The Adventures of adventuregirl

“I just got back from the best trip ever!

Day 1: My roomate and I finally leave Grand Rapids at 4:00 pm. We arive in the Upper Peninisula of michigan apoximatly 4 hours later. We decide to stay at a little camp ground in Trout Lake the first night as it is to late to check in. I failed to notice a train track through the middle of the camp ground. It woke us up 3 times during the night.

Day 2: We finally make it to pictured Rocks where we check in. We park. I go to put on my pack and the weight of it shocks me. I have never carried a pack this heavy (I had 11 days worth of stuff in there) So pack weight shocks me and causes me to fall first to my knees then to my chin. I am laying in parking lot thinking only ow. Roomate comes runnining to my aid and pulls out firstaid kit and tells me to get up. Only I have pack on and cant move. I inform her I just need to lay for a minute. I say "I think my chin is bleeding" bleeding was an understatement there is blood all over. we are talkiing A puddle. I sit up and roomate hands me napkins. as I am trying to stop the blood comming from my chin I begin to spit blood. and then somthin more came out of my mouth. I realize that it is part of my tooth. In the fall I had managed to to bite a hole through my toungue and chip my tooth. We go to the bathroom and clean me up as best as possible. It is the that we realize that I did not just mearly scrape my chin but an entire chunk of skin is cone about an inch wide and across. peering deeper into my chin we can see a large hole we could not see bone but it had to be close. So we put gauze on and go to the gas station and buy more gauze. We finally get on the trail by noon. Our first destination is 8 miles and we have heavy packs and finally make it there by just before sunset. That night I was in pain I was ready to give up.
Day 3: I wak up and feel great ready to hike the rest of the trail. 11 miles was a bit much for day 2 of hiking and we make it there by dark real dark. We hang our food and go to bed. My chin feels alot better however, it still is really bad looking we work hard to clean it out and keep it clean.
Day 4: A short 8 mile hike turns terrible when we walk thorough woods and no wiews. Finally get to our campsite. We loved that place we did laundry and played there and wanted to live there forever. Day 5: we hiked forever to arive at our campsite. we are exausted and want sleep. we want to give up. We have reached the 30 mile mark now and have no desire to fininsh the trail. we meet these two guys who are willing to take us back in two days we say yes.
Day 6: THe thought of going home the next day makes us happy. we play at the light hous and beach and just have a great time. then a new man comes to campsite that night. He calls me a wimpy girl and says I need boys to rescue me. Mind you this man doesnt even know how to hike. He parked at places and then drove in. I hate him and his son. That night me and roomate decide we are rested and we can go on. Our itinary is to go to the end and come back. So we decide since its only like ten miles to the end we will just turn around instead of change our whole itinary with rangers and all that. I really want hot dogs though.
Day 7: we get up and tell man and son see ya at next site. he is shocked that we are finishing we laugh. we get theree and man and son arive later with hot dogs for us! Basicaly man heard chin story from our boys and was so impressesd that we were not giving up that he bougt us hotdogs.
Day8: Just your usual hike and sleep.
Day9: same old same old. These two days were womderful to play and enjoy and hike. our packs wer lighter and we were stronger.
Day 10: As we are packing it starts down pouring. We hike thoough thunder storm. we are wet and miserble. we arive at campsite in record time. By this time it had stopped raining. No one else came to our site. It was windy all night.
Day 11: The tought of hiking in wet boots is terrible so roomate hikes in sandals me barefoot. (I lost a sandal on Day two) We leave or packs at campsite and pretty much run the 9 miles to our car where we drive it to closest road access of campsite and get in car and drive home and shower. Thus here I am now and tis my adventure. By the way my chin looks alot better than it did but it still looks painful. no scab yet. It was deep. Im calling the dentist in the morning about my tooth

I had a great time and wish I was still in the woods. This was a huge report and I didnt tell half of it. Oh well!”

“Holy chin scrapes batman.... what a report! Way to tough it out adveturegirl. It sounds like you learned quite a deal from your adventure. I have a feeling you'll be paying much more attention to the "ultralight gear" threads. I am impressed that you stuck with it though, most would have packed it in. Way to go!”

“40 pounds for 10 days! that was it! 40 pounds! I guess I need lighter still! I was pretty impressed with my 40! Oh well lighter still”

“Adventuregirl, No wonder your mother doesn't want you to go out hiking, lol. You did good, real good, better than most.”

