Michigan Hikers

“"Exploring Superior Country" by Craig Charles is a very good overview book of all the hiking spots around Lake Superior.

I have like five editions of the Trail Atlas. In the middle of winter, I like to compare the editions and see the trails that have been added or eliminated. Some miss the cut even though they are still open to hiking.

BTW, the U of M and I'd think MSU would have a map library. The UM library has plat books for every county in the state. They have every conceivable map. I go in there sometime just to explore. Then, I go see the cat mummies at the Kelsey museum.

Least favorite Michigan book: "How to Know the Fresh-water algae" by G. W. Prescott. This book has like 3,000 illustrations of various types of algae from fresh water sources. It's kind of cool to look at just for its obscurity.

"The Snorkeling Guide to Michigan Inland Lakes" by Nancy S. Washburne is also cool in this way. This woman describes what it is like to snorkel 480 small lakes in Michigan. If you ever get the chance to see one of her video shows, you should go. She swims with gar and freshwater jellyfish. An eyeopener.”

“Ok roll call time :)
Just wondering how many of ya are planning on doing the NCT/MRT this weekend?”

“Thinkbubelz and I are in for sure! (as long as it's not pouring rain!) We are waiting to verify whether or not my friend will be coming.. (she's waiting on the weather forecast).

How early do you think we might hike out on Sunday? She needs to be back in the Lansing area sometime that afternoon...”

“BTW-- Think & I bought the Trail Atlas... and got 10% off since the cover was curled up a bit from people browsing! :-)

Cannot wait to check through it!”

“Sorry no dice”

“I'm still in for it!”

“I wish...wisdom teeth coming out.”

“Birch, that is not a lot of fun. It took me about 3 days to recover from that ordeal. Good luck!”

“Thanks for the encouragement LOL. I get a 4 day wknd outta the deal so its not all bad...”

“UP, do you still want to car pool? WK is out and it looks like Hubcap is out too.”

“I had my wisdom teeth taken out in the army. Not fun.
Kamperkiller had hers out a couple of years ago by a great DR here in Nashville and had no problems at all.
Good luck with it.”

“Eeeeks, Birch!

I had mine out about a year ago, just before school started. Mine were heavily impacted and they had to "chip them out." I was fine the first day, then totally delirious the second. Then, the GREAT EASTERN BLACKOUT OF 2003 happened. Lots of fun.

BTW, I will be unable to do the Humbug Marsh thing this weekend. A friend from Madison is coming to town.”

“The last teeth to develop and erupt into the jaws are called the third molars. Third molars usually erupt in the late teen years, which coincides with passage into adulthood and is referred to by some as the age of wisdom; hence "wisdom teeth". Unfortunately, the wisdom teeth are now usually trying to erupt into a jaw that is too small.

Birch, Doc says to drink massive quantities of beer. And take lots of hugs from your loved ones, too. lol”

“Birch- ouch :( good luck and make sure to have some of that alcoholic pain reliever handy!!
Ex- yeah you're more than welcome to ride with us if ya want....check your mail!!...lol”

“I love how they use the term ERUPT”

“One is in already, one is very near to in. One is hiding,the other is knocking on my door. The prob is that one has its root in the lower nerve canal,the doc mentioned potential lower jaw numbness for an extendend period,maybe up to a year but he said "that only a 1-3% chnace so its okay". A numb jaw would be good for Sass as I jabber on a bit. I wont need alcohol, I will have presrciption drugs. He asked If I wanted to be knocked out. I told him I'd like to come into the office and when I leave have no recollection of what happened.”

“Birch, I'll be thinking of ya. Have Sass make mashed potatoes and gravy with tiny bits of chicken for some protein. That's what I had for Thanksgiving dinner the year I had my wisdom teeth out (but with turkey instead). Scrambled eggs, jello, pudding and applesauce are all good too. Good luck man!

Think/pinkbubbles (or anyone else for that matter), I'm going to be cleaning out my "gear closet" soon and might have some stuff for ya if you'd like it. Its all gently used. I'm more of a dayhiker than an overnighter, so a lot of my stuff is gonna get sold.”

“I've gotta work all weekend. have a good time without me. and take lots of pictures please :-)”

“Birch, you'll be fine especially if they knock you out. That is the way to go in my experience. Coming out of it is a little foggy, and later on you will laugh at yourself.

Enjoy your drugs, don't suck on straws, use ice packs, eat soft foods.”

“Hi Birch--sorry to hear about your wisdom teeth! Again-- a near encounter with you! LOL

I, too had my wisdom teeth out over a Thanksgiving weekend (when I was in High school. Thankfully, they too them out the day AFTER Thanksgiving...

The thing I remember the most-- the stitches hurt whenever I laughed.... I had to almost literally hold my jaw shut so that I wouldn't rip them out. Was puffed up like a chipmunk for about a week-- had to use saline to swish out the wounds (yucky...and very painful)....

