My Head Hurts

“I think I went hiking this weekend, but I don't remember.”

“Ha Ha Ha,
I seem to remember doing some hiking, but I'm still trying to figure out how I got home.”

“Take two aspirin and call in the morning.”

“Dude, your hallmates must have laughed their posteriors off when wolfsister pulled up to take you away.”

“I feel great.”

“My sides ache from all the laughing I did. You all are great fun; haven't cut loose like I did last night in a looooooong time! Hope I didn't offend or scare anyone. :o)”

“Head hurts = good hike”

“Dehydration, no doubt, LOL”

“Thanks Joy & Joe for planning the hike, and thanks to Tara and Bryon for cooking (the chili was awsome!) I had a great time, but am still a little under the weather.

BTW- Thanks for putting up with my snoring too (you know who you are)”

“We all put up with it! :o)”

“Now I know I should have gone this weekend..........:(I am now mad at myslef.......Grrrrrrrrr.....

I can make it up to myslef...I have next weekend.....:)”

“I am tired, going to sleep, good night, yawn.

Sleep tight. Later G tex/.ct3p g7-5_( (head hitting keyboard)”

“RL - are ya allergic to the christmas tree?

Thanks to everyone (Sassy) for the entertaining weekend. I went to 'have tea at the Durant's' this afternoon & the snow was the icing on the cake. A lovely hike.

I'm still smilin'. My head doesn't hurt....”

“Sounds like it was a great party! How did you find time to hike? LOL!”

“My head hurts too - mostly from Tarabull messing with it.

It's hard to believe we got 15 TT'ers in that tiny cabin. What a blast! I want to do this every weekend!

Although I was still feeling a little wierd from the bug I got, I had a lot of fun. You all are a bunch of crazies. I haven't laughed so much in a long time.

Thanks to Birch and Sassafras for setting up the cabin, thanks to Tarabull and Brian for the good eats. Adventuregirl brought an interesting friend along, who we didn't seem to be able to scare. I'm kicking myself for missing the big Polar Bear Dip. Will we get to see pictures?

I met wolfsister, deathSTUD99, SB, Reformed Lurker's sister, Tara's poor big brother, and Adventuregirl's friend. Did I miss anyone?

Next time we should go for a hunting lodge!”

“Oh yeah, sorry I forgot the Jagermeister (twice). It was an accident...”

“I'm thinking March for another go at a better facility. Anyone be up for it?”

“We hiked? I recall a lot of board games, a lot of food, a few beverages, and some really great company. Except for me in the morning, of course. So just BACK OFF!

I will add my thanks to everyone who had a hand in setting this up. We really appreciate your efforts. Tarabull, thanks to you and Binra for the great food, and thanks for the woobie. I gotta get me one of those!

Birch, Sass and I were discussing on the way back how amazing it is to bring 15 people together in such a small space and not have any conflicts or arguments. You all are terrific people and I'd hang out in a cabin for 6 again anytime! Thanks for so much fun.

Le Subtil, there are pictures of the cold dip. Thank goodness they don't throw photographers in. :)”

“Smiley Girl - just KISS ME !”

“Hey - Sound like a great weekend! Sass, I'd be up for a hike in March, but work might play a factor in that....”

“le Subtil,
you da man!”

“Whatchew talkin 'bout Willis?

You were doing pretty good yourself dude.”

“Alright, I didn't want to be the one to have to do it but I will...

The trip report:

We all headed up to Grayling on Friday, Tarabull and Binra arrived first to our happy little hovel (and it was a hovel) and proceded to cook up the most incredible pot of chillie and other misc food stuffs. Birch, SmileyGirl and I arrived next and we all lurked around the kitchen and were pushed away from the pot several times. The rest of the crew straggled in throughout the night. We had a fire in the firepit, a game of Trivial Pursuit and laughs abounded. The chillie proved as wonderful as it smelled and the drinks were cold. We had to move some furniture outside to create enough room for the floor sleepers and played poker for the beds.

