Yo Indiana get off yo butts it's hiking season

“Is anyone else worried about the weather on this one? There is a nasty system brewing with tornado watches across the midwest.

Local weather this morning was calling for strong to severe storms tonight, tomorrow and tomorrow night.

I'm not one to bail because of weather, but I also don't want to be stupid and have someone get hurt just for the sake of not bailing.

Any thoughts. What are you guys seeing for weather?”

“I don't want to bail either but I don't want the rain pouring on me the whole time.”

“it's starting to look like an all out misserable weekend”

“Let me know what you decide. I'll check this site until noon central time.”

“I'm still fine with going. It's the mud that annoys me more than anything. If it is pissing like a mofo when I get there, I probably would just sleep in my car and see you guys in the morning. You all would be asleep by the time I got there anyway.

Indy, all the noobs are out, right?”

“hubcap, except for my girlfriend, but she's fine. She's got one trip under her belt and we did a 6 hour adventure race in pouring down rain and 50 degrees.”

“Does anyone have a big tarp they can bring? If its still coming down good when we get to camp it would be nice to have an area we could get out of the rain and cook etc. I may pick up a 6x8 sil tarp to make a larger vestibule area in front of my tent.”

“At least it will be warm.”

“holy crap...what's all this bailing talk??!!...i'm still in...i have a huge tarp i could bring but it's a polyethylene tarp...i guess we could use it tonight and run it back to the cars tomorrow morn, really too heavy to pack unless someone else wants to...i don't have any twine to pitch it with so someone else would need to bring some

let me know if you want me to bring it”

“it looks like the actual storms won't be until tomorrow and then only isolated”

“for those of you with emails in your profile i just emailed you my cell number...you mind giving me a ring if you don't make it?...i'm getting ready to step out and won't be able to check here before i leave and didn't want to be the only one to show up

oh, and crash, my email to you was returned
last edited: 9/22/06 10:22:32 AM”

“I'll bring some cord, a tarp, and a weather radio.”

“rock on stomper...i really didn't want to run home on the way...how big is it”

“well i'm off...i've got one last trip related errand to run, hang out with the wife and son for a few and then i'll be on my way...see yall tonight or tomorrow morn”

“I just emailed out my cell number too.

I have an extended poncho that can function as a small tarp. I should have thrown a bigger one in my car this morning, but didn't. And I'm definitely not going home - that would add almost 3 hours to my travel time.”

“I don't know the dimensions but big enough for several people to sit under. I'll bring all the tarps I have. I'll load up on the way. I leave work at 12, and hope to be on the road at 1.”

“http://www.crh.noaa.gov/forecast/MapClick.php?CityName=Scottsburg&state=IN&site=LMK


The crick will be arisin”

“Good God! that thing looks like a freakin hurricane over the Midwest! Are we retarded or what?”

“Have fun guys but use your heads and be safe. I would like the chance to hike with you one day.”

“i think i would have been safer in indiana.realy getting pounded in southern illinois right now.”

“Sounds like another bail-out. But then, Indiana Backpackers don't backpack. They only gather in Chicago for luncheons!

LOL.”

“I'm wrapping up at work and heading out. I'll be there later, come hell or high water.

It looks like we might be getting both.”

“Checking out myself, so I'll see everyone in the morning. I'll just find you all at the campsite unless someone calls me about shuttling vehicles.

By morning I may have to swim through high water to get to hell!”

“Hope these guys are ok. We are really getting some wind and rain here in Indy. It should be a helluva TR if they stayed with it.”

“When I left work yesterday, it was to make a mad dash between the tornado sirens.

I hope they're ok too.”

“we're fine...we didn't stay...me, crash, chinmusic, randal, and stomper all showed last night...it rained all night...about 4-5 inches total...we where all eating breakfast this morning when who comes down the trail?...my wife carrying our 3.5 month son...she'd been sick the whole night before and needed my help, so i had to bail...then we found out that indianajon was bailing too and everyone decided to just call the trip off...i think some of us would have gone on but the mood was pretty shot plus the trail conditions were really bad”

“randal

i think i forgot to thank you for the stove...thanks a lot...i'll get ya back sometime”

“Sorry to hear your trip was cut short but glad everyone is fine.”

