Porcupine Mountain Wilderness, UP Michig an

“Oh, and no bugs to speak of. I was told that the tics were out but I didn't have any on me. There were a few flying nasties but I didn't get a single bug bite and certainly didn't need repellent.”

“Oh, and there was a lot of mud. I loved North Mirror Lake Trail and the Little Carp River Trail. Outstanding and very challenging. Lots of mud, my gaiters got a real workout. You would take one step and sink in an inch and then the next sink down six! The you would hear the SUCKING sound as you pulled your boot free. My gaiters got quite a workout. The air was fresh and humid, it tasted like the forest. Hard to describe. Very intoxicating. I get in these moods like I am a kid again in places like this. One of the streams had to be forded… always a treat. Many trees blocking the trail. It was pretty rugged, which is what I was looking for.

I made some Quicktime movies of a few of the wateralls/cascades. If you want one just email me and I'll send one to you but they are 8-10MB each...
last edited: 4/24/06 3:35:55 PM”

“mata, I know what you mean. I didn't see your bull because we didn't take the pinkerton trail but I saw a bear floating on the Little Carp River. It required a little imagination to see. LOL

Smiley, I WAS good! and I didn't kill any racoons either. :o)

pekka, I still have my inflatable sunshine. hmmmm... maybe I should give it to Griz to keep him company while we're apart. ;o) I had a great time on the Namekegan and would do again in a heart beat. Well providing I could get someone to take the kids that is. The girls got new, bigger packs this year and are anxious to get out and use them. Tell Reino I said hello!”

“great pics all thanks, Sunshine I have them burning a disc for you.Temps were great, the first day was a little wierd, warm sun,mist,sunny,drizzle,sunny,hailstorm than clear skies thru saturday morning.misty and drizzle and just before mirror lake clear blue skies and we had the lake to ourselves about 10 pm started raining and foggy most of sunday
the mud was not as bad as I thought. I've seen lot worse in the BWCA but lots of flooded trail, Sunshine impressed us with her logwalking skills and gymnastic style dismounts off the logs. The key phrase of the trip was "She stuck the landing!" I may do a full trip report later.
Hey m2h you have seen my pack at least twice before, I just cannot bring myself to give it up but it is bloody heavy”

“I know, spalpeen, but somehow the picture with the bag hanging down your back (this sounds really weird..]:)) made me really SEE it...

I love my external...I just wish it didn't weigh 6 pounds as it is the most comfortable thing to carry...”

“yes it does sound wierd but I love the options of tying wet socks and GARBAGE BAGS on the ouside, heck on the AT a friend sent me a 5' long dried italian salami and I had that tied to the outside and offered some to all the hikers I met, lestad 4 days I believe”

“the salami or the hikers?”

“LSHIF! I don't know about the hikers but near the end I made sure I made some miles and raised some dust”

“SC: By the way, that photo you posted... I have a movie I made of that exact same cascade! It's odd that we were both drawn to it. If you want I can send it to you but it's like 8MB. I have no way to post them.”

“Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park – Trail Tail 2006

Crazy Mike dropped Spirit Coyote off at my place very late on Thursday. We chatted briefly as she loaded her gear into the back of my wagon. Mike explained that he insisted that she carry a can of bear spray, some variant of “Counter Assault” that is no longer on the market that is particularly effective but banned by the Geneva Convention or something like that. It was past midnight when he left and we all crashed. We started out promptly at 6:00 am.

We arrived at the park a full hour early. Stopping at the Camp Headquarters I was told that M-107 was closed, as expected. We would have to park at the Whitetail Cabin parking area and hike into the interior forest. We paid for our permit and made a little small talk with a very helpful and polite woman named Sandy whom I recognized as the person I had spoke to over the phone while planning the trip. I couldn’t help but notice the snowmobile treds on the counter. It was a reminder of what someone on TT had posted a few days back about how the treads were all over the road and were a “surefire and bad flat tire”. I could see why. They looked like little caltrops sitting on the desk in front of me. Spirit Coyote called Mike from a pay phone to let him know we made it OK and we headed out to the Whitetail Cabin parking area.

