Trapp Hills TR

“So who wants to voleenteer to type up this crazy thing? I really have no idea where to start with a trip as crazy and wild as this one had been!

Who was it that said this was like herding cats?
last edited: 10/22/07 5:55:52 PM”

“well, no TT trip would be complete first without a stop for some donuts on the way to the trailhead, right Randall?

:D


last edited: 10/22/07 6:01:05 PM”

“For those of us who made it to the right spot :P

THIS was friday night's camp.

”

“Saturday, I found some lost hikers :P

(If anyone has a picture of saturday night's camp, I'd love to see it)


last edited: 10/22/07 6:13:04 PM”

“These are evil rocks, beautiful but deadly! :D





”

“There were tons of views




last edited: 10/22/07 6:13:44 PM”

“And I don't recomend getting up to hike at 4 am by headlamp in this place or you might end up here, then in the company of hunters telling you scary bear stories.

”

“Wow SC, great photos!”

“Prosecuter saved my ass (thanks dude!) and made sure I got to sunday night's camp so I could enjoy monday's cold morning sunrise :D



WHAT a trip! (I won't mention all the times EVERYONE got lost, that makes good campfire stories)
last edited: 10/22/07 6:15:13 PM”

“Sounds like one of those perpetual "where the F--- are we?" trips.”

“trip = herding + cats

CRAZY!”

“Some very nice first pictures, of which I'm sure more will follow?

Looks like you still had some decent color remaining too.

Your kidding about getting lost......correct? Just follow the Blue Blazes.”

“ha...yes, follow the blue blazes....


WHICH are the same color of blazes the clear cutters use :D

that is, if you can find trees that are still standing WITh the real blazes on them ;)
last edited: 10/22/07 6:45:01 PM”

“which ones?

the ones painted on the trees?
the diamonds on the trees?
the rectangles on the trees?
the ones painted near the clear cut areas?
the blue ones laying on the ground?
the stubs of blue ones no bigger than dime?
the ones nailed to trees laying on the ground?
the ones that end without another blaze for almost 1/4 mile with game trails in every direction?

the blazing is a disgrace. the area is wonderful but if this is the best the NCT has to offer i fear this trail system isn't going anywhere but downhill.”

“really cool old building :D

”

“Well, we skipped the section from Old Victoria to Norwich Bluff, but I do remember Doug Welker stating that there was logging in the area of Whiskey Creek, and to follow Yellow ribbons through the clear-cut.

Although, this was back in May, so maybe there are more recent clear-cuts?

From the Norwich Rd.TH west to the FR-326 TH we had no problems with finding or following the trail.

The 35 miles east of Old Victoria was another story, although other than the 200 plus blow-downs the trail was still followable.

Was the leaning footbridge still standing over Bush Creek or is it gone or rebuilt?
last edited: 10/22/07 6:55:58 PM”

“I didnt see any yellow ribbons, there were a couple pink ones though?”

“great pictures! I did some of that trail back in July. A very beautiful area for sure!”

“Hey all
The scenery was very cool and the trail was challenging. Sorry to say that the blazing was some of the worst I have encountered since the Adventure Trail in Indiana. It needs a lot of work. Several sections have very little, if any and everywhere they had clear-cut, the blazes where very difficult to find. There were two spots that took close to an hour to sort out with me going at least a half-mile to find the next blaze.
See ya later.
Randall”

“Very nice randall! :D

I will say this, the trail is impossible to follow in pitch dark!! :D

Some of the trail was easy enough to follow, but lots of it was like bushwacking between blazes (I think Pros called it that)


Saw and heard a lot of animals. Those owls and bald eagles were cool, that screeming rabbit and band of wild coyotes right outside my tent when i was solo wasn't so cool! :D
last edited: 10/22/07 7:08:10 PM”

“Great pictures so far! Looks like ya'll had a great weekend! :)”

“Yeah, I want to go back next year and finish this---for sure! I love it up there, so pretty. Its a great challenging trail.

It's a shame the rocks of death had to abbreviate the trip!”

“Yeah, I want to go back next year and finish this---for sure! I love it up there, so pretty. Its a great challenging trail.

It's a shame the rocks of death had to abbreviate the trip!”
Spirit Coyote
8:14:52 PM
10/22/07

Yep, definitely a hike I would do again too as well, especially since on our hike, we skipped one of the best sections from Old Victoria to the Norwich RD TH.

Hope you can make my MNF hike too, although, I bumped up the dates to April and I'm thinking about trying to do the 43 miles in 3-3.5 days instead of 4 days. but theres plenty of time to get in shape btwn now and then too.”

“Thats a maybe for me NCT.....I'm interested in what you do in your trip but at this point its only speculation if I can make it or not.”

“Ha! Good to see Hubcap. Ya saying he was LOOOOOOST????!?!?

Niiiiiiiiice photos!

Can we get this in some understandable form of TR?
1) Who all went?
2) Did somebody get hurt on the rocks?
3) Will you trust your life again to Jimmy San????!?? LOL! j/k (although I have seen what he does to canoes!)”

“Yeah, I realize your a maybe, don't worry though, we wouldn't get lost on this trip, well then again........LOL

One problem with the NCT is they sometimes do reroutes to the trail that don't get placed on the maps, right away.

Case in point, we did a 21 mile section starting south of Wilderness state park, well they decided that because of an Eagles nest that was directly off the trail and in site from the trail that they needed to hide or protect the nest site.

So they rerouted the trail onto 2 tracks, where we had to follow yellow ribbons, until we got back on the trail after detouring around the nest-site.

Funny, but I always thought these are the kinds of things that would be nice to see from the trail, not to hide them?

