MI Mountaineers: April hike

“Smiley Girl brought this up on another thread. I figured it deserved its own thread.

The second saturday is the 13th.

Possible options:
West loop, Island Lake SRA - 10 miles
Eagle Lake Loop, Fort Custer SRA - 8 to 10 miles
Potowatomi Trail - 17.5 miles
Sharonville SGA - 8 to 10 miles each way
Maybury State Park
Pontiac Lake SRA

Anything look good?
rl”

“Oh, BTW, Le Subtil and I were talking about hiking the Gratiot-Saginaw State Game Area this Saturday. Anyone interested should email me

mingels@monroe.lib.mi.us”

“This a day Hike or over nighter?”

“Make sure you give phone numbers in the email.

Start time: 10:30AM, Saturday
Start place: Field Office, Gratiot-Saginaw SGA, on Meridian Rd. along the border of Gratiot and Saginaw Counties southeast of Ithaca, MI
Distance: 8 mile loop with spur trail options.”

“DAY Hike I guess!”

“The Gratiot-Saginaw is a dayhike. The April hike could be either.”

“Since we're here, I'll tell you I'm in for Saturday, RL. I printed out the PDF map from online today. This is a only 20 miles from home.”

“How about Hoist Lakes for April!”

“I may go on the April hitch!”

“I am out for april. Sass may go however...”

“i'm supposed to walk 16 miles w/ sass and smiley on saturday morning... but this sounds more interesting! (no offense, ladies) i'll think about it and send you an email if i decide to come.

le subtil = are you talking about an overnighter at hoist lakes??? i may be interested?”

“I'm sticking close to home tomorrow, hopefully Sass will as well.”

“Tarabull - do it! Come exploring with us tomorrow!

Yes, I was hoping to get y'all UP NORTH to Hoist Lakes for an overnighter.

April is a big hiking month for me. I try to go every weekend in April & May.”

“Hey le Subtil, quit it! She's supposed to TRAIN with us!

Jeesh, I hope Sass is still on for tomorrow morning.”

“Except the last week in April, I have most of the weekends off, but working Friday night on all of them.

Le Subtil - I'd be up for somethin' at Hoist in April. When were you thinkin'”

“le Subtil - For an overnighter... I can only make it the first and second weekend (6/7 and 13/14) of April. If it is planned for one of those weekends, I am pretty darned sure I will make it.

(are doggies allowed at Hoist Lakes?)

Yes, SG and Sass, that means I am willing to skip the Expo in order to hike. When will I ever get my priorities straight? :) I trust that you two will be able to fill me in on how crappy the tents are gonna be! That is really the only reason I wanted to go.”

“RE: tomorrow's hike... I will let you guys know by tonight. Sorry to keep ya hanging. I just really have to think about the drive. I've spent an awful lot of time in the car this week.

rl - check your email to confirm that I have your correct phone number.”

“You think I'm willing to go to the expo instead of hiking?

I've got lots of tyvek and I'll bring it...crappy tents be damned.”

“I'm confirmed to spend that weekend up at my parent's house. Looks like I'll be checking out the crappy tents by myself if Hoist Lakes turns out to be that weekend. You guys suck.”

“What's this Expo you guys are talking 'bout?

Just for the record: I'd be up for a day hike at the places suggested by RL as well. My thing is that I haven't been out in a while and I'm getting antsy. So, it looks like I will be able to go the second and third weekend, but don't plan around me. Plan it and if I can get there, cool!!”

“The Expo is for the Avon walk.”

“oooohhhhh, I see. I thought it was a gear Expo.”

“Laqtis and Tarabull both are free for April 6/7 or 13/14. Prowler? Sass? Smileygirl?

I'm extremely flexible. We could do the whole loop in a weekend easy. You can make it from 11 to 15 miles long.
I like to go in on Friday nights there, it's a good place to hike at night 'cause the trails are distinct (except - me & nigal & BIRCH missed a trail...lol) We could come out and meet you at the trailhead Laqtis, if you arrived later at night. It's easy to find.

Doggies are Ok as far as I know but you should be aware there are a lot of coyotes there, and they howl a lot. My dog would be up all night barking back.”

“I can't make it the weekend of the 6/7, spending the weekend with my parents and neice & nephew.

THe 13/14 works, though.”

“Let's plan for the weekend of the 13/14 if that works for everyone? (I'm being selfish - A friend just reminded me of a surprise bday party I am obligated to attend on the 6th. UGH.)

Night hiking is alright with me. I've only done it once and I enjoyed it.

... and, I'm up for 15 miles.”

“Hey, any info on it would be great. I'll check my book at work when I get back (we're on springbreak and I on Va K) to see when I could get up there. FYI, I'm only able to make it the second or third weekend.”

“"When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that's amore."

--- Dean Martin”

“rl and le subtil - see ya'll in the morning!”