When we arrived at the parking area there was a sign posted on the bulletin board left there by spalpeen, jflotsam, and sunshine. They said they had left for Shining Cloud Falls via the Big Carp River Trail. There was no way we could both reach them before dark so we stuck with the original trip plan and headed for the camp site near Lake of the Clouds.

Crossing the street from the Whitetail Cabin parking area we entered a trail that ran parallel to M-107 for cross-country skiing. This trail was wide open and muddy. It was very much something you would expect from something you could drive a pickup down. We trudged down the trail in the light rain excited and ready for the weekend. Occasionally one of us would stop to fiddle with our packs. Sleet started to fall at one point.

Suddenly the trail popped off on M-107. We hadn’t reached the trailhead for the Escarpment Trail yet so we continued our hike west until the trail popped back into the wilderness. This time, however, we opted to just trudge down the highway to the start of the Escarpment. I knew it wasn’t far off, and indeed it wasn’t.

The trailhead of Government Peak Trail/Escarpment Trail was exactly as I remembered it. I pointed down Government Peak Trail and said, “We’ll be coming down that hill Sunday.” We headed uphill to the West following the Escarpment Trail to the Cuyahoga Mine and what I knew would be a great view of Lake of the Clouds.

“Is that the lake?”, asked Spirit Coyote.

“No.” I replied, “We aren’t high enough. The lake is over there.” I pointed to the west. “We should see it soon.”

“No, over there.” she said pointing north.

I chuckled. I had never seen Lake Superior from this trail before. The foliage on the trees always blocked the view. I knew I was in for a treat when I got to the top.

My first view, however, was of the marshy area that comprises the valley east of Lake of the Clouds. I have daydreamed about trudging around in those swamps for a long time now. The area was full of water, swollen by runoff from rain and snowmelt. I worried that the camp sites at the base of Lake of the Clouds might be muddy and unfit to camp.

It’s hard to hike this trail and not stop and soak in the view. At one such stop on the Cuyahoga Peak I head a motion in the woods east of me. Three deer were just opposite the trail. Taking care not to flush them I moved slowly in to get a picture of them. They were guarded but I was able to advance slowly. I heard Spirit Coyote coming up the hill and signaled for her to advance slowly and quietly. There were three deer, large does. We watched them in silence and then slowly walked down the trail leaving them to feed in peace.

We came across a solitary backpacker camped at the designated camp site on the Escarpment Trail. What a camp site! He was clearly enjoying the solitude and a cup of tea so we chatted briefly and left him to enjoy the rest of the evening.

We passed the old mine, or what I think is an old mine. I used to think it was a well since it was a ring of rocks buried in the ground. This time out I saw the sign pointing to it indicating it was the remains of a mine of some sort. I made a mental note to check it out at a future time.

Next came Cloud Peak and again the great views returned. We paralleled the lake and then decended down to the start of the Big Carp River Trail and North Mirror Lake Trail. This is where spalpeen, jflotsam, and sunshine must have continued west to Shining Cloud Falls which was some 8.2 miles distant. Given that we could only start hiking at 3 pm we had no choice but to stick with the planned route and head south to the designated camp site.

The decent down North Mirror Lake trail was a gradual segue from the high and dry hike we saw on the Escarpment Trail to the muddy terrain we would have to navigate the next several days. We arrived at the camp site only to find it was taken. I knew something was up when I heard music playing in the distance. So we continued south to see what the camp sites on the South Shore of Lake of the Clouds looked like.

The first site I came across was not that impressive. The bear pole was badly bent over. An open air latrine was visible in the distance. The fire ring was in rather pitiful shape. The ground was wet and there were very few flat spots. I opted to press east and see what the other camp sites had in store for us. The next one was much, much better so we opted to crash here. Tons of fallen wood lie about the campsite. We would have a good fire tonight. We went about getting ready to make camp, pitching our tarps.

