101 Ways to Eat & Drink your way to a li ghter pack

“WOW!! What a great trip!!!! If you missed it, you missed a great time. Thanks Tarabull for asking me to write this. It will probably be pretty long and I will post it by days.

DAY 1: THURSDAY: laqtis and bbinkley headed up to the campground ..we were on the prowl for a bear...that is a jer bear....but we couldn't spot one. We set up camp and it had just gotten dark and no jer bear or tarabull to be found. Laqtis took off into the dark with his headlamp and found jer bear,tarabull,papabull, and bloomer...So, we went and joined them at their campsite for dinner and a few drinks(just a few). We had such a great time that night. We ate cheddar brats and all kinds of other good things. We sat around the fire and it got to be about 11:00 pm and all of a sudden we heard something heading towards camp. So, we all turned to look and see what it was.............it was a bear..........Buddah Bear....Buddah made it up for the trip..bum knee and all... When he got there the party had just getting started...We had a few more drinks with Buddah and joke telling started and it didn't stop for a long time. It was about 2:00 am and laqtis busted out the steaks and we had steaks at 2:00 in the morning...by this time papabull,bloomer, and jer bear were in the sack....great steaks by the way laqtis...thanks...boy this hit the spot...so eventually after we couldn't laugh any more we all turned in for the night( or would that be morning?) about 2:30 am...Will post day 2 in just a second.”

“And 30 minutes later.....still nothing! Trip report slacker!

I guess its safe to assume you made it home safely, huh bbinkley?”

“he's out filling his pack with ice....”

“.....and wine, and beer, and brats, and butter, and cream cheese.....

LOL!”

“After seeing the size of Binkley's pack,(backpack), my ONLY way now to eat and drink my way to a lighter pack is to have Binkley carry all my gear too. He was too funny with that kitchen sink and double sided fridge!!!”

“We all woke up early and started packing up the cars(because we were car camping the night before). We got loaded up and headed to McDonalds for some good ole' breakfast. We were really roughing it at this point.. After breakfast it was off to Lake Michigan..the drive to the lake was awesome...lots of great little towns along the way...We also passed a place called "MARVIN GARDEN's"...we finally found out where that guy lives.....

We arrived at the lake....and let me tell you...it was awesome!!!...Lot's of sand and cool northern air and a lot of water...COLD WATER...We spent the next hour there looking for Petoski Stone(which is a stone that has fossills in it). this was a blast. I found some really great rocks to take back to Tennessee with me. Everyone left with a stone or two...The views were amazing and relaxing...Then all of a sudden we hear yelling....and what do you know it was Crazy Mike and Walkingdude with Evergreen right by their side driving that Crazy Yellow Bus...Walkindude had driven up to Michigan from Tennessee and wanted to see a Great Lake on his trip..we all chatted for a while and veryone got to meet each other and we all took a bunch of pictures of the group and of Lake Michigan. Then we watched Jer Bear and Tarabull do stupid human tricks on the beach...Oh yeah...forgot to mention that the water in Lake Michigan was crystal clear. We all gathered up and headed back towards the trailheads and we got derailed by Flap Jacks Family Restaurant.. We all decided to have some lunch before we headded out...The plot thickens..

THE RESTAURANT: We all ordered some food..except me who having a healthy nalgene bottle full of one of my favorite beverages and papabull was napping..We all swapped stories and laughed at the jokes from the night before...And I also learned that Tarabull had many different names...more to comment on that later....

Jer Bear was a hoot. a few of us had stepped outside to get some fresh air and as we were looking back inside the window all of a sudden jer bear starts dancing in the restaurant undoing his overalls..This was hillarious...He must of forgot it was a "family restaurant"..lol...

we eventually made it to the trailhead after a stop at what they call the "Party Store" and hiding the stash of beer for Saturday night.