“Man, I thought my Manistee trip was tough.

AG, you rule! I too learned that with a light pack, there is a happy back. Keep up the good work, the hiking gods will smile upon you.”

“Congrats on finishing the trip. I'm impressed the way you showed your toughness. It seems your more hardcore than I thought. Sorry to hear about your chin though. I hope ya heal well!”

“Geez, 11 days at Pictured Rocks. Did you guys go east out of the park on the NCT?

And you guys were grumbling about 6 miles at Island Lake. Go figure.”

“Sounds like a great trip! Chin, tooth and all. You're tough!”

“Great trip report Adventuregirl,...you stuck it out and made the best of it all. You learn the most from trips like that one.

Thanks for sharing....Glad you`re alright.”

“sounds like a ton of fun.. good luck with the tooth..”

“I'm impressed. You are one tough cookie--I think it is time to call yourself woman.”

“Good job Adventure Girl. Man, what a deal!!! LOL..... so do you only have half a tongue now??? LOL”

“Adventuregirl will you marry me?”

“Wow, adventuregirl, you made my day! Generally, I only have time to read posts any more but just had to say "great job" on your adventurous hike!!! Congrats to your mom and dad for raising one heck of a daughter! Glad to hear that you stuck with it. Your story made me laugh so hard I just had to respond.”

“adventure girl,

bacpac proposed. Be afraid! Be VERY AFRAID!!

You're one tough little lady! You go, girl! I'm glad you made it out there. Lots of memories. :o)”

“i think that half of that weigh was those big BALLS that you tote around all of the time.

i'm very impressed.”

“Reformed we did from Munising falls to grand maurie and back. that totals 84 miles in 11 days. thanks every one for your support.”

“father, with son: "which backpack is yours, little girl?"

adventuregirl: "it's the one that says 'bad mutha fukker' on it."

-pulp fiction hiking journal”

“Great job & thanks for posting a report. Pic Rocks is one of my favorite places, and you're one of my heros now LOL.”

“Great report. And a great attitufe you've got to end up loving that trip. When you have mishaps like that at the start of a long trip, you really find out if backpacking is for you (and vice versa).

You might find yourself showing up on the thread about ideal AT thru-hiking partners.”

“AG - way to go! I am embarrased to say that I may have backed out after putting a hole in my chin and tongue and chipping a tooth.”

“Well done. Yo mama should be proud.”

“Wow, you are one tough and determined person! Glad you look back on it positively too.”

“Here, here. Cheers.”

“Happy Birthday, adventure girl!! You deserve it.”

“AG, don't accept bacpac's offer! Yell NO and run!!!! FAST!

Sounds like you are now a bonnified trail ho! Hope you end up with at least a tiny scar so people will ask "How'd ya get that?" and you can tell 'em all about your trip! Glad you finished, there's nothing makes me feel worse than cutting out early! Kudos to you and the RM.”

“Saw my mom yesterday. She flipped out about my chin. I was hoping that she would not notice how deep it went. But she was like "You should have got stiches!" and flipping out that I still went hiking and all that. She is not a backpacker, or an adventure seeker. I would not have wanted stiches anyway it would have been alot harder to keep them clean on the trail. I get my tooth fixed on monday. My chin looks really good Im pleased with how it is healing.”

“The dictor probably wouldn't of stiched it anyways if it's a hole, not a slice.”

“thats what i figured its just to big of a piece missing.”

“AG, I think MaryPhyl has given you a new TT tag, ToughCookie, LOL.

And as for bacpac's proposal, I think that sounded pretty gentlemanly, considering what his fertile mind could have come up with.”

“AG, a few weeks ago you were really down about something--a friend that had let you down, I think.

...Hope things are going better for you.

Mungu hakubariki.”

“Yeah...mucho mungu hakubariki!”

“In Swahili you'd add emphasis with "sana." I'm not sure if it really works with this phrase, but if so, it would be "Mungu Hakubariki Sana."

BTW...Mungu Hakubariki=God Bless You.”

“I went to Kentucky for Spring Break on a road trip with a friend of mine. This friend and i were not close at the beginning of the trip, but I have always been under the impresion that you can become friends with someone when you have a great adventure. i some how forgot to factor in that this paticular person does not know how to have fun, and is anti adventure. I wanted to try things, she wanted to not try things. When i would convince her to try things she would make it very obvious that it was in no way fun to her. We camped the whole time, and I really take pride in how good of a cook I am while camping, and since we were car camping the food was awesome because I was unlimited with my food choice. According to friend, everything had somthing wrong with it. She simply did not know how to have fun, how to be thankful, and was very selfish. I wanted to hike red River Gorge, but after 45 minutes I could tell she was exausted. So we turned around. And get this... The whole rest of the day she talked about what a work out we had...I cant wait to go backm to Kentucky eith friends who enjoy the out of doors, and me.

