April 6th Sipsey Willderness Clean-up

“I'm getting off at noon on the %th too. I'll be there at betweeb 1 and 2pm, depending on how lost I get looking for the Thompson Creek trailhead.

5 gal buckets: It depends on how many firering crews we have. I would say one per firering crew, and I'm guessing we'll have at least two, and maybe three firering crews? Or maybe I am overestimating?”

“bitpusher, I would say two or three would be right.”

“Anybody else bringing a shovel? I have a little folding model, sorta like an ET, that I'll be bringing. I'm guessing one per firering crew also.”

“I will bring one.”

“I'm planning on getting there sometime Friday morning. Has it ever been decided for sure if we are camping at the needle?”

“I think that at least some of us will be there Rabbitman. The problem is that some people will be getting to the TC trailhead after dark, and won't want to night hike to the needle. It's a few miles from the trailhead to the needle, isn't it?”

“It's about 2.5 miles”

“Is there another large campsite on the Thompson Creek trail before the needle?”

“I've never been to the needle myself but the 2.5 miles shouldn't take but about an hour to hike if it's like most of the other trails at Sipsey.”

“I wouldn't have any trouble making it there in the afternoon. I was just thinking about the people coming in late. I guess I'll be at the needle too. If we're meeting there Saturday morning, those of us who camp there the first night can sleep later since we don't have to hike an hour in!”

“Is there going to be a group gathering Saturday morning? If so, where?
Don't forget, if any one has an FRS radio then bring it. They may be pretty handy keeping up with everybody.
I got an extra Sipsey map if anybody needs one. E-mail me your home address if you need it t0 walkindude32@comcast.net”

“I've got two FRS radios and I'll be bringing them both. I think the tentative plan is to meet at the eye of the needle Saturday morning.

But I'm not the FOREMAN!”

“Cool”

“Friday afternoonish for me, with regard to getting lost finding the TH! If I haven't shown up by Sat. sorry about all the callouses you guys are going to get. LOL”

“-Note to self-
Bring leather gloves from home.”

“Walkindude..bring an extra toothbrush...i may have you help scrub fire-ring rocks..lol

I'll have a fsr and try to make Needle base camp ASAP.
CHannel 1??”

“Channel 1, Got it.
Extra toothbrush, Got it.”

“For those of you going in late Friday night and don't want to go all the way to shiprock. There are 2 semilarge campsights close to the trailhead. When you leave the trail head the trail will turn away from Thompson Creek. You will go about a 1/4 of a mile and come to a small branch that goes into White oak hollow. Follow this branch a couple of hundred yards and there is a campsite right on the branch. You could say it is in the branch on a gravel bar. Another alternate site would be - when you come to this small branch cross over and follow the trail uphill about 50 yards. Turn right like your going to shiprock and go back toward Thompson Creek. There is a campsite where this branch runs into Thompson. Enough room for a few tents. There was once a chair there ,yes a chair from some kitchen table, some work needs to be done at these sites. Someone coming in after dark would see a fire and could easily make it in the dark. Just remember to cross the branch at the trail and walk back to the creek. It would be a rough crossing in the dark near the creek.

BAMA”

“Cleaning the firering rocks, eh? Should we go completely Frank Burns and bring some white paint, too?

I'll probably make it to the needle.

Channel 1 works for me.”

“Hrmm...for that...bitpusher..bring a mop...got a few overhangs that might need some swabbing out...lmao

ya know...i'm not calling the FS anymore..it's been 2 weeks and NOTHING...f them”

“OPIE, we have someone here in the company that is the liason for our govenment contracts. I can have him give this a shot. If we want to pursue getting the FS "blessing" on this, send me the contact names and numbers.”

“I've considered writing my Congresscritter about this. Not that it will do any good, but if no one says anything, then he'll never know.”

“bitpusher, in the real world, if you don't respond to customer's needs, (we are "customers" to the FS, in a sense), the #&%!$ generally hits the fan because someones complains to a higher authority. Same principal should work with the FS.”

“Oh, I agree completely Chili. I'm just very cynical about this kind of thing.”

“recommend against going anywhere in the complaint route - all it does is piss off the people involved and then they will make trouble for us - ignore and be ignored I think is the best approach”

“i'm with HOI...i say lets just have our fun..if we want to make this official down the road we'll do that. THey have goofy hours..and seem understaffed....might be playing phonetag..but i never got the tag back”

“Sounds like a plan to me. Personally, I feel that we are better off doing this without FS "permission". However, you would at least think that the FS would embrace volunteer labor.”

“They were perfectly fine with accepting volunteer labor as long as it was someplace where their bosses might actually see it. BUt in the backcountry? Nooooo waaaayyyyy.”

