Goat Island 2014

Join us May 23 through May 26, 2014 for the 5th annual Goat Island Hang on Lake Greenwood in Greenwood, SC.

This year we will have sites 2 - 5. I wasn't quick enough to get the whole island, so it looks like we may have a little company (a potential hammock camping convert or two would be my guess).

A few years back we had an auction... Last year we had a Dutch Oven Desert Cook-off... 2014 is the year of the "Yet-to-be-Named" Contest. Everyone is eligible but only one will win the prize. Must be present to enter. Must be present to win and must be on the island to find out what the competition is all about. No peeking, no hints, and no clues. You just gotta be there.

This will be a kid-friendly event so please feel free to bring your family along (that being said... please temper your activities and conversations appropriately).

In order to get to the island, you will need a boat or chip in for gas if someone is able to provide a shuttle that weekend. Just make sure not to call whomever offers this service the Goat Island Fairy Typically we have a group dinner on Saturday evening. I sure am looking forward to some good ol' “Low Country Beaufort Frogmore Boil Stew”.

In order to comply with the reservations we have already made with the GLMD, please make sure to sign up on the roster located here: Goat Island 2014 Sign-up Sheet

There is no fee for camping, just sign up and claim yourself a spot and try to adhere to the GLMD rules as outlined in the fine print at the very bottom of this post

Goat Island has no facilities therefor all water for consumption will be brought to the island. We will have access to additional water if needed and there is a small convenience store at Moon’s Landing where basic supplies can be purchased. With that said, also note that there are no restrooms so please be prepared to dispose of all waste properly (ie. catholes, baggies, personal porta-potties, etc.).

Here is the address for the secure parking place at:

Moon Landing RV Park & Marina‎

4105 Watts Bridge Road
Cross Hill, SC 29332-5049
(864) 998-4292
www.moonlandingrvpark.com‎

Per GMLD because it’s my name on the permit-

No cutting of trees shall be permitted on the Island, or destruction of trees and other plant life.
Absolutely no littering. All trash and litter brought to the Island must be removed by the expiration of this permit.
Campfires must be built in such a way as to prevent spread of the fire and must be completely extinguished prior to the expiration of this permit. Fires can only be used to burn dead wood gathered on the Island or brought to the Island. Burning trash is prohibited.
There will be no camping in the backside of the Island facing the Greenwood County shoreline. All campsites must face the lake body.
The use of alcohol (in moderation. please use your discretion) or illegal drugs is absolutely prohibited.

Any violation of the above provisions of this permit will result in the immediate revocation of same, the forfeiture of the privilege to receive future permits, and/or prosecution for criminal and civil liabilities that might arise from these violations.
Checkout time is 2 pm.

The 2014 Lake Greenwood, Goat Island Hang in Greenwood, SC. May 23-26, 2014
__________________
Sign up for Goat Island 2014

DONATE TO THE GOAT ISLAND FIRE PIT FUND

Hang for a Cure Trip Report

Hiking along the Chattooga River.

Getting There is Half the Fun

After picking up 1Arm Bandit, 2/3 of my children, and the dog. We headed out of Abbeville for the Chattooga River. We were in a hurry to get on the trail so we stopped in Anderson to pick up lunch at Zaxby's and got back on the road. Another quick stop at a Dollar General to pick up a soda and take a potty break put us on schedule to hit the trail head at 3:00 pm (we were 10 minutes early).

We bypassed the packed Burrell's Ford parking area for the roadside parking at the trail head to the Ellicott Rock Wilderness Area. The day was custom ordered for hiking. We could not have asked for a nicer day. We donned our packs locked the truck and hit the trail...

The hike into the site was just over a mile in and didn't take that long even though we were hiking with kids. The temperature was perfect, birds were singing, the river was talking, flowers were blooming, and not even the thought that we had forgotten to get our frozen steaks from the dash of the truck was going to ruin our day (1Arm Bandit volunteered to return to the truck for the steaks after setting up camp).

We strolled into camp and were greeted by swampfox and a slew of other hammock campers (final totals around 20 hangers). Swampfox walked us through the area and showed us to our designated spot just upstream of the East Fork bridge and we quickly set to work putting up tarps, hammocks, underquilts, and top quilts. I set up Kryptonite's kit in "porch mode" first before setting up mine and Donkey Kong's hammocks in "bunk bed" mode.

Hammock with tarp pitched in "porch" mode.

Hammocks set up in "bunk bed" mode.

1Arm Bandit's Abode

The Great Steak Run

After setting up his new cwhammocks tarp and hammock and Hammock Gear top quilt and underquilt, 1Arm Bandit grabbed his hiking pole and a day pack and headed back down the trail for the forgotten steaks. THANK YOU 1Arm Bandit!!!!!!!

