Fall Trackrock Hammer-in Headsup

Since a picture is worth a 1000 words, here's a few:

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Iron in the Hat table:

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Bunch of folks talking knives.
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Sorry for more questions, but what is the schedule like? Does it go into the evening on Saturday? Or is it wrapping up midday? My wife is onboard now and so I'm trying to figure out if we need a cabin for 1 night or 2.

Thanks!
 
the formal forging activities end before supper time on Sat. but the festivities and shenanigans go way into the night in the Fiddleback cabins and the crex & rick lowe cabins as well
 
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Do you know if any of the Cabins are still available? We'd need a big one. My wife would prefer to be onsite if possible, but I guess we'll do what we have to do. It's going to be cool! I'm going to give a call tomorrow.
 
SA Condor said:
Do you know if any of the Cabins are still available? We'd need a big one. My wife would prefer to be onsite if possible, but I guess we'll do what we have to do. It's going to be cool! I'm going to give a call tomorrow.
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i dont know, but to be honest its not likely. there are only 5 or 6
 
I just brought a tent and a small electric space heater. There is a nice shower house with lots of hot water. Town isn't that far away, so that's an option.

It's totally casual, so there really isn't too much of a schedule from what I can tell. I think it slowly builds from Friday noon to about 6:30 when the ice chests open and the sun is setting and then it starts up at a gentlemanly 9:00 ish on Saturday until about noon when there is lunch. Then about 4:30 there is the "iron in the hat" drawing and a few die-hards will fire up forges after that until dinner time. As for "Schenagegans" it's pretty tame-- given what "could happen" given that everyone has a knife or two and has been beating metal all day.

Last two years I drove from Norfolk, VA (550 miles) and never looked back (Left Thursday afternoon, got a hotel and rolled in about 1:30 on Friday-- blasted back on Sunday, leaving about 7:30 to catch breakfast in Blairsville.) It was the highlight of my year.

This year it will be about 800 miles, so I'm not sure if I can swing it as it would require five days of kitchen passes-- Who knows, I still have a car in Norfolk I need to "get" if we can ever sell our old house so the stars may align.

I can promise you this: You will learn more in a weekend than a year on the internet. The sharing, showing, grab a hammer, how do you get your handle to do this, etc will absolutely amaze you-- at least it did me. It's hands-on, ask questions, learn and share. Best of all, as I transition to an "old fart" status, is that there will be kids there that want to learn, are hungry for skill, and willing to risk, and will make you sleep easy knowing that the world is in good hands.

One more picture:
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or two:

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Great pics thanks for sharing these......you're quite a salesman. Somehow I didn't pick up on your move, where to? Sure hate that it's farther away, but it will open avenues to new adventures for sure (I'm not the only hammer-in with good people, so check around). Hope the stars line up for you which ever way you travel.

SA - not likely any on-site cabins left. They book pretty fast once the notice comes out. Never hurts to check with the Campground things open up sometimes and they will help you if they can. There are quite a few cabin rentals in the area close by, so you might try google. It's on the tail end of "leaf peeker" season so some might be opened up for booking.

Side note on the pics - Young man (blonde - dead center first pic) is the infamous Scout. He came to me when he was 4 years old wanting to forge a knife, he's 16 going on 50+ now and is one of my best instructors at these events. Worth the trip just to watch him work....and he's a bit of a babe magnet to boot.
ps - Pretty good shot of Allen actually wearing his safety glasses. He might just make the safety poster this year.

pps - the only reason folks think things stop happening down at the barn after dinner is they are getting so loud around the campfire they can't hear the hammers and anvils. Some of the guys work pretty late into the night. I used to, but at my age 12oz. lifts easier than 2.5#s at the end of the day and I get to study degenerents at a leisurely pace around the campfire. It's all good.
 
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swonut, great write up and description of the feel of it all. This past year was my first, and that's exactly how I felt about it. The generosity of everyone's time and knowledge was remarkable, and it was just so much fun. I'm sorry to hear you won't be there.

And as to the infamous Scout, he took my boy under his wing and helped him forge his first knife. My kid basically took off and hammered away. Now he won't miss the event for anything...we've been talking about it for months.
 
Man, so that is a barn full of friends and learning. Thanks for posting the pics Swonut. Feel free to fly here and drive up with me if that helps. You can stay with us the night before. Plenty of room.
 
SA, Glad to hear you are going to be able to make it up for the event! If a cabin doesn't come available, many of the sites have power and water, so a primo car camping site can be set up. There are also more than a few camper spots and there seem to be a few locations in the area where one can be rented.

http://www.yellowpages.com/search-map/blairsville-ga/camper-rentals

There will be plenty of trucks, mine included that could tow a small camper to the site if you didn't end up getting an RV that could drive itself. Since it hasn't been posted, here is a map of the campgrounds. See you there!

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As much as I LOVE camping, my bride would not appreciate that with an infant and a 3 year old!! My 2 oldest girls are excited to come hang out with me and learn. They're 8 and 10 . . . thanks for the heads up about Scout . . . now I'll have to carry a big club or knife, LOL.
 
SA Condor said:
They're 8 and 10 . . . thanks for the heads up about Scout . . . now I'll have to carry a big club or knife, LOL.
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Scout's a babe magnet not a bird dog, so don't come with the wrong impression. He's every bit the young gentleman you'd want your girls to meet.
Won't need a club unless it's for the girls................., but do bring a knife, that's what we do. The "16 going on 50" is referring to his mental maturity. Once you've met and talked to him you'll understand.
 
crex said:
Scout's a babe magnet not a bird dog, so don't come with the wrong impression. He's every bit the young gentleman you'd want your girls to meet.
Won't need a club unless it's for the girls................., but do bring a knife, that's what we do. The "16 going on 50" is referring to his mental maturity. Once you've met and talked to him you'll understand.
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I assure you I don't have the wrong impression! I simply stated that in jest. Neither of my girls are to that age yet, I'm not worried at all. Just looking forward to coming, learning, and enjoying getting to know those who come!
 
Just don't want any other readers to get the wrong impression. Electronic social media can be very punishing. Don't care much what it does to my personal reputation - screwed that up long ago - just don't want to start something up on someone not here to defend themselves. My descriptives may have been poorly chosen.
No harm, no foul, looking forward to meeting you and the girls.
 
For you Carl,

My son searches for excuses to carry this one around. Took this last night at our weekly Sunday evening cookout/gun shooting/cigar smoking/bonfire porch sit. Did a bit of turkey carving with this one last night.

From Trackrock Spring 2016.

 
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