Crazy Mikes Trip Report.

“No doubt Geobeet!

8)”

“What are you smokin' tonight WD?”

“LMFAO!!!!!!

8)”

“Sounds like it was a blast Crazy Mike! Wish I would have stayed. Sorry you fell on your face...hope it didn't get rearranged!! Did GForce bring bailey's? Doug kayaked out to an island off Higgins lake...called me to make me jealous...the sound of the water and the silence of the island...it worked but I haven't tole him yet!”

“It was a great time Wolfeyes!!!No he did not and for that matter I forgot to bring scotch so I was kind of upset that I fell and I was not buzzed!!!!

8)”

“For those of you that have not ventured south of Redbridge Access on the NCT you are really missing out. The great thing is, with a car shuttle you can plan just about any length of trip you would like.

Our trip covered the NCT from the Udell Trailhead (on M55) north to the Red Bridge Access. The first part of the trip went from Udell Trailhead north to High Bridge Acess, about 6 miles. This section is mostly flat running and eventually crosses the Pine River. From there the trail has been rerouted and includes about a 1.5 mile road walk because of a dispute with a landowner. After the trail reenters the forest it generally follows the Manistee River through Blacksmith Bayou (there is a NSFC here you could camp at) and on to High Bridge Road where it crosses the Manistee River.

The next portion, and my favorite of the NCT in lower MI, is the part from High Bridge Access to Red Bridge Access, about a 13 mi stretch. This portion of the trail for the most part runs through some nice hills, with a couple of really nice scenic overlooks. In the about the middle of this portion, and where we camped for the night, is the Leitch Bayou, a very large, flat open meadows type of terrain that runs right next to the Manistee River. A great place to camp and for star gazing on clear nights!

So give this section of the NCT a try when you venture over this way . . . it's much less crowded than the MRT/NCT loop.”

“Hey wolfeyes the Baileys is waiting on my counter! :)”

“Gforce you need a trail ho.

Hheheheheheh!!!!!

Are you ok?????

You need some tang!!!!

8)”

“Tango

Second hand Basic Light 100 smoke.”

“SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!

8O”

“Hey 2Scoops no luck on the camrae huh?????

8)”

“sorry cmb youre #&%!$ out of luck, brutha”

“Dam!

8|”

“i still dont believe you only paid 20 bucks for that camera. next time spend the money to buy the one with a noose to hang around your neck”

“I know I know!

8|”

“guess that new camera just wasn't meant to be. 8(”

“I know I just wanted the pictures!

8(”

“no canoe dragging...what kind of trip was this? sheesh...anyone can hike and backpack.”

“I just want the pictures that I took and I know that I am nevr going to get them back.I will just have to go hug that tree again thats all!

8\”

“Hello TT'ers whats going on?Well the club had a turnout of 4 this weekend and it was a great trip.We meet at the Blackwell Trailhead at 10 am and from there blazed trail to Patton Cave where we ate lunch and played around in the cave which was alot of fun.From there we bushwacked along Saddle Creek untill we got to Menroe Lake and kept going along the shore.We set up camp about .3 miles past the Peninsula Trail Access Point along the lake.It was a nice night we got to hear some owls and that is always a +++ and the temps were just great.We had a nice camp fire and had lots of nice chats.Today we hit the Peninsula Trail for 2.5 miles and then jumped on the Grubb Ridge Trail Untill we got to the new U.S.Forest's Trail called Trail # 545 I had never been on this trail becuase it had just been done not too long ago and it was Scotts idea to blaze it so we did and it was a very nice trail.It took us to and over Frog Pond Ridge which was some nice trail to hike on.It had some very nice views and there are some great places to have a camp around there becuase there are branches of saddle creek all along the 545 trail.When we reached the cars it started to rain so all en all it was a very good trip we did about 16 miles of backpacking.

Backpacking is so pimp!

Happy Hiking And Blaze Trail TT'ers!!!!!

8)”

“Oh ya and the leaves on the ground looked very cool and there were still some left on the trees that looked cool too!

8)”

“WTF?????
not even an honorable mention?”

“Owls! that's too cool! Sounds like a great trip!”

“Oh come on Ductape.

Yes you do count!

8)

Ya it was a great trip!”

“josh pulled a 2scoops! josh pulled a 2scoops!”

“But he did not hit anyone!

8)”

“scott and salem arrrived at the waffle house in beautiful downtown bloomington, at around 215 pm (or so i guess). salem had the all american breakfast combo with sausage eggs hashbrowns and pancakes, and i had the mushrom-swiss omelette with hash browns and pancakes.”

“That sounds!!!!!

GOOOOOD!!!!!!

8)”

“someone really did have 'shrooms this weekend.... lol

good trip report. hey and try to leave notes for people not yet there, K?”

“sounds like Ductape was dissed by your club. Arrangements made and plans set and then you all just go off without him...

Ductape...come on down here...you'll get better treatment, thats for sure.”

