The Big Z

“I am taking off from my house late Friday afternoon. If anyone wants to ride up with me from Cincinati, you are more then welcomed. I can carry about three people in my station wagon plus my dog. Email me if you are interested. EClajus@GCCC.com”

“I guess I should have stated in in this thread that I have posted a trip to Zaliski State Forest in November.

Fall is a great time to check this park out.

Come one, come all. Bring your dog.”

“I'm a 95% sure maybe. Along with Shanedoggy. Will drive from MI and meet up with everyone Friday. I LOVE November hiking!!”

“where you car camping at? sleeping in your truck?”

“Dang. I thought this was a thread about zoos.”

“I thought it was about a nap or perhaps the FINAL nap! :-)”

“There is a campground just a little up the road from there. I am going to call and find out more about it. I will post the info next week.”

“I think the first campsite is only 2 miles in...everyone could meet there a camp in the backcountry.”

“Birch and I have been to that campground. It has nice showers.

Our November is shot. Darn family obligations. Maybe we can wrangle a tiny trip to Zaleski in.”

“Count me in as a very probably yes. I'm trying to arrange a trip to Fla earlier that month. But, as far as I can remember, am free for the rest of the month.

I would prolly night hike in on Friday night w/ whoever wants to and meet up w/ you sometime on Saturday.”

“Hey, I'm up for hiking to the first campsite...I'd much rather stay there then at a pay campsite where there will be driveable hotels nearby. I just can't remember if the first site is 2 or 4 miles in? Either way it's only an hour or two walk.”

“Dub. It depends. We could hike to C or D.

C is a pretty short trail hike. Less than 2 miles if I recall. Or we can hike to D which is a partial road hike (we didn't see any traffic on King Hollow Rd) and a very short trail hike. I think D has more camping.”

“C was the campsite I was thinking of. Link for all of you who have no idea what the hell we're talking about.”

“I personally prefer the camping at D but am very flexible.

Besides, I'm not even positive I'll be going. (Very probable, tho)”

“If we went to D, unless we went ABCD, we'd be backtracking to the campsite at H. I would like to do the entire loop...so if we did ABCD at night and then caught up with the group at H, that'd be cool. It's just a little longer anyway if you go ABCD than if we went AFED. I'm game for ABCD I guess, since that would give us a head start on the next day.”

“ABCD = 6.4 miles
AFED = 3.8 miles”

“i will probably drag my roommate out on this one too.
id much rather hike in on friday night and meet up saturday morining. all the campsites are relatively easy to get to in the dark. i think i've walked to every one at night.”

“D is short if you take the road. I think it took Sass, Birch and I under 1.5 hours, in the dark, to get from the parking lot to D via King Hollow Rd.

And, even if we did backtrack, we'd only backtrack what we hiked in the dark, so it's not really like backtracking at all. :-)

But, seriously, I'll camp at either.

Ductape - would be good to see you again!”

“Okay tarabull...I'll let you be the guide since you've been there before. If you get to go, what time would you want to meet?”

“In your description you said water might be a problem. The water tanks at the camps are filled except for the worst weather conditions when the water truck can't get in there. I've never come accross an empty one.”

“this is the trail i used my first backpack for the first time. it's always fun to go back.
i remember the first time, i went ot the first campsite, stopping every 20 minutes for a smoke. the next day we were all so sore, we left our stuff at the camp and walked back to the cars. then we drove up to pick up our gear. i've come a long way since then. gettin rid of those dern cigs was a good thing.”

“Smoking every 20 mins! My God man! How many cigs did you smoke in a day?”

“that was a bit of an exaggeration, but i probly smoked a pack, more if i was drinking”

“Do TTers do much drinking on trips? If so I got to get a lighter flask...”

“everyone kinda does their own thing. you gotta carry it so bring what you want.”

“Okay...so long as no one calls me an alcoholic....I'm a drunk, alcoholics go to meetings :-D”

“I don't drink on the trail and I'm very against any kind of drinking in the wilderness.”

“Really? Why?”

“That was a joke. Nigal ALWAYS shows up with some beers for group trips.”

“Okay...I was hoping it was a joke :-) I really don't know you guys all that well so I didn't know if you were serious or kidding. Don't want to piss off too many people on my first TT outing.”

“Dub - My arrival time would depend on what time I can get out of work. Prolly no earlier than 5:30/6:00. Could be later, tho. I'll know when the date gets closer.

Oh, and I don't mind at all if you pack in a bit of fire water.

Nigal - I agree w/ you about the water. I haven't run into any trouble.

ductape - How long ago did you quit smoking cigs? You were smoking last time we were there, right? It's been 7 months for me. :-)”

“i don't know how long it's been. i went through a relapse for a few months around that time, though. i had quit for quite a while before that. d'oh!”

“I am all for hiking in that night. It sounds like "D" would be the preferred site, so lets us say "D" for Friday night and then "H" for Saturday night. Anyone that just wants to meet us at H on Saturday is more then welcomed. Our campfire will be warm and bright.”

“Oh... Non-Ohioians are welcome. You will be required to eat a three-way. I am not sure how popular Skyline is up in Notheren Ohio, but Zaleski is Southern Ohio, so I am bringing some Cincinnati Chili.”

“Eat a three-way? Dare I ask? lol”

“Three way : Spegetti, chili, Cheddar Cheese.
Four Way, Spegetti, chili, Cheddar Cheese, onions.”

“All together?
Is this some weird Ohio thing?

P.S. I hate onions, so I guess I'll have to go w/ the Three-way.”

“Hey, if you want I could bring some cole-slaw to make in a WV Dog.”

“Slaw dogs ROCK!! I fouind these 1/4 pound hot dogs at Walmart and made the world's biggest slaw dog.”

“I grew up eating ketchup, chilli, and slaw on hot dogs. Then I moved to Ohio, went to Dairy Queen, and ordered one...and they had no idea what I was talking about. It was a very strange experience for me. A Dairy Queen that didn't serve slaw on its hot dogs is just unheard of in the south. I'm still shocked about it.”

“BK Rootbeer stand up here sell them. Or is it A and W? One of the two.”

“I dunno....I haven't seen an A&W here in Columbus and I've never heard of the other...but I'm gonna have to look for one.

I also love slaw on a a pulled bbq sandwich...at Max and Erma's they give you a side of slaw with their pulled pork sandwhich....heaven.”

“I prefer my hot dogs to be pretty simple. A little cheese and some yellow mustard.”

“That's one thing I never could get used to...cheese on a hot dog, blah!”

“That is called a Cheese Coney here. Hot Dog, chili, Cheese. Very tasty. If you bring a slaw dog, I will bring Cheese coney. We can compare.”

“That is called a Cheese Coney here. Hot Dog, chili, Cheese. Very tasty. If you bring a slaw dog, I will bring Cheese coney. We can compare.”

“I've had a Cheese Coney before...I live less than a mile from Skyline. I just don't like cheese on anything but macaroni and sandwiches.”

“I am down for this one!


8)”

“Dub, there's a A&W off of 270 at the Alum Creek Dr. exit (49) and the high st. exit (52A).”

“Cool, I didn't know that. I'm in Hilliard and that's about 20 mins away...might have to check it out for some slaw dogs.”