We went into the Jordan River area at the Warner Creek Area and we hit the trail after a few more pics and everyone eyeing my pack that was very full..We met up with dhutch and shane her dog and headed down the trail..The hiking had officially started.. We hiked through a little pine area and got to cross a Beaver dam and see O'Bryans pond..the views were again great..we found the campsite and started to set up. We got the firewood for the night and were all set up. We had dinner and told stories and laughed(alot about all the different food that I had brought on the trip.) I pulled out the Miller Lite in plastic bottles and the bratwurst that had been iced down and my tube of Parkay and my bottle of wine and yes strawberry cream cheese for my bagels in the morning...I like to eat good on the trail...Tarabull,laqtis and Jerbear headed on a little night hike to see if they could meet some of the others coming in that night....

They came back a short bit later with Smiley Girl, Sassafras, and Birch who got tackled by Crazy Mike and Walkingdude coming into camp...They joined around the fire and we told jokes and some were looking at the stars and finding the different constelations...As the night went on we were joined by two more people...le subtil and his brother night hiked in from Deadman's Hill to join us...By this point i think the number of people was up to either 16 or 17... we sat up a little while longer in the cool Michigan air on a perfectly clear night and we all hit the sack one by one...what a great day and a lot of great people coming together to enjoy mother nature and the company of each other....hope this is what you wanted tarabull...still to come day 3 and 4..”

“......I kept thinking on the trail "Who is bblinkey piggy backing in? Is he carrying his own sherpa?"”

“all right you guys..your just jealous...yes i made it home allright...wishing i was still in michigan..slacker girl..i was typing the rest of this report. so nananan booboo..”

“LOL!!”

“Yes, slacker girl is still doing her homework instead of working. I have NO idea how I'm going to charge my day.”

“do I hear a name change?????”

“I have been meetings and returning phone calls and emails all morning and fixing to finish this trail report and then head to pick up my puppy and then i have to move over the next three days..got to get going..finish up them lab reports.”

“definately a name change..”

“Nice trip report! Sounds like a fun trip! Hijinks abounds!! Didn't sound like there was too much hiking going on!”

“not finished yet..SATurday and sunday are being written now..be patient tango..i can't type to fast”

“Plenty of hiking, just over 20 miles for Sat-Sun. We just know how to have a lot of fun!”

“I TOLD y'all that BigGulp could eat... :D”

“Yep, we did get some good miles in!”

“FG - I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes. VERY IMPRESSIVE!”

“What a great time! And fantastic company. Just sorry that the other commitments kept me from making the entire hike with all of you. But... glad to be the beer run gal. So nice to meet hikers from other areas and hear about their "turf". Also to meet the new hikers from Michigan. The more the merrier!!

What should we plan for November? Hey, Tennessee should still be fairly warm? Maybe we'll catch the colors changing? Michigan comes to Walkindude??

ps. anyone find an extra titanium pot with Ravioli residue?”

“It was amazing how fast he could hike, though. I didn't see him with the "full" pack, but even after he dumped some of it, it still looked pretty dern heavy!

dhutch, I think Q found some of your stuff. Check with him.

Michigan comes to Walkindude sounds fun!”

“dhutch - I've got your pot and is it your water bag I have too? Good thing you said something, I was going to do a post on the "used gear thread"......:)”

“No extra Ti pot but some fleece, Old Navy gloves showed up in the back of our car. Q are they yours?
BBinkley, I found your hat this morning too. Email me your address and I will mail it to you.”

“wow, i didn't leave anything in your car? i'm impressed?”

“Sass - Yep, those be mine. Great excuse to get together again!”

“I forgot to pay someone for my share of the camping fees!

Whom do I owe, and how much?”

“Where's the REAL hiking? Huh, huh? Out with it!!”

“le Subtil - Papabull, as Paul is being refered to now.”

“It was a whole $2 for the weekend. He accepts beer as payment. :)”

“That guy rules!”

“Patience Roseymonster...Binkley's working on it. ;) Want me to email you a map of what we hiked?”

