NorthEast Beckerhead 2016 Spring Gathering

[trailbum]

What a weekend.
Thank you Ethan for the generous prizes.
We had some great food and refreshing beverages.
Had some fun contests: one hand fire, BB gun beer can challenge, Bk9 or Bk20 straw cut challenge, small Becker chopping contest and an impromptu tomahawk contest.
It was nice to see old friends and meet some new ones.
I didn't have my camera so sorry no pics from me.

 

[dresnor]

Amanda, Becker, and I made it home safe early this morning. Despite driving through snowy conditions near mount Washington and listening to Amanda talking in her sleep.

We had a great time and there will be pictures up soon.

Jeremy

 

[TheMadIndian]

This was another great time with a great group, is it weird I was looking forward to this since Oct?

I also failed and forgot my camera and my phone memory full, I did manage a few pics though

Me and my kids camp

The one handed, one stick fire competition

When a knife maker offers to sharpen your knife for you for free so you can compete better in his brain child competition of BK9 cutting contest you say yes, thanks Jim and BTW I won

My daughter in the BK9 contest attempting to cut the paper

My son doing his thing in the BB gun competition under trailbum's watchful eye and guidance

GSOM's kick ass dinner, I didn't mean to taint it or disrepect GSOM but when Bladite brought out the sriracha (one of my favs) I had to have some

Dinner, one of the few quiet moments

After dinner chillin with my daughter

That's it, I'm glad I had the opportunity to cook and feed people friday night's dinner and saturday's lunch (sorry again for forgetting the sides but at least we managed to get the cheese!!), the generosity of this group still overwhelms me and most specifically I'd like to thank Ethan and Kbar for all the goodies they sent but more importantly for making these wonderful tools that enable us to know each other and bring this group together twice a year.

 

[Silverthorn]

It was so much fun getting to meet some of our fantastic crew! Thank you to everyone who came out and special thanks to Trailbum for getting it set up.

 

[granitestateofmind]

GSOM's kick ass dinner, I didn't mean to taint it or disrepect GSOM but when Bladite brought out the sriracha (one of my favs) I had to have some

No disrespect taken.....I put the other stuff Bladite brought on mine.....

Thanks for Friday's dinner and Saturday's lunch....good to see you and the fam again.

and yeah...now the looking forward to October begins.

 

[Bladite]

blah-deet-tay sauce.

two spigots. many flavors.

 

[granitestateofmind]

blah-deet-tay sauce.

two spigots. many flavors.

I dunno why, but this sounds mildly, ah...pronrographic.

 

[Bladite]

I dunno why, but this sounds mildly, ah...pronrographic.

two holes, no waiting?

better than mug cake with toss sauce?

"you had to be there"

wow

 

[TheMadIndian]

two holes, no waiting?

better than mug cake with toss sauce?

"you had to be there"

wow

mug cake its the ...

 

[Tdhurl1103]

Damn, sorry I missed it. I intended to come up, however, work in Chicago took precedence.

 

[granitestateofmind]

Damn, sorry I missed it. I intended to come up, however, work in Chicago took precedence.

Effing work.....hopefully you'll make the fall gathering. Might end up having it at the same place....the facilities are pretty nice.

I'm getting pics and vids in order; prolly tomorrow before I get them organized and posted. Didn't take enough, that's for sure.

 

[Silverthorn]

There was soooooo much space to throw a tent down or swing. That place could accomodate like 50 people pretty easy. Also running water was damn nice.

 

[trailbum]

I'm looking at dates for a summer gathering.

 

[granitestateofmind]

Been meaning to post pics, though it seems I took almost none. The Slim Baker area is just beautiful, and I took advantage of the trail right outside the lodge Saturday morning. Didn't end up stopping for a lot of pics after I did for the first few; the blackflies were out of control and stopping meant risking my sanity. I had bug spray on, but those F-15ckers were flying into my ears, up my nose and straight into my eyes every time I stopped. Only bad part about the whole weekend.

