Hooiser Hiking

“I've heard a "meet up group" is going to hike y'all into the ground. ;-)”

“Heh..I'm guessing WK's scrawny azz in a kilt will be enough to scare any wannabe hikers away!”

“My chicken legs are what will scare people.

Yep on the closeness of the campsite for Friday. You should be able to see our fire from the parking lot
last edited: 2/25/09 10:54:22 AM”

“You will need to bring enough water with you on Friday to get you through Saturday till you get to the campsite. I don't believe there are any reliable water sources till we get to the cave.”

“saddle creek. but that's right before the cave”

“Does that one usually have water?
last edited: 2/25/09 5:04:07 PM”

“And is that water supply relatively clear?”

“it better have water. it's the water source at the cave.

it's as clear as any other southern indiana creek”

“I wasn't sure if that was the one you were talking about.”

“If Chin is there now, he is getting soaked

Forget it, thought he said we was hiking Thursday.

Packed up last night so I am coming pretty much regardless. Bail alert is low
last edited: 2/26/09 9:10:13 AM”

“Wounded Knee,

You cannot bail...I have not met you yet!”

“Anyone hike the Martin Hollow loop? That would be easy to start at the second lot, hike south and then back north up to Grubb-Ridge an up to the cave.”

“WK, I'm jealous that you're going on a trip, but I'm going to miss you on Saturday night. You're missing the ugly sweater party.”

“I know, but I think Barbie will be coming for a bit.”

“I think I said earlier that if we made it Friday night that it would be in the AM hours of Sat...probably won't leave until Saturday morning now, still hoping to make it.”

“Hope you guys make it. We will be looking for you.”

“Thank god the weather we had last night is gone. High winds and a lot of rain. Then the temps fell from 50 to 27.

Looks like you picked a good weekend Windi!

At work for a half a day, then taking the 12:30 train home. Should be on the road by 2.”

“I'm soooo ready for this weekend.
I've got hotdogs with most the fixins (ketchup,mustard,relish, cheese, coney sauce and onions), potato salad, and apple cobbler, so come hungry.
I hope to get there no later than 3. If I do, I think I might hike the Syamore loop.
See ya all there!”

“We have the first campsite off from Sycamore, thanks to Chin. He's already there. He did say that there is no firewood to be found. It's been picked pretty clean. So if a few people could pick up a bundle and bring it for tonight, that would be helpful. I'm going to pick up some, but I know it won't be enough for the night.”

“I was going to get some as well as bring some from home”

“Ok, I'm lame. I bailed on my own trip. I'm having some health issues and they decided to rear their ugly head this weekend, so I ended up coming home today while others are out enjoying the outdoors. I hope everyone has fun.”

“We bailed too. I was worn out after finals Friday night and Troy doesn't have gear for below 30F so we called it quits.”

“You can borrow my <30 stuff. I won't be using it! :(

I'm still bummed out that I couldn't go on this trip.

BTW, WG, fifthmaster called you a hussy when I told him you bailed on your own trip.”

“Define hussy”

“I bailed too. Sick and cold waking up Saturday, I split. I think I needed sleep. After putting Charles down last night, I slept from 10PM to 10 AM today.

I have not done that since college”

“hey crash-did you find my present behind your car-kevin”

“Crash is having car problems. He was waiting on a tow truck last I talked to him.”

“I think I know why I was cold on Friday night. I had washed my down sleeping bag and my down booties, but I don't think I had gotten them all the way dry. After reading more about it, I'm pretty sure I didn't dry them enough.”

“Coyote!!
Which tire did ya put that "Present"
behind anyway...lol
See ya later.
Randall”

“Randall I'm going to drop a dime it was Jake who stacked the wood behind His car windigrrl said it was out of gas not a tire looks like me and Jake were on hte best part of the trip.Randall you doing good? You know they have anohter coming up down there Spring Break I am trying to get Jake to go down with me for the week”

“Ok now that I'm somewhat awake...
I think the problem with Crash's was a fuel pump issue...thinking he was just out of gas we ran him to gas station to get some, but that didn't fix it so he ended up having someone come out and pick the car up and I gave him a ride home...
I let him explain the rest! lol

Long story short...everyone made it home ok, just a little later than we all planned!”

“what was the wood behind my car all about? i dont get the joke”

“not too happy with my roadside assistance service. i called for assistance at 3:43. the tow truck arrived at 6:10. it took them an hour to find a towing service for me, and the one they called was in martinsville, for craps sake! $175 towing bill plus $5 charge for using a credit card. the first 100 was covered by my roadside assistance coverage, but i had to pay the rest. stupid”

“so i guess all mysteries are solved now. the yahoos with the guns shooting up the forest at 2 oclock in the morning (hooray for the second amendment!) are off the hook for everything else that happened to me. the wood was jake, the gas was the fuel pump (probably), and the missing wallet was my own dumb-ass. i still dont remember putting it where i did. to this day, i still remember putting it in the plastic bag up front. i must have changed my mind
last edited: 3/02/09 6:18:10 AM”

“just talked to the service dept in martinsville. apparently, an animal chewed some lines and thats why im not getting any gas. since it was not a mechanical failure, it probably wont be covered by my warranty and cost over 300 bucks

fvck”

“It must be something about PT Cruisers. My parents had a bunch of wires chewed through by rabbits. Sounds like ya had a rough weekend. That sucks.”

