Michigan Hikers! (and Ohio friends)

“That'll work Smiley. That puts us at "point 7" on the trail.

RL - I'm assuming you'll be coming from US 23. Let me know if you need directions to Grange Hall Rd from there. (Unless you wanna carpool.)

Smiley - are we riding together? I don't usually take the expressway to get to Holly, so if you want to come up Haggerty to my place, I can drive from there. It takes about 30-35 minutes from my house.”

“Oops. Somehow I missed your last post, Smiley. Yes, we can drive together. I'll email the directions to you. It will be really easy from your place!!”

“I'm a go for Friday morning.

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day!”

“Great weather again for the Thanksgiving weekend Holly dayhike. It sure was nice - although it will be a little warm for me in the afterlife.

Oh, and thanks, Buddha Bear, for putting on that show for us in your airplane. That death-spiral-to-earth-thing was pretty cool.

Here is a list of previous Michigan Mountaineers hikes:

Pictured Rocks
Jordan River (twice)
Green Lake (Waterloo)
Holly Rec. Area
Oak Openings Preserve
Proud Lake Rec. Area
Island Lake Rec. Area
Waterloo Rec. Area

By my estimation, that's 9 trips and about 120 miles of group hiking. Go team!

Next up: Grayling.”

“Man, yesterdays weather sure was nice! I was thinking 'bout you guys on the trail all day. I was going back and forth about showing up at the last minute, but I couldn't pull it off. I would rather been out there...”

“I thought about it a hundred times on Thanksgiving too. But i couldnt pull it off either. I cant wait to see you all in December!”

“Looks like I won't be able to pull the December trip off. My vehicle is living on borrowed time according to the mechanic. Seems my transmission is about to drop to the ground at any given moment. I have to wait until Spring to get new wheels. I'll be thinking of y'all. Have a great time!”

“Adventuregirl,
Told Mom yet? I get by this with my loved ones by saying I'm spending time with a hiking club group I joined. Good luck!”

“Glad ya'll had a nice hike RL. I was lucky enough to have my "Thunderbird" tryouts that day.... hope you liked!”

“So I finaly told my mom about all of you. It worked really well because You GOt Mail was on TV. All I said was hey what do you think about meeting people online? She said that she was not sure. So I told her about my hiking friends. It went well. She seemed really cool about it. Bu she is not sure if she wants me to spend the night in a cabin with all of you, but she said maybe someone could come with me. So I have been bugging my roomate. We shall see. I will come for the hike for sure”

“You gotta come adventure girl, I've been sharpening my new axe for 3 weeks now!

lol”

“AG - I'll be a reference if she wants to talk to somebody. Parents love me!”

“Tarabull is the Eddie Haskel of women!”

“AG - I'll be a reference if your mom wants to talk to somebody! Parents LOVE me!”

“Yes, Buddha, that is the truth. Edwina Haskel!



Anyone else having trouble w/ their posts? I posted once and when I went back a few minutes later, it wasn't there. So I posted again. Now they are both there. This has happened to me twice today.”

“I'd be a reference too. I'd even talk to your mom if you think it might help. Hope you can make it AG!

I thought about you guys on Friday! It was he!! flying by Cumberland Gap and all sorts of other neat looking areas to hike at 80mph, knowing we were sooo close but no hiking boots allowed on our trip!

I'm really looking forward to the 7th! All we need is some snow!!!!! I'm really hoping to hit that tubing hill. Did I tell you all that the cabin owner said we can check out as late as we like on Sunday? More time to play!”

“Just posting to see if I have the same trouble as Tarabull...

Must have been Buddha Bear doing all that crazy flying, I asked my boss and it wasn't him. But he did start telling me all about these crazy women pilots (I kept referring to the pilot as "he", my boss wanted to point out that I wasn't being politically correct.).

The floating dock was still more fun, though!

Hey Sunshine, if your reading, how's the snow up there?? I heard 8-14 inches tonight! Wish I was there!”

“No problems here, Tarabull.”

“Thanks for checking Smiley Girl!

AG - Sass and I are serious. Send us emails if you want our phone numbers!”

“I can write a pretty good letter of referance for you.”

“I would be afraid of what that letter might say. LOL”

“AG, I forgot to offer my help too! Three references work for almost any employer! HOpefully it will work for your mom too!”

“A-girl,
Let me talk to your Mom we'er prob. the same age-no then I would feel like I WAS your Mom-that's it- your not going!”

“Hi smiley girl!

Snow is coming and is suppose to keep coming until Wednesday. Time to take the screen door off and get out the shovels. I backed into the driveway so I can get a running start if need be. We didn't get our annual Thanksgiving holiday storm. I hope this is it!!”

