Michigan Mountaineers in March?

“Max, if you dont come I will beat you about the head and neck with a stick...actually I will piss and moan. So for the sake of others show up dammmmit!”

“Oh yeah, If you all want I can bring a REALLY nice venison roast to cook for us all on friday. Its yummy good and its not gamey at all.”

“Sure, birch, like any of us are nuts enough to turn THAT offer down! Roast beast, yummmy!”

“Not that I should presume others' choice of foods -- (but could cheese curd lovers be vegans?)”

“He says he'll bring it pekka.

Got an email from Lesubtil...he says he wants to come but maybe can't. Start the pear pressure!!!!”

“Pear pressure, hehehehehe. I meant peer pressure.”

“Pear pressure gives you puree (or some sweet wine from one of the vintners over by Paw Paw).”

“pekka - did you say something? all i heard was "blah blah blah blah blah blah (blah blah CHEESE blah).

birch - don't worry. i'll work on getting max to our side of the fence.

le subtil - come on.... everybody else is doing it. you always SAY you wanna go and then you don't. i think you're full of it. you don't really like us at all, do you? great, now i'm gonna cry.

(not really peer pressure, more like guilt trip)”

“very nice Tarabull...have you been practicing that on Max? lol”

“C'mon Max, give in to the peer pressure! I did! If you don't go, we'll never forgive you! You don't want to hear all about our trip, and be jealous, do you? Pekka's bringing cheese (you like cheese, don't you?), Birch is bringing roast beast...its gonna be a party!

(How'd I do?)”

“And Max, this won't be just ANY cheese. This will be authentic Wisconsin cheese curds (and maybe a couple extra surprises for you Cheesehead wannabes).”

“Guess what guys, I just talked to my beautiful wife and I’m actually IN for this trip! I still feel like a turd about the Hocking Hills debacle and I felt like such a bailer. I normally go out about once a month (I’m going this weekend too) but the wife knows it’s an exception and I need to make this one up to ya. If I may be so rude as to request a recap…wus da deal? Who? What? Where?”

“Post Script- That is as long as there will be no consumption of alcoholic beverages. I can not abide by drinking and refuse to be around that sort of behavior.”

“Nigal, perhaps you shouldn't come then. I'm sure there will be plenty of beer packed in. :)

Pekka, as long as those curds squeak when I chew them, its all good!”

“I was just testing your friendships. I have found that you would choose beer over any kind of friendship we could ever have. That's the kind of gang I'm lookin' fer! I'll be there with my double-beer-hoser-baseball helmet on! I was just makin' sure ya'll were the "right kinda people".”

“Nigal, et al: Here's my understanding of what has been tentatively agreed on. The hike will be on a portion of the Waterloo-Pinckney Trail. The group will gather Friday (March 22) afternoon-evening-night at Big Portage Lake modern campground ($15 a site, 4 people to a site, no reservations needed this time of year). It's at the west end of the Waterloo Recreation Area and the western terminus of the trail. To quote Sass from above postings: 'Shouldn't be anyone else there this time of year and all the "modern" facilities will be closed...pump and outhouse only.'

If we survive Friday night's party of roast venison, cheese curds, and beverages around the roaring campfire...

On Saturday (3/23) we will drive east to the Pickeral Lake boat landing on the Pinckney Rec. Area portion of the trail and begin hiking s/w toward Waterloo, the goal being to reach Green Lake campground about 8 1/2 miles down the trail.

On Sunday (3/24th) that would leave about 7 miles to the Waterloo Rec. Area HQ (map mile marker 16), where we will have stashed a car or two on the way over Saturday morning.

And great to have you tossing your hiking hat into the ring, Nigal.”

“LOL! Clearly, the right hat for this hike will be a planning priority.”

“Hey Nige! Excellant news my friend. You remember where it is? If not email us and Birch will direct ya. Also, if ya get in Thursday you're more than welcome to crash here.”

“I'll be coming up Friday and getting in about noonish.”

“Excellent! I'll have met three new TTers this month. Buddur last week, now Pekka and Nigal next weekend!”

“You'll all be new to me -- I'll finally be able to post to the "Who have you met" thread!”

“Nigal, just come over to my crib and we can carpool beaytch!”

“Great to hear your coming to Mich, Nigal! Looking forward to meeting both you and pekka.

And don't pay any attention to what Sass says...I am VERY nice!!!”

“I haven't said anything...swear! I don't want to scare anyone away.”

“Tarabull is very nice in a mean sorta way.......












or is that mean in a nice sorta way. UGH I am so confused...”

“No, she's just plain mean. :)”

“but she makes up for it in other ways. =)”

“Yeah, she gives me cheese. :)

I realized after I posted that, I shouldn't have, since I'll probably ask to ride with her out there.

Tara, you're the best!”

“And just what am I getting myself into?! Okay ladies, separate bags of cheese curds so we won't have any squabbles.”

“sg - giving you a ride will depend on a couple things that i will confirm as we get closer to next weekend:

1) if max is going
2) if binra is going
3) if sadie is going

my car can fit w/ 3 people and one dog.... and that is pushing it! i'm gonna try and get a yes/no from max and binra this weekend. and i'll decide if sadie is going when i have a more accurate weather forecast.”

“Smiley you can ride with Me,Sass,Nigal and dogs.....”

“I figured that would get a little crowded, Birch! I like you and all, but that's a bit close for comfort, don't you think?”

