Jordan River Oct 27-28

“I've arrived on Fri night and left my tent set up at the CG several times - no problems.
Just there this weekend. Only 4 sites of the 15 occupied on Sat night, but a lot of dayhikers by deadman's hill.
No one works on Sundays - so crossing the bridge was no problem. Chances are you will be able to cross somehow.
The water pump was out. Just bring a purifier and TP and you will be fine. Think I'll try the MRT this weekend - sounds crowded at Pinney Bridge.”

“SB!

Keep in touch. We love Michiganders. Maybe we'll see you on the trail sometime?

Oh, and if you are one of those people who like to hike alone, we could schedule a solitary group hike - leave at half hour intervals, no talking at camp.”

“Been a bit of discussion whilst I was away, good to see. The "Cow Patty Plan"? LOL! Just meaning to give info & offer suggestions. Keeping in mind we have a group of at least 10 ppl with a wide range of bpacking experience.

Tarabull - bring lots of cheese, keep cows employed! And I'll make some cookies (chocolate is involved) as you're already bringing stuff.

SB - would that be for Mr. South Bend? I believe we've met & I trust you didn't end up hiking in the dark!”

“Doesn't sound like it's for social buttefly! I'm just teasing you SB!

Laqtis, Birch and I will bring a some maple logs after all since we'll be camping in the same spot both nights, no sense in you hauling all the heavy stuff! So you're responsible for Friday's wood, we'll take Saturday's.”

“Joy - O.K.

SB - Please keep in touch. The 'Mountineers are recruiting!”

“Don't forget, we get an extra hour to sleep this weekend, or hike, or drink beer, however you want to look at it.

Has anyone checked the latest forecast? Snow showers both Saturday and Sunday. :)”

“Cool! er, COLD!”

“Real cold....


Note to self - bring more beer than earlier thought....”

“the more beer i drink, the more likely it is i will need to exit my tent in the middle of the frigid night to use the ladies room..... not fun”

“reformed lurker: actually I think it would require hikers leaving at 45 minute intervals, at least. Faster hikers might overtake slower hikers when spaced at only 30 minutes apart. Lets plan this for the MRT some weekend, that way we could even stay at different campsites. (no chance of talking to each other that way)

laqtis: where can I get more information on this Mountaineers club. Sounds like just the club for me. There aren?t any other members are there? If there are do you have to attend meetings?

cow patty: nice try, but wouldn?t that make me MSB? By the way I usually avoid hiking in the dark . . . . . unless of course being pursued by a ferocious Michigan bear, after me and/or my food :)”

“SB - Reformed is "da Man" who has put together hikes. I was only able to attend one hike so far. There is a goal to become a formal club. It's in the early stage presently. Everyone involved is great. I had a great time last hike and I'm bummed that I can't make the next couple of dayhikes with them. What part of the state are you from?”

“Psssst.....Laqtis, the part of Michigan that SB is from would be South Bend. I'm familiar with the ferocious bear story.”

“something tells me that I?m being taken way too seriously. Just TH creating an ornery streak in me . . . . that?s trail hangover . . . . the bummed out feeling you experience from going back to work after spending such a gorgeous weekend on the trail. Or is it just all these ?#\*$ popups?

PS ? I really do enjoy meeting with and talking to interesting people on the trail and campgrounds (especially trailheads cow patty).”

“Le Subtil,

Still got a tent I can borrow? Cow Patty's got a solo tent I can borrow. Didn't know what you had for me.

Thanks everyone for offering gear, advice, and peer pressure. I'm so excited, I can hardly concentrate on work!”

“Smiley: I have a 7# 2 person Eureka Timberline and a 3# 14oz 1 person Eureka Zephyr. You could use either.

I've held back talking about it 'cause my brother hasn't decided if he's gonna go or not, looks like not though.

Also, I may have to return Saturday afternoon myself, or even cancel, if I can't get some family problems solved :-(”

“I hope you can get them solved L! We'll miss you if you can't make it.”

“Hey we'll be climbing two 1000+ footers this weekend.”

“Just another notch in the hiking pole :)”

“Le Subtil, hope you can get everything worked out. I'll make other arrangements just in case.”

“If need be, I have an extra two person, 3.5 lb I could loan ya. It the same as what my sis and I are using. Give me an email if your interested and need details...”

“Hope you can be there, Le Subtil.

Smiley Girl - take the offer of the Zephyr ! You'll like it ! And it's better than what I have for ya in the tent dept. !

To SB if you're around here - ya gotta watch out for those trail head encounters almost as much as for ferocious MI bears!”

“SG - I would take up Le Subtils offer on the Zepher also. The tents I have are cheap Texports and I can't vouch for them. I'd hate to see ya get wet...

Everyone - Just looked at the weather (again) it's going to cold. Take precautions.

Le Subtil - Hope everything works out and you can be there the whole trip!”

“Cold=a great excuse to eat snickers bars at 12:30am!”

“Speaking of cold, I'm just starting to get one.

Yea for me !!!!”

“Take echinasia ( or however it's spelled) QUICK! You can reverse this laqtis!!! Drink a gallon of OJ!”

“Euthanasia?!?!?!?!?!

My god women, what are you trying to do to me!?!?!?!!?!? :)”

“You're trying to kill me to get my bbbbbbeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrr

AAAAAAAAAAHhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”

“Bad news.... Smiley girl informed us that she is VERY ILL and cant come. She woulda posted herself but has no "puter at home.Count us in still.”

“Tha's too bad. Hope you get better, smiley!”