While he was walking, I continued setting up camp, collected wood for the fire, and waited on people to arrive.

JBRanger, Snaggle Tooth, and Joan arrived shortly after 1Arm Bandit returned with dinner. Some of the others to arrive during that period were WFR and Abo, Skinneys11, Matt, and others that I am not remembering. The full roll call can be found here (Roll Call in first Post on this Hammock Forums Thread). 

After getting the campfire started, we hung up the community water for our little area and commenced to getting our dinner cooked. Nothing much really happened around our campfire that night - except maybe for a little peep roasting (sorry, no pictures). After sacrificing two packages of peeps to the campfire we sat around for awhile, chatted, and made our way to our lodging.

Enjoying a snack by the waterfall

The next morning Mark (Baby Hooey) and Kayla showed up and set up their hammocks. And after everyone in our little group was awake (Kryptonite slept till almost 11am) we hiked down to Spoonauger Falls and had a quick snack. Then we hoofed it back to camp for a quick lunch. And then we waited for everyone to get back from hiking, fishing, or napping before JBRanger started the raffle.

Vendor list

2QZQ

DIY Gear Supply

Bloomgorge

The Ultimate Hang

Elightened Equipment

ENO Hammocks

Hammock Gear

TATO Gear

LoopAlien

The raffle

The raffle was a ton of fun and I would like to thank JBRanger for organizing the raffle and contacting all the vendors. Thanks to all the vendors for their GENEROUS donations. You really went above and beyond and a lot of money was raised for a great cause (Children's Cancer Research). 

I've got a Golden Ticket!

A lot of people got a lot of really good gear, but it wasn't the the Grand Prize drawing until things started to get really interesting. 

All $5 tickets were put back into an envelope and and then all $10 tickets and their duplicates were put into the hat as well and then Snaggle Tooth (JBRanger's daughter) stuck her hand deep into the envelope and pulled out a ticket and then handed that ticket to her dad. Yep... you are reading that right... "CW" 

That was a great big Whoo Buddy! moment right there. I was holding the winning ticket of the Enlightened Equipment RevelationX 30* karo step top quilt. I made sure to get a picture to prove it.

It is not Camping without a Campfire

The remainder of the afternoon was spent checking out each other's gear - some bought, some DIY, but all functioning perfectly to keep each and every occupant off the ground. After checking out all that awesome gear, I went back to where my crew was getting set up for a campfire and claimed a section of ground and enjoyed each others company.

  

All except for 1Arm Bandit, that is. He was told he was not allowed to have any fun... So he didn't.

When it's all said and done...

All good things come to and end and this trip was no different. We cleaned up our site leaving it cleaner that it was when we arrived; looked around one last time to make sure we weren't leaving anything behind. Then  we packed up under a blue sky and said good bye to new and old friends alike and then we hit the trail.

Goat Island 2013, May 16-19

The time is here!!! Time to start planning the Fourth Annual Goat Island Hang. This year promises to be bigger and better than last year (and last year was AWESOME!).

Reservations for Goat Island this year are for the weekend of May 16th thru May 19th. This is the weekend prior to Memorial Day Weekend. We have found in the past that some like to have the option to come out a day early so we now make the reservations for Thursday thru Sunday. However, no pressure for Thursday. In fact, showing up on Saturday is fine too.

In order to get to the island, you will need a boat or chip in for gas if someone is able to provide a shuttle that weekend. Just make sure not to call whomever offers this service the Goat Island Fairy Typically we have a group dinner on Saturday evening with the last two years being “Low Country Beaufort Frogmore Boil Stew”.  Dessert was also a big hit the last two years where we were treated to some fine talented Dutch Oven cooks. Peach cobbler, blackberry cobbler, and an upside down peach cake... all topped “a la mode”. Talk about being in heaven...

This will be a kid-friendly event so please feel free to bring your family along (that being said... please temper your activities and conversations appropriately). In the past there has not been an agenda other than hang out, have fun, and when do we eat? The kids and adults spent a lot of time in the water. Swimming, boating , fishing, skiing, tubing, and cornhole were a big hit in previous years(skiing, tubing, and shuttling thanks to Swampfox!). This year we hope to provide even more opportunities for fun . The possibilities for fun are not limited by the size of the island - there is even a geocache on the island.