“GM must put some tasty wires on them there cars. So much for our early theory about Bubbas, out of gas, etc. All the "pieces" had other explanations. I had a flat tire at Deam a couple years ago but it was only a minor inconvenience.

Crash seems to have some issues with autos on TT trips.”

“Crash: as we look ahead to the 3/20 ride to Hocking Hills, I know there was some talk about you & Windi coming to Richmond, and we'll carpool over to HH. Just knowing the effect you have on cars, maybe we should reconsider. Heck, even if I drive, bad things could happen.... I'm worried. Suppose there are lingering effects from last weekend. Bring more cash!”

“Golfhiker, it's safe to have crash ride with you. I've carpooled with him a few times and it's been ok, just don't let him drive. lol.
last edited: 3/02/09 5:36:38 PM”

“And make sure you watch where he puts his wallet!!

Btw a certain TTer earned a new trail name at this hike :)

After a little encounter with a stick on Saturday's hike Chin and I decided that Stokley will from this day forward be known as "Twiggy"

And no I'm not explaining, if ya'll wanna know you have to ask her! :)”

“seems all the talk is about bad juju.. starting to get why those other guys may be calling you tourists. ;) :D :D”

“Hiking? Who said anything about hiking? This was an RV trip. We laughed at all those smelly folks coming out of the woods. I'm just ticked that we couldn't get the big race on UPL's big screen. The satellite reception was not up to par. The calamari was good though.
last edited: 3/03/09 6:33:01 AM”

“Ok, here it is...

Friday night: the last to arrive were Stokley and Upluver to find Windigrrl, Coyote820 and his son, Chin, Mugsy, Crash and Wounded Knee sitting around a warm camp fire. After doing the usual camp chores, we enjoyed a nice hot fire and Windi's wonderful apple cobbler...I went on this trip just for that!

Saturday morning everyone awoke to find that Windi and Wounded Knee had slept very cold the previous night, not to mention Wounded Knee was sick, and they decided to pack up and head home. It was very cold...guessing in the low 20's that night.

After coffee and breakfast, Chin, Mugsy, Upluver, Crash and me (Stokley) packed up to head toward Patton Cave. After a quick lunch stop (because it was so blasted cold) Chin, Mugsy, Stokley and Upluver headed in one direction and Crash in another. It was a beautiful sunny, but very cold day. It was some time around here that I earned my new trail name from Chin and Upluver...Twig. Afer hiking up a nice switchback...with no problem, traversing nasty muddy trails..without falling...while walking on the most even, dry section of trail for the whole day...I tripped on a stick and hit the trail face first...hence the new name! I have finally earned a trail name!

We continued on amazed at the ground we were covering so quickly only to arrive at Patton Cave around 12:30. After gathering lots and lots and lots of firewood, we set up tents and settled in around the fire to wait for Crash to arrive. It was sunny, but beautiful and cold making the fire very nice.

A bit later, a father arrived with his two young children to investigate Patton Cave. These kids were probably about 6 and 8, and followed their Dad into the back section of the cave without hesitation...very impressive. They had to crawl on hands and knees through portions to get to the other end...I was impressed! Up, Chin, Mugsy and I headed to the other end to meet them as they came through. I wouldn't do it!

We then headed back to enjoy the camp fire and do basically nothing for the rest of the day exceept wait for Crash to arrive. Crash came in around 3 pm feeling absolutely awful. After setting up camp, he sat down to enjoy the fire as well. We all headed to bed around 8:30...it was cold!

Sunday morning was sunny, cold and beautiful. After breakfast we packed up and again, Chin, Mugsy, Upluver and I headed one way, Crash another. Crash took the shortest route back as he was truly feeling awful! The rest of us headed out to do the 545 Trail, ended up getting a bit off the trail, bushwhacking up a nice mountain (really just a big hill) to find the trail...we did find another cave on this new route! We came upon the trail and continued into Blackwell to find Crash sick in Chin's car.

And then you know this part...Crash'car would not start, but all ended well!

After lunch at the Cabin Restaurant, Chin and Mugsy headed home, Upluver, Crash and myself headed back to the trail head to tend to Crash's car...which ended up having to be towed and Crash rode home with Upluver!

It was a great trip, great company, great camp fire discussions!

If I missed something, you guys can add...and I don't do pictures, so someone else will have to post those!”

“overall, sounds like you guys and gals had fun.
last edited: 3/03/09 1:20:29 PM”

“Sorry ta hear so many folks are down...
Same thing up here, most everybody has had at least two colds since January and some even got the damm Flu now!!
Oh well….that’s life!!
Yeah it was pretty cold out too……………….
See ya later.
Randall”

“not sick here :) I've been very healthy this winter actually! I just prefer to go solo these days. That way I do my own miles, my own pace, etc. etc.

Less then two weeks to my vacation! WOHOO!!! me an the pup are goin' hikin' fishin' n campin' :)”