It was still hard to find a flat spot to sleep on. Spirit Coyote found a place but a small tree would be in her way. She also found a tin that once held sardines. I think a few were still in the can. That would be great bait for the bears.

I found a spot but it reeked of onions. There was a small plant that was just sprouting through the leaves that smelled like a hybrid of garlic and onion. Oh well! I set up shop and started collecting firewood. I went nuts and cut enough wood for a major fire that evening. We ate dinner and I made a fire.

What a fire it was! A true blaze. We roasted Peeps (graciously packed in by Spirit Coyote). They tasted great but looked disgusting if you turned on your headlamp to see what they actually looked like. We listened to the weather forecast: 40 tonight and rain coming in the morning for the rest of the day. 50s during the day with light wind. Oh boy!

By midnight we had burned much of the firewood and Spirit Coyote said she was going off to bed. I wanted to poke around in the fire a bit until it went down somewhat. As she crawled into her bivy sack I looked up in her direction.

“Hey, do you want to see bears?” I asked.

“Yeah, why?” she replied.

“Look over there.”

Sure enough there were two pair of green eyes staring at us in the distance, just beyond where our food was stored. They were close to the ground and once in a while one would stand up, then sit down, then stand up again.

“Plug your ears, I am going to blow my whistle.” I hope she listened and I let out a might blast. The thing really is very loud, one of those pealess emergency whistles that you don’t dare blow in an enclosed space. The turned and ran, hopefully not to return. I chuckled.

“I’ll just stay up a bit more in case they decide to come back.”

With that Spirit Coyote, whom I will note had a can of bear spray, went off to sleep. True to my word I poked with the fire until about 2am, burning the sardine can. The bears never did return. It was very peaceful but I did need to sleep. I turned in and then discovered I had made a few fatal errors in laying out my tarp.

First I should have never pitched the thing in that patch of onions. Oh man was that smell distracting. Second, the tarp was pitch on a slight hill and my head was facing downhill. I had a new Tyvek sheet to sleep on and kept sliding down the hill. Sleep like this was going to be impossible. I thought about repitching the tarp but decided to try sleeping with my head where my feet would usually go. I generally sleep in a bivy so I didn’t mind the closeness of the tarp wall to my face. I had a hard time falling asleep. Th “peepers” were driving me nuts and I didn’ t want to put my ear plugs in because I wanted to hear if the bears came back and got into the camp. The new sleeping position was better but after a few hours I was awake again. 4:30 am … the sun would be up at 6.

I got up and fiddled with the fire a bit more. Then I heard the sounds of breaking sticks by the lake. Something large was walking along the shore. Then came a large splash and a thrashing sound like a fish slapping about in the water. Then a larger splash and some sort of little water-war took place. Then all was quiet. I have no idea what happened but I envisioned a bear snagging a fish by the side of the lake. I guess I will never know for sure so I’ll stick with that because it’s sort of cool. I tried to sleep some more, perhaps getting an hour more sleep.

Spirit Coyote woke up just before sunrise and fiddled about camp. I was already up and playing with the fire again. I looked for the remains of the sardine can but couldn’t find it. I cut some more firewood and got the fire going. We ate breakfast and chatted about the events of the evening. We broke camp and got ready to start hiking. It wasn’t long before we were continuing our hike south down North Mirror Lake Trail.

The trail got muddier but no sooner than we got warmed up than we crossed a stream on a footbridge. We needed water so we stopped to refill. It wasn’t long before we once again were hiking.

The hike south up North Mirror Lake Trail is exhilarating. Your heart pumps, your lungs breathe heavily. Then, just as you really are starting to appreciate the trees and duff under your feet you hear the sound of rushing water. The cascades come into view and I take a handful of photos as we ascend to the top of the climb. We reach the top wondering if that was all the valley had to offer us. “Bring it on!” I think to myself.