“We could strap you to the roof of the jeep. =)”

“OK, I've been a good boy and worked all the OT for awhile and gotten my projects caught up at work. I've still managed to chip away at the honey-do list enough to placate the better half. So, I'll toss my hat in the ring also. I'll drive to the cg Friday after work, ETA 6-8 PM.

On our hike to Sackrider Hill last year, we started from the cg at Portage Lake, correct?

And, we camped on Fri. at Green Lake, our Sat destination, right?

It occurs to me that I've never spent a night on the trail with the Mountaineers, this will be a first! Do we have to camp Sat at Green Lake? Do they not allow backcountry camping?

REALLY looking forward to this....”

“le Subtil -

"On our hike to Sackrider Hill last year, we started from the cg at Portage Lake, correct?"

Yes

"And, we camped on Fri. at Green Lake, our Sat destination, right?"

Yes

"Do we have to camp Sat at Green Lake? Do they not allow backcountry camping?"

The Green Lake Campground is open for hike in only until sometime in spring. I really like that Rec Area.”

“The Jordan River Valley overnight with Mountaineers doesn't count even a teeny bit?”

“Hi Cow Patty! How are ya? Are you going to join us this weekend also?”

“Alright, le Subtil! Talk about a grand group of MMers to meet. Better bring more cheese curds! (birch, I was thinking about bringing some authentic Northwoods Wisconsin cranberry relish for teaming with the venison, too.)

Speaking of the campgrounds, how are they for trees, as in spacing appropriate for a hammock? If the temps aren't too bad, I would love to bring the Hennessy, but if the DNR has conveniently opened up a lot of distance between trees in the campsites, that could be problematical compared to "wild" woods.”

“Pekka, there are plenty of trees as we should be all to our selves. The relish sounds good. The venison will be a redwine,spicy mustard,molasses and ketchup deal cooked in a dutch oven with carrots and onions (you can pick em out tarabull) coal baked potatoes in sea salt and olive oil.

Lesubtil, backcountry camping is prohibited.Though this summer I plan on breaking that rule.”

“None of us "heard" you write that, birch.

I'll bring the Hennessy and my Gossamer then, and see how it goes the first night. I can leave one in the truck.”

“Hey Smiley Girl, no plan to be there next weekend as of now, anyway. I'll see how the week rolls along.

Sass - the $15 is the winter price 'break' from the usual $19 camp site fee. And most all state camping fees have been raised this year. State forest rustic camp sites have been $10 since March 1.”

“Dad made some Italian sausage this morning (breakfast and regular) and there is still some Polish sausage in the freezer.... I think I may have talked him into letting me bring some of each for this weekend.

le Subtil - glad to hear you are coming!”

“Yummy, sausage au Paul.

Great news LeSubtil! You can give me alcohol stove lessons in person. I'm so glad you can make it. =)”

“You will see me at some point this weekend. Still not quite sure how.

On Friday night, I'm going to see Sr. Helen Prejean - the woman who wrote "Dead Man Walking." If I get really ambitious, I might drop in for some fireside fun.

More likely is that I'll join everyone for hiking on the Saturday.

Variables concerning my participation include: a) Does my foot hurt? b) Am I still sick with a nasty virus? c) Did I get all of my grading of midterms done on Friday afternoon?

Any one of these variables might limit the length of my stay. Of course, they might decide to gang up on good old Mike.

Also, I have a few people interested possibly in this hike from backpacker.com. I'd appreciate it if someone could email the contact info. to forward to these seemingly trustworthy hikers.

Resume incognito,
rl”

“RL, glad to hear you'll "try" to make it out.

As for info, I don't have a clue. I'm (hopefully) hitching a ride from someone, and spending the weekend with some crazy people. That's really all I know. You'll have to ask someone else. :)”

“cow patty: "The Jordan River Valley overnight with Mountaineers" was a blast, counts a lot, but it was in a campground, as opposed to on the trail, and I only hiked half of it.

I must have tried a million times in the last 2 days to get to this thread.”

“Well, I have two pounds of genuine Wisconsin cheese curds ready to make the trip to SE Michigan, so you better make sure you find a ride smiley girl. Do you need me to reroute Friday to give you a lift? If that comes to pass, birch and sassafrass have the phone number for where I will be as of Wednesday night. I'm leaving about 6 tomorrow morning to make the run to Kalamazoo.

When I checked the WeatherChannel.com forecast for Ann Arbor this morning, it predicted high of 40/low of 28 for Saturday, high of 47 for Sunday, both partly cloudy. Friday night may be chilly, but that roaring campfire on the agenda ought to take care of that.”

“Here are dircetions for the TTers,axe murderers,freaks,kooks,and general ne'er do wells for the wknd.

Take I-94 to exit 150?Mt Hope rd,exit north, continue to seymour rd turn left go to the road that is marked for the camp and lake and find us. I will have a blue Jeep cherokee.

Smiley, Sass and I are taking 2 cars so you are welcome to join one of us.”

“Ha, this will teach me to rely on weather info from this morning! The current forecast is 38/26 for Saturday w/snow showers, and 40/32 for Sunday with rain/snow. Bet it changes by morning, and by tomorrow night, and by Thursday, etc., etc. Dang, birch may get to try his new rain gear yet. But you don't get to be a Michigan Mountaineer if you can't hand changeable weather, right?”