Michigan Hikers: April

“Hey, the greatlakes hikes people are planning a 24 mile backpack from Silver Lake and back in Pinckney Rec. Area for the second weekend in April. See page below:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/greatlakeshikes/files/WaterlooPinckney.htm

The plan allows for dayhikers and backpackers. It starts at 9AM. Maybe we should link up with them. Any thoughts?

BTW, my foot hurts. I'm resting it. But I might be a casualty for Ohio if it doesn't get better.”

“Sounds fun, what are the dates. I am going to Shawnee that same timeframe for 5 days(I think),If I am gone Sass will still make it.”

“I think it sounds like an idea. Can the Great Lakers handle the Michigan Mountaineers?”

“It seems whenever my club goes backpacking in Michigan I never get anyone from Michigan to go?

Whats up with that?????

8)”

“Crazy Mike, sometimes there's stuff that has to be done besides backpacking! Can't just always stop what we're doing and go. I speak for Birch and myself anyways.
If you keep on making plans and sharing them we'll join ya eventually.

And I WON'T be joining the greatlakeshikes folks if Birch is in Shawnee. I'll be taking care of Abby.”

“RL - what happened to your foot?”

“I don't really know, smiley girl. In college I had a stress fracture in the same place. This feels somewhat like that, only much less intense. I've just been staying off my feet.

I think it's a little bit of a wakeup call. I've been too busy lately. So, I've been thinking about a few things to jettison. I might crew the walk rather than actually do it. Haven't made a final decision, but I need to get rid of a few responsibilities.”

“Well I always like to keep people in the loop!

8)

I just want to let all the Michigan Backpackers they are welcome to go backpacking with my club anytime you guys want.

8)”

“I just don't your feelings to be hurt because we haven't joined ya yet. BTW Crazy Mike, I wanted to tell you that the Zilwalki Bridge is now closed until May somethingth. You'll have to detour around it on old 27 or 675 or something. Check w/mdot for more details.”

“My brother, sister and I were at the bridge the day it opened. Gov. Blanchard gave a speech, there was a bunch of whoopla. We were on our way to see my grandpa, we knew it would be the last time we saw him. Hard to believe the bridge is that old!”

“It's not. Cement was falling from that thing before it even opened. Maybe the worst public works project in state history.”

“Damn civil engineers.... :)”

“No it's not like that.

By the way thank you for the info.

8)”

“Hey RL - my aunt is out of the walk too. Heard this from my parents, not from her directly. I'm sure she'll call me, but I'm pretty ticked off at her right now for quitting. We all figured she would do this, its my own fault for getting excited that she would be there.

Take care of your foot. I broke my foot in college (jumped off my bunkbed) and when the weather is cold and damp, the ache comes back. You'll have just as much fun crewing the walk, I'm sure. Plus, you get to heckle us. :)”

“1) It's the "Zilwaukee" bridge.

2) The detour is I-675 through beautiful downtown Saginaw.

3) The Zilwaukee Bridge itself is an engineering marvel. It is literally a bunch of preformed concrete cross sections glued together. The problems they had were due to a poor assesment of the site. The bedrock is far too deep in this area, so they counted on the friction of the soil to supprt the weight, but the soil is really mostly sawdust, used to fill in the river's backwaters, during the lumber boom in Saginaw.”

“And that's the reason I'm not a structural engineer.

Did you know they have special golf-cart vehicles that drive through the hollow beams, so they can be inspected?”

“Here is a interesting tidbit...

The Zil was built to allow large freight shiiping to pass. The construction took so long and blocked the river for such a long time that alternated routes were used to ship the freight (railroads etc...) that now the river gets only a fraction of the traffic it did in the past. The bridge is so impressive it sorta put the river out of business.”

“You shoulda seen the traffic jams when the drawbridge it replaced would open on a big weekend. I heard it was the only drawbridge in the Interstate system.”

“We should rename this thread to Useless Zilwaukee Facts.”

“I don't remember the river ever being blocked.
True, they don't use the river for much shipping, now that the GM foundries upstream are closed.

Smiley Girl :p
(j/k)”

“I thought I heard that they're shutting it down this Spring or Summer for repairs. What's the best alternate route from the North? I'm sure it'll be a big mess around there. Any info on when and how long this will take?”

“Don't I feel dumb! Ok, I read the previous threads. It's been so long since I've hung out here that I didn't realize that this wasn't a new thread.”