“Has anyone heard the latest local weather info for this weekend ? Mesik area? Usually rely on the weather channel for this info, but five tornadoes in my area (South Bend, but that?s not what SB is - long story) last night = no cable = only local weather info on the radio. Would appreciate the info ? that is if my electric stays on long enough to retrieve it.

cow patty: certainly hope that?s not to imply I need to be on the look out for pistol packin rambos at MI trailheads.

Hope the weather calms down and everyone that goes has a great weekend. My plans are for the mrt/nct loop this weekend starting from redbridge . . . .assuming I stick to my plans . . . unlike last weekend.”

“Ok, SB, here ya go:


Friday
Continued windy with
snow showers.
Accumulations of 1 to
2 inches. High in the
mid to upper 30s.
Northwest wind 25 to
35 mph with gusts to
45 mph. Chance of
snow...80 percent.

Friday Night
Windy with snow
showers likely.
Additional
accumulations of an
inch or two. Low 25 to
30. Northwest wind
20 to 30 mph with
gusts to 40 mph
during the
evening...diminishing
to 15 to 25 mph
overnight. Chance of
snow...70 percent.

Saturday
Mostly cloudy.
Scattered light snow
showers during the
morning...tapering to
flurries in the
afternoon. High 35 to
40. Chance of
snow...40 percent.

Saturday Night
Becoming partly
cloudy. Low 20 to 25.

Sunday
Partly sunny. High 45
to 50.


Hey whaddya know, most of the copy & paste worked!”

“Sounds like AWESOME weather!”

“That's for Cadillac (close as yer gonna git to Mesick, home of the ferocious Michigan bears) from Weather Underground, wunderground.com, my favorite weather place.

Hey, I'm not warning ya, just playing off your earlier comment! No rambos here....”

“This will be my first cold weather hike. Hope I'm equipped!

I camped in the snow once before. However, it was unintentional. Did not have adequate equipment and still survived!!

Anyone know if there is snow accumulation already in the Jordan River area?

I hate to ask the same question twice (or three times, as the case may be.) I just wanna be clear in case I get there after dark:

32 E
66 S
Left on Pinney Bridge Rd
Parking will be obvious?
Trailhead will be obvious?

Sorry and thanks!”

“Thanks for the quick info cow patty. Don't believe I'll be fightin for any campsites with that forecast . . so I'll do the nct side on sat (long hill climbs = warmth) and stoke up the fire sat night. Time to run for tf.

let me know how the weekend goes. e-mail me if the thread dies.”

“Tarabull - you could go that way. Here's a shorter way: take 32 west off 75 to 131 and go south 5 miles to Alba Rd., turn right (West) on Alba Rd. to 66, turn right (North) on 66 for ~5 miles to Pinney Bridge Rd., turn right. All paved except Pinney Bridge Rd. There's a big wooden sign for the Jordan River Valley on that corner. Taking 32 thru E. Jordan can be confusing & I think it's longer. Actually, taking C42 off 32 going west and following 42 right across 131 so you are right on Alba Rd. is prolly shortest & what I'll do but I know the way.”

“SB - There is a good campsite on the NCT side of that hike, before Eddington Creek. It's not on the trail, though. It will be accross a road, right before a bunch of roads meet. It's on top of a hill, so you will not see the site, but you will see, what looked like to me, old short DNR posts sticking outta the ground, leading up the hill to the site. People sometimes leave fire wood also. I hope ya find it. It's not easy to catch.”

“Joy - I'll bring some extra gaiters for ya if ya want to use some. They'll be the higher ones.

What's the earliest any of ya will be at the Pinney Bridge parking?

Laqtis - I think that's a nice camp site, too, on the NCT side.”

“If the meeting w/ my client goes the way I think, I should be on the road by 3:30 or 3:45. It takes 3 hours and 5 minutes to get to the Gaylord exit. So I guess 7 or 7:30?

Yiippeee!!”

“That's okay Cow Patty, but thanks! I've made it this far without em. I don't think we'll get much snow that'll stick.

I'm hoping that we'll be pulling in right behind Tarabull, maybe 30 minutes or so later.”

“Same here as Tarabull and Joy on the time. I'm running late already (nothing like that last minute trip to REI) so I might not be there until 8:00 - 8:30.

See you guys there....”

“Is ok either way, already have 'em in the truck, Joy. No snow there right now but 4" in Gaylord this morning.

Tarabull, I got the cookies baked. They're in the truck, too.”

“Slightly shorter route from Alba:

turn right (West) on Alba Rd. to Cascade Rd., turn right (North) on Cascade Rd. ~3 miles to trailhead.

I hope to leave by 4:30 which would put me there 6:30. I will be in a white S-10 P.U.”

“laqtis: thanks for the suggestion. I did find the site you spoke of . . . . I think . . . . looks pretty cool. I also found two other spots very near eddington creek (thanks to the leaves being down) that you might be interested in. One, as you approach the creek going downhill, the trail leads you beyond the footbridge by about 200 yds . . . give or take 200 yds . . . before heading back cross the footbridge. Instead of making the bend on the trail back towards the bridge go straight about 50-75 feet. There is also a very nice area not too far past the creek. Its located on the ridge just above the trail right before the nct/mrt junction, that is if you don?t mind the power lines that also cross there (don?t think I?d recommend this one if thunderstorms are a possibility). Both areas have been used before.”

“Well, how'd it go? Everyone make it back okay? Did you get snow? Were you able to cross the bridge? Were there any colors left? Can't wait for the report!”

“Sunshine - check out the thread - As the Flow Cries. Birch has some info on the trip. I'll be getting my pictures back soon. Everyone took some great pics!”