“Sorry I had to bail. It was a combination of things. I've never bailed on a trip because of weather, but last night just south of us they had tornados touch down, golf ball size hail and 70 mile per hour winds. I just decided that was bigger than my ego.

Next I got home last night and the two-man tent my friend was supposed to drop in my car was his sleeping bag! Retard!

Finally, I woke up this morning with a sore throat and a temperature. The way the weather has been all day, I bet we would have been misereable. More storms in the forecast for tonight.

We have a lot of flash flooding in the area too. Had to drive through high water several times today. I can only imagine what low areas on the trail would have been like.

We'll have to plan another trip soon. Glad to hear everyone is OK. I was a little worried about you all last night.

Glad Hubcap got the message to you too. He was the only one I could reach last night.”

“not a problem...in a way it was probably better that you didn't plan on coming until this morning...i didn't realize just how bad the weather actually was until i got home”

“Bailout

LOL.”

“wanna explain to me the point of posting a link to a thread on the very thread youre posting a link of?”

“He's just determined to piss off some hoosiers tonight.”

“This shows the rain total up until 8pm last night. I know we had a LOT more thru the night.

”

“I was thinking about you guys on Friday as I looked at the radar. YIKES!

You get any water in your house IJ?

Glad to hear everyone is fine.”

“Yes, I, too, am glad that you all returned safely and that there is nothing worse to report than the weather. For those of you who tried to do the hike, I give you an "A" for your effort. However, I have to give you an "F" for initially ignoring Mother Nature. You should not have tried to fight her and should have bailed sooner with respect to the forecasts.

Once there, although each of you could have completed the trip, doing so would have provided encouragement for others to do likewise in similar situations. So, by bailing, each of you became a leader, a good leader. And after all, we enjoy having you here at TT and sincerely want you to remain safe.”

“Yo Indiana!! Get Off Yo Wet Butts And Pack Up Yo Wet Gear And Get Yo Wet Selves To Cracker Barrel!!!!!
A Soaking Wet Trip Report, Kinda!!

Wow, so here it is, the report you all been waiting for!!!!
Ok, So I got there around 5:30 PM an found Chin music caching his food and water of 160 west. He was also planning on taking some more water to The Pixley knob trial head. We talked for a while and then I headed to the Campsite and met Thrifty waiting for Chin, they had already met up earlier, set up their stuff . TH guided me to the campsite and I got setup, as campsites go it was alright, no great views or anything like that, but it did have a huge advantage that we would not appreciate until later, it was high in the middle and had Watersheds on three sides (Thank god!!!) I got everything squared away and put on my gaiters and my high dollar rain jacket (Colombia). That’s about the time it started raining. Just a slight drizzle and I was not worried, not yet anyway!! TH and I went up to the trailhead parking lot and met back up with Chin, Crash and Stomper
OK , lets go hiking!!! We headed back to the site and Crash hit the trail, (literally) That was just the first hill!!! He was alright, just slightly muddy. When we got back to the site it was raining harder.

The Wise Sage and The Unnecessary Tarp!!

Stomper had the foresight to bring a good size trap, (a 12 X 12 I think!!) Thrifty carried it for her (what a guy!!) but kept questioning the necessity of such a large, heavy tarp. “ do we really need this???” Oh man, we did!!!!!! Crash started sitting up and Chin and Mugsy took a seat to watch all the action, Chin actually carried a nice big folding canvas lawn chair down to the site with plans on taking it back up the next morning!! Another good move, wish I had done the same!! Not only did he have a place to sit that was not in the mud, but from his vantage point he could provide us with plenty of verbal support and the benefit of his vast array of woodsmen advice, (“Don’t put your poles in the air right now!!!!”) Bamm, Bammm Bamm, Boom!! One after another, thunder and lighting, Chin started counting the seconds so that we would all know just how close we were from being killed and possibly when we could expect it!! The rain began to increase and Stomper decided to wisely wait it out and setup after it was over!! She had to wait almost two hours!!!! TH and I got to work setting up the trap. Never done it before, let alone in the dark and in a thunderstorm!! We took longer that most would have, but we finally got the thing up. Chin and Mugsy really enjoyed the whole process and now had a place to watch us from and not get rained on!!! Everyone crowded in, or under I guess, and it was tight, but not unbearable. That tarp really worked wonders!! The amount of rain, wind, thunder and lighting had now reached a sustained level that made it hard to talk over without shouting. Wow, A real frog strangler that’s for sure. Th got his stove going and made dinner, Crash ate a sandwich and Stomper had some food as well.