“Not true!

He had a problem with his car and that made him late thats all.

We will hook up sometime.

8)”

“even hours...and then left notes, as lizs suggested...its the curteous thing to do, especially after someone drove 2 hours to hike together.

Like I said, Ductape, come on down here, I'll wait for your sorry ass, or leave ya a note, then stick to the plan and meet up with ya...

No misadventures this weekend coming...Mammoth cave hike...here we come...Prowler...you stay home and get well. We don't want no kitty kitty prowler with us.”

“?????
i was a little disappointed that there wasn't a note on crazy mike's car to give me a little guidance in finding them. had i known to walk 7 miles along the lake i certainly would have done that.
i also thought maybe i'd be given a little bit of a grace period. i wasn't that late. i mean by the time i got my boots on and did my final packing i hit the trail only 45 minutes after our scheduled meeting time. i was probably there 15-20 min. before that even.
oh well.
im gonna kick some mammoth a$$ this weekend.”

“i can't help but like the title "trip report"”

“Sorry!

8|”

“Sounds like it was a killer time Crazy Mike.. glad y'all had fun!”

“It was a great time I love backpacking and it makes me feel good!

8)”

“stikmon i gotta stick up for mike on this one. if a person is not even around at the scheduled time, we have to assume said person is not going. it is generally understood that the scheduled time is when we hit the trail, not the meeting time, so one should really plan on being there 15-20 minutes early. it is not uncommon in the club for ppl to say they are going, and then not show up, but no one gives them hell for it, becuz theyre adults and they knew when and where they were supposed to be. i didnt give anybody hell when i missed out on the montana trip, even tho i felt aero's attitude was ppffft! o well. i didnt even post a bi!chy missive about how i flew, took a bus and hitchhiked to within an hour and a half of the meeting point only to be defeated by no one at the cabin answering the phone for whatever reason. i dont hold a grudge against anyone in the montanapalooza group and i hope josh doesnt hold a grudge against us. ive hiked with josh before, hes good people, i hope to hike with him again (altho i still hate you for making me climb that last hill on the rough trail, you little bastich :P)”

“besides, we go out every single weekend, and if we waited every time someone who said they were going didnt show up or were late, wed get an extremely late start every single time. theres somewhere in the neighborhood of 70? ppl on the mailing list, with a core group of about a dozen or so who goes on most of the outings. that said, maybe we should just have a system where if you say youre going, and you know youre going to be late, call mike on his cell phone, then mike checks his voicemail right before hitting the trail so we know if we should wait. whatever works”

“I agree with that to a tee!

Well put 2Scoops and thank you.

8)”

“my point in bringing it up was not to b!tch. notice i never said i was left behind. i said i was late and i did not expect you guys to be waiting for me.
i did also say it would have been nice if you would have been waiting but it was not expected.
i don't want to make you look bad, you do that enough on your own. (jk)
but that cell phone number would have really helped me out.
another time, maybe.”

“Yo Ductape my cell number is 1-219-644-5019.

I hope you can come out on a trip soon.

Its all good!

Oh and ya I am pretty good at makeing myslef look bad!

Hhahahahah!!!!!

8)”

“josh, i know you werent bi*ching, i just didnt like it when others who dont know the all the facts are making judgements. its all good in the hood. and i dont want to be divisive with the rest of the trailtalkers, so i hope i didnt come off that way, but i am gonna defend my bro.”

“well done. another trailtalk controversy put to bed, so now im going to put myself to bed. mike, try not to piss anybody else off this week. josh, take care of your feet and your dogs, stik and lizs (how do you pronounce that, anyway?) and everyone else happy trails.”

“Crazy Mike did you bring some of that 327-year-old beer and cigars from King Edwards private stash?”

“for this weeks report we turn first to scott, also known as 2scoops. scoop?

2poops: well i lost my watch, almost left behind my trekking pole and had to walk back and get it, forgot the legs to my convertible pants (turned out i didnt need them), left my boots out in the storm of the century, observed mike almost start a forest fire, forgot the hot dogs for the forest-fire (i mean camp-fire) couldnt keep up on the hike out because i was wearing sloppy wet sandals, and had no clean dry pants to change into at the car because i forgot them too. and i still had an effing great time. and now, back to you, mike.”

“Sounds like an average weekend 'round here. Hehehehe.”

“just one more question, moo poops. if all those terrible things happpened, why would you say you had, in the vernacular, "an effing great time"?

well, self, the trees were beautiful, we had a very "pimp" lakeside campsite, did a little trash cleanup (as did the forest service before us, apparently), we found lots and lots of big thick dry firewood for the campfire which roared for hours, the temps were unexpectedly PERFECT, we saw a wolf spider, and we christened allen "BIG GAY ALGORITHM"”

“oh yes, and lying in your tent in the middle of a thunderstorm strong enough to rock your tent is awesome!”

“Ohhhhh kewlllll.”