Thursday 3/20/25 (Roswell) Cloudy most of the day with some bursts of sun. Temps to 64 H 42 L at the Peachtree-Dekalb airport.
. Headed into the office this morning and was dragging a bit after our Cornhole victory last night and post-game activities
. Drove through McDonalds for a burrito on the ride to Alpharetta
. Then got ready for two interviews this morning to backfill Jordan’s sales position
. Took Taco Bell back to the office for lunch
. Ate quickly, then did a 12:30pm call with PerfectVision to review sub-affiliate applications
. Had a business development call with Steven at 2pm
. Then met Mahan by 3pm at BW3 to watch the start of the NCAA basketball tournament
. Ate wings, drank brew, and watched games until ~4:30pm
. Then headed home to find that the workers had made progress on the kid’s bathroom today – installing some lights installed and painting the walls
. Had some more beers, watched more NCAA basketball, and packed for the Ranger Field this evening
Friday 3/21/25 (Roswell/Ranger Field) Mostly sunny with temps to 62 H 35 L in Dahlonega. Colder on the mountain with some wind. Likely to ~30 L at the Ranger Field.
. Maddie headed to school this morning
. Ashley went for a run
. And I decided to work out of the house today so that I could head for the Ranger Field by mid-afternoon
. Worked on a sales report and slides for Steven
. And set up second round interviews for next week with human resources
. Had the 4Runner loaded and hit the road by 2:30pm this afternoon
. Mahan offered me a ride, but I was ahead of schedule and decided to drive solo to the trailhead
. Stopped at the Ingles to get some Lancaster, but they were out
. So I bought an egg salad sandwich, chips, and 12 pack and headed for the mountains
. Had light traffic on GA 400 and got routed off the Browns Bridge exit
. Arrived at the forest road gate at 4:51pm and hiked the short 0.9 miles to the Ranger Field
. It was quiet as I climbed up the hill and I expected for our campsite to be available
. But there was a solo backpacker napping in his tent when I arrived that hiked in from the cemetery
. This was the first time that our campsite was occupied in 8 trips here, but it was bound to happen sooner or later
. So I crossed the field, checked out the camping options there, and ate a late lunch from my Helinox chair
. Reggie, Ken, and Danny Mahan were about 30 minutes behind me
. They soon arrived and OK’d the site over camping at the end of the forest road
. Set-up tents, gathered firewood, and stoked up a fire as the sunset and temperatures dropped
. The backpacker across the field asked for insect repellant since the gnats were out this evening
. Gave him an Off wipe and he headed back to his camp where he also had a fire burning
. Robbie and friend Bobby arrived at dusk with dogs Shamus and Delaney
. And they set-up camp with the rest of the group in the woods
. We quickly got a roaring fire started
. Then Mahan made us a shrimp and rice dinner since it is currently Lent
. I boiled some water for Bobby who was light on food and gave him a Buffalo Mac & Cheese Mountain House
. Robbie and Bobby then offered to make a beer run for us and headed to my 4Runner bringing back 6 additional beers
. I never got to them this evening and ended up packing out more full cans than I have in any previous backpacking trip
. Stayed up until 1:32am with Reggie and Mahan after the kids went to sleep around midnight
. There were tons of stars in the sky tonight, and I was glad that we camped on top of the mountain
Saturday 3/22/25 (Ranger Field/Roswell) Mostly sunny with temps to 70 H 42 L in Roswell.
. Woke in the middle of the night and walked the short distance to my hanging pack and got a fleece hat and bandana out
. A cold caught up with me and my nose was running most of the night
. Crawled back in my sleeping bag and slept until ~8:30am
. It got chilly overnight and the 20 degree bag isn’t holding up to its rating level these days
. Everyone was up and moving around when I finally got out of the tent by 9am
. They all packed up and hit the trail at least 20 minutes before I did
. Robbie and his friend Bobby headed out first and were followed 15 minutes later by the rest of the group
. Arrived at the 4Runner to find an Army Ranger navigating nearby carrying an orange assault rifle and a full pack
. I thought the “R’” on the road was for a backcountry trail run but it turns out that it is for Ranger training
. Saw three vans with navigation antennae when I got to the main gravel road – so there must be extensive training underway this weekend
. Passed numerous motorcycles on the drive to Nimblewill Church
. And got a call from Mahan that Robbie found the Dawsonville Waffle House packed
. So they stopped at Bojangles and I hit McDonalds on the drive back home
. Went by the lake house to check on a tree that fell recently
. It threaded the needle between the house and the boat trailer
. A pro couldn’t have done a better job!
. Took some picks and checked on the numerous cushions missing from chairs on the dock
. The overnight storm on 3/16/25 blew the chairs all over the place
. Got home by 12:15pm, unloaded the 4Runner, then got a shower
. Sacked out for nearly two hours since I’ll need the energy for later tonight
. Had time to unpack and air out my backpacking gear
. Then Maddie took us to Blessed Trinity for the auction after she did Ashley’s make-up
. Tatiana Matthews invited us to their table and paid for the entire night
. Mark and Katy Walker joined us as did a friend of Mark’s brother plus his wife
. We were unsuccessful in all our auction bids this evening but had a great time
. The weather was perfect for the event – although we were in a tent in the back parking lot
. Maddie with friends Fiona and Sara picked us up from BT by 11pm when the event ended
. Then the girls spent the night in the basement and watched movies while Ashley and I sacked out upstairs
