Porcupine Mountains Trip in August

“There are so many ways I could go with that statement that it almost isn't worthwhile.”

“Crashbang, said he wants poles every night? HEHEHE”

“Looks like you have a good route planned. The Porkies are awesome!”

“yogi likes to go many different ways with poles”

“See. Like I said. Too easy. :)”

“bump”

“still looking forward to this.”

“Me too. Hope the current weather forecast doesn't hold true?”

“in a couple of weeks youll be looking backward to this”

“are you asking me if the the weather forecast will hold true?”

“are you asking me if the the weather forecast will hold true?”
crash bang
4:22:09 PM
8/13/09

No of course not, I'm just saying I hope it doesn't hold true.(Rain) I know, I gotta stop using ? marks.”

“so i am going to be up the 15th then 4 days on the trail come home the 20th spending the first and last night in one of the campgrounds i hope. i just talked with some people who were up about a week ago. they said black fly were bad. they also wished they had more then the 2l of water they were carrying.”

“I'd be shocked if there were any black flies, at the end of August? I was up in the Eastern UP at the end of June, and although, there were black flies, they were at the end of their peak hatch for sure. The mosquitoes were way worse. They may have experienced deer flies?”

“Still mosquitos but no black flies. I highly recommend a Thermacell and/or long sleeves/pants.”

“If we hike the route as planned, it will be 34.3 miles total.

Maybe we should consider which trail would be the best to start out on.
Starting from the Lake of the Clouds overlook parking, Would it be better to hike the LST first then up the BCRT, or head down the BCRT first, then hike the LST back up to the overlook parking area?
last edited: 8/14/09 8:28:10 AM”

“matters not to me. this is going to be a fun trip. good friends, cool area, great trails and some bears and weather to keep it interesting.

as far as bugs go, a little dab of 3m ultrathon and i am typically good for the day. that is some good sh*t.”

“Early Weather forecast:

http://www.weather.com/outlook/recreation/outdoors/tenday/MISPPW:13

Nice temps anyway!”

“sorrry guys I cant make this trip. Ive got some job issues going on that I need to get rectified. This sucks I was really looking forward to it.
Have a great time and take some good pics!

attila”

“that's too bad (for me). i was looking forward to hanging out with you and the rest. maybe next time...”

“Camped out this weekend along with a few thousand mosquitos.....plus it was unbearably hot. Looks like the temps are going to cool but be prepared for bugs.

You should be able to find some blueberries too!”

“all that rain should chase the bugs away”

“Only a 50% chance of rain for Thurs and 30% for Fri. with Sat. & Sunday looking Great. Temps. are going to be near perfect too, if the forecast holds true.”

“that means a 50% change of NO RAIN on thursday and a 70% chance of NO RAIN on friday. sounds great to me. a better than 50/50 chance for no rain in exchange for some great weather later in the trip.

i bought a new driducks rain suit the other day. my old one (almost two years old) has gotten torn up and the zipper was a pita to work. talk about a bargin! super light, CHEAP (20 bucks for a full rain suit!) and very waterproof/breathable. it's a tad delicate but like i said, my last jacket lasted almost two years... that's an average of $10/year for outstanding rain gear. by the way, since they got bought up by frog toggs they now sell driducks at sportmart... very cool. also, driducks makes a poncho, although i am not a poncho kind of guy (don't care for them if there is any wind).
last edited: 8/17/09 8:16:24 AM”

“I'll probably be carrying 2-2-1/2 lbs more than usual, as my MLD Cuben Patrol shelter has not arrived yet. 8 weeks now, but according to them "most" orders are taking 6-7 weeks?
They also mention promise dates, but say orders are done in the order that they are received? This tells me that they are not always done as they say?
Guess, I'll be using the BA Copper spur UL1, instead.
last edited: 8/17/09 9:28:03 AM”

“not only am I bummed about not being able to go, but now you guys are talkin new gear! fudge!!

-oh well, catch ya all on the flip side.”

“i am packing on the heavy side too, ncthiker. it's a casual hike. not a ton of miles but a great area and the promise of some great camp sites. we are arriving wed morning and we are going to tour the presque isle river scenic area.”

“my last jacket lasted almost two years...

My duckheads suit lasted two trips before being destroyed. I normally pick up a new suit before heading into the BWCA.”

