Red River Gorge weekend after Labor Day

“That sounds good. Only thing is I don't know if it's a great idea to set up camp and leave that close to the road at the Gorge. I've heard many, many counts of things being stolen.”

“Good Point. I'm pretty sure Mariposa and I will be there first. If so, we will try to find a site. That is if we don't get lost on our hike. lol. We might go looking for something that we don't really know where it's at. I'm sure we will all find each other. All we have to do is go around asking if you're the one I talked to on the internet with an axe in our hands. Only a TT'er would say yes to that. lol.
Should one of us pick up some firewood for the first night?”

“There is a great spot right by the Shell in Slade. I think it's 2 bucks per "load" which is as much as you can get in your arms. I can stop and get it, but I can't guarantee I'll be in camp by dark. I expect to, but you never know.

As far as the campsite, we can pick an area to go near, and look for each other from there.”

“Hey guys I still want to go I will have to see what they are going to do to me if they wait and do surgery on Monday or I don't have pins sticking out of my hand I am a go I will let Jenifer know if I'm not coming.”

“I'm at work looking at my map (how cool is that). What do you think about meeting at the primitive sites nearest to the Pinch-em tight trailhead where it crosses Tunnel Ridge Road. Mariposa and I can go ahead and put one of our cars where we are going to end at.
I will pick up some fire wood when I get there. Ductape, if you want to pick some up when you come it, go ahead, I'm sure we will use it up.
I was thinking about bringing hot dogs for Friday night to cook over the fire and chips. I'll bring enough for everyone if there is interest. People will need to bring there own stuff they want on it.”

“So, cars will be shuttled and the fire will be roarin' when I arrive? What kind of trip planner does that make me?

I will pick up a load of wood and see you guys probably around 8:30 or 9 pm, depending on traffic coming out of Cincinnati.”

“I just talked to Coyote and he's not going to make this trip. Let me tell ya, he is bummmed.”

“Glad to hear Coyote doesn't need surgery!

Windi-I may have an amended plan for the weekend. I'll call you after I get off work at 5...will you be available then??”

“mariposa - email reminder

How are the feet doing now that a few days have passed?”

“Chin: Didn't you get the email? I sent it while I was icing my ankle Monday evening. Hmmm. I sent it to the email in your profile. Let me know if that one isn't correct.

Feet are doing well...more trouble from my nose though. I asked this morning if we could just amputate. Doctor advised against that. ;)”

“Just don't get Michael Jackson's surgeon.....

No email went to Outlook Express. I went to my parent Gmail account and you were labeled a "spammer".......LOL

I got it now....”

“Ha! Well, I've been called a lot of things but I think this is the first for "spammer!"”

“Windi-I may have an amended plan for the weekend. I'll call you after I get off work at 5...will you be available then??”
Yeah, give me a call.”

“I AM A GO FOR THE TRIP”

“Sweet! We are meeting up at a primitive campground on Tunnel Ridge Road. I don't know if I'm 100% on the exact location yet. I need to find out what kind of cars y'all drive so I can find it.”

“Coyote and I will be in my car which is a silver Impala with Indiana plates 95jxxxx. I don't remember the rest of the numbers. I e-mailed you my cell number.
last edited: 9/06/07 6:21:43 PM”

“Cool. See you guys tomorrow.”

“I'm out. I'm giving in to my nose issues. Have a great time. Soak up some RRG for me.”

“Man this is killing me! You guys have no idea howe close I am to leaving work right now to go home pack up and drive down there tonight. It's 2 now, an hour home, an hour to pack, 4 hours to the gorge, puts me there about 8pm. That's do able right?”

“You'll get there before me! See you there.

Btw, the last person to sign up has to bring the beer.”

“I never signed up!

Though I always hike with booze... It's like bringing your backpack or something. I just can't quite make it to the TH with out it.”

“Hmmmmm... I wonder if I showed up on Saturday night, could I redo Crash's Nov. butt kicker and catch them and hike out with them all on Sunday? That would be dayhiking the Rough and swiftcamp creek trails, then driving 4 hours home. Oh man, that would be cool.”

