Well we lucked out. To make a story somewhat short... I found one in eastern Oregon... great deal as that means I am only looking at a 5 hour drive. The ad gives up that it is exactly what we are looking for. Pretty much a full featured Hawk. Not a bad deal since we would have taken a shell if we could have found it. It is a 2004 and is stated that it is in excellent condition having been stored in a garage when not in use. The story gets better so hang in there!
I send an email figuring that it is probably already sold.. even tho' I had checked every resource EVERY day for the last 3 months and it just had posted. But I know how these units have a definite following and we are not the only ones looking. So a response shows up several hours later and before I read it my stomach sort of falls as I know I am going to read "already sold it". But no.. it is still available and I am the first one to make contact. Groovy... now I am making progress. I read a little further down and the guy asks if I am the same guy that used to work for XYZ company and was an over the top gonzo cyclist that used to live for competition. Well the answer was "Yep!" Turns out the guy selling it is an old friend from 20+ years ago. We had lost contact many years ago when he went on an extended cycling trip to Australia.
How weird.. we had contacted a few other people about Hawks.. some 2000 miles away and would have been willing to go after it. But we always heard.. sorry sold. Now the perfect one shows up in our backyard and it is a very good cycling friend from many moons ago. A guy who I would trust. So when he tells me that it is perfect condition.. I know I won't be disappointed. On top he offers me a reduced price from his asking. As you can imagine we made an agreement that I would purchase it right away.. make a trip to pick it up and hang out a bit to catch up. Well it was all he said it was.. we are extremely happy and we are so glad that all the others sold.
The weekend before last we took it out for our first adventure. It was going to be a sunny weekend, or at least partly so. The cold was only go to be moderate.. so off we go. I come from an extended background of mountaineering, wilderness travel by foot and canoe.. plus a whole bunch of other reason to spend time sleeping on the ground. So this was going to be a real treat as both my wife and I only know how to sleep on a Thermarest, zip-up a mummy bag in the dark, cook on a one burner Svea stove, eat cold granola with powdered milk and drink cold tea from a metal cup while sitting on the most appealing rock out of group of 10 not so appealing versions.
We had a blast. Spent one night on the Deschutes River in a nice empty campground off the dirt road that follows it for aways. We had HEAT when it was 28 degrees, we slept in a conventional WalMart sleeping bag opened all the way out.. with a couple of wool blankets on top (kinda like a real bed), had a nice dinner sitting on cushions, read without using a headlamp or having only your eyes showing out of your mummy bag, got dressed in the morning standing up and not being in a hurry to do so. Had the same old granola but with real milk and a cup of espresso in a real cup! Now that is living! Or at least the FWC/ATC way. We are long overdue and we have paid our dues! In fact if you know of anyone who needs some really top notch outdoor gear.. we will be selling most of it soon!
We do hope to meet all of you along the way and if at anytime you are passing through the Willamette Valley in Oregon give me a buzz. Meanwhile I will throw up a few photos so that you can see I am not just some weirdo writing into this forum for an opportunity to ramble!