Mud, mud, and more mud greet us as we slog on. It’s really not that bad and it’s fairly easy to navigate about the wet spots. Spirit Coyote has trail runners on. She says the water in the mud is ice cold. I have a brand new pair of boots I am breaking in and they are waterproof and as comfortable as my morning slippers. Gaiters cover my legs from my knees down. She is having a great time and so am I. I feel like a kid.

Soon we come to the junction of North Mirror Lake Trail and Government Peak Trail. I am dying to hike the Little Carp River Trail that is just southwest of here. Spirit Coyote wants to hike east to the camp site at Government Peak 2.1 miles away. Here we go our own separate ways at this point. I look at my watch. Based on the time of day I know about how long I can hike before I have to turn back. My goal is to reach Trappers Falls before I have to turn around so I can be at camp by 8:00 pm.

Not having any time to spare I head south. Soon the trail opens up into a marsh, wide and expansive. Crossing on planks I trot along comfortably until the planks stop and are submerged under the waters that fill the entire area. It is very tricky maneuvering to get across but soon I am on my way to Mirror Lake.

The shoreline of Mirror Lake is spectacular. At first you see the soft duff and a fantastic camp site to the north. It looks good, and then you see a sign that says, “No camping for the next 5 miles.” That says there is something good to be seen. First there is a cabin but it’s empty. Then the hike continues on the soft ground to path that leads to another cabin. I hear voices. A few male voices, more than one, and a single female voice could be heard. I can’t tell where they are yet but I wonder if it’s spalpeen, jflotsam, and sunshine since I really don’t know what they were planning on doing after Shining Cloud falls. I press on and soon realize the voices are coming from the camp sites on the south shore of North Mirror Lake.

The trail follows the river for a while. The ground remains very wet and muddy. I pass two backcountry camp sites overlooking the river that make me want to drop my pack and hang out the rest of the day.

Soon I reach a bridge that crosses behind a beaver dam. This is Lilly Pond I convince myself. A quick read of the map tells me I am right. I stop here and put on my rain jacket as it’s starting to rain harder than small droplets. Admire the work of the beavers and then move on past the cabin at Lilly Pond. I stop to snap a photo of the inside of the cabin through the glass. It is immaculate inside, very neat and tidy and very nice. I figure I might entice my family to visit if I show them what a cabin looks like.

Moving quickly forward I quickly come to a good sized stream that I figure I’ll have to ford. I don’t feel like walking with wet boots so I don my Crocs and cross with my trousers tied up to my knees. The cold water feels very, very good on my feet. I snap a few photos of the two great camp sites in the area and press on.

The hiking is brisk but fairly easy. The trail is really badly flooded in spots. I go down some 6 inches in the mud at times. I slow down a bit. Notice, trudging through the mud, that my boots are the only set of prints hiking down the trail. I know why now.

I make a difficult decision to skip Overlooked Falls. I figure what the heck. They didn’t name it Overlooked Falls for nothing. I’ll come to regret this later. This is where the fun starts.

Soon I hear the sound of water again and once again rustic cabins come into view. Then it’s cascade after cascade. Cascade after cascade. I shoot some movies of the first waterfall, Greenstone Falls. Then I notice the locations of the backcountry cabins and realize that Trappers Falls, and my goal for the hike, is not far away. I cross bridge that spans the river to lead to a cabin to shoot a few more photos and then head out.

I quick push and I am at Trappers Falls. It’s loud and amazing but looking at my watch I realize I have to really move it if I want to get back to Government Peak and the camp site Spirit Coyote will have set up.

The hike back was not as memorable as the hike out. I jogged some of it where the dry land permitted. In general I hiked very fast. I passed a group of fairly young people just west of the stream I knew I would have to ford again. They seemed rather fresh and asked where they could find the waterfalls. I told them what I had just seen and they passed single file past me.

