Land Between the Lakes in March

“Stomper is on my trip.”

“What about NGB? Is she coming?”

“NGB has the cell phone so she can call chili. Hey you all have fun and happy trails...good night.”

“WG, ygm.”

“dam randals got our trip summarized already? you are a good trip reporter.
attila”

“Ya but he didn't say anything about hunting wild hogs with sling shots and I've got mine packed just need to find some sharp rocks.”

“Chin Music just called and said he had dinner at a place called Miss Scarlett's just off the Interstate. He thought it was at the LBL exit and he was ranting and raving over how good it was.

He is in Florida for his son's baseball game and said he would catch us on the next trip.”

“WTH Randall?
You've ruined the whole trip! Now that you've written the trip report in advance, why should anyone go? They already know what will happen.”

“BTW, I think it would be morally wrong for me to show up in the middle of your thru hike and bring you booze and food.

I mean, you're out there to do 60 miles, proving your manliness and womanliness. Everything you need is on your back - (this is where the morally wrong part comes in to play) to have someone cart in ice and beer just seems wrong to me on some level. jk
last edited: 3/13/08 6:36:42 PM”

“One more thing, I will be there Friday night but I'm not sure that I'll stay the night. I want to meet up with you guys on Sauturday night though.”

“We will be at or near Old Homestead TH on Sat night.

The Ranger indicated there is camp site near the maintenance building on 205. I guess we will play it by ear.”

“I'm hoping to stay on Saturday and hike some on Sunday. I think Atila and Randall will beat me to Golden Pond so I'll have to set up a shuttle for Sunday. I think Fifthmaster will help me with that Saturday.”

“Tell fifthmaster, I will take my eggs over easy with sausage and toast.”

“you got it!”

“You can be our trail angel. We won't mind. lol”

“Ya'll have a safe & wonderful hike!!!.....pics & trip reports required!!!”

“Signing off heading SOUTH”

“I'm hoping to get out of work a little early and to get on the road by 3 pm local time.”

“I will be offline in about an hour.”

“I am leaving the house, have to stop by my office for a couple hours and then I am on my way.

Hope someone has the tarp up when I get there because the forecast is bleak for this afternoon.”

“have fun!”

“Storms went through there...hope they din't drown!”

“I was wondering the same thing, even tho our storms up here in Mid. TN weren't as bad as Al got. I'll try to catch the news and see if they are on it. I hope Randalls prediction was off for their sake. I wanted to go on this trip, but my granddaughter's first birthday party was this afternoon. Man she ate alot of cake, she is still spitting it up!”

“They've stayed pretty dry so far. Thunderstorms are predicted for Monday night and Tuesday.”

“Thanks for the update Stomper”

“Weather wasnt bad at least up to Sunday afternoon. randal and I left about 400 and it was sunny and warm.
There was some lite rain saturday off and on all day. Overall not bad at all.
Attila”

“Hey all!!
Pics are in the trip album.
http://www.thebackpacker.com/pictures/album/0b5p7e9f.php

I'll let Chili write the TR!!
See ya later.
Randall
last edited: 3/18/08 9:48:00 AM”

“Thanks Randall...great Pics!”

“TR???


Ok,

60 miles in 71.5 hours total time from the time I stepped foot on the trail at the South Welcome Center to the time I stepped off at the North Welcome Center.

22 miles Monday...

We came, we saw, we conquered.

More later after I get cleaned up.”

“I made it home! Great trip! I managed to hike the most miles I've ever hiked! Thanks to Chili, Stomper and Fifthmaster for all the things they did!”

“Great trip Chili I laid down last night and I was done.Looks like we got out of there just in time I seen on the News this morning that Evansville,In which is still North of there but they got 7 inches of rain yesterday.
Randall we used the shelter it was okay if there were any mice,bugs,or other critters I slept right through it remember next time to bring extra strenght EAR PLUGS.
Windi if you find any gear give me call I still haven't unloaded yet.
Stomper send me your address and I'll send you some pictures.”

