Jordan River Oct 27-28

“SG - I'm sure that we have enough stuff to go around. I got fake fleece pants as a gift last year from Old Navy. My sister said they costed 10 bucks. Just got back from REI and the same type/pair are going for 60.00! If you are going to buy, check some place like that out. All the stuff I'm bringin'/wearing is mainly fleece or fake fleece w/wind breakers and other hodge podge. Filter and water will not be a problem. I'll "float ya". If need be, I'll start a telethon for your cause.

Make sure you have good gloves and hat. If you need a hat, let me know.

Tarabull - I have not come up with shopping list for the sherpas and they are a little worried. Might have to send out for a couple of there buddies. How about everyone get a list, either here or email it to me and arriagments will be made. I just talked to my friend who has a cabin in Grayling and he will be setting aside three bundles of wood for us up there. I will pick that up for our stash and at Graves.

Seeing that this my be our biggest challenge so far, I have to agree with Joy that getting used to the altitude to most important. Stacking up our R-Value with liquid "oxygen" and the mighty wings from a flying buffalo IS key!

We must be careful to be fully prepared...

Le Subtil - Yes, from what I've heard, there is a well pump, along with out houses (how that got them all the way up there is baffleling!)”

“Cool Laqtis, We were gonna haul some firewood but if you'll do it that's even better!

Birch is starting to think maybe we should stay at the campground too. Tarabull did you make reservations or are ya just gonna pop in?”

“Is Graves a "manned" campground?”

“Grave's Crossing campgrd. is first come-first served, there is no reservation system, and likely not a host at this time of year. It's a state forest campgrd., you know, the pit toilet, hand water pump, $6/nite sorta place ( It was improved ~3 yr. ago.). Same as the hike-in sites for the Jordan River Valley path.

I think I'll be along on this one. There seem to be about enuf ppl to take up the entire campgrd. now!

Heck, Smiley Girl, I'll offer to cook yer supper & boil water for yer breakfast cocoa! Just as easy for me to cook for two. I have extra gear, too, if I know what you need.”

“We had just planned to show up. Which, after reading cow patty's post, seems like our only option.

What happened? I thought you two loved sleeping in the car. Afraid you'd miss out on all the fun?

I drove to Marquette today. As I passed the Gaylord area, I was surrounded by autumn's bountiful colors. Most of the leaves are still on the trees. But I'm sure many will fall by next weeked. Either way, should be nice!

laqtis - my only requirement is beeeeeer. This could get pricey, as there are four people in my group! Perhaps a yummy dinner, too. I'm curious to see what everyone plans on stashing for dinner.

Smiley Girl - sounds like you can't back out now... Everyone is going to outfit your trip!”

“Tarabull _ Your talkin' my language!


BBBBBBEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRR!!!!!!!

*Buuuurrrrpppp*

Yep, it might get pricy. If it gets to be too much, maybe we could purchase seperate and stash on our way to the "liquid oxygen location". It really doesn't matter to me. I'll be bring the "family truckster" so we would have enough room for people/stuff. I'll bring my GPS so it can be like a "geo cache". Are also talkin' grilling something for dinner? I have a little grill grate that I can bring.

List, we need a list...”

“My God, how "many" things can I "put in quotations"...”

“"What happened? I thought you two loved sleeping in the car. Afraid you'd miss out on all the fun?"

What happened was I took a vacation day smarty pants! :o) So we'll be up there around 8 or 9 instead of 1 or 2am.”

“All right already, the peer pressure finally broke me! I'll go. :)

And the one thing for sure I'll need is BEEEEEER!!

Joy and Birch, can we plan another carpool for this one?”

“excellent”

“Sure we can! You can even use our tarp at the camp ground because we're still sleeping in the car! We'll be leaving around 4:30-5 on Friday. Can you mannage that time or do we need to plan differently? It's about a five hour drive. It'll be nice to have some company while Birch is sleeping on the way home! :o)”

“Joy 3 posts ago you said 8 or 9, last post said 4:30-5.
I'm wondering it I want to take off Fri. too.”

“No, well maybe, now I'm all mixed up!

Okay, we will be leaving Livonia around 4:30 or 5, as soon as Birch's momma can get Abby. We should be arriving around 8-9pm. It all depends on traffic and if Birch'll let me drive (he drives pokey). Actually our arrival time doesn't make much sense. It won't really take five hours to get there will it? Takes us two to get to Midland, how much more after that?”

“2 hours, Midland to Gaylord, more if you're "pokey".”

