Humpin' the Hookah

“http://thumb13.webshots.net/t/57/457/4/35/74/2434435740010729333CzZfDR_th.jpg


How did a simple hike in the Northern Kettle Moraine turn into something so... different? The details are still a bit smoky, While I write the promised trail report and download a few more pictures, you must decide who is this hiker we met while on our Ramble in the Kettles.”

“Oh, and if anyone can make that photo bigger, please do.

Just like that growing body part we all saw...”

“Can't wait for the full trip report. :-)

Here's your link:


Strange indeed!”

“oh, never mind, I just saw Lizs pic...how did you do that, Lizs?
last edited: 4/16/07 7:39:39 AM”

“I'm good, that's how. ;-P”

“yeah, right...sorry, I figured out how to do it already...took me about a minute...I just hadn't haven't had any coffee yet..



last edited: 4/16/07 7:53:47 AM”

“Not only did he "Hump the Hookah", but he also shared with everyone else.

As usual, a great time”

“lizs, no one writes a trip report as well as you, but I will do my best! You were missed, some peeps were brought for you, but since you didn't make it, I ate them! Mata, you were also missed! I do believe we all lifted our flasks and toasted you at some point; if we didn't, we should have! I must say I had an great time and am very happy to have met more awesome TTers, as well as the mysterious Hookah Hiker.”

“I brought 7 of those back from my trip to Egypt. I had to get one for each member of the family. lol.”

“iSolo is looking very, er, questionable...LOL....”

“LOL, finally. I thought that looked like iSolo... but wasn't sure. Ya just never know with him. LOL!”

“
`Who are YOU?' said the Caterpillar.

”

“I've never tried drinking through a hookah before...they'd be scandalized in Afganistan...”

“Yeah, what exactly DO you do with a hookah??”

“definatly not drinking... smoking some really mellow tobacco that tasted of molasses. Even the non-smokers had to take a puff... or two.”

“tobacco is what is normally smoked with a hookah...it gets wonderfully mellow when it's been pulled through water...some wastrals I know from my past added booze instead of water to the pipe...I think it's a waste of smoke AND booze...the term for it in much of Asia is hubble-bubble....”

“i LOVE hookah!”

“Lizs, stop playing innocent!”

“The mysterious Hookah Hiker has informed me that: "We were smoking ETMCO's Layalina Herbal Molasses w/ Vanilla flavor
through pure water"”

“As a non smoker (exept for the rare occasional celebratory sunset gazing post hike cigar, which I have about one a year), I can tell you that it was the most mellow and sweetest smoke.Better than any cigar. I had about 3 drags off of it and was amazed.

The best part that there was appropriate music playing as Hookah Hiker enjoyed a nice evening smoke. I believe it was by the band "Ali Falafel and the Infidels" off his smash CD titled "Everybody Jihad".”

“Be grateful it wasn't Ahab the Arab...


Let me tell you about Ahab the Arab
The sheik of the burning sand
He had emeralds and rubies just drippin' off 'a him
And a ring on every finger of his hand
He wore a big ol' turban wrapped around his head
And a scimitar by his side
And, every evenin', about midnight
He'd jump on his camel named Clyde, and ride
Silently through the night to the sultan's tent where he
would secretly meet up with Fatima of the Seven Veils,
swingingest grade "A" number one US choice dancer in
the sultan's whole harem, 'cause, heh, him and her had
a thing goin', you know, and they'd been carryin' on
for some time now behind the sultan's back and you
could hear him talk to his camel as he rode out across the
dunes, his voice would cut through the still night desert
air and he'd say (imitate Arabic speech and finish with "Sold! American)
which is Arabic for, "Stop, Clyde!" and Clyde'd say, (imitate camel
sound), which is camel for, "What the heck did he say anyway?"

Well, he brought that camel to a screechin' halt
In the rear of Fatima's tent
Jumped off Clyde, snuck around the corner
And into the tent he went.
There he saw Fatima layin' on a zebra skin rug
With
Rings on her fingers and
bells on her toes and a bone in her nose ho, ho.