“Coyote, I'll be unloading today and will put any extra gear I find in a pile. We can meet up sometime this week and get it back to you. I would like to have a copy of your pictures on a disk if possible. I do think we got out just at the right time.
You and Chili did a great job of pushing it to finish the trail. Way to go!!! I know I was tired last night, I can not imagine how tired you both must have been.
last edited: 3/19/08 6:42:56 AM”

“Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to see more pics.”

“Sometime today, I will write the TR.

Yeah, Coyote, I think we did the right thing to push it on Monday, we would have been beat down by the rain yesterday from the looks of the weather reports. The way it turned out, we only had a few minutes of rain to deal with in four days.”

“Holy cow!! There's some greenish grass in those pics! Nice to see that after the snow we've been getting up here in Maine.
Thanks for sharing your photos.”

“Friday, I arrived at Golden Pond Visitor Center to meet Randall and Atilla. We left their vehicle there and by about 7 we were at Gatlin Point where we met Coyote and set up camp for the night.

Because we needed a vehicle at the North Visitor Center, Coyote took his truck and I followed him the 60 miles up the road. Because Chinmusic had called me to tell me how much he liked a restaurant near the north entrance, Coyote and I decided to try "Miss Lillys" (I think that was the name of it) for dinner. It was outstanding. A great way to start a TT trip!

By the time we got back to the campsite, Windigirl was there and Stomper and her husband (Fifth Master) and son were there for a visit. We all hinted that if they met us the next nite, it would be great if Fifth Master brought beer and his grill.

Saturday morning, I positioned WG's vehicle near the place where we would camp that night and brough her back and dropped her off for a shortcut for the first day's hike. She hiked about 10 miles and the rest of us pulled closer to 14.

The extreme southern portion of this trail is rather unremarkable and travels along Jeep tracks for the most part. While it wasn't stellar, it made for a great hike and we managed to cover it at about a 3mph pace.

Because the scheduled campsite was closed due to tornado damage, we scouted up a new campsite near the Trace (main road through LBL) and set up camp. Before long, Stomper and Fifth Master showed up and began to unload gear. Before we knew it, we had a big fire going, beer flowing and a ton of chicken on the grill. It is an complete understatement to say Fifth Master can open a restaurant on the trail. Many, many thanks for making Saturday night rock!!

Sunday, I again positioned WG's vehicle near where I thought we would end up Monday night. The idea was to give her latitude to make adjustments facing big mileage. We hit the trail fairly early and began to slog through what was a mixed use (hiker, horse) trail. It was the sorriest piece of real estate I ever crossed. Randall, atilla and Coyote said "oh, this is like Indiana's trails". I said "you guys have it rough". They stuck to the trail, but after lunch, I hit a side trail, worked my way out to the trace and as much as I detest road hikes, I made a three mile road hike to Golden Pond. I didn't save any distance, but once I got out of the horse #&%!$, I chewed up some ground and beat the gang there. We hit the "sugar shack" for drinks and candy waiting on WG. After a while, Randall and Atilla hit the road and Coyote and I continued to wait. We had covered about 13 miles and after a while looked at each other and said, well if she aint here by now, she either got around us and is at the shelter, or we need to find her. Since we figured she wasn't officially "lost" until we checked the shelter, we hiked another 2 miles to the shelter and low and behold, there she was. What a relief, but man, was she ever whipped after a 15 mile day. She didn't move more than a couple meters the rest of the night. Coyote and I gathered wood and made a decent fire and slept in the "half pipe" shelter. WG conked out in her tent in short order.