I stopped to take in and treat some water at the stream and eat a quick lunch of dry ramen noodles, Fig Newtons, and home made beef jerky. Man, the glories of a hikers diet. I must drink a liter of water before I refill the containers with stream water which I treat with Aquamira. I put on my Crocs and cross once again. This time the water feels really, really good on my feet. Once on the other side I promptly get my boots and gaiters back on and press on munching on ramen noodles looking at my watch taking note of when I n can drink the water I just treated.

At the rustic cabins at Mirror Lake I run into a few men with a few young men, perhaps their sons, out enjoying a day hiking. They are munching beef jerky. We make small talk and I notice a pile of Coleman mantles lying on the ground. They don’t belong to these people so I opt to pack these out in the baggie my ramen noodles were in.

I trudge past the swap, this time nearly slipping on the planks and taking a swim. Soon I am at the junction of North Mirror Lake Trail and Government Peak Trail. This is where I left Spirit Coyote. Only 2.1 miles to camp!

I start the push to camp and I am pretty tired now. The hiking is pretty easy and the hills are fairly simple. Soon I come into another marshy area with sounds of running water around me. Then a rather steep uphill section. It’s too soon for Government Peak, but when I crest the hill I see the friendly face of Spirit Coyote. Her tarp is pitched and she has pulled some firewood together. She mistook this camp site for the one on Government Peak. Yet this camp site is outstanding and I have no intention of leaving it. I make sure she knows that this means we’ll have to do Government Peak climb tomorrow morning but we both concur this is just too great a place to leave.

She tells me that she thought I was a bear when she heard me coming up the hill. She was looking for rocks to throw at me. Thank goodness I shaved before I left on Friday! Apparently she had run into two bears, on in a tree. The bear in the tree slid down like he was on a fireman’s pole and scooted into the swamp. The other was curious and didn’t flush which worried her. She said she made noise and hollered at it until it finally left.

There are lots of good places to pitch my tarp. This time there are no onions. I hobble about camp, then went and made dinner: Pasta with salmon. I ate a fruit pie, a delicacy I picked up on from my friend Crash Bang, and made a cup of hot cider. I drank about a liter of water.

Then I got my second wind (or was it my third or fourth?) and started to haul in firewood for the night. I cut a huge stockpile of wood with Spirit Coyote teasing that she was going to give me the trail name “WoodChuck” as a result. I wanted a fire tonight like last night.

Soon the sun set and I put on the weather forecast. It would be 39 tonight with light winds and rain. Then it would be foggy in the morning with light showers and in the 50s during the day. I was going to get damp under the tarp.

Spirit Coyote started a fire using the “Crazy Mike” method (dumping a huge amount of denatured alcohol on it). She said, “You light it.” Man, I should have seen that coming!

Fwoom! The fire was going and I had no hair on my right arm (just joking Spirit Coyote).

We heated our cups of water in the fire to make coco for her and cider for me. Once again out came the Peeps, but I was too tired to eat them. Soon I realized that she was talking to me and I didn’t understand a thing she was saying. Also, I don’t think I was exactly speaking in well reasoned sentences. Fatigue had really hit me hard. I estimated I hiked 18 miles… which I think was really 21 miles… and had only gotten like 3 hours sleep the night before. I turned in and slept like a rock.

I woke up at 5am and turned on my headlamp. Nope, no bears I chuckled. It was raining but I was dry. I knew the sun would be up in an hour and so would I.

Then a trekking pole stuck me in the neck. I nearly had a heart attack. Spirit Coyote came to tell me she was leaving. I thought it would make a good hiker country music lyric: I never knew she was leaving until she poked me with her trekking pole. Crazy Mike, if you are reading this, you keep an eye on that lady but keep the other eye covered because she will poke it out if you don’t watch it.

Off she went to Government Peak and the end of the hike. I quickly started packing up camp and stuffed my pockets with food for breakfast. As I was packing spalpeen, jflotsam, and sunshine came walking through the camp! I was glad to see them. We chatted for a while and then they headed out the same direction Spirit Coyote had gone. I finally got it together and headed out.