“You could camp with us on Saturday night. We will be at the first creek after you get on the Swift Camp Creek Trail. I think it's about a mile from the parking lot.”

“ya, but it would be 0100 before I got in there, and I wouldn't have a parking pass. I don't think I would want to try that trail in the dark. I know where you will be though. Lemme think about it and talk to my babysitters...”

“At this point I gotta say, don't expect me. If I show up then kudos to me but don't wait for me. I really doubt this will happen.”

“It didn't sound like you'd be able to make it. That's a long drive...”

“the drive isn't so much what's holding me back, just the logistics with my kids. Just do me a favor and check for a txt msg from me before you leave the south end of swift camp creek. If I do come, I'll need a shuttle. Hopefully I would catch up before you got out but just incase I don't.”

“I don't think I'm going to head down tonight after all. I'll be leaving about 6 am tomorrow.

I guess we'll have to stay up late drinking tomorrow night and sleep in to see if you show up.”

“Oh, what a terrible fate! LOL!
Windi, may have a drink with ya, though she doesn't seem to imbibe as liberally as myself, and I don't think I've seen the OneArmedBandit ever drink, though you'll have a good time any way and they wont mind if you do. At least they haven't said anything to me... that I can remember...

Just don't try to hike up Swift Camp Creek stay ON the trail. Windi can vouch for that one from our last experience. Oh and watch out for ground bees around the water.”

“I didn't think Indiana had any light drinkers!”

“I think they may be transplants from Illinois. They all seem to be lightweights over there...”

“I resemble that remark.....”

“tea totaler! LOL!
as long as Nitrous Oxide doesn't count. LOL!”

“OH ya, I'm comin!!!

and I think I'll try and bring some of my poppers for this evening...”

“1ArmBandit aka Coyote and I have made it back home. Picture and trip report to follow soon.”

“Made it home too. Eagerly awaiting the TR since I missed the first day and a half. :(”

“
by windigrrl

Here's my picture, trip report will have to wait till tomorrow. I'm too tired to think, lol.”

“windi, did you actually make it from martins fork to rock bridge in just one day (with a side-trip all the way out to hansons point)? im impressed
last edited: 9/09/07 7:13:30 PM”

“Nice pics! Did you guys ride the lift? I love that thing.”

