Ultralight Hike
Right at the start of the year, some others and I went out again. On the first weekend of the year, the Bushcraft Friends winter gathering was on the agenda. This gathering was organised by Bimbi in the forum of the same name and the Facebook group of the same name. It took place on the grounds of the Bushcraft Camp Rhön.
In December there was a lot of snow in the Rhön. Unfortunately the temperatures rose above freezing and the snow gave way to rain. So Bimbi and I left the snow stakes in the cupboard and took suitable ones for wet ground.
35 people had registered for this gathering. On Friday lunchtime I set off and reached the camp grounds in the afternoon.
On site I found that I was one of the last participants. Bimbi had arrived early in the morning and had kindly already set up our tent by midday. Since the work was already done, I could devote myself to the cosy part right after arriving. On the grounds you could clearly see that pyramid tents and hammocks are the big hit of 2018.
The mood was good, and there was a lively exchange between familiar and new faces.
In the evening a lot of food was chopped, because there was going to be ratatouille. After everyone was full, a lot of rice was left over; it was kept and was supposed to serve as a side dish the next day, but more on that later. The evening was short for some of the participants and rather long for others. Nevertheless, everyone found their way into their tents, tarps and hammocks and got up well rested the next morning.
After the night, breakfast was served up. Every participant had brought their own provisions, but many also brought little extras for everyone. So there was scrambled eggs, coffee, bacon, muesli and much more.
On the second day there were workshops on tarp setup and fire drilling. The participants gave good feedback on them. Many thanks to the mentors who shared their knowledge with great patience.
Because of all the rain and the snowmelt, the little stream in which I had bathed last summer has become a raging torrent. Since the scale is hard to capture in a single picture, I briefly filmed this section, but don't worry, my trip reports are still written in text.
In the evening there was venison goulash with the rice from the day before. Thoringi not only sponsored the game, but also stood at the fire and prepared the goulash for the crowd.
My craving for something sweet was satisfied with a double chocolate-cookie-marshmallow creation. I have rarely eaten anything so brilliantly sweet.
Typical for such a gathering, the hours flew by. Before we knew it, it was Sunday noon and the gathering was officially over. Still, the hours were absolute quality time that I will draw on until the next tour.
Thanks for this wonderful weekend, even though the snow didn't want to show up!