“Cool. Are we going to meet at the Big Buck?”

“I don't know if I want to set up camp at Graves Crossing after sitting at the Big Buck for awhile...
I think I'll try and get out early enough to set up first. I could be out at 3 and there by 5.”

“Smiley Girl do you need to borrow anything?

Do you want to try out a stove? I have a white gas whisperlight, an Esbit, and a pop can alcohol stove you could test. I coud give you a pop can stove, I made 4 or 5.”

“Take it!!!!”

“Le Subtil, I do have a tent, I'd just prefer not to hike with it as its pretty bulky and heavy. If you've got something smaller I can borrow, I'd love it. And if you're giving pop can stoves away, I'm game. But Joy is jealous! :)”

“Smiley Girl - Happy to hear that your going for sure!

Everyone - I'm Le Subtil. Personally, I'd like to make camp before we go. I don't really know what time I'll be up there at. I'm still taking the day off and my sis doesn't get outta school until 2:30. So, I'm shooting for being on the road by 3:30. Before/after I set up, I've got to do the stash. I'd like to do it on the way to Graves, but I'm flexible.

Well, gotta get back to work...”

“Everyone - I am not Laqtis!

Smiley Girl - I might bring a 8'x10' tarp, or more likely a 100"x100" 4 person Megamid, how would you feel about sharing ?
:-)”

“Hey ! one thing I just noticed about my last post. When I said "Yea, I'd like to make camp before we go...." I meant my sister and I, not like - That's what we all should do...”

“GGeeeeeeezzzzz. .Talk about a faux pas. No, I like the guy a lot, great person, but I'm not him.

Sorry, Le Subtil !!

(hey, what do you know. I can finally post from work..)”

“SG, I was joking; it sounded funny before I typed it.
I certainly don't want to scare you away after all the trouble we had talking you into going!

Laqtis - no worries; I knew what you meant. Just pullin' your chain...”

“I know. Too bad it took a million posts to correct everything! LOL Man, I am so happy I can post from work now. I'll be breaking the bacpac law now!!!!”

“Le Subtil, good thing I read both of your posts at the same time, you would have had me scared off for sure! :)

A brand new Gaylons opened in Novi. Went to the grand opening last night. Great store, but no great deals. I was a good girl and left without spending any money. :(”

“I talk too much. After 10 hrs. in the cubicle I get flaky(ier).”

“SM - REI still has some deals. I think there is one in your area. I was so bad at first about going there and dropping 100 bucks a shot. When I first got involed in bping, I told my wife, "Yea, only need a few things, maybe 50 bucks worth.."

It's not like I have a gear habit or anything :)”

“Joy - You took a vacation day just so you wouldn't have to miss out on all the fun???? ;)

Joy/Birch - I drove to Marquette on Tuesday. It took me 3 hours and 5 minutes to get to the Gaylord exit. If you're taking 96 to 23, you should only have to add about 15 minutes to that!

I also think it is a good idea to set up camp first. I don't know how good I'll be at setting up a tent when I'm "half-in-the-bag." I'm willing to bet that we'll end up drinking beers at the campsite. But, I won't rule out Big Buck as an option.

My friend, Bill, was going to come w/ us. He just found out he has to work the next few Saturdays so he can't make it. Very sad. However, that means we'll be leaving a little bit earlier! I think we'll be on the road around 3:30 or 4:00.

laqtis - I hear ya. There was a few months where we would go to REI almost weekly. Spent several (and I mean many) hundreds of dollars on gear. Even when you have all the gear you need (ok - that'll never happen), you still spend tons of money everytime you walk into that store!”

“The dividend check is the proof! What is it 15% of all the regular price stuff you buy? We got a $90 one once. The amazing thing is that we usually buy stuff on sale so that was a really expensive year!

I figured if we went to Big Buck's we'd just get a coupla beers and an appetizer or two. Don't want anyone getting breathalized! We can just meet up at the camp ground if that'd be better. We need a vote though! What do you want to do? One for the brewery and one for the camp here.

We're gonna drop our cache before hitting the trail on Sat. No sense in trying to find something you hid in the dark when you can hide it in daylight!”

“Bars are smoky and noisy. I vote camp.”

“Joy - I didn't realize you had two personalities... Two voets?

I agree w/ Le Subtil. If some of you recall, I am quitting that nasty smoking habit this weekend. Which means a smoke-filled bar will kill me!