There she was, friends, lyin' there in all her radiant
beauty, eating on a raisin, grape, apricot, pomegranate,
bowl of chittlin's, two bananas, three Hershey bars,
sipping on a RC co-cola listenin' to her transistor,
watchin' the Grand Ole Opry on the tube, readin' a Mad
magazine while she sung, "Does your chewing gum lose
it's flavor?" Yeah, Ahab walked up to her and he say,
(imitate Arabic speech), which is Arabic for "Let's twist
again like we did last summer, baby.!!" Ha, ha, ha!!
You know what I mean! Whew! She looked up at him from off the rug,
give him one of the sly looks,

She said "Crazy, crazy, crazy baby!"

('round and around and around and around, and around and around and around)

Yeah, and that's the story 'bout Ahab the Arab
The sheik of the burnin' sand
last edited: 4/16/07 4:39:59 PM”

“I just knew all you CheeseHeads were pot-heads too?”

“Only the cool ones.”

“You rang?”

“Hmmmm, nimble that iddn't what your plowing up the West field for is it? ;)”

“There has been conjecture...”

“The mysterious Hookah Hiker again informed me:
the music being played through the ipod/
external speakers:

'World Music; The Middle East', vol 6

'Zaghareed; Palestinian Holy Land Music'

'Taqasim; Improv. Arabic Music'”

“My favorite song was the one with the woman singer. I don't know the name of the song but the lyrics went like this:

"aaalalalalalalalalalalalalalalaaaa!!!!!!"”

“We used to have a alternative station in the 80's that played Arabic music. She'd send me to clean my room and I'd crank it up. Good stuff! (Drove her nuts)”

“OKAY- My Home work is complete; and the pictures are almost all uploaded to web-shots. ( These are the times I long for DSL.
Trip Report – A Ramble in the Kettles

This feels like I’m back in school, how exciting!

I arrived at shelter 5 parking about 8 p.m. and croft pulled in right after me. Thanks tons to iSolo for the cords. When croft and I were all finished doing the paperwork and getting our gear we headed for the sound of laughter and the glow of the fire. There stood The Lorax, SnowTiger, Mountainrunner, Autumnmike, his buddy Mike & Celeste aka Redhead. Much fun was had around the fire. Many thanks to The Lorax for caching all the firewood this weekend! We were sorry to say goodbye to SnowTiger and Celeste but we all understand the primary responsibility is at home… especially prom weekend with teenagers!!

The next morning brought stories of a goodnights sleep from all, except me who froze like a Popsicle. Note to self: get -20 sleeping bag! I sleep cold! Even Chocolate was shivering too much to keep me warm! Morning also brought firebug as Mountainrunner made his departure.

The weather Saturday was pretty close to perfect, we must reserve perfect for Sunday as it truly was incredible. Lorax presented the option of slack packing as he was caching more wood but I think we all decided to take our packs as Autumn Mike put is well… we came to backpack. The Lorax then backtracked from the ending point and met up with us along the trail. We met a man at shelter 4 who knew of the ramble from reading the forums. He was out “training” for his trip to Isle Royale.

The section of trail we did on Saturday was very different from Sunday. Saturday was tall stands of trees and rolling hills, Sunday we encountered more water, kettle lakes and rivers an almost constant sight. Nice diversity. I was excited to see a few trees budding and actually spotted one or two very tiny wildflowers emerging. Sorry, don’t know what kind. Seems the snow on Wednesday past was winter’s last hurrah.

We all rambled along at our own pace, The Mikes were way out in front (age, you know…) while Lorax was all over the place making sure everyone was okay. What a guy! Firebug and I seemed to hike at the same pace and he was a wonderful companion on the trail with his wealth of information on the area and great hiking stories. A pleasant lunch break was taken at Butler Lake.