The Braggart And His Fire!!

Now I had been bragging that I had always been able to start a fire, no matter the situation, (Something I learned as a Civil War reenactor). So I was on the spot, I gathered bunch of small twigs and picked a spot about 8 foot from the tarp to build our salvation. The trick here is to get the starter material off the ground and shelter it with other sticks on top. I got some starter going but it wasn’t that good. Chin decided to get up and help. In his defense here, Chin was trying very hard to keep the Mugster from getting too cold and the poor dog did look a tad uncomfortable. At this point, Crash took over as Camp Morale director and worked very hard at keeping everyone laughing and not worrying about our almost certain doom!! Stomper was really looking worried and made sure we knew it!! Luckily, Chin had some better fire starter and that stuff, plus what I had did the trick. The fire gradually got bigger and bigger, Thank you God!! The whole process took close to an hour and in the end, everyone pitched in and we were victors!!! A roaring fire in the middle of a thunderstorm!!! Yes, man (and one woman) had beat the elements!! I demanded my recognition as a professional fire starter was rewarded with a merger round of applause. (Wadda want for nutin!!)

Ahh, The Ambiance And The Radio

Ye Haw!!!!!! time to kick back tell jokes, eat and drink, the best part of any trip!! Well, the weather had other ideas!!! It was about his time that Stomper got the weather radio up and working.
That did not turn out to be the big morale booster that we needed. Oh crap!!! It sounded bad out there!!!! Wait a minute; we’re out there!!!! The news was not good and it sounded like Kentucky was getting slammed hard. Me and Crash did our best to cover up the bad news with the usual camp batter and jocularity (Nice try anyway Crash!!!) but Chin heard that we could expect ankle size hail (yep, ankle sized). The good news continued with flash flood warnings, Tornado watches and high wind advisories. What else could be coming??? Mudslides??? Earth quakes??? Global Killers in the form of rouge comets?? Bring it on!!!! We gat a tarp dammit!!! Stomper began to get a little more concerned as her parents told her that it was a bad idea to be in the woods tonight!! Hmm, really, they were jus over reacting!! She was worried that they and her husband were composing her eulogy as we spoke. Th wasn’t saying much at all, he just kicked back with a cigar and enjoyed the experience, sitting on his ultra light rain jacket in the mud!! I should mention that everybody but me had their Crocs/Wallies on. Crash and TH were in shorts!! I think they were wet, but they never complained!!! What men!!!

Bailey’s Crème, Whiskey and Wine!!!

I decided to get drunk!!! If your gonna die, ya might as well go happy!!!
I mixed up some lemonade and whiskey, Crash passed around a full bottle of Baileys Crème and Stomper had a bottle of some type of wine. “Gee, I think it’s slacken off!!!” Our sprits rose perceptively as the bottles emptied and the fire continued to defy the downpour, yep things are getting better!!! Hey what ever ya gotta tell yourselves!!! The rain almost came to and end and Stomper’s opportunity had come, lets get that tent set up!!!
I am guessing that this was a new tent to her as she had more questions than I had on how the thing worked! We struggled with it and found the fly to be the most challenging part of the assembly. (No, I was not drunk yet!!) Thirty came to our rescue and we finally figured it out!! You have to see the tent to understand it. Back to the tarp and all the fun!! I ended up losing my cup in the dark and had to resort to straight whisky!! What a bummer!! The campsite took on a wonderful glow as Crash and Thrifty built the fire up to about four feet. No problems now!!! We got it beat!!! I might get to cook something!!! Life is good!!
That’s when the big one came!!