View from the porch:

It was a real pretty morning and warming fast as I headed out. There were a TON of birds - Amanda got some great pics of a scarlet tanager that was hanging near the lodge - and the woods were alive with flycatchers and wood thrushes and woodpeckers:

Got to the top of the wide trail and stumbled into a prayer meeting of some kind (pics to come later....) and headed back down to find the other path up the mountain - much more trail-like:

Lots of paper birches and lots of downed paper birches; I was on the hunt for chaga but found this instead, false tinder fungus (IIRC it's something like....I don't remember ) :

Nice trail, still damp from the night's rain:

Getting to some views:

Next time, I'll go out a little more prepared and take a longer walk. Looped into the now empty worship space....Inspiration Point. Religious or not, this place has some serious mojo going on:

Found this little gal just hanking out in the sunshine:

And this...though it might look like leftover snow/ice, it's actually crystalline quartz growing out of the granite dome that's hidden under the moss.

Headed back down in retreat from the blackflies and found this bird's nest fallen onto the trail:

And lastly, the woodpecker tree. These were no doubt the work of a pileated woodpecker (or two). Nothing else leaves holes this large or this shape, with wood chips on the ground. Think woody woodpecker with the big red crest. They are impressive birds, and their call, to my mind, summons primordial forests....like, dinosaur primordial.

I've got a couple videos and one or two other pics, but still am trying to figure out how to make them easily accessible and viewable without external links. Stay tuned, and thanks again to the great folks at Ka-Bar, Ethan Becker for planting the seed of this top notch community and, most especially, trailbum for putting it all together - and being the breakfast king. I'll work on the vids....be patient.

 

[TheMadIndian]

nice pics GSOM

 

[JWL]

Nice pics man.... I think that fungus might be birch polypore (Piptoporus betulinus)....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piptoporus_betulinus

 

[granitestateofmind]

nice pics GSOM

Thanks! Wish I'd have gotten more....but sometimes, I'm just having fun and I forget that I have a camera in my pocket.

Nice pics man.... I think that fungus might be birch polypore (Piptoporus betulinus)....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piptoporus_betulinus

Cool! Amanda calls it "false tinder fungus".....I think. I'm pretty terrible with plant ID. Better with trees - but mostly after they've been turned into lumber .

 

[dresnor]

Before I get started I need to thank Ethan and Kabar for their part in creating great tools that just plain work and to Ethan for creating a place that brings people together. Also, as always there was a very generous box of knives to give away. Thanks so very much for the generosity.

Also, a big thanks to Trailbum and his family for putting this on. We really enjoy our visits with you guys.

As always, these gatherings really recharge our soul. It is great to get away and unwind with like minded people, catch up on each others lives, and reflect on the past. I hope to never miss one of these gatherings.

The new location was great. At times it didn't even feel like camping. This place even has WiFi... The Slim Baker Lodge seemed to be a hit with everyone.

Even though I despise driving long distances, these Gatherings are well worth it.

It seems that Amanda and I didn't take many pictures this time around. But here is an attempt to show the fun we all had.

Becker was in attendance.

Smiles all around.

Except for when TheMadIndian was setting up camp in the pouring rain. What a trooper!

From the hands and mind of Jim Bensinger.

Mr. Bensinger also volunteered to sharpen a few of our knives on his new Work Sharp.

Then he challenged us to a small cutting competition with large Beckers. Multiple straw cuts, some we had to chop without harming the 2nd straw. This forced us to control our chosen knife more than most chopping challenges.

PHOTO BOMB!

We did a small Becker chopping contest. BK 11s, 14/24s only.

Amanda feed'n it the corn wicked hahhhd.

This was also a prerequisite for the contest.

Ok, Maybe another small knife found it's way into the contest.

Some of us did a one handed fire challenge using a ferro rod and some supplied tinder.

Safety police were on hand.

There were some interesting techniques.

The Winner!

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Three happy young men.

Other random pictures.

I wonder is I can climb this.

Two female woodpeckers fighting/posturing.

Lots of Choppers.

Bacon wrapped pork loin anyone? Thanks Mike!

Thanks again to everyone! Hope to see you all soon.

Jeremy

 

[trailbum]

Great pictures everyone.

 

[granitestateofmind]

Nice pics, guys. I LOL'd at "Amanda feed'n it the corn wicked hahhhd." You Mainie-iacs are funny.