In order to comply with the reservations we have already made with the GLMD, please make sure to sign up on the roster located here: [ https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnRHBhAMyxn8dHVmNHE1NXhjY1FpVzJNd1lZNEhYcVE#gid=0 ] There is no fee for camping, just sign up and claim yourself a spot and try to adhere to the GLMD rules as outlined in the fine print at the very bottom of this post.

Goat Island has no facilities therefor all water for consumption will be brought to the island. We will have access to additional water if needed but there is a small convenience store at Moon’s Landing where basic supplies can be purchased. With that said, also note that there are no restrooms so please be prepared to dispose of all waste properly (ie. catholes, baggies, personal porta-potties, etc.).

Here is the address for the secure parking place at:

Moon Landing RV Park & Marina‎
4105 Watts Bridge Road
Cross Hill, SC 29332-5049
(864) 998-4292
 www.moonlandingrvpark.com‎

Per GMLD because it’s my name on the permit-

• No cutting of trees shall be permitted on the Island, or destruction of trees and other plant life. 
• Absolutely no littering. 
• All trash and litter brought to the Island must be removed by the expiration of this permit. 
• Campfires must be built in such a way as to prevent spread of the fire and must be completely extinguished prior to the expiration of this permit. 
• Fires can only be used to burn dead wood gathered on the Island or brought to the Island. 
• Burning trash is prohibited. 
• There will be no camping in the backside of the Island facing the Greenwood County shoreline. 
• All campsites must face the lake body. 
• The use of alcohol or illegal drugs is absolutely prohibited. 
• Any violation of the above provisions of this permit will result in the immediate revocation of same, the forfeiture of the privilege to receive future permits, and/or prosecution for criminal and civil liabilities that might arise from these violations. 
• Checkout time is 2 pm. 

The 2013 Lake Greenwood, Goat Island Hang in Greenwood, SC. May 16-19, 2013 Last year we raised enough money thru our auction to install a permanent fire pit at site number 5. The auction was a lot of fun and we may do it again next year. This year I am asking that you make a $10 donation to Goat Island, so that we can put another fire pit on another site (maybe even two sites, or three)




some video from last year

Fire ring Update

This is just a quick update concerning the fire ring for Goat Island.

I received an email from Julie with Greenwood County Lake Management letting me know the fire ring is on the island.

Eric,

Wanted to let you know that the fire ring has been installed. The guys had a couple of hours while I was off and put it in.
Thanks,
Julie

Goat Island Thank You Letter

I recently had the privilege to deliver the fire ring that was graciously donated by Hammock Forums and it's members to Greenwood Lake Management. The following is a letter of thanks for the donation.

Goat Island 2012

This year's Goat Island Hang was definitely a GREAT trip. By the time I finally made it out to the island, I was definitely in need of a RELAXED weekend. Let's just say work was :(

and Goat Island was definitely needed

It was really cool seeing how some people got to the island...I want to give a HUGE thanks to all the cottage vendors who stepped up and helped raise some $$$ for the island.

Vendors in semi-alphabetical order

• BIAS Hammocks
• Derek Hansen
• DIY Gear Supply
• Dutchware
• Lois Rhodes
• MountainGoat
• Warbonnet Outdoors
• Whoopie Slings
• Wilderness Logics

I would also like to give a shout out to the cooks of Saturday evening's communal meal and to those wonderful folks who shuttled ALL the GEAR needed to make this event possible.

check out the pictures below:

Hawk's Bill

After reading posts about and seeing videos about the Linville Gorge [http://www.linvillegorge.net/], I decided I had to see it for myself. I was originally supposed to go up with some friends and two of my girls, but the wife had other plans. Rather than driving up to the gorge on Friday, we spent the day at the Discovery Island water park in Simpsonville and then went to dinner at Papas and Beer (not a beer joint :) ). Then we drove over to REI to walk off dinner before climbing to the top of and then finally headed home. On Saturday we loaded up the family cruiser and drove up for the day.

This video is from the top of Hawk's Bill in the Linville Gorge. You really MUST see it for yourself. It is SPECTACULAR!!! I made the hike up the trail with a 21 pound baby strapped to my chest.

side story

REI in Greenville, SC had an ENO hammock hanging outside the store tonight - strung way too tight and using slapstraps of course. It was all I could do to keep from embarrassing the wife by going in and educating the entire store on the proper way to hang a hammock.

Muskrat and some of his friends were hammock camping across the road from the trail head to Hawk's Bill. We got to their site around 3:00pm and hiked Hawk's Bill trail. After coming back down from site seeing, we hung out around the site until 6:00pm. All told, we spent 7 1/2 hours on the road for a 3 hour visit.

Was it worth it??? YES!!!! Would I do it again??? Yes!!! But I would rather spend more time the next go 'round.