“We were all pretty toasty through the night...Everyone pretty much slept very well.....well except maybe Tarabull who had Buddah Bear on one side of her tent and Jer Bear camped on the other side...

we packed up and headed out off to Dead Mans's Hill was our route.. (a little peotry for you there)

It was about 2 miles or so to the top of the hill along the way we went on part of the north country trail if i remember correctly. Again another morning full of great views and cool air and the sounds of Canadian Geese not to far from us..along the way you would pass through these open field areas that were a nice shade of golden tan with red tipped trees along the edges.We got to what the Michiganers call a mountain...That's what we call a hill in our back yard...just kidding..it kicked my butt going up...We arrived at the top and joined some more for the trip. We met coyote13, damanvid,and island girl up on the top. We got some pictures and chatted a little more and then it was off to hike 9 miles to camp..We all stopped at the overlook of Deadman's Hill that overlooks the valley..This was a great view..The trees were turning and the wind was cool. We headed down the hill and the hike took us through some pine areas and the trails that went along the creeks and rivers were just amazing. I really enjoyed this part of the hike.. We crossed over many creeks on bridges and you could see the work of the beavers from time to time. We finally came to another big overlook over half way to camp that had some great views. We all had lunch and everyone was droolling over the cheesecurds that islandgirl had brought alond. We took a few more pictures and then we headed out. We got to the area right before camp and crossed a couple of more creeks and then a nice bridge that took us to camp and there were a few salmon in the water. That was neat..We made it to camp and everyone set up for the night. We all found our little spots and got things going before it got dark..The temp was dropping and it was starting to cloud up. Then all of a sudden it started to rain and everyone took for cover or went for there raingear...Jer Bear had a 10 x 8 siltarp that we put up..This was great..Several gathered under to cook their dinner..SILTARP is a good thing to have...thanks bear...We couldn't fit 20 people under there..but we had a bunch under there while others went to tents for just abit..It was raining pretty hard and we were on drain the rain from the tarp duty..each person had there little spot to take care of...After about 30 minutes it continued to rain but the fire was still going strong thanks to the firewood that Le subtil's brother drug up the hill and the firewood that Birch brought from the house...Fire was strong and almost everyone had there raingear on and was standing around the fire. Everyone must of stayed around the fire in the rain for 5 or 6 hours. except me who didn't have rain gear yet stayed underneath the tarp cooking and enjoying the stash of beer that we had hid there on Friday....No one complained about the rain...Everyone was just excited to be together and sharing each others company. The campsite that we stayed at was very "PIMP"(as crazy mike would say). Nice campsites..We stayed at Penney or Pinney Bridge CG. Everyone turned in around 11:00 or 12:00...The day had been a good day. A good long hike and rewarding views and rewarding friendships...Still to come DAY 4”

“Rosey, check out the other Jordan River threads. There's some info on those also.

My feet are pretty swollen today. Walking around the office in my socks. Hope no one minds!”

“you washed them, right??”

“Yep. Twice. :)”

“You needed to wash those things. I thought I was going to pass out on the way home..That's why I kept rolling the window down.”

“Like you have any room to talk...”

“HEE HEE HEE.”

“I'm sure everyone was smellin' spring time fresh!”

