Sweet Peas Adventures

Saturday Sailing

2011-08-11T07:34:00.000-04:00

Since I finished up my hike earlier than anticipated, I was able to be home to go sailing with Boo! We woke on Saturday morning and headed to the lake. I was going to help crew on his boat for a few regatta races. He was grinning from ear to ear, I think he secretly loves it when I come out and sail with him, because he's the captain and as his swabby first mate, I have to listen to all his orders. haha! I, on the other hand, was a bit nervous. You see, I've never gotten my sea legs. Not even an inkling of one. I'm a diehard land lubber. I think the fear of being shark bait has alot to do with it. Plus, I still have a hard time with all the sailing vocabulary. Like why can't you just say, "pull up the sails on the front of the boat!" Instead I have to hear things like, "prepare to tack" or "hoist the jib sheet to the port side" HUH???? haha! I'm sailing iliterate. To be quite honest, I'm not even sure if that last quote is even a legit sailing command. I just jumbled a bunch of words I had heard all day to make it "saily" sounding. Sorry Boo, please don't have a coronary attack over this blog. haha! I totally respect what you do. I admire, envy, and am very proud that you're such a good sailor. I wish I was more of the wench you want me to be. (haha!) Maybe I'll work on that more. I mean, who doesn't fantasize about being a pirate wench every now and then? haha!

Serious, I am very proud and in awe at what you can do on a boat. I feel safe knowing your the captain of the ship :)

So as the day goes, I was a big help on the boat today..... NOT. I took my usual chill spot and chilled all day long as Boo and Sean sailed us through 4 races. We came in second twice, dead last once, and a resectable 4th place on another. All in in it was a great day to be on the water and a fantastic way to relax after a week of hiking in the mountains. I can see why Boo loves sailing so much,. It's just as peaceful as being out in the woods.

Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Lake Norman Hike and Camp

2011-08-11T07:22:00.000-04:00

Mary Poppins, Bumper, Shroom, Nina, Michelle, Beth, Dierdre, Barbara, and I all met at the carpool spot. This is where the fun began. haha! We had a "trail dude" show up. He had signed up for our group last night. Even though I sent him an email telling him this is an all womens group and he could not join us, and removed I him from our group, he still showed up! I again told him he could not join us, he tried to leave. I say tried b/c for the next 15-20 minutes, he kept tripping his car alarm and could not get his car started. He then asked us for a jump and while backing his car out, almost hit a group of Dames! Whe he saw he backed his car out too much, he asked the Dames to push his car! That's when a handsome young man stepped in and asked if there was anything he could do to help. We greatly appreciated the fact that he took over and we moved our cars.

We finally make it the trailhead and get started on our hike. The weather was still holding up. We hiked in perfect overcast, cool (well, cool for July!) weather. The hike was a pretty fast one as far as Dames hikes go. We timed it to be a 20 mintue mile. AFter our hike, we all headed out in search of some lunch. We discovered this pizza place that had 2 slices and a coke for $4.95. Can't beat that, so we all ate pizza.

We said goodbye to some of the girls and the rest of us that were camping decided to check out the local grocery store for some adult beverages. hee hee :) Nina and I split a six pack of Sarnac beer, while the Mary Poppins, Maureen, and Bumper split a couple bottles of wine. Wendy and Marie already had there flasks back at the campsite. We headed back to set up camp for the night.

After dividing up the gear, I helped each newbie camper set up their tents. They did so awesome and barely needed my assistance. I then set up my hammock and let all the girls try it out. I think I converted all but one :) They loved the WBBB hammock. Who can blame them :) haha! Seriouly, it is a very comfortable hammock. We headed back to the tables to nosh on some fresh fruit, veggies, dip, and chit chat a bit before starting a campfire for roasting hot dogs.

When dinner was over, we all squeezed into Marie and Wendy's picnic, which was surrounded by tarps to keep rain out. It felt like a cozy little cabin table to play a game of TABOU. Talk about hilarious fun! After the rain let up a bit, I pulled out the giant marshmellows, Wendy started a fire, and Nina brought out the chocolate and graham crackers and we made s'mores! YUMMY :) After stuffing our faces we sat around the campfire and talked and talked til the next thing we knew it was 11:30pm, time for bed.
The next morning, we go up and hiked the trail all over again! Great time with some great people. Had lots of fun and we got in two hikes this weekend. :)

Craggy Gardens

2011-08-11T07:15:00.000-04:00

The overcast day started with me picking up 2 Dames, Kimber and Beth, while two GA Dames followed along in their car (Janet and Kellye).  The weather held up just fine, til we neared Asheville NC, then the sky just opened up.   We pulled over at the nearest exit and into a BILO grocery store. Where I bought 3 rain ponchos. We got back on the road and exited into Asheville. Somehow, my directions weren't clear and we ended up traveling up Tunnel Road, a steep dead end road. With rain pouring, we stopped to look at directions, when the parked truck in front of us suddenly blared his high beams on us. Someone was in the car! Oops, we u-turned it and headed back on the main road.

