cheese curds...the trip report

“Not to steal everyones thunder I will just post my highlights from the wknd...

1) Meeting Pekka. Man, I wish he lived closer. He is a helluva nice guy who is lobbying for a TT day in his home town.

2) Eating cheese curds, whoever thought they could be oh so good?

3) Hanging out with 9 tters for some good walkin and gear talkin

4) Being greated at lunch today by a trail angel who brought us cold cokes,hot ribs and smoked salmon

5) Meeting granma sole(a local lady who maintains and loves my local favorite trail)

6) Zip-together sleepin bags

Thanks again ya'll for the great wknd! I look forward to the next time.

LeSubtil...I have my emer'gen-C on the way, THANKS!

Pekka...cast a vote for the wife for me and let us know when we need to come up for the key ceremony.”

“Sounds like ya had a great weekend!

8)”

“zipping bags together musta been fun!! LOL


sorry man Ive been at the river boat casino all day drinking Jack & Cokes!”

“Thats funny!

Prowler Drunk!

I would like to see that!!!

8)”

“BTW, We ended up with a pair of MSR trekking poles...Pekka or BB? We'll mail them out to the highest bidder lol.”

“Sounds like what JOSH did in HNF.

8)”

“#&%!$, those are mine. I knew I forgot something.

Here is my adress, please mail them to me.

1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, DC. 10001

OK, I'll email you my address. Thanks, and it was a great time!

BB”

“It was a great time!”

“Had a fantastic time, as always. It is so nice to find 8 other hikers to enjoy Michigan springtime with. You guys rock!”

“Ditto what le subtil said, it's always a good time!

I have the leftover cheese curds. They won't last long in my refridgerator, though!”

“I had such a wonderful time meeting everyone. I would like to thank Tarabull (AKA "Sprinkler Chick") for keeping me from winning the the coveted 'Most UN-PC joke award! LOL! She also squeezed me out of the belching championship also!

I'm definitely trying to make more of the Mich. trips.”

“Because I have only three pics before my camera puked I thought I'd just post 'em here.

Whatcha unpackin' Birch? Is that a venison roast? Oh yeah, I forgot!

Front L-R: birch, Pekka, LeSubtil, Smiley Girl, Buddha Bear. Back row L-R: John, Tara and Joy.

Pekka, Saddy, and Tara sittin' in the sun.

”

“For those who didn't attend...Here's a brief report:

We met Friday night at the Portage Lake campground. (Pekka, Sassafras, Birch, BirchDog, CullyDog, Nigal, Tarabull, SadieDog, Smiley Girl, Le Subtil, Max, and the suprise guest... Buddha Bear). We sat around the campfire and feasted on Cheese Curds and homemade Italian and Polish sausage... oh, and beer.

Saturday morning, we packed up for hiking. Unfortunately, Max had to go home to do some more studying so 12 became 11. At the trailhead, Reformed Lurker joined us and 11 became 12 again. He was going to do a bit of dayhiking w/ his favorite Mountaineers. I think we took off on the trail around 10:30. Started at the Ranger Station and headed towards the Green Lake campground. It was a pretty windy day but the sun was shining so everything was good. Everybody was on his or her best behavior... that was soon to change.

Many miles into the hike, RL headed back to his car but assured us that he would return later for some campfire mischief…12 became 11 again!!

Near the destination for the night, CullyDog had a little mishap w/ his foot. Once we got to the campground, BirchMan had decided it would be best to take CullyDog and BirchDog home (11 became 9) so he took off back towards the cars. Fortunately, he is resourceful and didn't have to walk the 8.5 miles back... Instead he found the first house w/ dogs in the yard and bummed a ride to his car! Smart thinking! That was the second time a TTr has impressed me with his resourcefulness (BB in Grayling was the first!!)

Tents/Tarps were set up, wood was gathered, fire was started, dinner was eaten (le subtil brought white vermont cheddar and tarabull was in heaven), BirchMan returned, and campfire chatter began…. And this is where it all goes downhill! I will maintain the sacred rule of “what is said at the campfire will stay at the campfire” for the sake of covering my own a$$! The only one of us that was truly on his or her best behavior was Sadie. The rest of us are deplorable! :)

Sunday morning – Buddha had to head home to get some work done and Pekka had some bad foot problems (new boots) so they took BirchMan’s car back to the trailhead. 9 became 7. The rest of us took off on the trail to hike the 7 miles to the end. Birch "bothered the other hikers" (Grandma Soul) which, I think, made his day. We stopped at the geology center for lunch and were greeted by Pekka carrying ice-cold cokes and hot ribs! I’m quite sure that was the best backpacking lunch I’ve ever had! Smiley Girl jumped in the truck with Pekka (she had new boots too!!!) and headed to the end of the trail to meet up with us… 7 became 6. The last couple of miles were a piece of cake! We walked so fast, we beat Pekka and SG to the end! They drove up a few minutes after we got there and we shuttled ourselves back to our cars.