I caught up with them at Government Peak. Spalpeen, jflotsam, and sunshine had stopped. Spalpeen told me that M-107 might be open today. They told me that Spirit Coyote was just down the trail. So I took off and soon caught up to her.

I told her I would hike out ahead and try to make it to the car as soon as I could. If M-107 was open I would drive the car to the trail head to eliminate the long and boring hike down the highway. If not I would hike back until I met up with her. I joked that I would either do that or bail on her leaving her stranded. Then I realized what Crazy Mike would do to me and that ill conceived plan left my mind as quickly as it entered it.

Mud, mud, and more mud in the fog is what the trail became. Lots of fallen trees blocked the trail but it was easy hiking. The miles flew by and soon the trail turned north and the sound of water once again could be heard. Cascade after cascade, really the theme of the hike, started to come into view. I refilled a water bottle that I would treat later and headed down the trail.

At one point I ran into two men with two dogs, boxers. The dogs were not on a leash but the owners snagged them and put them on a leash as soon as they saw me. I approached them on planks over a wet area. We said hello and they asked if there were other hikers down the trail. I wanted to say, “Keep your dogs on their leashes, it’s the law you moron.” I wound up just saying, “Yes, about three more people.”

Soon I was at M-107, the intersection of Government Peak Trail and the Escarpment Trail. My hike was almost over.

I briskly walked down M-107. Not much to report here. It was tedious. I jogged about half of the distance to get it over with.

M-107 was still closed. Once at the car I fiddled with my gear, treated some water I collected earlier, and ate some food. I changed some clothes and got some stuff together to hike back to where Spirit Coyote was. About 45 minutes after I got to my car spalpeen, jflotsam, and sunshine came down the road. Rather than leave right away I chatted a bit and decide to bring my iPod with me for the walk back down the road.

Then they left and I headed down the trail. I didn’t get a quarter-mile before I saw Spirit Coyote down the road. We waved and soon we were re-united. She had another bear encounter on M-107 to tell me about.

After fiddling around at the car for a while we headed out. She wanted a chocolate milk shake and I wanted a cheeseburger. I also wanted to change into the clean clothes I brought with me. We stopped at McDonalds and ate, the first place we saw. Then we got in the car and drove home.

I got rather turned around lost which was ironic since I made it there with no problems. We finally got onto I-39 and were home-free. We talked the whole way back to my house about anything and everything. We stopped to get Cheese Curds for Crazy Mike, my treat. Hope you liked the Mike! Hope they were squeaky!

What can I say? It was a great trip and a great weekend. I look forward to a return trip later this year. For sure the Porkies made a bigger impression on me than I made on the Porkies. It’s a special place. Be sure to look at the great photo album that spalpeen posted. I posted my photos as well.
last edited: 4/24/06 10:41:35 PM”

“Nice trip report, Jimmy san...I really enjoyed it...it was I who passed on the info about the hazards of snowmobile treads...I do love that campsite on the Escarpment trail...spent a full moon up there once...the slapping sounds you described coming from the lake on your first morning sounded like courting carp...they really can be quite loud as they slap around in the shallows...and this is the time of year they're "doing it"..LOL

Wow..your second day hike to Trapper's Falls after so little sleep was impressive...you mentioned regretting missing Overlooked Falls..why?

I've learned to always lie down after pitching my home for the night...I often find I'm on a slant I didn't notice...better to fix it then than when I'm tired and it's dark. It seems that everytime I forget to do this, I regret it...

Spring is the perfect time to see waterfalls, that's for sure...Scott Creek, that cascade you follow up North Mirror Lake Trail, has always been dry when I've been there...

Saw are great...I won't camp without one...it makes firemaking so much easier...”

“It wouldn't have added that much to my day to have seen Overlooked Falls. I guess if I have any regrets they would be minor ones. There is so much to take in.