Late afternoon brought us to the parking area by shelter 3 where we found Lorax and iSolo. Introductions were made and iSolo promised a surprise when he discovered I had brought my GPS. Blister repair was the first priority. Not a pleasant chore and my first experience while on the trail. My luck was bound to run out, I am just thankful Dr. Lorax was there to teach me the magical qualities of duct tape. At this point I would like to thank Audrey aka Tagalong for encouraging Lorax to enjoy what he loves; the outdoors. He spoke so highly of his wife, while helping me with my heels; I can’t wait to meet her. It is truly wonderful to hear a man sing the praises of the woman he loves. Aubrey, please tell us how much you’d charge for cloning. : )”

“Part Two-

After blister repair iSolo gave me a note with coordinates and this hint: “By the Bark of the Birch you’ll find relief for your feet.” WHAT FUN! Firebug, Lorax and I went on the hunt with firebug in charge of the GPS. The best way to recruit new geo-cachers is to let them follow the arrow instead of just following along. It almost ended as a “did not find”, but iSolo came out to help and it was the cords. That were off, not the hunters. The hide was a very good one, and included low sugar peeps (made with splenda; who’d have thought) a growing body part… a severed foot (what were you thinking???) and some bacon band-aides. Took everything, Left nothing TFTC! After all we practice leave no trace, and all that, right? ; )

Later after dinners were eaten and peeps were toasted over the fire for desert; great idea firebug. The Hookah Hiker appeared with all his props. The music being played through the ipod/ external speakers :'World Music; The Middle East', vol 6 'Zaghareed; Palestinian Holy Land Music' 'Taqasim; Improv. Arabic Music' , and We were smoking ETMCO's Layalina Herbal Molasses w/ Vanilla flavor through pure water. The Hookah itself was a work of art and iSolo’s presentation was impeccable. Of course it must be all those practice sessions in his friend’s garage. The Caribou Coffee really made it though, thanks for the fun iSolo!Certian photos were taken at the Hookah that must never be made public… right firebug?? I know we had lots of laughs around that campfire. The only topic I can recall right now was “dating disasters”. I must have had too much Frangelico… sorry. I also want to thank iSolo for keeping me warm Saturday night. I was actually able to sleep because he loaned me his extra balaclava. What a guy!!
(What were you thinking???)

Sunday morning dawned frosty, so a bigger fire was built and we loitered around the campfire until almost 11! Who’s in a hurry when the company is so good? Our two trail dogs had become fast friends and good conversation flowed along with the coffee and tea. Thanks firebug for keeping that water supply boiling. The weather warmed up and we all decided to slack pack our way to the end. I think autumnmike and I were in so much blister pain we wouldn’t have made it otherwise. Okay, Mike would have, but I remain questionable. Always be kind to your blister, that’s my philosophy. The Mikes still smoked us on the trail, blisters and all (ah, youth). Beside a slight wrong turn after the rest stop on the grassy knoll (we all know the dangers of grassy knolls) firebug learned an important lesson and knows never to follow me anymore. I didn’t feel so bad after I heard iSolo and croft took the same wrong turn. Dang where are those trail markers??? Just about at the end of our hike Celeste was back on the trail and ready to join us for the after hike celebration and a little day hike afterward.

In short order all the vehicles were rounded up and we said goodbye to the Mikes and Odie. We were off to the Road House. We did not even order drinks before the bartender was asking after thumbscrew… whew… she must have made an impression last year. I asked a very nice lady to take our group photo and unfortunately declined her offer of two (sorry guys, it’s blurry). She was so wobbly on top of that chair and the digital camera seemed such a challenge I didn’t want her to get hurt! I left after one so if any thing really exciting happened at Road House I’ll leave that up to someone else to relay.

Thanks to all for a great weekend, I look forward to meeting you all again!!”

“Ashley said 'conjecture'... ha ha


"My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts" (David Byrne/Brian Eno) will make you think you've been smoking a hookah. I played it for some good ol' boys on a campout years ago and it scared 'em so bad they asked me to "Please turn that off!"
last edited: 4/16/07 9:46:37 PM”

“okay... we'll see who can figure out the names of both of Lorax's wives... should have proof-read.”

“What's all this "youth" talk?!...

I was the first to reach the resting spot, and it took 90 minutes before everyone else was there.

I'm 45 years old, so let's give it up for the old folk!!!