“Friday Morning 1armbandit (aka coyote) and I headed down to RRG to meet up with Mariposa for a day hike, and then meet up with the rest of the group that evening. We get almost to Lexington and my cell phone rings. It’s Mariposa saying she isn’t feeling well and won’t be making the trip. After wishing her well, 1arm and I talk about what our options are for the afternoon. New plans are in place and we continue on.
One of the things we wanted to do before dark was to find a place to camp. Gorge isn’t all that busy this weekend and we find a place that is legal, doesn’t cost anything, has a pit toilet close by and is easy to find. I send a message to Ductape to let him know where to find us. The next order of business – something to eat! Of course the idea of Miguel’s was too good not to take advantage of. After finishing off some pizza and Ale8’s, we head out to set up camp for the night. While we ate, I got a message from Ductape, he had some things at home he needed to take care of and isn’t going to make it tonight. We make plans for meeting at 9 AM the next day. 1arm and I finish getting camp set up, a fire built, and relax for the evening.
We decide to get up early to go to an overlook and watch the sun come up in the morning. As we are talking, we started to think, “what if Ductape doesn’t make it today?” The trip was to involve shuttling cars and we only had one car. We made plans to do loop hikes if he didn’t make it. The more we talked, the more we liked the idea. We had picked the longer loop for Gray’s Arch for the morning and afternoon and Auxier Ridge for the early evening with the idea of camping somewhere off the trail. We had done a good deal of Swift Camp Creek a few weeks ago with Meangreen. The more we thought about it, the more we liked the idea. Besides, we are the only ones who haven’t change things yet, so why not? Ductape and his dog show up a little past 9 and we share with him what we wanted to do and offered to help him with shuttling if he wanted to do the trails he posted. He said he didn’t care what trails we did, he just wanted to hike. He also told us that Meangreen would be driving down to join us that evening. Sweet! We call him and tell him of the change in plans. He said that worked for him and would meet us at Auxier Ridge Trailhead around 4:30 pm. We call Mariposa to see how she is feeling and to see if she wants to join us for the night. Yes! So, new plans in place we headed off.
Ductape seems to really know these trails and keeps us from getting lost! Thanks Ductape!!! We head out on Pinch `em tight and pick up Rough Ridge. Ductape takes on an unmarked trail to an awesome view. The book I picked up said it was Hanson’s point. Wow! After that, we headed back to the marked trail in search for Gray’s Arch. Along the way, we come across a couple who had been hiking since early morning. They had started at the other end of Rough Trail and it was about 3:30 when we met them. They had no map with them, only two litters of water between them and wanted to know the best way to get back to their car. After talking with them, we offered to give them a ride back to their car. The guy was more than ready to take us up on our offer, but the girl wasn’t so sure. She said that she could jog back to where they had parked and get their car. After a debate, the decided to follow us and take the ride.
We got to the trailhead, I talked 1Arm into walking with Ductape to get the car while I waited at the trailhead. When they arrived, we offered our new found friends something cold to drink, as we had coolers in the car. The girl say yes and took a bottle of water, the guy said he could suffer till they got back to their car, Whatever, dude. Ductape wanted Miguel’s for dinner, and who are we to disagree. Off to Miguel’s again. Yeah. We call Mariposa, she’s going to meet us there. We get a call from Meangreen, he left Indy a little later than planed and he has somehow taken the highway to Cincinnati instead of Lexington. He is turning around and will be a little later than expected. No problem, he’s going to meet us at the campsite. As we pile out of our vehicles at Miguel’s, Ductape says he has a monster headache. Everyone offers him many choices in pain relief. He said he has already taken something and is just waiting for it to kick in. Pizza is calling and we order. There’s a good breeze and we have dogs with us, so we get the picnic table outside under the tree. After stuffing our faces, Ductape is still fighting a headache and is heading home. We wish him well and the rest of us head to the trailhead. As we are driving to get there, we get another call from Meangreen informing us that he has missed the turnoff for the parkway and is going to be even later. What was up with him, we thought. He’s been down here many times. Oh, well. We are off to Auxier Ridge. After looking around for a camping site that Meangreen suggested, we find it. It’s too small for all four tents. We go back to the first one we found and take it. It’s probably an illegal site, but we decided to take the chance. Besides, Meangreen would be able to find us with ease and he does. It didn’t take him too long to get there. I don’t even know what speed he was driving at. With Meangreen style, he has stopped along the way and picked up food for his dinner.
We have a nice campfire until someone pulls up in the parking lot. Rangers? I have never seen a fire get put out so quickly! Meangreen walks down the trail in the dark only to find out that’s it’s not rangers, but some people dropping others off to there car parked there. We enjoy the rest of the night in darkness. The stars were out and it was pretty cool.
Meangreen and 1ArmBandit are up and almost pack by the time I woke up. What the h$!! are you guys doing up at this hour? We thought we would get pack up before any rangers showed up. Okay, probably not a bad idea. I crawl out of my tent, I hear Mariposa ask the same thing as to why are we getting up so early. We are up and packing. We take our stuff to the car and are going to lighten our packs by taking only what we need for the day. I am just not awake and tell the others to go ahead. I know Meangreen wanted to get in as much hiking as he could in the time that he had, and I wasn’t moving all that fast that morning. Off went Meangreen, 1Arm and Mariposa, with Kodie her dog, while I sat and eat my breakfast. I also managed to take a nap in the car before they got back. 1Arm wanted to get back and since the last two trips he as ended up in the emergency room, he didn’t want to push his luck. Meangreen and Mariposa headed out for another hike and we headed home.
All in all it was a great trip with many changes. Flexibility was the word for the weekend.”