The Death Of Fire And Optimism Or That Which Burns Bright Last’s Half As Long

It started as a low rumbling to the southwest. We had heard that all night, another thunderstorm, not a concern, we already beat the worst!!
This one was different. The wind came in with a velocity that was unmatched up to this point. The front of this storm has huge! Chin (Again, The wise sage) had already retired with Mugsy to their tent. Stomper, Crash Thrifty and myself were under the trap when it hit and had to hold the tarp down to prevent it from blowing away!! The rain was as hard as I have ever seen!!! I fully expected the campsite to be hit with falling trees, but did not bring that up instead I just shouted that this was a microburst and that it would not last long. I have only been out in one storm that was worse than this! The fire fought bravely, but died in a matter of minutes. We held out under the “unnecessary” tarp and the storm eventually moved on! That was it, time for bed!! We all climbed in out tents and hoped for the best!! I think it was close to 10:30 PM

The Long, Long Night!

It rained all night long, never stopping and increasing in severity and then backing off. Thank god the wind never picked up as it had earlier. I slept, if that’s what you could call it, but not much. Stupidly, I had left my earplugs in my drybag under the tarp. I was too sorry to get them and suffered. Around 4:30 am, a large branch fell and made a pretty good noise that woke everyone who was not asleep. We crawled out by ones and twos, defiantly, but the worse for wear. As we made breakfast, Thirty’s wife came walking in through the drizzle with his son in arm. She was sick and needed him to come home. He got them back to the car and when he returned to pack up, he had Hubcap with him. Now Hub was supposed to hike in during the night and we all had anxiously awaited his arrival. Well, he slept in his car at the trailhead!! Smart!!! We were discussing what the plan was when he informed us that our brave and noble leader, Indiana John, had bailed. Man you could hear that camel’s back break two miles away!! About that time two hikers came sloshing down the trail and Chin asked about the conditions that we might expect!! They didn’t even have to answer. One look at them was all we needed. W decided to go to Cracker Barrel in Scottsburg and eat!!
I drove 315 miles from Chicago for that and now I am driving back!!
See ya later.
Randall
last edited: 9/24/06 11:15:41 AM”

“LMFAO!!!
Helluva TR Randall!!!
You guys did great! When man attempts to match whits with mother nature he is doomed everytime. 315 miles is a long drive to spend the night cold and wet, then get up and go home, but you have a great story from it at least. Sorry to hear about Mrs. Thrifty. Hope she is feeling better. Glad all made it home safely too.”

“holy crap...that's the longest report for a 1 night trip i've ever read LOL

anybody hear from stomper??...i hope she made it home alright...she had to go through louisville and they had several interstate closures”

“A one-night stand!

Sounds like it was lots of fun. Sorry I missed it.
----------------------------------------------
How's your family, thriftyhiker?

Now You got me worried about stomper! Hope she posts soon.
last edited: 9/24/06 12:14:09 PM”

“I'm good! I stopped off in Elizabethtown yesterday to stay with my sister. Glad I didn't have to drive to far, it was pouring rain.

This trip was wild! I kept thinking the whole time, am I crazy? Are we crazy for doing this? But, we were all warm and pretty dry thanks to rain gear and the unnecessary tarp that weighed to much to carry to the campsite.

I wish we could have gotten our hike in but it wasn't in the cards for us. I enjoyed meeting Randall, Thrifty and Hubcap. Hope we can get another trip going soon.”

“How's your family, thriftyhiker?

they're all doing fine...my wife has the stomach flu and we don't have any close friends or family where we live so she needed help taking care of the baby”

“Well, I bailed on this and decided to pick up my daughter and go to the Gulf Coast of Alabama.

While you guys were getting flooded, I was sitting on a deck drinking beer.

Hope the weather at Adena is better.”

“Did anyone get picture of this?”

“i only took 4 or 5 and they really didn't turn out that well...not really anything to take pictures of and i think i was the only one with a camera”

“wow, after reading the trip report I feel like I went, Randall you are a great writer. I've been on trips like that, although not fun at the time they actually do make for some good stories.”

“im thinking about doing this trip in about 3 weeks, instead of going to the deam. what do you think about that, chin?”

“And to think I bailed on this??????


LOL I'm glad you all survived and are all such a good sport about it.”

“Well, they're calling for strong thunderstorms tonight. I feel like I should be camping. Where's my tarp?!?!”