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8/00 Jordan River, Michigan
"The gobblers run, The grouse explode, The fiddleheads dance in sun."
Day 1
This is a trip that I've been looking forward to for a long time. Given my aversion to group hikes this is one trip I just had to make. Not so much for where it was but for who it was with. The initial group was about 6 people. LeSubtil had to cancel due to work. Cindy and Sunshine had to cancel at the last minute. This is just one of the pitfalls of group hikes. As much as I was disappointed they couldn't make it, I know that it can't match their own disappointment or frustration. I always find it intriguing to meet friends from on-line. Two things are guaranteed when meeting on-line friends for the first time; #1) They are always as you expect them to be and #2) They are never as you expect them to be. LOL! No matter what, it is always fun to finally meet friends you've known for a length of time but never met face to face. I got on the road at 10:20 AM (50 minutes late) but made fairly good time to Detroit where I would meet Birch and Joy. I had good directions but still got discombobulated (par for the course). On the drive up we stopped at Heartwick Pines Park for a short walk and to see the sights. It was a beautiful place with huge pines and it was so quite in that forest. We drove on up to Gaylord where we stopped to eat at The Big Buck Brewery for dinner and ale. We got to the trailhead at about 9 PM and sat up watching the stars and talking. There are twice as many stars visible up here as their are in Ohio with all the light pollution there. I have decided to add a gear list to my journal in order to see what is taken every time and what isn't being used and what works/doesn't work. Day 2 Kind of a rough night last night. The Guinness gave me sour stomach, I was a bit uneasy about being camped out in the open. It got below 55 degrees last night and I stayed warm all night. I stuck my Z Rest between the two layers of the hammock. It worked well. Someone came ripping through the parking lot at 6:30 AM to release a raccoon they had trapped. Then about an hour later the local high school cross country team blew in and woke us up. It was time to get up anyway. We started off down the trail with boundless energy. The trail starts out taking a long, sweeping down hill turn that warmed the legs up real nice. We didn't even make it half way down the hill before Birch and Joy started pointing out plants and fungus. I was going to learn a lot on this trip!
The trail is wonderful and sandy. It had just enough ups and downs to keep the mind active. We jumped some grouse along the trail. Those things just explode from cover! They must be very hard to hunt. We came to a wide open area with knee high grass mixed with ferns. Something big flew off into the trees and we thought it may be another grouse but then we could see the grass moving as if something was running through it. Then an ugly turkey head poked up over the grass to let us know what it was. We decided to take a break here so we stretched out in the warm grass and sun, ate jerky, cheese and granola bars and talked. What a grand morning! The remainder of the morning was spent passing through more heavily forested areas. There was a few tough hills too. The last hill had a great view at the top of it. The camp was just a bit further.
We got to camp, got set up and had visions of a dip in the river and naps. The river turned out to be about 60 degrees. No dipping here! Just a little wading. I lay down on the grass at the river's edge with my legs dangling into the river until I begin to fall asleep. I met Birch on the way back to camp. Joy was napping so Birch and I sat nibbling jerky and talking about life and all that entails. After Joy got up from her nap we had dinner. I made couse-couse by covering it with cold water in a zippy bag. It was very good. Joy and Birch made stuffing mixed with a can of chicken. They shared with me and I found it very good. After dinner we had a small fire (in the ring) and a nip; for medicinal purposes of course. A couple that had come into camp earlier in the day stopped by to enjoy the fire and company. Dragged off to bed about 11 PM. Day 3 I slept so well in my hammock! The bugs weren't even out but I wanted to sleep with my new netting any how to see how it works. I didn't have the draw string in the bottom hem but the size of the nettings is plenty big enough. It's not the easiest thing to get in and out of and it doesn't facilitate sitting up sideways in it but it worked great for sleeping in it. It had spit a little on and off all night. About day break the skies split open and it poured. It was that steady, hard rain that you know is not going to quite any time soon. At about 8:30 AM we discussed the plans for the day. Because they didn't have rain gear Birch offered to make a quick 6 mile hump out and retrieve the car. It sounded like a good plan to me so I rolled back over and went back to sleep listening to the rain and slept for 2 1/2 more hours. I slept a total of 12 hours which is heavenly compared to the 5-6 I usually sleep. We were on the road by noon and had a whore bath at the local gas station and were sitting at Ponderosa by 1 PM. We had a great drive home and talked about a great variety of things. It was so nice to get to hike with these guys as we have a great deal in common. I look forward to the next time we have a chance to share the trail and fellowship. CT Gear List JS Tahoma day pack [still a great pack] Sil-tarp + stakes [used poncho] Slumberjack 50 degree sleeping bag Poncho [stayed 100% dry, still the best piece of gear in the pack] Radio Camera w/film Journal F.A.L.A 3/4 Z-Rest SWA Filter/bottle Camelpak Netting [worked great, needs refined a bit though for height] Windbreaker Longies top/bottoms Neck gator/hat Wool socks Trash bags Photon II [the best light I've ever bought] Leatherman and compass on a lanyard [Leatherman gets too rusty and stiff. bring the Swiss next time] Staff Worn: REI shorts Wicker Boxers Wicker T-shirt Nike Socks Tevas [no pain at all this time] Hat Food: Jerky (2.5 lbs. gross) [perfect amount for a weekend] Boboli breadshell 1 lb. of Colby cheese [cheese was super, always bring some] Couse-couse 5 Cliff Bars
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