We finally found the parkway! Cruising along in the rain, we some how lost the other car. I just figured we would all make it to the meet up spot where were were supposed to meet up with 3 more Dames, Chris, Deirdre, and Nina. Well, the rain gods had other plans for us that day. haha!

We waited and waited and waited for a good 1/1/2 hours.  The GA girls had made a wrong turn and ended up at the picnic area instead of the visitors center, but we were able to text them the right meet up spot. Since the other 3 Dames were missing, I decided to call the only other visitors center within a 50 mile radius. Guess what....the other three Dames were there and had the called our visitors center and were on the way. So we stuck around and played in the rain and wind. haha! Seriously :)

Kimber, Beth and I, we put on our colorful ponchos and had a good time splashing around in the rain. It's great when your around a other people with great attitudes. I'm so lucky to have such a group of wonderful Dames that have been a blast to hang out with, no matter the circumstances. Instead of griping and complaining, about waiting and all the rain, we all had a great time being silly. Since the ponchos were red, blue, and orange, we gave each other names. Koolaid (as in the big red pitcher drink) Pumpkin, and the blue poncho was named Violet (as in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Violet who swelled up into a giant blueberry.) Each time the wind bellowed up the ponchos and made us look like our goofy namesakes, we laughed like school girls. When the rain, wind and temperature got to chilly, we all piled into my car and continued the fun. Noshing on our trail mix, we saw Chris pull up! She told us she did go to the wrong visitors center and when she releazied it, she made here way here.   But she got stuck on the parkway when a huge tree had fallen in the road and has stopped traffic. She had to wait for a tree cutting company to come up and cut the tree out of the roadway. We figured that's what happened to the other dames, Nina and Dierdre.

When the skies cleared up, we decided it was time to go on our hike. So we drove down to the Craggy Pinnacle trailhead, hiked up a mile in the rhododendrum tunnel and when we got to the top, we were in awe at the stunning view of the NC mountains. We all agreed it was worth the climb. I took some photos and we hung around enjoying the sunshine and breeze before we hiked back down.

When we got back to the visitors center, we finally go a hold of Nina and Dierdre. They also got stuck in the tree traffic, so they were just going to head into Asheville for lunch. The rest of us decided to continue on with our second hike to the picnic spot.  I found out that we were very lucky enough to have climbed up Craggy Gardens at the perfect moment. The view is usually socked in with fog about 60% of the time. Must of been our good attitudes that brought us good karma :)

The trailhead for the next hike was at the end of the parking area in the visitors center. We had all intentions of hiking up the Craggy Gardens trail to the picnic area, passing a Mountains to Sea Trail shelter along the way. I was excited to show the group what a trail shelter looked like. Well, after 10 minutes of hiking, the entire sky turns grey. All of the sudden the winds start whipping all the rhododendrums around and it starts to sprinkle and lighting. I decide to call the hike and return back to our cars. We were hiking up to higher elevation and since it was lightening, I didn't want to risk it. Back at the parking lot, we bid goodbye to the GA Dames and got a hold of the other NC Dames. They were in downtown Asheville having a microbrew at Mellowmushroom. We were so there! haha! We hopped back in the car and drove the 5 miles back into Asheville, with Kimber giving a mile by mile text to Nina, to let them know where we where.

We parked the car and in our colorful ponchos, we walked into Mellowmushroom to meet up with Nina and Dierdre. Finding the other Dames, swiling a clean microbrew, and munching on a salad and pizza was the perfect way to end our day. :) This was a bit crazy, logistic wise, but we all agreed that we couldn't help the storm or the tree falling. All in all, we had a great time and still got in a little hike.

Beautiful View Hike

2011-07-27T16:32:00.000-04:00

We had a great group of ladies for this beautiful hike. Sarah, Kimber, Beth, Jalisia, Kerrie, Robyn, Noel, Tiffany, Maureen, Janis, Deborah, Chris, Susan, and I, We all met up at the carpool spot and 3 car loads of Dames drove up to one of my favorite NC trails. After taking our "before" picture, Sarah lead the group up thru the forested switchbacks til we got to the stairs. And boy were there stairs! We climbed for a nice .75 miles. Each time a Dame stopped to catch her breathe, all we had to do was turn around to see the amazing view. Lots of views on this hike. Since I was sweeper, I could hear claps and cheers as each Dame trickled up to the top. It made my heart feel good to see everyone encouraging one another. We really do have a great group. :)

The views were stunning. We spent a while just sitting, chatting, contemplating, relaxing, and enjoying the view. After 30 minutes, we decided to push on and continue down the relatively flat trail to another outstanding view. After another quick break, we continued on, going down hill to hike along a stream that soon became a huge waterfall. When we got to the bottom of the falls, we took a snack an water break and indulged our feet by taking a dip in the cool refreshing water. It was perfect. We continued on to finish up with an amazing view of the mountain we had just climbed. By this point we were all hot and sweaty and ready for our reward. ICE CREAM!!! We all headed for the local general store for some home made ice cream and cold drinks. This was an awesome ending to a beautiful, warm day.

