Adventure Hiking Trail -- March 4-6

“Yes Dhutch its me.



8)”

“dhutch1, Otis is usually fine with other dogs. I'm trying to get out to the dog park more so I can instill the concept of being around other dogs in him a little more.”

“SJ, you can ride with me if you like but I have no idea when I am leaving as I am getting off work at 7am and immediately going home and going to bed.”

“Dub, right now I've scheduled to be off at noon so I probably won't even be ready until 1 or 2. I can alway's tear up the leave slip if you plan on going in late. I don't mind a night hike if it comes down to that. Last time I went I took a half day then got stuck in rush hour traffic through Cincinnati. It was actually dusk when I got to the trail.”

“Dub you will like this hike it is a nice place in Indiana.I saw my first badger there.


8)”

“I won't most likely be waking before 2pm and if I'm packed I'd be leaving by 3 and there by 6:30, 7”

“I could use the ride. Do you have room for my dog?”

“Sure, you saw how big the car was last time ;-)”

“I usually get an economy rental when I take him on trips so he's used to having no room. He loves the trail though so I don't think he minds.”

“SJ - send me your phone number just in case (see profile) I promise not to stalk you too badly and could give a check up call on my way down to make sure you're hooked up with a ride.”

“is anyone coming from the west michigan area that would be interested in a carpool? Or i could possibly meet someone in Indiana somewhere? I am free that weekend so i can meet whenever.”

“I live in NW Indiana near I-65. I'd be happy to carpool.”

“Hey budda, you're from Kzoo, right?
If you don't mind driving to Elkhart, you can ride with us....shoot me an email if you're interested.
Speaking of ppl from western MI.....has anyone heard from Extrudinator lately?”

“UPluver,

I live in Osceola, and would like to hitch a ride if you have room?”

“Ruby & UPlover both have email.

I am getting excited for this trip.”

“Question about water cacheing?

This trail can be a little dry at times depending on the weather. Hopefully it will still be wet in March. I'm thinking about making a couple large water drops marked for TT use on Friday morning. Should I be concerned about posting the location here? Would it be better to e-mail this info to trip attendees?”

“Yeah, you never know what those west coast trailtalkers will do for a practical joke! ;-)

Looking forward to hiking with so many new people. This is going to be a blast!”

“IJ. regarding the water.. you should get a pretty good read on the creek water in the week/days leading up to our hike. As for where to cache the water, that might depend on where we start, etc. As an example, the only place I really know to cache is just off the bisecting road. If you start at the Pioneer Cabin, head South, you get to your water around noon on day #2 ( about 13 miles into the hike), which is good. If you start somewhere other than Pioneer Cabin, I have no clue. But the ranger could probably tell you..... Like so many things, I have faith it will all come together... Weather, water, etc.”

“On the other hand, someone else may be familiar with good places to cache!
last edited: 2/02/05 12:39:29 PM”

“golfhiker, we're thinking of starting at #3 at the connector trail (north end of trail). That way we will be closer to Pioneer Cabin trailhead Friday night for those coming in later.”

“The #3 on my map is near the Iron Bridge on the Blue River...which is not really near the north end. In fact, it's a very short hike from my #3 to the Pioneer Cabin. This map business is tricky. In the end we might all want to meet at the ranger station/visitor center to coordinate on Friday AM.. of course you will have designated a meet up for those coming in late Friday... I really don't know about parking, as my previous hikes, I just parked near the Pioneer Cabin,almost on the road. With the size of our group, parking should be interesting. There must be lots elsewhere. Again, I don't know where this puts you for cacheing. We'll get it all together in the end!”

“Salem - we can discuss carpooling for this trip on Sat....since we're gonna be riding down to the Deam together....lol
UP aka Toolman ( but don't tell anyone!!)”

“There is a parking lot before you get to the ranger station back to the east where the trail crosses near an intersection. On my map there is a number 5 near it. It's a grassy lot and I missed it the first time I drove by it. Then again the second time. It's convenient since you just hike the loop and not the additional connector to the north though.”