We awoke to Tarabull clanging around in the kitchen, had an excellant breakfast of fruit salad and oatmeal and headed out to Wakely lake. The trail around the lake was lovely and the campground there will surely call us back come spring. After hiking around 6 miles the group split up, some headed back to the shack and others went on to hike the Mason Tract pathway.

Those of us who returned to the cabin ate leftover chilli and played pictionary, the men cheated horribly and won. Later they fessed up. Funny thing is they barely won by writing the words of the clues out! Some napped in preparation for the night to come.

Those who hiked enjoyed the trail along the Au Sable River and did another 7 or 8 miles I think.

We all ate like kings that night. Tarabull and Binra fixed tacos and we had apple pie ala CowPatty and ice cream sundaes. The fire was built by Buddha Bear and his flaming gas can and we settled in for a cosy evening. SB headed for home.

A few of us decided to join the polar bear club (Birch, Tarabull, CowPatty and me) and took a fast dip in Lake Margarete. It was no worse than swimming in Superior in August and was invigorating!

The night was spent playing games inside, relaxing beside a fine fire outside and enjoying eachother's company.

Sunday morning brought some early departures and a huge breakfast of bisquits and sausage gravy, bacon and eggs and toast. It was incredible! Slowly everyone departed. After loading up the car and a small adventure that involved Binra laying in Tara's car trunk while Birch played with a coat hanger we (CP, Binra, T, SG, Birch and me) all headed to Hartwick Pines to check out the Virgin stand under 1 inch of snow. It was gorgeous and the walk was just what was needed after the giant breakfast.

The weekend was a success despite the cramped conditions and the crudey cabin.”

“The cabin may have left a little to be desired, but the experience wouldn't have been the same! My co-workers are amazed by the stories I tell them. OK maybe its not amazed, maybe they just think I'm stupid.

But Stupid Should Hurt. :)”

“Who's your Daddy?”

“Thanks for doing a report, Sass.

Le Subtil - In reference to your question regarding pictures...

Yes, there are photos from the Polar Bear Dip. In fact, I had them developed last night.

Only four of us were courageous enough to brave the frigid waters of Lake Magarithe (Oh, and one was stupid enough to do it twice). And, only one other was bold enough to accompany us for the purpose of taking photos... knowing all along that the possibility existed that we would drag her into the water, too.

Having said all that, I wonder if only the five of us should be allowed to view the photos? I was always under the impression that the Polar Bear Club was an exclusive one. Would an exclusive club share photos with everybody or keep them for themselves? We may have to have a PBC board meeting to decide the fate of the photos. I'll keep you posted.

My apologiesto you for hurting your head, Le Subtil. What did I do??? Oh, and apolgy accepted for your forgetting the Jagermeister, not once, but twice! I do, however, doubt that it was an accident!! I think you were having flashbacks of the Jordan River trip and feared the photos that may have been taken!

Reformed Lurker - why does your head hurt? Is it because you had to share a room w/ the Binra? I bet you had a hard time falling asleep once you got home... too quiet?!?!


I had a fantastic time this weekend. We are a fine bunch and I look forward to another weekend of hiking, campfires, board games and fantastic meals (patting myself on back).

It was wonderful to see all of you again and to meet new people (Stinker, DeathMarch99, SB, Lil' Devil).”

“jeez, a guy falls down once or twice...”

“"proceded to cook up the most incredible pot of chillie"

Chillie????? What's that?????”

“LS - ya know I'm only teasing.

Chili36... Sass is stilling feeling the effects of Mich Lite. You'll have to cut her some slack.”

“Oh! Now that I have the full report, I completely understand.”

“lol, chili36 and tarabull don't know about the calendar links. tehehehehehehe”

“jeez, a guy falls down once or twice... *grin*”

“Actually skully, I am impressed with the artistic value that the black and white still photography provides. However, when I ogle,,,,I like to ogle in color.”

