CASG #10, Mojave National Preserve - April 12-16, 2017

Greetings, Fellow Stovies,

Our recent CASG#10 was a huge success, with excellent participation, and lots to enjoy! I have to say, this one is, without doubt, our most favorite of all the CASG events we've enjoyed!! They have all be great, but this one was just super special, for a number of wonderful reasons!! Please grab an adult beverage of your choice, and take a peek at the 65 photos, and one short video I'm going to post right now. For those who couldn't be there this year, we missed you; and for those who joined in and made CASG #10 the best year, HUZZAH, and very, very well done, Friends!!!

Here's our intrepid bunch of Stovies, and family, who joined in the fun at CASG #10. Left to right, front row: Sweet Bride, Lindy (Mac's daughter), Mrs. and Mr. Flivver and their new pup "Clayton and Lambert Model #3", (Clayton, for short) Mrs. and Mr. Snwcmpr; Back row, L-R, standing: Doc, Hikin Jim, Mac, HikerDuane, Ben and Barbara (Mr. and Mrs. Z1ulike)!




Fettling began with Mac working hard to suss out the NRV on his ancient and wonderful Victoria stove. He used a special camera to "look" down inside the stove, and pump tube.






But he finally had to remove his pump tube in order to see the NRV setup, which proved to be the oddest duck we'd ever seen!!




Here is a series of photos, showing the odd, spring NRV with which Mac has to deal. The spring had broken off, and it was only after much cleaning and investigation, that Mac found where a replacement spring can be affixed to function as the original did.







After seeing what he needs to do, Mac, and the rest of us, think he can fettle this very Old Timer back to life, one day!! Well done, Mac, Ken, and all those who pitched in on this one! In this photo, Duane admires the old Victoria, and I was secretly trying to devise an evil plan to swipe Mac's "Baby Butt" flame spreader!!!!



Here's the Fettling Table, bustling with business!


Meanwhile, Mrs. Snwcmpr enjoys the lovely day, and some reading.



Here, Hikin Jim gets his first lessons on how to fettle a lantern, stove, and other good pressure devices. It took two days, in the hot sun, to fettle HJ's lantern back to life. Hot and sweaty work, with excellent results, for the LANTERN. More on that, later.......!



Snwcmpr (Ken) shares his fantastic Coleman #129, a kerosene lantern. Lovely, warm, light and very pleasing to us all! He has every reason to be proud of his excellent #129!



Sweet Bride creates some delicious fare when we camp, and this night our menu featured hot Italian sausages, fettucini, mushrooms, onions, and some excellent sweet Basil marinara sauce. That, with some good red wine, and well, it really doesn't get much better!!



Also, whilst at our CASG events, and most everywhere else, SB works on our latest designs.




She had some help from HikerDuane's sweet little pup, "Repo"!! This frisky little guy, and Clayton, were excellent mascots for our CASG events! They both loved to play with each other, and with all the rest of us, and they very seldom wandered off from camp!


SB and I used a pair of Optimus #2 brassies for some cooking, and our nightly large pot of water for doing dishes and these stoves worked like champs!! The one in this photo was bought from BernieDawg, a long time ago, who gave me a very good price on it, with the request that I actually USED the stove. After all these years, it was a real pleasure to fulfill my promise to do just that! Properly primed, this large stove boiled up huge pots of water each night, with nary a complaint!! Great stoves, the #2 models!






Our annual Pot Luck dinner was, as always, a real treat!


Ben and Barbara very kindly and generously cooked a community breakfast for everyone on two mornings! Their setup must be seen to be believed! Featuring huge LPG burners, grills, charcoal ring, and.... wait for it.................... a hot shower from those inclined to clean up!!!! Well done, Ben and Barbara!!! Here, Breakfast #1 featured fresh waffles, with syrup, and/or excellent strawberry sauce! Ummmmmm!!! Delicious!



Sweet Bride is one happy camper, with her homemade waffles, and strawberry sauce!



On one day, I set out as much of BajaBum's goodies as I could stuff in the truck. Our guys and gals really got into the spirit of raising money for the family to donate to the Mesothelioma Foundation, who helped keep Steve alive and fairly comfortable for a long time, before he finally passed of this dread disease! Well done, Dear Friends!! The next series of photos shows the sale in action, and what wonderful goodies were bought on Steve's behalf!


