time a couple of weeks back. One morning it was around freezing and then thing went out while I was cooking breakfast. I put the fuel cannister under my fleece for about 5 minutes and it worked fine after than. I'm happy with the purchse. That was my only complaint. I'm in Alabama and new I wouldn't really need a cold weather stove.”

“Ya know, it's after five on a Friday.
Budda Bear could be drunk and trolling again. ;-)”

“The whole troll thing is sooo 2003... GET WITH THE TIMES PEOPLE...”

“ive got a whisperlite international, and love it, but its a little heavy for ultralight. For more than three days, yeah, ill use it or for cold weather, but summer and short days, the pocket rocket seems to be the ticket. thanks guys”

“pocket rockets are nice and so are the jetboils”

“.................jetboils?”

“Hey Bryan, check out the Trail Days trip in May - its a great fun time to kick back and just hang out - no real hiking or backpacking involved, but its a blast.”

“the Jetboil stove rules!!



www.jetboil.com
last edited: 1/28/05 11:22:54 PM”

“also, being from North Carolina, sometime soon, you should hike the Black Mountain Crest Trail. It's a challenging trail and one of the hardest in the east. It has over 7000 feet of elevation gain and traverses several of the highest peaks in the East, including Mt. Mitchell. It's a very cool trail with great alpine scenery and awesome views. Very cool.”

“pics from the Black Mountain Crest Trail:
http://community.webshots.com/album/159624196vGHUCe (July 4th weekend of this year)

http://community.webshots.com/album/209671262pzxvZP (this past October)”

“Yep, the BMCT is on the list i compiled while in iraq, but i need a few months of day hikes and overnighters to get back in shape. Then again wearing 25lbs of gear and carring a 7lb weapon shouldnt be bad. Maybe im better off than i think. Hmmm, still think a day hike on sunday is in order regardless of the weather.”

“yeah, i gotta hunch your in better shape than I was last July - i did the Crest trail with ENS. Its a buttkicker, but man, what an awesome hike!”

“I did the BMCT back in July of 2003 when I first got back into backpacking. It was the first hike I had done in over 3 years. I could hardly take a step by the time I reached Cattail Peak, luckily I made it to Deep Gap to camp. That's a really fun trail and Deep Gap is a cool place to camp. Be prepared for cold when you hike it. Even in the summer daytime highs in the 50s are not uncommon up on the crest and nights are typically in the 40s. It was pretty cool up there back in July. When you start out on the trail down in lower elevations it can swelteringly hot and very humid. Once you get up top, it's a whole nuther world.”

“Yeah, been to MT Mitchell several times. absolutely beautiful up there! As for in shape, lol maybe, but still could stand to lose a few first probably”

“

“anyone with military service under their belt”
backpackerbryan

I was in Intelligence, but I left it all behind when I departed from the army.
last edited: 1/29/05 3:08:15 PM”