“OK, where's the goods? The Polar Bear goods??”

“. . . is it true that after watching Birch devour one or two bowls of “Brina’s Brew” that I actually saw flames bellowing from his mouth as he tried to breath life into that campfire?

. . . and is it true that somewhere amongst all those people in that cabin fri night a bear, or possibly two, laid growling through the night . . . . . and wolves howling outside?

. . . and is it true that I laid awake that entire night, motionless and terrified waiting for that first, often talked about, axe to come swooping towards my head?

. . . and is it true that reformed lurker led us on that second saturday hike at such a torrid pace that even the infamous deathmarch99 began to falter?

. . . and is it true that, on that hike, we saw cow patty defy the laws of physics by completing that hike with more energy than beginning with?

. . . and is it true that, budda bear left us in astonishment as he demonstrated his new campfire-starting contraption (that will surely become a backpacking essential) that will turn even the largest of logs into an instant burning inferno.

. . . and finally, is it true that I actually saw four polar bears leave to jump into that lake and return as though they had just gone for a midsummer’s dip?”

“. . . . . . well folks . . . maybe . . not exxxactly! . . . but hey this IS trail talk, isn’t it?

just wanted to let everyone know that I DID return ok sat night. . . . great meeting everyone . . . and YOU GUYS and GALS are “da bomb” ;o)”

“Back at work today, I tried to share 'bout the wknd with my coworkers. They didnt seem to think it woulda been fun! Oh well, the post trip blues are gone and I can sleep without being serenaded by 2-4 snorers.

It was a FAN-FRICKIN-TASTIC wknd! Thanks all of you folks who drove up to make it great. Kudos to Wolfsister and DeathSTUD who traveled the farthest.

I cannot wait to get together again,maybe this time to backpack,LOL!”

“Hello-I'm home!
SB-It was the moon-I couldn't help it.
Busquits and gray? No fair!”

“Agreed. Would love to do some backpacking w/ ya'll. I've only done to bping trips w/ the TT folks.

I think I'm getting a winter bag for Xmas (I say "think" cause I don't actually know for sure if he ordered it... I'm only 99% sure). So, I'd love to try it out this winter. I'll need some experienced winter hikers to help me out and teach me a few lessons about bping in cold weather.

January or February? If we start planning now we can be sure to make it happen...”

“second line of the last post...

to = two”

“Tara- Tip #1 Get hot round rock from campfire ring , wrap it in bandana, and roll it down to da bottom of your bag. Worked for me Sat. night. First time this year I had to shake the snow off my tent before packing-dats cool-real cool.”

“To our honorary Michiganiacs (the Hoosiers and Buckeyes): Great that you got home ok, thanks for letting us know!

SB - "breathing fire"... so now you know why Birch is missing that hair on his head !!”

“It's called sleep-driving.”

“I would very much like to meet you people.I hope I can go with on your xmas hike..


happy hiking......:)

Mike”

“You could have went this time Luvy if you would-a ask I would-a picked you up on the way through. Hey do you know there are a couple a cute little girl type backpackers right in your hood. Aint that so Death honey. I think Luvy said he was from Gary area.”

“somebody make him stop”

“Super trip reports, Sassy and SB. And you know it's ALL true, SB, it's all true.....

Tarabull - Tip # 2 - Go in February when there's a wee bit longer daylight. You gonna ski?”

“oh jeez, I think I've been branded with a new name.
BTW: Great weekend. Just what I needed.”

“oh yea, I fell out of my loft today and stragely the phrase "stupid should hurt" just popped into my brain”

“Tara/everyone - Whadda ya thinkin' about as far as a trip goes? Full blown, 20-30 mile trip / Weekend, or a Jordan River type? I'm up for a good hike in January/Feburary. Things are still a little slow for me around here, so I should be able to get away. I start looking at the books to see if I can digg anythng up....”