Shasta Dam Gathering April 30th May 1, 2 & 3rd

[triker45]

Made it about noon on Friday. Decided to take the El Camino instead of the trike(Good choice.) Kind of damp Friday evening and a little damper Saturday(OK really damp but what the hey!) Good camping neighbors, good food and a good time. Coming home to Oregon! Heavy rain until north of Weed and then sunshine to Yreka and then more rain. Did I mention the blizzard at the top of the Siskiyou Pass. Big time snow storm(I could have sworn it is May 3rd.) Sure am glad I was following wood worker Larry with those nice bright LED taillights on the back of that beautiful TD. Home to a couple happy cats. I really did enjoy the weekend. 5 years down the road this will be one of those"Were you there the year it rained, really rained." Thanks Grant and Lisa. Jerry

[Christina]

Yep. It was a wet one. Being from Nevada, it is rare we see this much rain. But the party went on. Thanks to Grant and Lisa for their hard work!

We did have to leave at around noon on Saturday, but spent a nice afternoon at the Shasta Caverns. There were only 8 people on the tour and got a nice rocky ride across the lake.

The Sunflower was wonderful. No leaks (except what we dragged in). We slept warm and dry all night.

Most of the campsites on lower ground ended up under water. No fun!

[Kevin A]

Here's the few pics I took, hope someone posts some better ones.

[Sawyer]

We drove down thursday night to southern Oregon, spent the night in the TD at my parent's house (Ron and Olga). We convoyed out the next afternoon, 2 TD's and 1 TTT, into the rainstorm. We arrived at Antlers around 9pm friday night, heavy rain, had trouble finding a spot big enough for all three of us, so we parked in a mudpit that apparently was the bonfire spot the previous night. We made cold sandwiches and ate them in our trailers while watching DVDs. Woke up in a small lake and decided to scout a new spot. Right next door were some real nice folks from Idaho who were getting ready to split, so we moved into a nicer home up the hill a bit. By the time camp was all set up for the 3 trailers, we were all soaked to the core so we hit the laundromat to dry out clothes. We met some real nice folks and had good conversation waiting for clothes to dry. Spent most of the night trying to keep the fire going and digging trenches to divert water from the trailers. Got all packed up that night just before bedtime, so we could wake up and jump straight into the truck in our dry PJ's for the drive home. Rained like HELL all night, and I kept having nightmares of leaky roofs and windows. We woke up to a dry morning, perfect for packing up, but of course we had packed all our stuff during the rainstorm the night before. And to add insult to injury, as we were driving out of the campground at 8:30am, the sun was breaking through the clouds... Had to laugh about it though, as this seems to happen to us ALL THE TIME!!! We stopped in Rogue River on the way home and played in the sun for a while, then took a much needed nap before finished the trip back to Eugene.

All in all it was a memorable trip, and despite the weather we had a great time, and met nothing but great people! This was my (and my fiance Mina's) first gathering, and we will certainly come to every one possible from here on out. Thanks to my parents for sharing their huge canopy with us, thanks to Grant and Lisa for making the event happen, and thanks for everyone else for their positive attitudes and hospitality! I look forward to meeting you all again under dryer circumstances!!

Here's Mina making the best of it!!
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/karmacop8/DamnGathering002.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">

[Sawyer]

We drove down thursday night to southern Oregon, spent the night in the TD at my parent's house (Ron and Olga). We convoyed out the next afternoon, 2 TD's and 1 TTT, into the rainstorm. We arrived at Antlers around 9pm friday night, heavy rain, had trouble finding a spot big enough for all three of us, so we parked in a mudpit that apparently was the bonfire spot the previous night. We made cold sandwiches and ate them in our trailers while watching DVDs. Woke up in a small lake and decided to scout a new spot. Right next door were some real nice folks from Idaho who were getting ready to split, so we moved into a nicer home up the hill a bit. By the time camp was all set up for the 3 trailers, we were all soaked to the core so we hit the laundromat to dry out clothes. We met some real nice folks and had good conversation waiting for clothes to dry. Spent most of the night trying to keep the fire going and digging trenches to divert water from the trailers. Got all packed up that night just before bedtime, so we could wake up and jump straight into the truck in our dry PJ's for the drive home. Rained like HELL all night, and I kept having nightmares of leaky roofs and windows. We woke up to a dry morning, perfect for packing up, but of course we had packed all our stuff during the rainstorm the night before. And to add insult to injury, as we were driving out of the campground at 8:30am, the sun was breaking through the clouds... Had to laugh about it though, as this seems to happen to us ALL THE TIME!!! We stopped in Rogue River on the way home and played in the sun for a while, then took a much needed nap before finished the trip back to Eugene.

All in all it was a memorable trip, and despite the weather we had a great time, and met nothing but great people! This was my (and my fiance Mina's) first gathering, and we will certainly come to every one possible from here on out. Thanks to my parents for sharing their huge canopy with us, thanks to Grant and Lisa for making the event happen, and thanks for everyone else for their positive attitudes and hospitality! I look forward to meeting you all again under dryer circumstances!!