Duane, and his first treasures!



Hiker Jim holds the canister, whilst Mrs. Snwcmpr and Sweet Bride make small slips of paper, each with the name of one in attendance, from which the lucky winners of one gallon of Coleman Fuel would be drawn. Each of us put in $5, to have our names in the canister, but only three people won a gallon of CF. Fun stuff, and more money in the fund for Baja!!


JoAnne used some of Steve's old jeans, T-shirt, and some underwear, to wrap goodies when I picked it all up from their place! So, I laid it out as a tribute to Baja, and a sort of "he was there" moment for us all! Silly, but fun! I tried to auction off Baja's underwear, but got no takers.......!



HikerDuane find another fun stove.



HJ picked up a wonderful Optimus 88 cook set and stove.



Like Father, like Daughter!! Lindy and Mac with a great pair of brass kero stoves!



And, Mac scored Baja's sweet little Optimus 99!



Snwcmpr (Ken) with some of the goodies he chose. Thanks to one and all for supporting this fund raising event for Baja's family!! You are wonderful and caring friends, all!!


Mike and Ken enjoyed a moment in the shade on a fairly hot day, underneath our canvas fly. Great place to hang out, during hot, and also cold temps.


Now, remember when I told you all about Hikin Jim getting his first lessons in fettling? Well, as written, after two days of working in the hot sun, the lantern once again glowed brightly!! However, poor HJ, not used to just standing in the hot sun, rather than hiking, was dead beat tired, and in point of fact, fell fast asleep after dinner, whilst we were all sitting around the table, talking quietly!! I could not help taking a "Sleeping Jimmy the Intrepid Fettler" photo, with me sticking out my tongue at the slumbering HJ!! Hey, fettling in the desert is NOT for sissys, and HJ proved up to the task, if a bit battle-worn!! (Thanks for not minding me posting this silly photo, Jim! Good job on the lantern, and welcome to the ranks of Fettlers!!)



And now, on to our various camps:

Sweet Bride and Doc used our TNF Mountain 25, and our usual canvas fly at this event, and both proved perfect choices, and very stable in our one day and night of high winds.





A pile of fun, including an Optimus 45A, and two Optimus #2 big brassies, et.al.


The Flivver's old Clayton and Lambert #3, accompanied by a recent find of an American Gas Machine cabin range, made good neighbors. We've got the C&L closed up, to keep the blowing dirt out of it.


Mr. and Mrs. Flivver have a new "home" for camping, and it can be setup, and taken down in about 30 seconds, each!!! WOW!! A great place to call home, for sure! Also, you can see their regular cooking setup, which consists of a venerable, and very wonderful Coleman #1, and an old Coleman Speedmaster 500, combined with Coleman's earliest camping lantern!!! A small, but very mighty camp setup, Flivvers!!




Mrs. Snwcmpr, Flivver, and Snwcmpr, himself, share some fun conversation in from of their big white cooking fly.




The Snwcmpr tent was setup on a small ridge, not far from the main camp.




And, Mr. and Mrs. Snwcmpr had a lovely view each morning, when this lovely desert cactus opened up it's very colorful blooms!! The desert floor was crawling with folks in search of the Spring flower blooms. These two lucky folks had the best of it, right outside their tent!!!


Here's Hikin Jim's TNF Tadpole tent. Not too from from the Snwcmpr's, Jim had a nice, protected little camp.


Meanwhile, across the road, HikerDuane and Repo had a very nice camp, with a good view, and lots of fun stoves and other goodies to peruse.





Repo is a sweet little pup, and a pleasure to have in camp!



On Easter Sunday, Ol' Doc had to threaten the danged Easter Bunny, for bringing nothing but milk chocolate eggs!! Doc can only eat very dark chocolate of about 70% cacao, and the milk chocolate eggs caused some consternation on his part. Note that Doc's finger is NOT on the trigger, and the pistol is pointed in a safe direction, and that the look on the poor Easter Bunny's face lets us all know that he got the message, big time!! "You can lower your paws, now, Bunny, as I'll spare you, THIS time"!!
(For you gun folks, out there, Doc is using his Glock M27, .40 caliber pistol, which "should" be more than enough power to show the EB that he is serious!)


