Knobstone North, Stage 2

“Hey that section scared me and I am still going!!”

“All of you suck! j/k

Take lots of pictures.”

“er...sounds like I better not go then...”

“plans to go are still up in the air...not only do we have the car disaster but we just had a hot water facet in the bathroom blow up too...damn, it shot the celing, BOING!! water spewed everywhere till we could get the hot water tank turned off....”

“Wohoo! i got friday vacation time!!! :D lets see...that means I have weds, thurs, fri, sat, and sun off :D HMMM Were getting the car back from the shop today....
where should I go?”

“What was wrong with it?”

“Well its the alternater and a bad wire too....

joy.


It was fun standing in the pouring rain waiting for the towtruck getting soaked and hypothermic lol I wasnt about to sit in the middle of the intersection and I couldnt get it in neutral to move it. Boy were people giving me dirty looks lol. I still made it to work with one minute to spare despite all that.”

“Well, at least the trans or a gasket didn't blow on you.”

“no, but this morning the hot water faucet in the bathroom sink blew....I mean it litterally exploded off. Hot water squirting everywere. Had to turn it all off.”

“Just replace the faucet. $40 for a new on at Menards.”

“yeah..thats what were gonna do:) the pipes in this old house is so #&%!$ rigged....omgosh...


did I say #&%!$ rigged? I think I am spending to much time with the poeple round here...”

“well with a ll the cost of repairs we wont have enough $$ to make it this weekend. (heck, prolly cant buy food again either) Hope you all have a good time!”

“What's a nearby city so I can check the weather forecast for this area this weekend?”

“henryville

it will be chilly but nice weather...lucky people!”

“I'm in for sure . . . hopefully, I'll make it WITHOUT busting my ass this time.

The Leota to Elk Creek section is sweet . . . :)”

“have fun gforce. I bet it feels good to not have a cast on anymore eh? You all sould pick up some beer and drop by our house sometime to hang out :)”

“Damnit, I wish I could go this weekend!”

“Count me in.”

“bastard”

“Knee can't come out to play.

8^P”

“Damn relative birthday parties!”

“Bail on the b-day party. Tell them you will be thinking good thoughts of them from the trail.”

“Tick...Tick...Tick...”

“I am planing on ariving at the trail head about 11pm and will look for the glow sticks at the campsite. I will also be bringing one person for the hike.
Looking forward to seeing everyone and to some great hiking.
Who is planing on ariving Friday night and who are we meeting up with on Saturday morning?”

“My daughter and I will arrive at the Leota trailhead between 2:00 pm. to 4:00 p.m. EST.

Great forecast. Sunshine, no rain, low Friday night 31 degrees, Highs in the 50's, low Saturday night 41 degrees.”

“I am still trying to find a way to make it :)”

“I'll probably be at the trailhead around 11pm eastern tomorrow night.

As I recall, that was a reasonably spacious campsite and should be able to fit us all even if we get a near full turnout.”

“Golfhiker and I will get to the Leota TH on Friday around 6 EST.”

“I've been under the weather the past two days and stayed home from work. Even if I do go to work tomorrow I don't think I'll be in any condition to take on Knobstone.

I am officially bailing.

That is two trips in a row for me. I hope not to make it a hat-trick on the next one.”

“packed and ready to go . . . will be at the trailhead in the 10:00 - 11:00 range Friday night. Not sure if I'll crash in the back of my truck or hike in yet.”

“Damn, I'm almost never packed and ready to go before hitting the trailhead.

OK, I'll stay up and gather the gear.”

“Latest forecast calls for a low of 36 degrees Friday, followed by two sunny days of a high of 63 and a low of 43, with a zero percent chance of rain. My daughter and I will put out some orange surveyors tape marked with black pen "TT" in a few spots to the campsite, and build a campfire which should be seen from far.”

“The weather's looking great for a hike! See you tonight.”