“Yeah Sunshine, as soon as we heard about the white stuff, we reminisced about driving back up there after break in blizzard conditions. Get behind a car on US-41, follow the tail lights 'cause that's all you can see, and hope for the best! I'll have to see if I can make it up for Carnival again this year!”

“There's an article about SOLAR (School for Outdoor Leadership and Recreation) in the Detroit News. They have a general membership meeting on Dec. 4.

Here's the address: http://www.detnews.com/2001/outdoors/0111/27/d04-346914.htm

There is also a yahoo greatlakeshikes gathering in Chelsea this weekend. Hikes are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.”

“you going to either of the great lakes hikes, RL?”

“I think I will be able to convince her. My mom knows I have a good judgement. And this could be one of those times thatI just say that this what Im doing and thats it. But I will ask her if she would like totalk to some of you. It might make her feel better. But I went to Africa with people I didnt know until I met them so I will bring that up too. I want to go! I will GO!”

“Don't go and make her mad!”

“Just make sure you decide soon enough that Tarabull can get enough food for you and whoever you bring if anyone AG.”

“Tarabull told us what the planned menu was for the weekend. Yummy!!”

“Oh, and I was back in Groveland last night (until 11PM, late meeting). We apparently missed the large herds of wild turkeys out there. We could have seen them, had we not been so loud trying to not end up like a deer! And that dude in the plane flies quite regularly up there. Gives the locals something to do, I guess!”

“Tell us about the menu too!”

“Na na, na na na! I know something you don't know!!”

“PfffffsssssfffT! :oP”

“something about chilli one night, tacos another night, oatmeal on sat. morning, BIG breakfast on Sunday.

hungry yet?”

“Alright non-committers... I'll be needing a final head count by 12/4.

I have an exam on Thursday PM so I need to do the grocery shopping on Wednesdady PM.

Smiley girl has the menu correct. Chili (and maybe some chicken wings) on Friday for those who haven't eaten and for those who like a midnight snack. Oatmeal and fruit on Saturday morning. Leftover Chili after the hike. Tacos/Burritos for dinner. Big greasy breakfast on Sunday. I believe Binra has a special dessert planned for Saturday night, as well.

I've already made the grocery list. I will determine how much of everything once I have the headcount. I'm guessing the grocery bill will be about as much as the rental price.

Oh yeah - BYOB and bring your own lunch for the hike.”

“WHOLLY COW!! You guys better watch out lightin' fires inside with all those taco and chilli being served :))”

“don't you wish you could join us???”

“All kidding aside...... YES”

“Deathmarch and Wolfsister will be eating your food!”

“Looks like I'm definately in!

SG - I can't email right now, my mother board on my other computer crashed on Wednesday morn, and I don't have everyone's email to converse in that mode....FYI

Tara - how many people are coming? If you want, I could make one of my famous recipies and take some of the cooking burden off your shoulders. Lemme know.

Do we need snowshoes?”

“Buddha, the zip code of Grayling is 49738 so you can check the weather. I don't think they have much snow up there yet but we can hope!”

“BB - Glad to hear your coming. Don't worry about food. Definitely appreciate the offer, but it's not necessary. We're on it. (Binra and I both love to cook!)

I'm hoping for snow...but I don't own snowshoes so I'm hoping they aren't necessary.”

“Tara, we'll keep an eye on the weather. If it looks like snowshoe weather, I'll go rent us some snowshoes from REI for the weekend.”

“If anyone wants to, they could meet up with me in Midland, leave their car at my house, and ride with me the rest of the way. I'm less than 5 miles out of the way.

I do too much driving alone and I get bored.

What is the head count up to now?”

“LeSubtil
Cow Patty
Buddha Bear
Smiley Girl
Tarabull
Binra
Wolfsister
DM99
Sassafras
Birch
Reformed Lurker
Reformed's Sis
Maybe SB and AG

Did I miss anyone? I hope not.

That's 12 definates and two maybes!!!”

“Hey LeSubtil,

I'll be up at my parents house (west of Mt. Pleasant) for much of the Christmas break. I think you mentioned that Deerfield Park has a loop? Is it worth checking out?”

“Yes, it is worth a look. A lot of it follows the pine river. They even have backcountry campsites, but the locals party there sometimes. They do charge, though. You have to buy a season pass for something like $5.

I have a friend who hikes there weekly; it's his pet hike, and if you're interested, I'll give you his e-mail address.”

“Hey guess what? I actually found a person who want to go! So that means me and a friend are in for sure, because that was moms criteria! Reformed? Directions?”