Ben and Barbara's camp was HUGE, not other way to say it!! But, it had all the conveniences of home, and their delicious breakfasts they cooked up for us, were outstanding!!



OK, reached my max number of photos allowed, at 50. In order to keep this post cohesive, please wait for Part 2 to be posted, before posting your comments, should you wish to comment. Thanks! To be continued...........

Take care, and God Bless!
Doc

 

Part 2:

More of Ben and Barbara's camp, including the much-loved shower!




A view of our camp from what we call, "Cell Phone Hill", as it's the only place you can get a decent cell phone signal, should you need to make a call, answer email, or check the weather. Note all the scorched landscape surrounding our little oasis of green. We are all blessed that there is at least a portion of this camp ground that was not burned during the last huge conflagration here! Our site can be seen at the top of the green area, almost centered on the hill behind it.



And, a little closer shot...


The sharp-eyed amongst you may have noted someone in our camp in that last photo. Well, here's a shot of Sweet Bride, taking a photo of HikerDuane and me, when we journeyed up on the hill for a view of our camp!


On the way down, we noticed the Snwcmpr family doing their laundry in a bucket near the water well spigot, which is a great idea!


And, I got down in time to take a shot of Ken, washing out his bucket and tossing the water into the road. Fun!


The next series of shots were taken during the second wonderful and delicious breakfast that Ben and Barb cooked up for us all! We enjoyed a fantastic egg, cheese, and veggie dish that Ben baked up in a Dutch Oven, plus toasted English muffins, and OJ. Man was it good!!!





Mrs. Flivver, and sweet little Clayton! What a great pup he is!! Of course, all those of us who knew Old Furry Flivver (Charlie) miss him, very much. But, Clayton helps us all in our memories of Charlie, and is a wonderful addition to our CASG Family!!





And, some pleasant after-breakfast conversation on another lovely day!



What better way to end, than with a photo of my SVEA 123, first version, after a good fettle?!! It is most certainly a screaming little stove, and it also simmers very, very well!! I apologize for not using a tripod, but I got carried away with the success of this fettle, and the performance of the little 123!!



I made a short video of this little guy in action, and here's a link to see it in action!!



Thanks, again, to one and all who attended our CASG #10!! Special thanks go out to the Snwcmpr Family, as they drove all the way out from North Carolina to join us!! Many thanks, you two, and thanks for letting me know you made it back home, safe and sound! It was a pleasure to see you both again, and SB and I look forward to more adventures together with you, and the rest of our CASG Family. Special thanks, too, to Ben and Barbara for so graciously hosting us all for delicious breakfasts on two mornings!! Well done, Guys, and a tip o' the old hat for the nice shower, too. Though I didn't partake in it, those who did, spoke glowingly of the experience!!! Sweet Bride and I can hardly wait for the next CASG, which will be #11!! We're hoping to have a change of pace, and set up #11 in a different local, than desert. Maybe Montaña Del Oro, near Morrow Bay, or up at Eagle Lake, which HikerDuane suggested. For those of you who live too far North to join us down here, would you come and join us if we moved the event up closer to you? We hope so!! Thanks, again, to everyone, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc Mark and Sweet Bride

 

Much to enjoy in the photos and text, Doc. A fine compilation, truly the next best thing to being there.

Takes much more than one reading, you crammed a lot of great cameos of stoves and good people in there!

John

 

Here is what I helped out with. ALL ran on the fuel in them, the Coleman 530 even started up initially without being pumped up. Wow! I did replace the fuel cap washer and soaked the check valve in carb cleaner when I got home. The 8R runs as designed and the 111T only needed the pump cup oiled. Did wash the case for it in dish water when I got home. Picked up a case for a Coleman 400, it will work to transport my smaller stoves safely when backpacking. Small msr fuel bottle came with the T.
Thank you Doc for organizing this, I enjoyed it, worried I'd get tired of talking shop. Learned a few things. Nice to put faces with names. First couple pics of my solo camp, 35 minutes shy of making it the first day. Last pic of Repo, sleeping most of the near 12 hour drive home.
Duane

 

Looks like a wonderful time had by all. Sure wish it was closer to me. Thank you for all the pics and attached names. Really nice to put faces to folks we chat with. Maybe next year when I am more retired.