Well, it's not called Overlooked Falls for nothing! :)

Did you see the photo of that tree burl? It so reminded me of a Mardi Gras mask. It was spooky! I saw it hiking OUT to Trappers Falls but I missed it coming BACK. I do "out and back" hikes all the time. I know they are not popular with many people, but I find that trails always look and feel different when hiked in and out. Same thing with the seasons. I'll hike the same trail 3-4 times in a two year period so I can see what it's like during different seasons. I should have picked up Overlooked Falls on the way back but instead I'll pick it up some other time.



I really want to go and stay in one of those cabins with my family or with friends. That would make one hell of a TT weekend social event, wouldn't it?
last edited: 4/25/06 7:56:55 AM”

“Great report jim! lol


" really want to go and stay in one of those cabins with my family or with friends. That would make one hell of a TT weekend social event, wouldn't it?

Especially if ya bring that homemade brew of yours! :D

Mike barely got home before he devoured the squeaky cheese...it did squeek! And btw...you pastie loving people are sick!!! Who would eat a pastie? :P”

“Pasties rock!”

“Jimmy san, I'm with you...in and out hikes offer completely different scenery...I loved that weird burl...one of the thing I love about the Porkies is how bizarre the vegetation can get...just stopping and looking (and I recommend stopping unless you want to plant your face...huh, SC?....LOL) will almost always give you something unusual..the varieties of mushrooms I saw later in the year caused me to go buy a big mushroom guide book...the Porkies is as much about the power of the small as big...

renting a cabin for a TT party...hm-m-m-m...$35/night....hm-m-m-m-m...”

“hmmmmmmmmm.....”

“I am a particular fan of stumps where a birch seed has landed on the top and then the birch tree has thrown down roots around the stump. It's so alien looking. There are trail segments in Wisconsin where that appears all over the place near marsh areas. It's like another world, really wierd stuff esp with all the fungus and stuff that grows on the sides of trees.”

“I will post a trip report and pics tomorow”

“Just remember what I told you about those people when I was at your house Sunday.


8)”

“I have ate pasties My whole life with my dad being from england and all. On the way up for the trip jflotsam and I stopped for lunch in Iron Mountain. I suggested pasties and jflotsam went along with it never having had one. We ended up getting the driest most tasteless pastie I ever had”

“I am from Michigan as is my family. I wish I could find pasties as good as the ones I ate as a kid that were made by the Mennonites. They are unheard of here in Illinois, less common in the LP, and everywhere in the UP. They really are a mark of the UP culture that came from the immigrant copper and iron miners. Pasties are basically very satisfying and simple food that are easy to eat, has lots of calories, and keeps hot long wrapped up in a lunch bucket.”

“Even a jest about pastie loving folks could find you on the watch list at the U.P. border, SC.

Remember, the keys to a good pastie are rutabaga in the filling, not just meat and potatoes, and real lard in the crust. Not all pasties foisted on U.P. tourists are equal, as spalpeen discovered. Proper pastie making is a source of endless debate amongst the native Yoopers.”

“DICED VEGGIES

not sliced

That's key.”

“diced veggies, rutabaga and lard, my Grandma used all three”

“this explains a lot about Yuppers.....”

“I talked to Bearvault. My canister should have threads that work smoothly. As you saw, this was NOT the case on the trail. They said all I needed to do was lube the threads with food-grade silicone lubricant and they are sending me a tube. Just FYI. I was gettin' pretty pissed, wasn't I?”

“LMAO...I was surprised how well you kept your cool. I woulda been chucking that thing over a cliff! lol”

“and where, oh where, are spalpeens promised pictures...promises, promises....scheesh....gr-r-r-r-r-r”

“I have them on disc but now what do I do?”

“I use Webshots.com but I'll bet others have better ideas...do a search on "posting pictures" maybe....
last edited: 4/28/06 5:51:33 PM”

“upload them to photobucket- that way you can share them on the forum without haveing to link, like you would with webshots.”

“Are trollish individuals welcome?