I had a really great time. It was wonderful to meet two more fantastic Trail Talk folks.

Nigal – Sadie says thanks for all the great food you fed her!”

“By the way, Birch and Sass, how was that venison roast?? ;)”

““what is said at the campfire will stay at the campfire”

This is probably a good policy as I think I may have slipped once or twice and said something a bit unsavory.”

“The venison roast is delicious and the potatoes turned out ok. Not quite as good as they woulda been roasted in coals.

I was so tired after the hike I ended up on 94W and didn't realize it until I hit the geology center again, a half hour down the road. It was an extra long ride home lol. It's awful to get lost coming and going from a trip!”

“Come on! We want the fireside dirt!!”

“No Nigal, I don't recall anything "unsavory" out of your mouth! I'm sure you were a perfect angel! LOL!

I'm trying to remember what I said around that campfire to make me "deplorable". I only had one beer, my memory can't be that blurry...”

“Was I sleeping? Did I miss it, or was I one of the main contributors? Maybe I SHOULD have been drinking that night! ?:)”

“Buddha - you are always one of the main contributors.

SG - guilty by association.”

“Smiley I think your deplorability can be found within your own question...

"I only had one beer,"

Now THAT'S deplorable!!”

“Sounded like fun as usual-I did my trail work thing this weekend-froze my hiney off Fri. nite. We worked with a horseman's club and a mountainbike club--that was a first for me, 150 people in all-WOW!”

“Surprise, I got to a computer sooner than I thought I would. A bit of family emergency got me home today (just got in from a 10-hour drive). Hit a small blizzard in NW Indiana on 94 that continued through Chicago, then turned to mostly sunny the rest of the way north.

Wow, what to say...to paraphrase and slightly restructure the Lake Woebegon phrase, the Michigan Mountaineers: all the men are strong, the women are good looking -- talk about babes in the woods, plus they drink beer, belch and tell off-color jokes...why they almost qualify as GUYS, just much prettier!!-- and the dogs are above average. What a treat it was to meet up with this bunch. Even with arctic winds the first night and a blistered heel on the trail, it was one of the best times I have had in a long, long time. Thanks so much to all the MMers for their comradary and good cheer while putting up with an old guy who can't keep track of his gloves, the boiling water off his hand, and incipient arthritis at bay.

BTW, after watching Le Subtil's culinary work, I made sure to stop at REI in Madison today and pick up an esbit stove.

This past weekend will be long remembered, and I look forward to some more trail time with the MMers in the future.”

“Nigal, here's the S. Michigan/NW Ohio, N. Indiana kayak site I told you about. It has good stuff for nonpaddlers too.

http://my.dmci.net/~wesboyd/kayak.htm#whatsnew

rl”

“Oh, BTW, Wes Boyd wrote the official NCT book that they send out to new members. He used to make the North Star. He lives in my home county. Good guy.”

“Don't forget the gifts Reformed Lurker gave us! Mine is sitting on my kitchen counter right now, I'm debating where the perfect spot is for it! :)

Hey RL, check out the U.P. Happenings thread.”

“Mine is hanging on the wall in the computer room. I didn't quite realize what you'd done RL. I thought you really found the pidgeons on your hike in, lol. Neat souvineer. Thank you. =)”

“Thanks for the link RL! Cool site! Now I've got a chubby for paddling! I'm going to put my pigeon in my study. It was a cool gift that only RL could come up with. My wife loved it and didn't even think it was wierd. LOL!”

“pekka - sorry to hear you had a family emergen-c. Hope everything is OK!

By the way, there is a typo in your above post... It should have read: all the women are strong, the women are good looking... ;)”

“Forget about concealing campfire comments. You shouldn't have mentioned the cheese curds either.”

“tarabull, I'd say something but then I'd probably never see my other glove alive again. What's your e-mail? I'll send you my mailing address to get the little fella back, and thank Max for spotting him.

And before the guys say anything about appreciating their good looks...”

“email is on my bio, pekka. the glove will arrive safely, i promise!”

“tarabull, e-mail sent. And should you get a craving, we in Wisconsin have a lot more curds where those came from.”

“Don't take this the wrong way RL, as a matter of fact, you should take it as a great compliment. My pigeon is now my basement woodshop ashtray. Everytime I empty it, I'll think about being on the trail, and thanking God that Pekka had a whistle. If not, certain death by shotgun awaited us!
Thanks RL!

Nice pics!”

“And folks think a whistle is just for scaring bears away, not saving Buddha Bears!”

“LOL, Pekka!”