 

Looks like a great time was had by all, and for a great cause too. I enjoyed seeing all the tents setup. Makes me want to head out to the campground. Nothing compares to camping with good friends. Thanks Doc for all the text and photos for those of us who can't make it to the CASG gatherings.

 

Well done Doc and all that attended. Looks like some fine cooking, weather and stoving. Enjoyed the post! Jerry

 

Doc, wonderful pictures, but Steve (Bajabum) is probably turning over in his grave to see his underware on display. tooo funny. I wish I could have been there, but I had a very lovely 2 weeks in Virginia with our daughter and family for Easter. Steve would have really gotten a kick out of the Easter bunny being torchered. (He had a gun just like that).
Hiker Duane, I'm glad that you got those stoves. The Optimus 88 was always one of my favorites. I have kept the very first one I ever found and bought for him.
Thanks all of you who bought the stoves, lanterns, cook kits, and Coleman fuel. The Mesothelioma Foundation is a worthy cause.
Thanks again, JoAnne (Steve's wife)

 

Wonderful photos of what looks to be a fantastic event.
I have been through it once but will have to look at it a few more times to take in all the details.

In the very first photo you are wearing a blue apron.
I presume that you had just been operating on some unfortunate person!

 

Good Morning, All,

Thank you for your kind comments, and apologies for posting so many photos, and such wordy text! I just can't help myself!! Hopefully, you can see just what sorts of fun we shared on this event, and also hopefully, you might want to take a drive and join us for the next CASG, which will be #11!!

JoAnne, I'm glad you enjoyed seeing the photos of our event, and I have to say, I'm very proud of all those who attended and supported the fund raiser for Steve!! So far, counting what I already had here at home, and what we got at the event, plus another $100 that has been promised, our total is $1,582.00!! And, we have yet to take good photos of all the great stuff that I could not take to the event, and the things that did not sell there. I took photos at the event, of each item, but in truth, I was too hurried and the photos did not come out as well as I want them to. So, now that we're back from CASG #10 I will setup a sort of photo booth and take photos of each item that will be offered on CCS, then number those items so that we can keep track of everything. When something is purchased, I will pack and ship it, and remove that item from the list of things that have been offered. When all is said and done, I will contact you, and make arrangements to transfer all the proceeds we've earned to you, so that you and the kids can make your donation to the Mesothelioma Foundation.

Thanks, again, for posting on Steve's account, and if you need to contact me, please send me an email, and we can talk further. Last, and most certainly not least, you and the family have a permanent invitation to join us at any, or all, CASG events!! Just let me know you want to attend, and we will make sure to help you setup your camp, and pack it all up when the event ends!! We will be pleased to have you amongst us, anytime you can manage to join us!!! Talk to you soon, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

 

Howdy Doc superb pictures and great read up, a fantastic selection of stoves and equipment i am very pleased you have all done a superb job with Steve's fund and i hope there is much more to come.
Well done there to all at the CASG event

 

Howdy, Brian,

Many thanks for your always kind words, my friend! And, thanks for supporting this fund raiser with your own contribution!! I'll pack up your kit soon, and let you know the final cost, with shipping options. Your support and participation is very, very much appreciated!! Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

 

Hi Doc your welcome i am only too glad to help

 

Very nice post(s).
We enjoyed ourselves at the meet. Everyone was so nice. Good to put faces to the forum users. Mac came out and saw up when we were in Joshua Tree National Park before the meet. A real treat that was.

It's good to be home after a long trip.

 

absolutly wonderfull pictures etc. I just love being in the desert area
Jan

 

Looks like you all were having a great time! Nice photo's, I love the scenery and a very powerfull Svea 123 in the last picture-movie!