“oops. that was supposed to be posted from me... not max!”

“Hope you all had a great hike. Smiley and I got the requisit 16 miles in today. Saw a kingfisher, flicker, loads of cormorants and lots of swans. Was a gorgeous day!”

“It was a great day. It was so nice that rl decided to go for a swim. He's crazy!

The hike was nice. Very quite. Saw one other car of people and that was it.

Thanks, guys, for picking this place and for a great hike.

(We figured 8-9 miles so that almost counts for my 16...)”

“So the 13th eh? What time? The play that Im the assistant director is that day, but maybe me and the roomate can come after its all over... that would be really late... But seriously when is the last time I played with you guys? i miss you”

“Heh, heh, thank god for gore-tex socks. They not only keep water out of your boots, but they keep your feet dry if your boots are full of water, too! :)

You know, we hiked pretty steadily from 10:30 until 3:30. And we're pretty fast hikers. I'd be surprised if we did less than 10 miles.

Anyway, guys, remember Gratiot-Saginaw state game area. It's a pretty darn good place to hike. And with some creativity, you could get an overnight out of it.

rl”

“AG - What show are you doing? I'm doing a middle school version of "Little Shop" in mid April and the high school is doing "Cheaper By The Dozen" in early May.”

“Buddha Bear never ceases to amaze me. :)

I think Sass had a better time doing the 16 miles than I did. The last 4 or so were quite painful. But after a couple Motrin and a quick nap, I was back on my feet. I'm ready to hit the gym tonight.

OK, the 12th-14th. Hope the weather is warmer than it was last time. I'm not really into freezing my arse off.”

“Tarabull is a good egg.”

“rl - check your email regarding the nat'l forest pass...”

“Lagtis we are doing The Importance of Being Earnest”

“So.... who is in for the Hoist Lakes trip? Looks like April 12/13/14 works for everyone.

Le Subtil - you'll be able to provide us w/ some directions to the trailhead, right?”

“Just curious, how far is Hoist Lakes from me, and who am I riding with this time? :)”

“I think it's near Mio.

Like last time, I have to wait to see what Max and Binra are doing before I can offer a ride. I'll make them commit by Monday.”

“Drive time of 4.5 hours to Mio? Dang, Expedia sucks! I can be in the U.P. in 4.5 hours!”

“Hoist Lakes is 80 miles north of Bay City.

Take I-75N to US-23 at Standish. Follow US-23N through Standish, and then Omer. Just past Omer take M65 left/north. About 5 miles after M65 crosses the AuSable, is Glennie, the closest town and last stores before Hoist Lakes. There are 2 forest roads on the left, then the East Parking Area. If you get to the junction with M-72, you've gone 1/10 or so too far.

When I get an idea of when everyone will be arriving, I'll suggest some campsites for Friday and a possible itinerary.”

“Departure Time: 2:20PM. Arrival Time 7-8PM.”

“Nothing on the calendar for that weekend! As always, have to see if a gma will have an abbyful weekend. Count us in unless otherwise notified! I can't wait to see Hoist Lakes; Birch ranted and raved about it.”

“Tarabull!

You guys might want to check out Highland Rec. Area over the weekend. I don't think it's too far from 96 and it has some really hilly terrain. The park map sucks, so look in the Trail Atlas of Michigan.

Oh, and the West Loop at Island Lake looks way cool.

I've heard Rose Lake Research station near Lansing might have some good hiking, too. More on that later.

Mike”

“The April issue of Michigan Living (AAA Michigan magazine) lists the top 5 places to hike in Michigan as:

1. P.J. Hoffmaster State Park
2. Porcupine Mountains
3. Sleeping Bear Dunes
4. Kensington Metropark
5. Tahquamemon Falls

Can they be serious?”

“I think we should develop a "Hiker Improvement Plan" for Kensington.

Here are my suggestions:

1) Use some really serious explosives on all the buildings. The resulting rip-rap would make for excellent off-trail scrambling.

2) Legalize backhoes on all the paved trails. Once the crushed pavement begins to settle into the reclaimed mud, it'll be almost as much fun to hike as the Bruce Trail in Ontario.

3) Kill them all. Legalize hunting every day of the year. And allow machine guns. The deer at Kensington look like moocows.

4) Declare the Huron-Clinton Metropark Authority a terrorist organization and start arresting them. Organizational mission: Let's take a big piece of really nice natural land and pave the whole thing for the disc golfers and wave pool users.

Any other suggestions?”

“LMAO @ RL!!”

“rl - no joke! The worst part is that Kensington is considered a "ideal" park. It's the most widely used H/C Metropark so the other parks are going to look alot like it eventually. My local paper had an article last week about how Indian Springs and other Metroparks are under-used because they don't have the facilities (read: modern bathrooms, pavilions, etc) that Kensington has. So... they want to make them all like that.”