““i am packing on the heavy side too, ncthiker. it's a casual hike. not a ton of miles but a great area and the promise of some great camp sites. we are arriving wed morning and we are going to tour the presque isle river scenic area.”
Yogisan
2:02:04 AM

We'll probably arrive Weds evening, btwn 6:00-7:00pm. We'll either stay at the Union Bay CG or get a Motel in Silver City.
If you guys are staying at the Union Bay CG, then we may be more inclined to do so as well?
I'll shoot CB an email, and give him my cell#
last edited: 8/18/09 3:52:45 AM”

“you better do it quickly, im leaving in about 10 minutes


dont worry, jjim sent me your number”

“Crash just dropped me off and he headed out for home. This was a great backpacking trip with some strong hikers. One could not have asked for better hiking partners. We had a great time and saw a LOT of the park. Crash and I got there on Tuesday evening and camped at a campground. We spend the day day hiking the Presque Isle Scenic Area and all it's waterfalls. Then we drove to Summit Peak parking where we hiked up to Summit Peak and it's observation tower. We then drove to Little Carp River Rd and hiked down the Little Carp River parking lot where we hiked in and made camp at the first designated camp site. We then day hiked from camp to Trappers Falls and back. The next day we packed it out and met ncthiker and his friend (no TT name that I know of) at the Lake of the Clouds parking area. We hiked the Big Carp River Trail to Lake Superior where we spent a STORMY night on the shore at a designated camp site. Damp but with spirits high we hiked the Lake Superior Trail until we wound back up at the Lake of the Clouds parking lot. We then hiked the Escarpment Trail until we found an outstanding designated camp site on the escarpment, dried off and enjoyed a quiet night (save one incident with a noisy porcupine). The next day we hiked the remainder of the Escarpment Trail and up Government Peak Trail until about 1 mile past Government Peak where we made camp in a beautiful camp site that was a lush hemlock grove. Crash and I opted to add some miles to the day and bagged the "Overlook Trail" which turned out to include a really steep 1/4 mile climb. Fun! The next morning we hiked out on Government Peak trail back to Lake of the Clouds Parking... a quick lunch in Bergland and everyone was off for home. Double digit days most (if not all days). I am sure Crash knows the totals but I am sure one day was almost 14 miles and I would be shocked if it was under 40 for the week. Crash and I bagged more miles, esp given the out and back to Trappers Falls.

Perfect weather save 1/2 day rain and a dramatic storm on Lake Superior (which added to the drama of the adventure).

Thanks to Crash for organizing a classic TT trip. Thanks to ncthiker and his friend for all their friendship, sharing of info on gear and just generally for hiking as strong as you both did. It really is a privilege to be acquainted with and hike with such competent hikers with such a significant amount of wilderness experience.
last edited: 8/23/09 4:39:44 PM”

“Exactly what noise a porcupine make?”

“can NOT be reproduced in a post. it is a very skeery sort of creepy. sort of what you would expect a duck to make if you strangled it. even that is a rough approximation.”

“Depends on what the porcupine is doing at that particular moment.

This was for Tango.
last edited: 8/23/09 6:23:00 PM”

“lol!”

“Had a porcupine visit me at a shelter in PA.. I can only describe the sound as a low hum.. almost like an mechanical piece of equipment..

'32oz”

“i do not bring a camera with me anymore. i am a terrible photographer.

crash had a camera so i expect he will have some to share. i think i recall ncthiker and his friend also taking pictures, but i am not sure.”

“...finally putting away my gear dry. a lot of stuff got wet.

my new go lite jam2 pack got a a+++ on this trip. love it!”

“See any bear?”

“not a single one. no SIGN of bear. the few hikers we met had not seen any bears or sign of bears either. it was kind of sad, but also sort of nice at the same time. prolly something to do with the season.”

“...oh and bugs were NOT a problem. didn't need long sleeves, "thermacell" (whatever that is), and for the most part even DEET. i think i was the only person that put on any deet (3m ultrathon) and looking back it was really not needed.
last edited: 8/24/09 4:24:51 PM”

“I got tired just reading your first post. Sounds like an excellent trip.”

“I'm even repeating myself...
last edited: 8/24/09 4:39:04 PM”

“It was Great to finally meet and hike with Crash, Yogi, and Jim again too.

Thanks to Scott for putting the trip together and many thanks too for obtaining our permits, for us. Looking back, this saved a lot of time.

Great trip partners and great weather made for an AWESOME trip. I was a little let down that we didn't see a bear. Over 500 miles of trail hiked throughout Michigan, and I've yet to catch a glimpse of one.

Looking forward to the next trip here, for sure.

I'll try to post my Pics soon.”

“Pics:

http://outdoors.webshots.com/slideshow/574301354TLOXrI”

“great pictures!”

“nice pix nct- thanks for sharing!
looks like some nice views on the trip.”

“For the uneducated:

-a porcupine can make a bloodcurdling squeal....it starts out low and builds to a very loud squalling sound. It'll definitely raise the hair on the back of your neck if you hear it at night.

-a Thermacell is a device that runs on a butane cartridge with a repellent mat and emits a thin fog that repels mosquitos


Looks like a good time! We camped in the Grand Marais area at the same time and were happy to have the cooler temps along with some gale force winds that kept the mosquitos down. I'm thinking that the Porkies are going on my list for next year. I haven't been there since I was a kid. Thanks for sharing the pics.”

“...like if you strangled a duck.”

“...like if you strangled a duck.”
Yogisan


Spadefoot toads make that sound, too. Very, very loudly.”