Pictures from
2003
On January 16, 17, 18 thirty-two guys transcended on the mountains of North Carolina for our Annual gathering of Manly Men. We went through two trailer loads fire wood this weekend. We had about 4" of snow on Friday and all weekend long we had temperatures at night falling to the single digits. This weekend was sort of like a reunion as we saw many people that we have not seen for many years. We also had a lot of new faces this year.
20 Years Ago I would not believe that I would still be doing
this trip. For the past 2 weeks I have been working on a PowerPoint
presentation to be given to all the guys. This will cover the past 20
years of pictures, stories and fun that we have had on the Annual Manly Man
Winter Camping Trip. The presentation is 648meg with 78 slides, 16 songs
and over 250 pictures.
The elders decided that they should come up a day earlier for a little time together. So Lee, Sandor, Raymond, Corry, Bill, Arlie and Myself met up here at our regular place on the Dead End Rd. We also had Clark, Morris and Phillip with us. It started snowing about 4:00 in the afternoon on a very cold day. As we arrived at the campsite we already had about a half inch. We wanted to get things setup before we were to deep in snow. We were expecting about 6" to 8" with some very cold temperatures. On this night we had a special Elder Dinner. I started by fixing Buffalo wings with a Caribbean Jerk Chicken Sauce over them as an appetizer. Then for the main course we had Salad, Pork Tenderloin rolled in cracked Peppercorn, Steamed Fresh broccoli with Taco Seasoned Cheese and Arlie made his all time famous Hash Brown Potatoes. The meal was great.
Before the snow stopped we had about 5" and temperatures that fell below 20 last night. The snow was very pretty. Bubba and I got away from camp for a little bit and walked in God's magnificent creation. We had a great opportunity to talk about how God had been at work in our lives.
Bill Abel Sr. and Brian Abel showed up about 12:01. Bill Jr. told them that Thursday was and Elders only so they sat at the bottom of the hill untill 12:01 so that they could say that they came on Friday. Greg Price and Mark Martin showed too about 12:30.
When Mark got there I had already gone to bed but I was not asleep yet. A couple of years ago when it started started to Snow Mark and Greg wimped out and returned home. When Mark asked were I was the guys left around the fire told him that I had backed out because of the weather. I could hear all other their discussions from the tent. Mark was giving me down the road. It was quite humorous to hear how he was talking about me. Then all of a sudden I piped up, Hey Mark. Good for a small laugh.
On Friday we were expecting a very large crowd of people.
Our group included, Cameron Fraser, Tim
and David Hollar, James Houbon, Frances,
Issac, Danny Yount, Morris Abercrombie, Jay Royster, Richard and Philip Lewis
along with their dad Raymond, Dale Hood and Kurt R., and Roman Morris We
had a couple of folks that we had a couple of new faces such as Mark Colson, Joe
Peltack, Ronnie Robinson, and Lee Marlow that have missed a lot of the
past trips. We have missed Harold for many years. He came back this
year after being gone for about four years.
On Friday everyone was supposed to fix their own meal. On the the more unusual things that was fixed this weekend included the Deep Fried Pickles that Bill Abel fixed. He also had Deep Fried Deer. Bill is always the best cook. Temperatures on Friday dipped to about 15 degrees at night. On Friday night we had what seemed to be a small fire. Everyone was jockeying to get a warm space around the fire. It is a good thing that Morris brought a load of firewood.
Written by Raymond Lewis
Another year that went great. Mark Colson & Harold Yount showed up and it was a great surprise. (The fact is that when Harold was walking into camp, Ray kept rubbing his eyes to see if he was seeing things.) It very cold and we are thinking about changing our name to "Too Old To Be Cold". both of my Son's came up again and it was good to share this time with them. My Friend Jay Royster also came up and seemed to enjoy himself. Many new faces and new good times. Bubba did not fall and bust his head this year. Morris did a 360 and almost ran us off a cliff.
ALL GOOD MEDICINE! Ray Lewis
Written by Jay Royster
My First year. Ray talked me into running up this year. 12
degrees is just not cold enough. Since my sleeping bag has rated to -40 I
thought I would test it. I did go on the hike they planned today to the
Upper Harper Creek Falls. Not sure if our
leader know the best way but we
finial got there. We had to cross a creek to get there. I along with
several other got wet in the crossing. Fun had by all. Great slide
show of the History of these guys Thanks Ray for inviting me up
Jay Royster
Written by Clark Ireland
I got up first thin in the morning and the first thing I wanted
to do was brush my teeth and take a piss or vise versa. Roman came in on
the 17th and wanted everyone to take a drink of what ever it was in that Mason
Jar. I didn't
until Saturday morning when I wanted to brush my
teeth. Unfortunately I thought the water. I had my own water, but I
grabbed the wrong water to swish with. It was Moonshine
Thanks, Clark
Written by Harold Yount
Well my morning started at 6:00am on Saturday morning when I
rolled out of bed to go join the Annual Manly Manly Men Camping crew for the day
and night at Wilson Creek. I got a little misplaced on the way up, but
soon found my long lost friends at the dead end road. Snow covered the
ground as I arrived at 8:45am. Well
all the Elders and regulars where glad
to see me. I have been absent for the past four years.
While Jim lead a group hiking and Cameron lead a group trail biking, I hung out in camp, tending to the fire and swapping stories with old and new friends. Bill Able and his crew cooked up a great dinner for us all, Chicken Stew and Deer ham. The PowerPoint presentation was a collection of 20yrs of Manly Man Camping Trips. It was awesome to see some of these pictures. Well know that we have all re-gathered by the fire except for Danny who went down in flames before the show even started. Time for another drink.
See Ya on the trail Harold Yount.
This is Marks (with glasses) first time on the AMMWCT. Harold (in the green) came back after being away for many years. Also pictured are Ray Lewis and Bill Abel.
Well the fire is roaring thanks to the second load of wood that Raymond and Morris went and got, our bellies are full so we are going to share some pictures with you.
I'm warm and they won't leave me alone.
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