Although, in regards to the nesting Eagles, its probably for the best.

The only reason we new about the reroute is because I hiked this section with a chapter member that did or knew about the reroutes.

If it wasn't for this you could have easily gotten confused with the map and route/lost?
last edited: 10/22/07 7:45:26 PM”

“My sentiments exactly, lizs!

Nice pictures Spirit!

Looks like it was Randal, Jimmy san, Prosecuter, Chinmusic, Spirit, Dhutch, UPluver, Cow Patty, Hubcap....?”

“Mugsy and I just got home. Mugsy says he enjoyed the cat herding.....

It was a great trip. It's kinda fun being lost, over and over again, when you manage to find your way. I actually enjoyed the poor blazing. Had I gotten terminally lost that would have been another story.

It was thrilling when I could find the next blaze. Fortunately I can see a dime-size remnant of blue plastic from 75 yards. I'll have to tell my Lasik surgeon the operation was a success......”

“great pics randall and sc!”

“Nice pictures. Sounds like everyone had a great time.”

“Ha! Good to see Hubcap. Ya saying he was LOOOOOOST????!?!?

Wait a second, we were never lost. We just weren't where everyone else thought we should be.
;^)”

“Wait a second, we were never lost. We just weren't where everyone else thought we should be.
;^)”
hubcap
9:02:06 AM
10/23/07
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ah well, that seemed to be the theme of the whole hike for everyone :D Gave the trip a bit of the element of surprise :D”

“that one section after that foot bridge was terrible.

then there was the section where the trail crossed a marsh and the blaze was hidden behind a tree on the opposite side of the marsh. we had to bushwhack around the marsh to get to the other blaze. there is a reroute that needs to happen.”

“Excuse me...we were NEVER lost but, to paraphrase Daniel Boone, "Lost? No, but we was mighty confused a few times."”

“Its gonna take me some time to really work on the TR...

Figure the pictures would hold everyone off for a while ;)”

“Kick azz pics! What's this about a trip in april? 43miles in 3 days? This is my kind of trip! Is it posted yet? If it's not full, someone e-mail me some info please. I'd seriously be into that.”

“Kick azz pics! What's this about a trip in april? 43miles in 3 days? This is my kind of trip! Is it posted yet? If it's not full, someone e-mail me some info please. I'd seriously be into that.”
meangreen
2:52:09 PM
10/24/07

You mean this trip here:

http://www.thebackpacker.com/trips/trip/1342.php
last edited: 10/24/07 2:38:25 PM”

“Found it. LOL! I alraedy posted to the "change" thread.”

“that trip starts on my b-day...:)”

“Happy birthday! Now get ya azz up there and HIKE!”

““that trip starts on my b-day...:)”
Zombie Coyote
3:40:12 PM
10/24/07

Well, if you make the trip, You'll have to remind me beforehand and I'll bring you a special Brownie or big Cookie with a B'Day candle in it for ya.

And......I promise we won't get lost either.....well maybe, there was this one time........?
last edited: 10/24/07 3:27:37 PM”

“Maybe, thats all i can commit to right now. Not only will I have to have work's ok, but hubbies too. I missed sweetest day last weekend and he was down right bummed I wasn't with him. LOL”

“Not a problem, I realize its still way too early to commit to any hike, unless its some place very special like GNP or the like.

If you'd like to start hiking more of the NCT, not just for the hike only, but maybe also as a goal, to see how many NCT miles you can achieve, let me know?

I started around 2005 and I'm currently at the 289 mile mark. I don't get out on that many trips per-year, otherwise I'd have more miles completed.

My next trip after the April NCT hike, might be a week long 75 mile NCT hike, in the Eastern Upper Peninsula with a midpoint resupply/bail vehicle, "if 3 or more people attend?" (3 cars needed)

This hike would basically be from the Mackinaw Bridge all the way to Lake Superior. You could dip your foot in Lake Michigan at the start of the hike, then dip it in Lake Superior at the end of the hike.


I think, I'd like to shoot for 500 NCT miles hiked in Michigan, then shift gears and start doing section hikes on the AT or maybe the Colorado Trail. Taking a week and 1/2 vacation each year, then hiking for 5-6 days for each section of trail. Wish I had more damn time off work!!
last edited: 10/24/07 4:04:38 PM”

“Sounds like fun. I've been considering really getting miles on that trail. So many trails, so little time!”

“that pic of the reservoir reminds me of lake of the clouds, sc...”

“FYI, home last night for me after some visits along the way. Very nice pics, everyone. Thanks for the memories, Jimmy san.”

“it was REALLY great to hang out with you again cow patty. we need to plan another river trip some time. i would love to do the pere marquette again.

by the way, the next time you decide not to bring the fixin's for that pineapple upside down cake because of the ingredients weight you let me know because if you're a cookin' then i'm a carryin'. i am a strappin' strong dude and can stand the weight. haha!”

“Such a great time. So good to see everyone and meet some new faces. Great hiking!

Unfortunately I'll always remember this as the trip I was not with my beloved Shanedog. I will not post a "lost my best friend" thread. But on the way home I got the call that he had bloated and I had to make the decision to put him down. Luckily we had a waggy goodbye on Friday and Joe was with me to deal with the tears.

Not trying to be a downer, It was a great time. Just wanted you all to know why I haven't chimed in. Don't feel much like chiming.”

“dhutch, I'm sorry to hear about shanedog...big hugs.”

“Shane was a good dog to have around. My condolences DHuthch1.



My trip report is told in the captions of this slideshow:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/slideshow/561169420BTGpdV”