“Sorry you can't make the trip ChinMusic(no flying hiking poles this time!!!). We will catch you next time.

See everyone else tonight.”

“I am officialy out the door, on the road, and ready to go! 1:00 PM See you all tonight or tomorrow.”

“I officially cant make it...

guess I'm a bailer too :(”

“I'm off like a prom dress.”

“Night one – Clear skies, and cool temps. Everyone decided to meet at a campsite just North of the Leota TH. Prosecutor and his daughter arrived first setting up their tent, and getting a nice campfire going by the time Golfhiker and I showed up. Might I also mention that it was a little windy—okay it was very windy after we went to bed. Golfhiker had some,”issues” with his tent due to the gale force winds that were blowing, but Hubcap came to his rescue, and lent him a pole to jury rig his tent.

Day one – Hubcap, Prosecutor, Prosecutor’s Daughter, Gforce, Golfhiker, Eveningred, Jim, and myself started off by shuttling cars to the Spurgeon TH. Once that was done we started hiking the Leota section. Most of the leaves were off the trees which made for some great views along the trail. We didn’t cache water which worked out fine, because there was clear running water in most of the valleys along the trail. We all made good time down the trail, and stopped at Elk Lake for a break. There were very few people on the trail which made for some good solitude. At the end of the day we were eyeballing our campsite at the bottom of the last hill. Gforce was already there, and scared off a group of Boy Scouts who had the same idea. That night we were all sitting around the campfire enjoying good conversation. Eveningred brought a new liquor that we hadn’t heard of before. Imagine that! It was a key-lime flavored whiskey. Golfhiker and myself both had a shot to try it. All of our dinners paled in comparison to what Prosecutor cooked-up that night. They started off with beef fajitas, and ended with a peach cobbler cooked over hot coals. The man can cook.

Day two – We woke-up with the sunrise taking our time eating breakfast, and packing-up. The temps were a little warmer today, with sunny skies. After we started hiking Golfhiker flushed out a couple of grouse hidden along the trail. They took off very quickly, and were gone in a few seconds. The trail and the forest gradually changed character once we were getting close to the Oxley TH. The valleys weren’t as deeply carved, and the forest was changing. We started to see more pine groves, and smaller hills. The last couple of miles to Spurgeon were through a valley on a flat trail. Hiking the KT was a challenge, but offered some beautiful scenery, and great time was had by all.”

“Nice report! Who has the pictures?”

“Most people underestimate just how challenging the Knobstone can be. On Saturday we hiked (IMHO) the most difficult section of trail in Indiana that included 3,150' of total ascent and 3,400' of total descent . . . all in 11.5 miles. Compare that to the MRT/NCT loop in Michigan (for those of you who have hiked it), starting from the Marilla trailhead, which has 2,200' of total ascent in 22 miles. It was a real buttkicker . . . Indiana style! Sunday's hike out, though much easier in comparison, still had 1,000' in total ascent and 1,150' in total descent in the 7.5 miles.

Here's a link to some pics I took on the trip:

http://community.webshots.com/album/213269072cvgmUu

BTW, can't ask for a better group of people to hike with!”

“Salem: Great report. You captured it all very well. Thanks for organizing the trip. Gforce's follow up was right on point, especially the part about a great group of people. Until next time.....”

“Nice pics Gforce. By the way my email address is: Davis.10@nd.edu”

“Sorry I missed you guys. Sounds like all had fun!”

“Golfhiker, I mailed you the green silnylon today so you can patch the rip in your tent.

The animal sounds Saturday night were great. Owls, and coyotes of all sorts.

My daughter was impressed with the great group of guys from TT that backpack.”

“Sounds like you guys were running 8^o Unfortunately I've got plans for Thanksgiving weekend or I would have tagged along on this trip instead. Nice pics too, especially the spider!”

“Thanks Prosecutor.. Your help is much appreciated. Hope to hike with you again soon. Wishing Andrea the best in Japan! Rick”