The whole trip was not terrible there was parts of it that was good. But I just needed to vent to someone, because I wont be able to tell anyone else about how bad of a trip it was. Has anyone else ever had a terrible experience in which awesome things could not be awesome because of the company? This is honestly a first for me I usually have a really good attitude about people and you have to do alot to make me upset. but she just wore me out.”

“A couple more trips like that and you'll be ready to go solo. ;-)”

“I don't like them bloodsuckers neither, . They will suck the life right out of ya if they can...”

“It is hard to be with anyone who doesn't want to leave the comfort of the known and try new things. I try to avoid close-minded people. Sorry about the spring break trip. Your other trip

ADVENTUREGIRL POWER!!

Very cool.”

“Thank you for the trip report Adventuregirl. Awesome fortitude!”

“yep pathman, I had a couple adventures like this and as a result, I have been (for the most part) a solo hiker ever since.

Just now getting back to the point where I even consider group hikes.”

“A-girl
Don't sweat it- there are plenty of people here that will hike with you. I have had an experience very much like yours-I am never going on a trip with her again! Some people just like to grump.”

“but agree wholeheartedly. in solo hiking, there are no com,plications and no conflicts in adjenda.”

“Hey AG, this sounds very familiar to me. One thing that I have found helps, is to make your vacation buddy plan half the meals, and plan half of the itinery. Then I don't feel as bad when the complaining starts. I don't feel as much like the complaining is directed at me, since I didn't plan the whole trip.”

“I'll go hiking with you!

Anytime you want!!!!

8)”

“But I just needed to vent to someone, because I wont be able to tell anyone else about how bad of a trip it was.

adventuregirl
10:59:36 PM
03/30/02

A good attitude, adventuregirl. It's best not to say anything negative that might get back to her. Besides, she may have learned a lot from you and might apply some of it during her next outing. You may have done more good for her than you can realize.

At work as a supermarket bagger, I constant greet people cheerfully, in the parking lot, at the entrance, and when bagging. One cashier asked, "How can you be so cheerful with each customer all day, after some of them are so rude?" (Part of our job is to talk to the customers and to try to become acquainted with them.) I responded that it is a new experience for each customer. They have been waiting in line and it is now their turn. I want them to have a cheerful experience. They do not deserve any previous unpleasantness. They all deserve my best service, whether they are my first or last customer.

With regard to the ones with an attitude problem, I feel that they need my kind words more than the others. Later in the day they may be cheered by recalling that someone tried to be nice to them. Your friend may have enjoyed your efforts, even though she has not learned how to express such a thing, yet. Feel comforted that you tried to do your best.

BTW, I do even more. When I greet customers who are leaving, I inquire, "Was your shopping a pleasure?" When I receive a negative answere, I ask for suggestions as to how we can improve our service for them. If there was a real problem, I try to rectify it. If needed, I try to escort them back to Customer Service, where they will attempt to satisfy the customer.

Besides bragging a little about my service, perhaps I'm trying to suggest that you might ask this person how things could be improved for her next trip.

A little more: I do get rewarded occasionally. Sometimes a customer, instead of driving away, returns to the store and compliments my service to the management. That appreciation really helps my ego and makes me feel that I'm doing the job correctly.

Good luck and keep smiling.”

“If you wanted to take me to Red River Gorge and do all the cooking and such - I would be very greatfull!”

“I had a somewhat similar experience on Isle Royale. Went with two of my best friends. One kept changing the plans after we had already made them. I tried to be as flexible and relaxed as I could, but by day 4, I'd had enough of both of them. What made it worse, was that I had to spend the next 3 days with them in Houghton as well!

After a couple of weeks without talking to them, we were fine. Just needed to take the time to let it all go, and realize the little stuff doesn't have a place in our friendship.”

“You're a good man Nowslimmer.

Yeah I've been through that before. Just ready to go and DO and your partner wants to sit and vegetate.

It's infuriating to me.

It sounds like you have a pile of TTer's to go with next time. Betcha it won't be boring with them!”