Our next Cedar Wapsie Group Event should be the best one of the year.
We are going backpacking in the Yellow River Forest near Marquette on September
17th through 19th. It is, perhaps, the best hiking in the state. 28
miles of trails which wind through some of the most beautiful country in
Iowa await those who are brave enough to carry everything they'll need on their
backs into one of the hike-in-only campsites.
We will be having a pre-trip planning/preparation meeting at 7pm on
Thursday the 9th of September at Peoples Church in Cedar Rapids (600 3rd Avenue
SE). Although this meeting is not required, it will help anyone who is new
to backpacking, or has questions about food, equipment, etc, to feel more
comfortable about the trip. Here is the basic plan:
[This trip is suitable for beginners if they attend the information
seminar September 9th at 7 PM at Peoples Church in Cedar Raids]
Friday the 17th of Sept.
Those who wish to hike Friday should meet at the trail
head parking lot at 3 PM. We will hike the Northern loop and camp overnight at
Heffern's Hill Campground.
Saturday the 18th of Sept.
Those who camped will get up and pack to the parking lot
and meet anyone else who would like to join us for the Saturday hike [meet time
10:30 AM at trail head] of the Southern unit. We will be camping at Brown's
Hollow on Saturday night.
Sunday the 19th of Sept.
Get up and pack out ... reach the trail head by noon or
so.
Each person is responsible for their own gear and food [See attached
list].We will be practicing Low Impact Camping Techniques ... check out
www.LNT.org . We have extra stoves and
some other extra equipment available. Tom Podzimek is a Leave No Trace Master
Educator and will pass along some valuable information on how we can reduce our
impacts when we choose to use our public lands during the course of this
trip.
If you prefer, Tom will cook your evening meals ... cost is $ 3.00 per
evening meal and must be paid to him on Sept. 9th at the planning meeting
(or before).
Bring your own sack lunch[s] with easy to digest comfort foods. We
will make recommendations at the planning meeting. Breakfast food
recommendations:
[We will boil water each morning, by the way]
bagels
cereal bars
oatmeal
cold cereal with Milkman Brand dry milk
dry fruit
tang
hot cocoa
coffee
If you have any questions, please write back to me (Mike Wyrick), or
feel free to call me at 362-6662 or 393-8948 or 350-1063. Hope you
can join us ... as always Leave No Trace
Other upcoming Cedar Wapsie Group outings and
events:
October 4th, 7pm at Cherry Auditorium in Peterson Hall on the Coe College
Campus: Connections Program. The speaker will be Dr. Tony Dinicolla
of White Buffalo. He is in charge of the deer management program in Iowa
City. His Phd. work was on deer contraceptives.
October 9th, 12 noon at Morgan Creek Park: This is the revised date
for our Pre-Election pot luck picnic. Although there will be no formal
speaker, we will be having a roundtable discussion of environmental issues,
politics and candidates.
November 20th, 11am to 1pm at Indian Creek Nature Center. This is the
revised date for our year end Pot Luck Chilli Supper and Silent Auction.