Apologies. I read the date.
last edited: 4/28/06 7:14:49 PM”

“huh I studied Latin for 8 years not Greek”

“carpe diem...you can do it..
http://photobucket.com/register.php”

“that is right, give me grief I am a technophobe, thanks for the help”

“I'm trying it myself...if I can do it, you can do it..

Mata's nose cozy...



HA! It's easy!..go through all the crap you have to say you don't want before you can join photobucket...that is the price for being able to download free albums...then, go to browse and find which photo you want...did you put it into My Pictures or somewhere else? Anyway, once you found it submit it. Then you highlight (click on) the bottom box that says "IMG"..copy it and, when you are on TT, paste that link into the thread...does that kinda make sense? I'm pretty tired....this is the first time I've ever done this...
last edited: 4/28/06 8:45:16 PM”

“huh, friday=beer, nuff said, going hikin with lorax and tagalong this weekend”

“I thought beer might be in the picture..LOL...I miss Lorax and Taggie....I haven't seen them in AGES! I think I'm going to have to invite myself to camp on their lawn on my way to visit my folks in Michigan this year...”

“sorry but I don't get it, see i have these 2 discs and this computer ok, as far as I get, I would not even have a computer if it wasn't a gift”

“Went up to the porkies for some snowshoeing today. We only did 5 miles, but I figure that counts double when there are elevation gains of 400 feet straight up involved. Of course what goes up, must come down...

This was the first time I used hiking poles; wow, very impressive! I'll be shopping for some of those soon.

There was lots of bushwacking, as well as some time spent on the x-country ski trails that hadn't been tracked yet due to lack of snow. The woods were very beautiful.

The ski hill just opened today. They depend on nature's usual 200 plus inches, but at least last night's lake effect snowfall gave a nice cover. Still not much and the snowmobiles had beaten their trails bare by 4 p.m.

Up on top we found maybe 6-8 inches, lower maybe 2-3 inches. Lake Superior is just starting to form some ice. A day at the porkies is always time well spent. We we're lucky enough to enjoy a sunny high of 22 after a chilly start of
-4.

I'll be putting my pics on webshots this evening. If anyone is interested I put a pic here that will get you there.”

“thanks, graska. i very much look forward to seeing these. i am eager to get back to the porkies this year.”

“I'd love to see your pictures, too! I wish we had more snow. I haven't snowshoed or cross country skied yet this year. :(”

“URL=http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2778142390010729333nJaKPm][/URL]

It was a beautiful day, the only sound was the snowmobiles. As unattractive as that can be, the locals understand that's what puts bread and butter on many tables up here. I scanned a winter map of the area and you can see that all the major roads are left snowcovered and used as the snowmobile trails.
last edited: 1/20/07 11:03:04 PM”

“Enjoyed your album, graska...I spent a few days up there back 3 years ago...back when they got snow...it is a very beautiful area to snowshoe...you had quite a big group...friends, some organization or both?”

“Jimmy, thanks for the proper link. I actually scanned the map in, with you in mind. : )

Mata, the trip was sponsored through Nicolet College Outdoor Adventure Series. That's the local tech college here. They do just tons of fun stuff and I've always wanted to try something. This time when the catalog came, I didn't put it aside I pulled out my checkbook instead! In two weeks were doing a similar snoeshoe on the NCT in the Trap Hills section of the Ottawa. I also signed up for a spring wildflower trip in the Chequamegon. I love all these places and it's great to go and learn from the local experts while you enjoy the area.

Last summer I did try a fullmoon hike that the Northern Highlands sponsored. There was too many people, including small children. It was imposible to hear what the person was saying, that I won't do again.

This group seemed ok, we were somewhat spead out based on stamina during the hiking, we only bunched up when they'd stop to discuss area species, or the age of the growth ect... That worked out as it gave some people time to catch up, some people a water break, and me time to breath. I was closer to the front of the pack for most of the hike, I need to increase my stamina so I can hike the next butt kicker! ; )”

“LOL! It sure made me wish I could have gone...”