“good point bp.”

“i say next time we do clean up the paved roads...under one condition.
We do it.............




















butt nakid!!

...they'll send us into the backwoods so fast it'll make everyones head spin...LMAO”

“oh my - talk about an ugly situation - down right butt ugly”

“Actually nudity is prohibited in the Sipsey. It says so right on the sign where you leave your fee.

I have caught more than one person nude back there though.”

“bringing this back to the top. Anyone seen a long range weather forecast?”

“www.accuweather.com shows it's gonna be nice and purty...a lil kewl at night..but nothing bad”

“yep both Intellicast and WeatherUnderground agree - some chance of a shower on Sunday but otherwise looks real good - Friday and Saturday both look to be great”

“a couple things that I thought of - it may be a good idea to plan on bringing an elbow strap or two if you are at all prone to tendonitis - this especially applies to the people sawing blowdowns. For those that are cleaning up fire rings and anyone else picking up trash (ie all of us) a pair of tongs may be useful for picking up glass and other possibly disgusting trash up safely.”

“I went to the trailhead again to check on the road. We have had a lot of rain in the past few days but it did not wash the road out. You can get in with any car. There are several potholes but nothing major. The creek was really flowing. We are supposed to get more rain on wed and thur but I don't think we will have any problems. The creek rises and falls quickly. Someone mentioned that they would be on channel one on the radio's. Is this the channel were going to use?. One other thing I thought of is what type of vehicle are ya'll gonna be driving. ( Without having to search the other thread ) It would be nice to know who is already there when you get to the trailhead since we are all arriving at different times. I'll be there sometime midmorning Sat. I plan on going to the needle and set up camp, then cross thompson and concentrate on the firerings around the bluff shelters. I will be bringing a couple of small folding shovels and a small saw. If someone needs help elsewhere I'm flexible, I can take care of the firerings later. Some of them are smoking up the bluff faces and need to be relocated or done away with. BTW I will be driving a blue 92 ford 4x4.

BAMA”

“2002 silver sport trac with a 23 AL tag..

I'm contemplating calling in sick friday and coming in around lunch friday....hmm..if not it'll be early saturday”

“Yea, I thought about doing the same thing. Depending on how things are going at work friday night I may leave at 7:30. If so I'll hike in late fri night. But I'll be there no later than Sat. midmorning.”

“Me and my brother (Pack Rat) will be there Friday night. If we choose to hike in I'd say we'll be there about 9:00pm.
I'll be driving a dark blue Ford Ranger w/extended cab. Big ole Gator plate on the front.”

“2001 Bronze Sebring ragtop.

I will be there sometime Friday afternoonish.

'Tango chants: CALL IN SICK, CALL IN SICK, CALL IN SICK!'”

“*cough*”

“93 Ranger, dark metallic purple I'll probably be getting there Friday a.m. I'll hike on in to the needle and set up camp but I can hike back out and meet anybody at the trailhead if they need me to.”

“90 Ranger, white with 47 tag. I'll be there between 1 amd 2pm, and hike on in to the needle. Bringing a bow saw, a small shovel, and some garbage bags.

And a surprise!”

“Rabbitman
My Ranger is also a 93. COOL!”

“oh god...bitpusher is bringing his stash in case he can't find a local still....BIT...hehe...no rangers to mess with you this time! *holds head and laughs*..the SOB is gonna float a keg in, I KNOW IT!”

“2000 Honda Civic VA tags and a Greene County parking sticker in the front window.

Rabbitman you look to be about the only person arriving and setting up before me - how could I recognize your camp so as to introduce myself or camp near by if you are not around? If I arrive before you just look for a big green Hennessy Hammock hanging around somewhere - I'll tie a bit of blaze orange to it for visibility.

For the rest of y'all poor sick folks just think of me burning 3 days of vacation just to visit you lovely area (grin). I'll be traveling all day Thursday and expect to be at the needle before noon on Friday. I'll be driving back to Virginia on Monday - estimated 16 hours one way (groan).”

“yea..i'm feeling crappy today and letting the office believe that..LMAO...*COUGH COUGH*...I've always wanted to see one of the Hennessy hammocks! See ya'll friday”

“I will be at the trailhead around 3 PM. Red Sportage with Shelby County (TN) tags. I should be able to spot your camp HOI,,,,orange is a good color. :)”

“HOI,
My tent will be a Peak 1 Cobra. If you see somebody wandering around with a Rabbit’s foot on their hiking stick, that’s me.
I think walkindude has a picture of me and the lovely Mrs. Rabbit on his photo page.”