One of our friends did encounter the numbness (thankfully, I did NOT.) Hope all goes well, and it's good to go under gas-- I didn't remember anything from the time they asked me if I was getting sleepy to the moment they stood me up after the surgery.....”

“Scary-- we may need to call you sometime--(where are you again?--I think I need to make myself a list!) Will you be coming this weekend?”

“bumpety bump bump!”

“Hey pink, I went through all of our gear tonite and filled a laundry basket to overflowing. Before we start selling/giving it away I'd like to have you and think over to rummage through.”

“I am just wondering what citys y'all are from.
I have friday off and would like to get a dayhike together in kalamazoo. anyone interested?”

“We are from Livonia, a few miles west of Detroit.”

“South Lyon here, no can do this weekend”

“Pink, I'm in Novi. No, I'm not coming this weekend. I'm not sure when I'll get to the gear closet, hopefully during the week next week.”

“hmmm... 50 to 28 degrees in Manistee area this weekend? Sounding kind of cold....would be my luck-- only .3 inches of rain for the last 30 days and now they expect it to rain this weekend!! :-(”

“Scary Girl has a Chevy Novi? What year?”

“hey UP...
Can you post a Map of where we are meeting?

Also, is it at all possible to hike 1-way?
(just in case my friend needs to leave earlier?)”

“my parents live in highland. next time i come home we should try to get out to proud lake or something.”

“Nigal,I used to have a Chevy Nova when I was in high school. 1988, smurf blue hatchback. I was stylin'. :)”

“Highland Rec is real close too? Good deal smasher”

“Pink, yeah I'll try to get one for ya tonite sometime :)
As far as hiking only one way, there is a road at both ends so yeah, we'll work something out if we need to :)”

“Heya Pinks, here ya go :)
http://www.toolie.com/camping_stuff/misc/redbridgedir.htm”

“Thanks UP...
i will talk to my friend and see if she will still come with us!”

“Bummer,
my friend has decided to bail on us... :-(

so, I guess we won't need the big tent or extra equipment after all...

She just went to the Chiropractor for her back and told me that it's pretty sore-- she didn't want to hike too much and was afraid of the bad weather forecasted...

I told her all she needed to carry was a 2-ltr backpack of water and we'd do the rest!

But since this would be her first back-pack experience, she didn't want it to be a negative one because of the weather...

Think & I still plan to go, however!
This means we'll leave straight from work tomorrow and not have to stop near Lansing...”

“You all have fun! The colors should be gorgeous and the hills loads of fun. Birch and I will be thinking about you, well, I will be. Birch isn't think about too much right now aside from what time he can take another vicadin. ;)”

“lol I'm guessin birch doesn't really give a d*mn about camping (or much of anything else for that matter) right now.....tell him to hang in there, it will get better!”

“Oh Sass, what an opportunity to mess with his mind right now! Live it up! :)”

“Poor birch. Hope he feels better soon....
on the up side, Ice cream makes the pain go away... :-D”

“I am actually having the time of my life. The drugs keep the pain at bay and I get to sleep lots which is one of my favorite pasttimes. The only downside is the fact that my face is really really swollen.”

“an ice pack might help (wrap it in a towel first.) Don't worry, it will stop swelling in a few days... The sucky part is having to keep on rinsing out the wounds with salty water... (blech!).... just don't eat anything with nuts or anything "crunchy" for a while...”

“pink, I have been icing regularly. I havent eaten anything today and ate very little yesterday (applesauce,hummous,rice pudding,cheesecake). I can drink coffe again though. I will start rinsing at somepoint but know it wont feel to great.”

“you don't want to wait too long to rinse birch-- it could get infected. I know it really sucks and is painful, but it will keep the bacteria level down and you'll heal faster....

I remember having all sorts of cotton wadded in my cheeks when I first had my wisdom teeth out! :-(

Ice cream and sherbet are really awesome in helping to keep down the pain level (because of the cold)... (I'm partial to it anyways!)

Hope you feel better soon...”

“Birch, did they give you one of those little irrigation thingies? It looks like a syringe, but has a curved plastic pointed tip, and you use it to clean out the holes that your teeth came out of.”

“Nope, no syringy thing, just swish with salt water.”

“it's a super handy tool to have when something gets caught in there and you can't get it out.”

“the saltwater actually feels okay, the water is warm so its semi soothing. The swelling is downright comical at this point. I am tempted to take pictures.”

“I was lucky and never swelled up when I got mine out. Then again I really didnt need to take them out...guess I have a big mouth or something. Lots of warm saltwater. Use that for any kind of mouth problem. It makes it heal faster. Hope ya feel better soon!!!
last edited: 10/15/04 9:02:36 PM”