“We all woke up to a dry cool morning. Everyone stayed dry through the night. But there was one person missing from camp. Buddah Bear got up at 4:00 am and headed out back home. He was suppose to leave Saturday morning but he was having such a good time, he decided to stay 1 more night.... We cooked breakfast and packed up and coyote13,damanvid and dhutch and shane dog headed out for the house. They dropped evergreen back at warner creek b/c of blisters..hope you feel better evergreen...Le subtil and his brother stayed behind at camp and were going to leave from there.....As we were packing up it started to hail little ice cubes that looked like salt pellets. I was pretty fired up at this point. Everyone was happy about the weather and hoping for snow. Bloomer headed out to warner pretty early. Laqtis and Smiley girl left after Bloomer. The rest of us hoodlums headed down the trail about thirty minutes later ..Off we went...The first couple of miles were some good up and downs and the hail continued to come down. We passed a few more creeks along the way. At one point we came to a hill and it started to snow along with the hail. we stopped and took pictures and enjoyed the weather. We continued on down the trail and crossed many wet spots along the way. Birch and I kicked into high gear the last 4 miles and were getting down the trail in the snow and hail. Eventually the the precip stopped. We continued on to the Beaver Pond were we met up with Laqtis and Smiley Girl. The Beaver pond was coming over the bridge at some points. It was really cool. There were lots of trees down from the beavers. We crossed the Bridge and managed to stay dry. Everyone else was not to far behind..At one point on the trail past the Beaver dam , we could see the top of Dead man's hill....not much further now. We hiked til we came to a split where you could go the longer way with some elavation gain or you could go up the face of the hill that was very very steep. Birch,laqtis and myself took off towards the top of the hill on the steep part. Smileygirl went the other way. (slacker) That hill kicked my butt. But it was so rewarding once we arrived at the top. Smiley girl met up with Sassafras and they headed to the top on the loop trail of Dead Man's hill. Then Island girl came up right after.. The others trekked it on past the loop trail all the way back to Warner creek TH.(another 3 or 4 miles).

Birch,Sassafras,Smiley Girl, Island Girl,Laqtis and myself drove over to Warner Creek TH and met the rest of the group there. It had been a great day for hiking. Especially the weather..

We loaded up and headed to the local food place. This place was very old but had a lot of character. We walked in and put some tables together,dropped a few quarters in the jukebox and played a few games of pool and then WE CHOWED DOWN...We had pizza, burgers,fries,cheese sticks,teezers and more. We had to Keep Jer Bear from dancing on the pool table. We sat and ate and enjoyed the last few minutes of each others company. We laughed and reflected over the weekend. We had to say our goodbyes and head down the road back home..


Overall, I must say that this was the best trip that I have ever been on. It wasn't just the place that we went..it was the people. The people from Michigan and surrounding that went on this trip were very friendly. It was great to get to know everyone....For the Detroit area people who planned this...You guys are great.(tearing up)..Birch and Sass, thanks for taking a stranger from out of town and making me feel at home. I enjoyed spending time with you two and getting to hear about your family and how you two came to be. Laqtis thanks for trip up there. I enjoyed it man. Thanks for the gear too. Tarabull thanks for allowing me to take part in such a great hike. Smiley thanks for the conversation on the trail and on the ride home..Everyone was so helpful and friendly...Birch got up at 4:00 am and took me to the airport..thanks man...I'm sitting here in Nashville full of contentment and happiness as I reflect over the weekend hike and the friends I've made. If you missed this hike you missed a good one. This concludes my trail report.”

“Great report, man! We'll all get together real soon!”

“Thanks laqtis. Yes, we'll have to do that.”

“Sounds like you need to pack an extra liver to survive a trip like that.”

“That's what newbies are for...”

“What are you guys talking about?”

“You knocking my trip report already?”

“Nice report B!

Bacpac, just because there's beer doesn't mean everyone is drunk. It is possibly to drink one or two. ;)

Poor Tbull hasn't been able to log on from work today, she's anxious to check out the reports.”

“Sounds like a really cool trip. Hey, bbinkley, I was just chatting w/ Roseymonster last wk. about how I needed to be able to carry about a 50 lb. pack for a 2 night trip, 'cause I want so much food. He said I just needed to find someone else to carry about 25 lbs. for me. It sounds like you have all the qualifications! LOL! What do you say, do you wanna' be my sherpa? Seems like it was great you guys, I hope I get to come hike in Michigan someday.”

“Thanks Sass. I wish I was in Michigan instead of work.

Post-pardom after trip depression.

Hope it wasn't too long.”

“No, Sorry, I can't be your sherpa newgirl..I carry enough food and beer for me and everyone else. It's a little reward that I have when I get to camp.”