Savage Gulf 1/16-18/04

“Any weather forecast is of little value. I've always checked before my trips, and the guys have rarely been right.

Last night we had winter storms predicted, it rained a little and even spit snow here, but the temps are about 8 degrees warmer than predicted - and above freezing. No winter storm, not by a long shot.

weathermen suck.”

“See the weather has already changed

Fri
Jan 16 Partly Cloudy 40°/22° 20 %
Sat
Jan 17 Scattered Snow Showers 41°/23° 40 %”

“Permit question:

Does each individual get their own permit? I have assumed that we do, but wanted to check.”

“You can do permits in groups.”

“Is individual fine too? Maybe the Friday morning group should be 1 permit and then folks can get permits as they trickle in on Friday night.”

“They ask for vehicle information, so everyone who has a vehicle should get one. Groups by cars would work best.”

“Gotcha!”

“At Firely Gizzard, each car at the trailhead parking had to have a permit.
I called the Savage Gulf Ranger Station and they said a self service permit booth was at West Collins parking area. Didn't ask about Stone Door.”

“Stone Door has a Ranger station.”

“Do the folks who leave their vehicles at Savage Station have to register there and then the folks who park at Stone Door register there, or does it matter?”

“Another question: if we have an overflow of people of Friday night then Collins East is closeby, so no biggie. What about Sat night? Stage Road is out in the boonies. Would a ranger actually hike 10 miles round trip to check the permit/tent count?”

“No they drive...there are jeep roads to within a few hundred yards of all the backcountry campsites. And yes, they will check.

We'll have to handle overflow on an impromptu basis. They won't register more people for a campsite than it will hold.”

“Most are gonna bail if any rain is in the forecase so overcrowding looks unlikely, ha ha.”

“I saw a "Stage Road" on the map and wasn't sure if it was actually driveable or not.

Sat is the night that concerns me since there are no overflow campgrounds available.

It may not be an issue since the OPIE's count 1 and divinity and SS count 1. I was told they count tents and not people. I guess some folks could "hide" gear in a tent to reduce the number of tents we have. I'd hate to do that though.

Like you said before, the weather may take care of the issue.”

“The meaningless long-range weather forecast I'm looking at is calling for snow showers on that Saturday. Could get interesting!”

“I actually don't mind snow. I'll admit that hiking 20+ miles in 35* weather while it rains is not appealing to me. Also, I use Frogg Toggs type rain gear, so I'm not sure that will work over a whole weekend in the cold.”

“The colder the better!”

“Is anyone camping at Collins West on Thursday night? There had been some talk about doing that and then hiking without gear on Friday. If anyone does that I'd love to drop my pack in your tent Friday morning.”

“Oh, the raccoons are gonna LOVE y'all. ;)”

“I'm still undecided , Dayhiker. I'd like to set up at Collins West, but I'd also like to camp with the others that are coming Thursday. I seem to remember that there's only 2 others, though. Hmmmm, who was it?.. If I do set up at Collins you're more than welcome to to drop your pack in my tarptent. I'll carry or hang my food bag.”

“Father Goose and I will be at Savage Station on Thursday night...”

“bitpusher and FG are eating steak and drinking Guiness on Thur evening. Don't let me sway your decision. If you're camping at Collins West I may swing in around 8 or 8:30, drop pack, hang food and then take off. Thanks for the offer.”

“Has anyone booked a band for the campsites....and how many kegs will we need?”

“3 should do it.”

“Well..I guess I'd better waterproof my boots tonight!!!...I am excited about this trip...woohoo....what more can ya ask for...backpacking.....& great company!!!”

“Going to go to Walkindude's house Thursday night.


This going to be a great trip.


8)”

“CMB - Don't show up Thursday night, Walkindude is not leaving 'til Friday. You're gonna get caught!”

“I am so excited...wooohoo...get to meet so many folks...”

“I was also thinking about that Thursday night at Collins as a possibility, Dayhiker. A two-night stay makes the drive much more appealing, <G>

I'm also planning on setting up the 2.5-person tent, seeing as how it's such a short haul. It has plenty of room -- like 45 sq. ft.”

“Me and Ms Cmb are very much looking forward to this trip!


See ya all soon!!!!!


8)”

“I've heard that the Rangers do sometimes look at sites like these to see what people say. Yall should plan your booze through e-mails and not over a message board. State Parks are pretty serious about alochol and keeping them free of it.
I know this trip ain't gonna be like TC2 was but I don't want to get arrested or kicked out cause cause some of yall feel ya GOTTA have booze.”

“no booze for me...but can i self register if i park at collins west parking lot..or do i need to goto the ranger station first??...if i don't get a response on here soon i'll e-mail you bit or walkin”

“I know some people are still upset that the Volstead Act was repealed, but sheesh....


And what's the beef about rain?? LOL       As the Irish say... "It never melted anyone..." <grin>

I think Smokygirl has us covered... Whenever I buy new raingear, it doesn't rain for the next 4 trips.


(cue Gene Kelly....)”

“like walkindude said...we don't want no beef with the rangers. They are afterall just doin their jobs and tryin to keep everyone safe and alive.

No alkyhol!!!”

“OPIE must have me on ignore as I have answered his question a couple of times on this thread. ;)”

“Thanks Ewker - I hope I can do as good as a job as Diane Manas has!


Hey - I am driving in Friday night, but I won't be able to meet up with the group until Saturday night at Stage Road. My question is - should I hike from Collins West to Stage road (can't I drive to Collins West? looks like I can on the map) or should I hike from Savage Falls area? You can email me if you want... Thanks!”

“smokygirl- We'll be camped Friday night about 1/4 mile from the Collins West parking area (that you can drive too). You can walk in to us either that night or Sat Morning and hike with us.”

“hike in on the south rim trail.”

“Cool! :D”

“stovestomper...i haven't seen the response..but the bartering of camels and yams may have led me to miss it.....please repost..or i'll scan the thread later...miss opie calls...*stage....left*”

“i scanned the threads from 5 days back...127+ post...i saw you mentioned the self register thingy...but if we do show up it'll be later than 7-8...and i know the rangers don't like night hiking...so we may just find you guys that morning early...but do i have to hit the ranger station..or just park, fill out an envolop..mark my car..and hike in?”

“They don't like night hiking, but it's only a quarter mile from Collins West to the campsite. It'll probably be okay.

I've never done the self-register thing so I don't know...”

“I've pretty much decided I'll be at Collins West Thursday night. I'll get there mid afternoon, probably. Guess I'll start gathering firewood and read a little. Tilt - come on Thurs. A longer trip is a better trip. Dayhiker - you can drop you're stuff in the tarptent if you want.”

“just park, fill out an envolop..mark my car.

I did the self reg thing earlyer this year at Firey Gizzard. Fill out the form with car tag info, put copy in box, put copy on car, take other copy hiking.

The RULES say no night hiking.
If you feel like breaking the RULES, hike in the 1/4 mile to the camp. ;)”

“'mark my car'


ewwwwwwwwww! LOL!”

“I'm out. Too much work, not enough time. I shall miss the great majority of you!”

“Awwww #$%^@&*^ Buddha !”

“Dang BB, I hate to miss you again. My Rogers now Savage Gulf. Is there something about me you don't like? Guess I am in that small majority of people you won't miss :(”

“i think bb is avoiding me also...*cries*...”

“counting the days......”