“UPluver or Toolman or Joe, what should we call you on Sat? Is this a legal thing, are you in trouble in certain states? The secrets out. See you this weekend!”

“I think Birch and I have the same map as Golfhiker. What's near your number three UPluver?”

“I don't have my map with me but isn't 3 right by the river or Iron Bridge?

BTW Sass, that river would make a good kayaking trip”

“Hmmm, I didn't have my map when I posted that, my memory may have failed me. :)

Do any of you have thoughts on a good starting point. I'm pretty open since I plan to hike the entire trail.”

“Golf- call me whatever you want.....just don't call me late for camping!!! LOL

Sass - I don't have my map with me but I'll look when I get home tonite and let ya know.

Ewker - If thats the Blue River you're talking about it is a pretty cool river to kayak.....there's a canoe/kayak rental place in Milltown thats pretty helpful with transportation, ect.

http://www.cavecountrycanoes.com/”

“UP, thanks. I can see a kayaking trip there this summer. Are there any campsites along the river?”

“Toolman: I'll bring my map this weekend. At least we can be looking at the same map, see which is correct, updated, etc., and then consider best starting spot, meet up spot, water caching spot, etc. See ya Sat. Rick”

“IJ, my map has point 4 at northern end of the trail also. My suggestion for starting points is #5. (probably on our maps though) Its where the trail crosses the road before the ranger station. We could potentially stay at a shelter on both nights that way without trying to hike way to much on any given day. This allows the option of staying at the Blue River shelter or the Indian Creek shelter on Friday. Then we would have to hike around to the one we didn't choose on Friday.”

“OK, i'll look at that tonight on the map”

“Hey I'm home finally!!!
Sass - I think I have the same map you guys do
Golf - I'll bring mine too so we can compare :)
Ewk - I don't remember seeing to many spots to camp along the river, but Cave Country Canoes has a car campground right across the road for their headquarters
They have a pretty cool deal where you park at their hq and float downstream the first day, they come get you and take you back so you can camp at the campground then the next day they take you up stream and let you float back to the hq's”

“Whew, I'm glad to hear we're all on the same map.”

“Did everyone get the horsetrail map too? It will come in handy if we get off the main trail by mistake, or if anyone would need a shortcut.”

“Yeah I got it.”

“I don't have the horse trail map.”

“Hey All, I really want to go on this trip. My dilema is that I am doing an eco-trip to st johns Virgin islands. The week prior. SOOOO. Ifin I dont make it fri will there be a place I can hook in on sat? OR perhaps I could start at the end and hike towards ya all!
will the water cachers be casching enough water for me! I would gladly pay for a 2 gal container of spring water! I ordered maps today. Yahoooo! Yo bear”

“Send an e-mail and request one here

HarrisonSF@dnr.state.in.us”

“Whoops
last edited: 2/04/05 10:44:25 AM”

“jerbear - it would be good to see you there! Hope you can make it, have fun in VI!”

“Jerbear, there's a few places to park where the trail crosses the road. It should be pretty easy to hook up with the group on Sat. morning no matter where we end up staying on Fri.”

“I'm in like Flynn. Requested my map yesterday.”

“Birch and I have the horse map. I'm gonna let him have the horse map and I get the hiking map, lol.”

“we still doing the southern 12 miles?”

“just dropping in to say hello!!!”

“I think we're doing the whole loop Jer.”

“HOLY COW!!!!!!

Counting the maybes, there are 28 people signed up for this trip. I know everyone will not show, but this is still going to be a substantial group. And that doesn't even county Indiana John's group who are not listed. We may need to cache a water truck.

I'm really looking forward to it!”

“Yeah, I've already been imagining what camp is going to look like. Since I've gotten my dog I've stopped using a tent and just cowboy camp when the weather affords it, but I'm sure most people will have their own tents.”

“holy crap this is going to be like backpacking at the mall or something

but as golfhiker said, i's sure it will work itself out. As the day goes on, I'm sure the group will spread out as everyone finds their pace etc.

For anybody not on this trip we're going to be worse than a pack of cupscouts!”