... no respect!”

“great photos and TR, thanks!”

“graska,

Thanks for putting the TR together-- great job.
You had me puzzled there for a minute when you stated I kept you warm all night. I thought perhaps I drank more than I realized. LOL Again, what was that booze we mixed with my Bailey's? It was so damn fine I can't remember...

Since I've no family to speak of, backpackers have been steadily filling that void. The more I can meet the bigger my family gets. How I do love trail folk!! (and I'm not drinking) What makes it even more special is seeing a few happy wagging tails in the group (dogs).

I'm sorry I missed out on sharing a campfire with Snowtiger, Redhead, Mountainrunner, and I really had my heart set on seeing some of the regulars ( griz, lizs, MataHH), but I'm sure we'll all meet again soon.

So, graska, croft, firebug, Mike & Mike, and The Lorax; thanks for the fun! Redhead, glad you were able to stop back by. Please post more often (I didn't even know who you were!) LOL

... and what about Sunday's weather?!... AWESOME!

Thanks!


~iSolo (a.k.a.: LankyG, Hookah Hiker, Haggis Hiker, and whatever else I come up with).
last edited: 4/17/07 12:04:29 AM”

“Great report and fun pictures. :-) Hey, I was trying to talk iSolo into our Memorial Day foray. But alas, he's all spent... so to speak. ;-) Or maybe Firebug?? He's done the holiday weekend trip thingee with me on a long drive... um, again, so to speak. LOL!”

“Great TR and pics.

We were all very lucky to arrive in snow and have it melt off within the first day. I left options open to slackpack, because of what we thought might be a slog through slippery mud the whole way. Amazingly enough, it really wasn't bad at all and by Sunday, I was down to hiking in shorts.
Thanks to all who came out and shared a great time. It's always great to get together with my old pals and find some new ones.

I may sneak back down within the next two weekends again for a quick overnighter and long hike in and out if the weather is anything like Sunday.”

“where are the pics”

“Click on the photo posted by Mr.Graska and it will lead you to his webshots page.

Mr. Graska..LOL I kill me.”

“so will MS Graska! LOL”

“Funny how you can read someone's posts all year and not figure out gender. Then again, I'm not the sharpest crayon in the box either.

Either way, I'm glad to have met and hiked with her and Chocolate. They're awesome.”

“Thank you, graska...that was really fun to read and the pictures were most enjoyable...I like it to look at pictures of the tents folks choose to use...it's the gear monster in me...I love Arabic music and would have loved to try that tobacco...hubble bubbles are the best way to smoke tobacco...that's why they're used over much of the world...and the tobacco is unvariably sweet or at least it was when I was traveling...we are going to get together again one of these days iSolo...it will happen, I am sure...

Did someone put Bailey's and Frangelico together? That would have been interesting....”

“Just so the Tent Review is complete, Croft lightened her load and slept in the shelters sans tent.

Although I escaped the Ramble without blisters, I did have an awful sore tummy...from laughing so much. Thanks for the great camaraderie, guys.

Have to applaud the Mikes' delicious apple crisp that he/they baked over the fire Friday night. The really heavy cast iron dutch oven that was used raised my eyebrows a bit but it was wisely left in the car before we headed out on the trail.

And special thanx to Lorax for putting together this really well planned trip.
last edited: 4/17/07 10:38:51 AM”

“That apple crisp in the dutch oven was incredible!”

“Graska

Thanks for the excellent trip report. It was great meeting and hiking with you.

I see you did not post that "blackmail" photo.

hope to hike with you again.”

“Link to some pics I took from the Kettles. Much love to all of you :!

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/558703368PCAGkC
last edited: 4/17/07 12:10:11 PM”

“It was not my intension to forget to mention croft's sleeping arrangments. She is an amazing woman. Not even having a tent while I'm freezing my a^% off in one!! And iSolo... you hiked so fast past me I was temporarily blinded! It's never about age, is it? As a matter of fact the amazing croft has almost convinced me to try rock climbing. firebug, the incriminating photos are on YOUR camera!!!”