Here's Mina making the best of it!!
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/karmacop8/DamnGathering002.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">

[Caradoc]

We had a good time and saw some amazing work by some very creative and hard working teardroppers. Thank you, Grant, for putting on another gathering for everybody.

However, we found the leaks in our trailer, and with also two kids in our side tent, we found other leaks in our general setup. With it raining as hard as it was, the kids were having a hard time of it, and we had to go home early.

We did have fun, and it will always be a memorable weekend.

--Lance

[tupelosue]

Sorry I never made it up there. Was sick most of the weekend, and made the grown up decision to stay home!

I enjoy reading everybody's posts...what a lot of great attittudes about a damp camp weekend!

Hope to be there next year...

[NWsage]

We enjoyed ourselves dispite the rain ... Thanks Grant and Lisa! Friendly people, great food and beautiful, creative teardrops. Even enjoyed the little coffee place "Camp Shasta" on the other side of the freeway where they let us come in from the rain, get WiFi and change into some dry clothes before we left for home. We got home yesterday early evening and I unpacked the soggy stuff from the teardrop and put it in the garage as best I could to dry out. But, woke up early this morning to some sunshine so set up a "camp" so that everything could sun dry before another storm comes in this afternoon.

Camp Carlson "dry camp"


Suanne & John

[Christina]

I just wanted to say how much I admired Sawyer's build. Very nice job!

Kevin... That pizza is making my stomach growl. Stop that!

Here is a little video of our very damp campsite.

[Ron Dickey]

whow it says only 35 voted on the poll but I counted 75 trailers and 3 tents on Sat. Morn. Lots of intersting trailers and interesting people.
But the rain was to much for us with a growing lake infront of our site we watched it raise twice, I looked at sites at higher ground but desided rather then move we would just go. I took us 2 hrs to pack went to the store twice for plastics bags and papertowels. wrapped up it all wiping it down as we wrapped it in plastic. (when I got home I ralized everything was soaked even the mattress.) We drove through the small lake out front voted and headed home. Spent Sat. night at relatives and got home Sun. night. Next time we will be more prepaired camping wise. We leaned from those who were there who live in the rain more.
They learned from us too we wore rain boots.
Hope Doug found a use for the wood we parked by his trailer.
There was one trailer parked in 4 inches of water and guess they went home, here they live close.
Trailer did not leak
Thanks to all for being there and thanks to Grant and Family and Great Grand Child for organizing it.

[TENNJIM]

Arrived at Antlers about Noon on Thursday and stayed the duration. Yep, it rained and rained and rained. It was a very good time-meeting friends new and old and enjoying the gathering and the food. A BIG Thank You to Grant and Lisa and others who put together the event. The BUTTHUT did not leak, and I have been drying out the canopy and ground mats today. Looking forward to next year.

Jim B / Utah

[dhazard]

Thanks to Grant and Lisa It was a Damp Gathering that will not be forgotten. I spent most of the time in the trailer playing card with the wife, all thing considered we had a great time. I sorry that I didn’t have better rain gear with so I didn’t get out and meet everyone. Cant wait for next year…

Dan

[Keith]

We arrived at Antlers Tuesday evening. We had great weather Wednesday and Thursday. I got a few pictures but not as many as I usually take. This time I took a lot more around our camp site because we spent a lot more time there. This will be one of the Dam Gatherings that most of won't forget. Thanks Grant and Lisa for all that you do to put this event together.

Here are my pictures. http://www.flickr.com/photos/five_wide_club/sets/72157617620204277/

Keith

[4123]

2009 DAM GATHERING...WET & WILD!

Ron and Rita with her warm & dry Gortex Forest Service jacket

Sawyer and Mina trying to stay dry.

Sawyer hoping there are no leaks.

Bruno would rather be soaking rays than standing in a puddle

Sawyer having a beer.


All in all, we had a good time and also learned that we can successfully camp in just about any type of condition and still be reasonably comfortable.

[The Teardrop Nanny]

Hi all....to those hardy campers that stuck it out, it turned out just fine, didn't it??
The potluck in the laundry room was a first (and hopefully last) for the DG.

Yes, there was RAIN, and plenty of it. As I drove out on Sunday morning and saw a view of the lake, I couldn't begrudge Mother Nature's attempt to fill Shasta back up. However, did she have to try to fill it all up in one weekend?

I arrived Friday at 9:30 pm after a 5+ hour drive in monsoon like rains. My drive over was pretty nasty but I made it to the start of Whiskeytown Lake by dark and managed to avoid all the falling rock and other debris that was on HWY 299. Most people were tucked in tight by the time I drove around. And yes, my campsite did have the most spectacular waterfal this year. The next morning the dog and I went around very early, about 6 am, to see who was camping. IF anything, I learned how innovative people were in keeping things as dry as they could, and it was difficult with so much rain!

I got to talk briefly to a number of people before they left, and enjoyed my more lengthy conversations with people drying out in the laundry room. A BIG thanks to Lisa & Grant who carried it off despite the downpour. It was wonderful to see the tradition continue. This one will be a gathering to laugh about in the coming years.

Joanie TDN