2018 MI Fall mini-meet

[MattStrike]

The idea came up during the meat meet to go on a fall color tour this year.

I really really reaaaaaaaaallly want to do something like this.

I know one of you doesn't want to do a lot of driving, so I thought maybe it would be a good idea to have each of us interested propose a route.

My idea: Start out in SW Michigan (meet there Friday night). Leave at 7:00am, cruise the freeways directly to the tunnel of trees and north US-23 past Makinaw, possibly stop for a photo or two along the way, food on the road, and back to my house between 7:00 and 9:00pm in time for a bonfire. Alternatively, the route could be reversed, depending on who is interested to make the Friday night drive easier.
https://goo.gl/maps/eFWYNaG2fdS2

I'm a bit of a long-hauler, I know, but northern MI has some of the most epic fall colors most years.

Timing wise, I would expect that peak colors happen the first week in October, give or take a week. Unfortunately we might not know until August how accurate that is.

[nos4blood70]

I'm just gonna go ahead and say that I'm already down. I personally love driving, especially on open and scenic routes.

[haro1225]

I don’t know how to make a route with this new fangled technology but I was thinking it would be like what we did last year. Like going “55” on all those back roads as hard as possible. This sounds more like a road trip which could be totally doable.

[gweg_b]

I'm in for this.

[MattStrike]

I don’t know how to make a route with this new fangled technology but I was thinking it would be like what we did last year. Like going “55” on all those back roads as hard as possible. This sounds more like a road trip which could be totally doable.

I couldn't do this from my phone, I had to use a computer.

I could go either way, I really enjoy the longer road trips more but ripping 55 through some twisties is fun too.

So the first leg of the trip, up to Petoskey, is mostly just driving to get to the scenic route. I'm betting, given that north of Grand Rapids the speed limit is 80, that we could actually make some really decent time getting there.

[smskeeter23]

So what you're saying is that I really need to fix 5he front end in the car now... and probably at least look at tires huh? This is getting expensive already lol

Sounds great to me... as long as there is time for beer and chili

[bs009]

Going up north and back down would be quite the drive for one day I think. Any thoughts on hitting a campground for the night while we're up there?

[nos4blood70]

If we do want to camp, I have plenty of camping gear including a mini stove, mini grill, etc that I would love to bring. Seems like the S2000 is the natural choice for an adventure such as this so someone else will have to haul a cooler.

[MattStrike]

I'd be OK with finding a campground to sit by a fire, have chili, drink beer.

[smskeeter23]

For those who don't know about "The tunnel of trees M199" like I didn't... here is a good video...

https://youtu.be/Bv86SlUlIC0

[bs009]

I think one of the biggest magic tricks we'd have to do is plan to do this exactly when the trees have changed. That's something that's going to be pretty unpredictable.

[smskeeter23]

Also that would maybe work well for us because we could just go up through the UP home instead of back around the south from your house. Meet at your place, drive up, have chili and beer, then split from there for the trip home. With all the driving it might be good to think about extending arrivals to Thursday night? An extra night/day for BS is never a "bad" idea right? lol

[smskeeter23]

I think one of the biggest magic tricks we'd have to do is plan to do this exactly when the trees have changed. That's something that's going to be pretty unpredictable.

I've done that a lot here for fall pics. Too early and no color, too late and lots of color... but it's all brown.

Only having 2 weekends to choose from is tough.

[bs009]

Yeah that's the other question if we do decide to camp.

Do we plan a Friday -> Saturday drive? That would mean some people could come back for shenanigans on Saturday night.

If we plan a Saturday -> Sunday drive that would mean shenanigans on Friday night and most people would likely part ways somewhere along the road on Sunday.

[smskeeter23]

Brevoort Lake Campground (in Saint Ignace) has a group site (up to 16 people) for $36. It is currently reservable for the 6th-7th and likely for the next weekend as well.

[bs009]

I think to plan for fall colors we would want to shoot for the middle of October.

[MattStrike]

Last year the northern colors peaked between the first and second week of October. It's been fairly consistent, within a week, of that time frame most years. But we won't know for sure until at least August.

[SSEiMan01]

Count us in!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[nos4blood70]

This year seems to be running late, nature wise.

[MattStrike]

I like the idea of a Friday drive up, Chili and camp, drive back Saturday and Bonfire at my place. I'll have to work out some things on my end either way, but I've got a few days vacation left yet.