Greetings! Mhe

 

Morning, All,

@snwcmpr , @scouterjan , @shagratork , @Mhe ,

Hey, Ken, it was wonderful seeing you and the Mrs. at the event, again, and we had a great time. I love looking at that photo of you and your great Coleman 129 kero lantern!! As soon as we got home, I went upstairs to see what kero lamp I had up there, as I knew there was one "someplace". Turned out to be a Coleman 152, which can use either Coleman Fuel, or with the proper generator, kerosene. I have one of those T44K gennies, "someplace", and need to remove the one that's on the lamp, to see which one it is. After seeing your #129, I'm definitely going to run my #152 on kero and use it, after I find a proper shade for it! I'll post another thread, which shows you and your 129, and my 152, plus my 132A. I bought both of them for........ well, you can read about that in the upcoming post about them!

Hi, Jan, thanks, so much! Yes, we love the desert, too, as it has a special kind of majesty that you don't see elsewhere. Our campground, in particular, is special in that it is much higher than the desert floor, and so is more cool at night, and balmy most days, whilst the desert floor can be 100°F, or more!

Hey, Trevor, you wrote, "In the very first photo you are wearing a blue apron.
I presume that you had just been operating on some unfortunate person!" Nah, the only unfortunates that came under "the knife", were a couple of stoves that I fettled at the event! I am happy to report that all fettle "patients" lived, and were happy and healthy after their "operations"!! My first version Sievert SVEA 123 turned out to be exactly what I was hoping it would be: Fantastic!! That blue apron, by the way, is for my fettling, and for working on firearms. I've used it for many, many years, and it still works great!

Mhe, yes, that little SVEA IS a wonderful performer, and in fact, with a pot in place, the flames are simply top of the line! Thanks for the kind words!

Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

 

Fellas, mighty fine photos! Thanks for sharing.

If you do indeed decide to move the next gathering a bit north, I am fully in! (A bit to the east could be nice too!)

 

@Rhubarb ,

Hey, Andy,

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, it was an outstanding Gathering, and our most favorite, so far! When planning to attend any Stove Gathering, I guess each of us have a limit to how far we would drive to attend. SB and I LOVE setting up, and attending the CASG events, ever since I did the first one, many years ago. All of them, except one, required that we drive to the location of the event. That one where we didn't have to drive very much, was held about 6-8 miles from where we live, in our mountains!! (Yeah, that one was fun, too!)

In any case, just as an illustrative point of how far we are willing to drive to attend a Gathering, IF we can work it into our work schedule:

Mid Hills Campground, where we've camped quite a few times, is 194 miles away.
Montaña Del Oro, where we've held two CASG events, is 271 miles away.
Diamond Lake, OR, where the one and only OSG was held, is 812 miles away.
Joshua Tree National Park (Belle Campground) is 116 miles away.

The two places two places we're considering for CASG #11 are Eagle Lake, near Susanville, CA, which is 543 miles away; And, the Montaña Del Oro campground, which we've already mentioned. For you, the drives would be, respectively, 329 miles, each way, and 655 miles, each way. See how the drives can get longer? But, unless we move the location of our Gathering around, then those from way out of this area are ALWAYS going to be doing the lion's share of long driving, which is not very fair. So, each of us have to decide how far is "too far" to attend. Doing this in advance is the best way to decide, realistically, if you can attend a CASG event, or not. We love road trips, and especially those that take us to a Gathering, or Living History event!! So, we don't mind making longer drives, now and then. For others, even 50 miles of driving is "too far" for them. A great example of this is a fellow who lived in San Luis Obispo, CA, who always complained that our Gatherings were just too far from him to drive. Well, we found Montaña Del Oro, and had two CASG events there. That campground was, exactly, 12 miles from his home. But, he did not attend either of them, saying that "12 miles is just too far to drive"!!!! SHEESH!!!

I'm going to copy this info into it's own thread, as I've love to know what each Stovie's personal "too far", is, exactly, when considering going to a CASG event, or any other event. I look forward to reading what that figure is for CCS Stovies! Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

 

Out last night with Repo, using two of the stoves that were @bajabum stoves, both worked excellent. The 111T and the 8R, although the 8R had a flame around the spindle while priming, no worry. I had to rinse my water cup out twice last night while eating dinner, Repo thought the cup of water was for him. He had to supervise making breakfast this morning, good for the heart. We backpacked a couple miles from home, Repo was wanting to make camp, then this AM, did not want to leave with me. Had to go back and rescue him.
Duane