Monday morning, I looked at the map and found out WG could shave off about half the mileage by hitting a FS road and hiking along it. Coyote and I hit the trail and I booked it along the trail. I covered 11 miles in about 3 and 1/2 hours and when I walked up the rally point (on a FS road), there was WG. I didn't want to say much..so I said "gee, you made good time". She said "well, you see, someone came along and offered a ride.....". I just laughed because I was pretty certain she didn't get there on foot before I did, even though it was about 2/3 the distance. So, there we were, eating lunch and coyote walks out. WG opens up her pack and brings out a weathe service radio (she has more gadgets than anyone I know) and the forecast for Tuesday was bleak. Thunder boomers for early afternoon. Coyote and I discussed it and decided that we wanted to finish the N/S trail, but didn't want to hike in a thunderstorm doing it. So, after more discussion, WG negotiates a ride to her vehicle and goes and gets it and returns. By then, Coyote and I had studied the map and decided we could hike a hell of alot further that day if we slack packed. So, we jettisoned everything but water and snacks and hit the trail again. I guess we didn't estimate mileage too well on the map because we thought we would get 18 or 19 miles covered. Monday, we hiked from Brush Arbor Shelter to Sugar Bay.....22 miles. Given half of it was full pack and the remainder was with bare essentials, it was still 22 damn miles and we were both whipped puppies.

We set up camp and crashed in the shortest amount of time ever.

Tuesday morning we got up at 0515 and after discussion and looking at the front rolling in, hit the trail with nothing but essential gear at 0615. At 0915, I finished the 9 mile segment. Coyote walked out 15 minutes later. He said he is going to take up running when he gets home because he was just short of running most of the trail anyway.

The trip didn't work out the way I planned it, and granted we essentially "day hiked" 20 miles of it to beat the weather (which we did). But.....

we finished out with close to 60 miles given off trail diversions (about a mile of the trail in various segments was flooded by high water on the lake) and trips to shelters. We did it in 71 and 1/2 hours total elapsed time from beinning to finish...counting sleep, rest and uhm drinking beer on Saturday night.

I can say I did the N/S trail (except the short segment closed due to tornado damage we had to circumnavigate). I will also say I will never do the south section (south of Golden Pond) again.

The north section was single track through hardwood, pines, open fields and meadows and along the lake. The section from Brush Arbor to Sugar Bay is by far and away the best section of this trail for anyone wanting to hike part of it on a weekend. I will go back to that section anytime....well, give me another couple days to rest.

Side note...I have haven't had a blister in 20 years. I worked up two on my right foot, but I blame myself for not taking time to treat them when the hot spots first started. Also, of all things, I got a blister on my hand from the damn hiking pole. Oh, the price we pay.

Thanks to all those who were there and participated in this!!! Awesome trip, I enjoyed it.”

“great report chili dude!!!

www.lattaoutdoors.com”

“Great trip report Chili!
I will add that on Tuesday Morning about 1:30 AM, I woke up to the wind blowing better than 40 mph. I pulled up my tent and crawled into my vehicle to sleep. Sometime around 4:30 I hear the back hatch open there's Coyote with his gear in his arms. No sooner than he got his stuff into the vehicle, we saw Chili doing the same. The wind was pretty strong. Luckly the rain held off for the most part.”

“Glad to see you guys made it! I wanted to do this one, but I was given an opportunity I couldn't pass up.”

“Hey Chili,
Thanks fer the TR and all your work setting up the trip!! Thanks to Stomper and Fitfhmaster for the company and the wonderful food and stuff Saturday night!!
It was a good trip and I liked the Southern half!! Kinda reminded me of Indiana!! Well sorta anyway!! Good to be outta the snow that's fer sure!!
See ya later this week, be there on Monday PM and maybe sooner.
Randall
last edited: 3/20/08 8:43:04 AM”

“Have a safe trip.”

“great trip guys. wish I could have stayed the rest of the trip.
-Fifthmaster, you sure make some mean grub! Thanks

See ya all later
Attila”

“Thanks for the trip report & sharing the pics...sounds like a great time!!!!”

“How's the blisters healing? I'm rested and ready to go again, lol.”

“Okay, I was looking at the pictures that Coyote posted and was surprised at the last one. I wasn't anywhere around when that one was taken.”

“Yeah, that picture kinda makes me glad that I wasnt around the rest of the hike!!”

“That pic must have been on one of them California trips fer sure!!!
Lots of nude hikers out there!!
See ya later.
Randall”

“WTF? I didn't see anything like that on the trail...thank God.”

“Chili you don't remember seeing that guy on the trail?

Hey guys had a great time on the trip we'll have to get together later in the year.

THE FUN HAS JUST BEGUN”

“I said I didn't see THAT.”