Even if I was still a smoker I wouldn't want to go to the bar cause my dad will be with me and he thinks I quit smoking months ago. So, I still wouldn't be able to smoke!! I know I know I'm 28, who cares what my dad thinks!!!

Either way - my vote is camp. I love drinking beer around a campfire.”

“Mine and Birch's vote

It's actually a really nice restuarant/bar with the non-smoking section available.

I'm glad you're quitting Tarabull! It's been three weeks, not including the three I smoked on the Sackrider hill adventure (Buddha Bear made me!) and it'll be a whole lot easier next weekend if no one has them!”

“i figured it was for you and birch... just jokes baby.

glad to hear you quit too. what about birch?

next time i see buddha, remind me to kick his butt. not nice to force cigs on someone trying to quit!”

“I'm for setting up first, then see what happens after. I wouldn't mind going to Bucks after, or sittin' around the camp "preparing". Makes no difference to me. I just want to GO, already. Wish I was there right now :) (sorry, it's been a bad day so far).”

“Just seven short days my friend!

Where is this camp ground BTW?”

“here's a link laqtis provided. the campground is on M-66, north of Piney Bridge Rd.

http://www.angelfire.com/mi/fire3300/dnrmap.html

Joy - if you kids are making a stash on Saturday morning, we'll follow you. That way I don't have to ask laqtis to do it for me. k?”

“Tarabull - Thanks for reposting the link. You beat me to it. Looks like the Jordan River flows through the camp?”

“I saw the cig deal between Joy and Buddha Bear - there was no force used! ;)

I vote for Big Buck, but that's just because I would like to see some friends who live in Gaylord if I've got the chance. They've got a 2-month old baby though, so much later than 9 probably won't work for them to meet up. (And I agree, Big Buck has never been very smoky when I've been there.) I'd like to see my friends, if it doesn't work out, its not the end of the world.”

“aaahhh. the truth comes out. thanks for clearing that up, smiley!

so, you weren't forced, joy?? buddha will be happy to know that no butt-kicking will be necessary now.”

“I was! I saw the burning cigarette and I was forced to ask for one so I would be cool too! It was peer pressure! I am a victim!

Birch is doing pretty well too. He won't have any next weekend. He has a really high stress job and occasionally is deluded into thinking a cigarette will make it all better. He's trying though.

You can follow us anytime Tarabull!

Laqtis, you fence rider! Are you for ar agin the Big Buck?”

“I've been called many things in my life and I'll have to add fence rider to the list. Maybe change my TT name?? LOL

Fence rider on the storm??Dum-da-dum-ta-dum

Sorry, bad joke....


I'm up for it, but then again, I'm up for stayin', but it might be nice to have a beer and something to eat, but then it might be cheaper to stay at camp, but then again it would be nice to sit around in chairs and be served, but I have cold weather I'd like to see if it works, but if we go, that means I don't have to make anythig for dinner and clean it up, but it might not be a good idea to go because someone might get there until late and not have a spot, but then again...”

“So if we're stashing Saturday morning, does that mean I don't have to carry much hiking? :))

Laqtis, I live within 5 miles of REI, EMS, and now Galyons. No wonder I'm in debt....

and make up yer mind!”

“OK OK


damn, enough arm twisting....


I'll go


I'll go




What a rough crowd :)”

“If you want to stash this much stuff, maybe you want to leave a car a Pinney Bridge. Then you could lock your goodies up and not have to worry about them. And, you'd have a car spotted halfway, just in case.”

“Good call LeSubtil! I will stay to guard the stuff too. Just in case any unscrupulous characters should happen upon our car. So how much beer we taking?”

“Alright I'll concede...meeting at the camp ground. Maybe Big Buck's on the way home?”

“Well, we could go to Big Buck on the way home, but it would depend on what time we got back to the cars and at that time, it might be best that we just went home, but if our hike was not that long, we might be able to spare some time to go to Big Bucks, but then again, we run into the whole money thing and that might open up all kinds of situations, because some people might not have money to go to Big Bucks, but on the other hand, it will be Sunday so we wouldn't be able to buy beer until 12:00pm anyways, so, depending on how we do, we might be able to go, but on other thing is that..”

“This guy doesn't need any alcohol in his system.”

“I'm bring a 12 pack, just in case, depending on the style of beer. It's always good to have too much than not enough, I always say. My sis, I don't know. I don't think she will need any. I'll volunteer to bring something along the lines of Kaula or Baileys for some yummy hot chocolate drinks and Smore goodies for the camp fire. And I'm in for going to Bucks, or any place for that matter, after we're done.”