Local hike

2011-07-27T00:23:00.000-04:00

9 Dames (Sarah, Karla, Beth, Michelle, Joy, Kimber, me, and Janet and Kellye from the GA Chapter)came out to hike a crazy loop in Morrow Mountain State Park. We originally were supposed to hike another loop, but it was closed due to storm damage, so after calling up the ranger, he suggested we try another 4 mile trek on Sugarloaf Mt. Loop. 5 of us met up to car pool and met the rest at the park. It was a beautiful, hot, sunny day for a hike in the woods and it started out really nice and gradual. We even saw a deer right on the trail. The trail started to roll up and down a bit and at one point we had to take a water break. One of the Dames, Joy, started turning a nice beet color red so we decided to take it easy. I think I've found Joy's trail name. BEET. Seriously, she was really red! haha! But in her defense, she does have a medical condition, which if you ask her she will gladly tell you all about it, she even jokes around and calls says her body is "allergic to exercise" haha! So Joy, you are now dubbed "BEET" :)

Michelle was in training mode, so she had on a heavy full pack (she was taking her fiance' backpacking next week). The rest of us just had our water and boy did we need it. About half way thru the hike, I took Michelles pack for a bit. It was too hot and too heavy for her to carry and I'd rather she enjoy the hike then be miserable with the extra weight. To be honest, it made me miss my backpack, so as sadistic as it sounds, I enjoyed carrying the 25 lb. pack in 98 degree weather. haha!

The trail wasn't marked clearly so somehow, we got turned around on a loop trail. Yes, we got lost on a loop trail. haha! It's OK though, cause we actually picked up another hiker and her dog. They briefly join in with us and she was very entertaining. Our 4 mile trek ended up being more like a 5 mile adveture, but in true Trail Dame form, all the Dames were in great spirits, laughing, smiling, and having a good time. We celebrated our hike at Sonic with a cool treat before we headed back home. All in all it was a wonderful day with friends.

Foothills Trail Part (day 6-7)

2011-07-27T00:14:00.000-04:00

DAY 6 After a crazy and hellacious night in a tornado, I woke up around 7am, ate a quick oatmeal breakfast and packed up a wet campsite. It was already getting to be a hot and muggy day. Seems as if the weather after a big storm is always calm, hot, and humid. This day was no different. I didn't have time to worry about it now, I had my climb up Sassafras mountain on my mind. At 8:30am, We stepped foot on the trail and finished the rolling 2.8 miles (including several stair climbs) to Laural Valley parking area.

We crossed highway 178 and started our 4.8 mile climb. The book broke up the climb into two sections, a 2.1 mile climb up to Chimneytop Gap and a 2.7 mile climb from Chimneytop gap to Sassafras Mt. So that's how I broke it up as well. A 2.1 mile climb sounds more doable than a 4.8 mile in my mind. It was a 1000 foot gain in elevation in that 2.1 mile climb and it was steep! Then came the steep wooden steps, followed by even steeper switchbacks. It seemed like it took forever to get to Chimneytop Gap. I actually got mad. For the first time on this trip, I was not enjoying it. I was crazy with hunger, physically fatigued, mentally drained, even Charlies panting was getting on my nerves. I was angry at the fact that I barely hiked 5 miles, had almost 3 miles to go all uphill another 3 to camp and I was done. After I crossed a wooden bridge, I let myself have a temper tantrum. I flopped down, pack and all, in the middle of this steep trail. I needed a break. After a few deep breathes, I pulled out my food bag, looked at my snacks, and thought, "to hell with it!" I gobbled down 2 granola bars and a dove chocolate bar I was saving for dessert. I didn't care if I had food for my last day, I needed some right NOW. I gulped down 1/2 a liter of water and gave Charlie the other half, which he slurped up in two seconds. Which left us 1 liter to get us over this mountain and did I mention it was swamp hot out? I pulled out my food bag to assed the damage and that's when I discovered my packing error. You see, I packed for 7 full days and nights. At the rate I was hiking, I only needed 6 full days and nights. I had an extra lunch and dinner, plus the snacks. I had enough food for the rest of my hike! I felt better, but sat there trying to come up with a reason I got so mad at the trail today. Was it the hot, sticky, humid weather that had sweat pouring out of my entire body? Was it the crazy steep climb? Was it that I was half starved out of my mind? Maybe it was a combination of it all. Who knows. I pepped talked myself back to normal by telling myself that this is where I want to be. I could be working in a closed in office right now instead of enjoying the fresh air and stillness of nature. I pulled myself out of my pity party and put my pack back on. It was time to finish this climb. Not more than 10 minutes later, I crossed over F. Van Clayton Highway and started my last 2.7 mile section up Sassafras Mountain.

It started up steep for about a mile, then I made it to the ridge. The trail turned into a nice wide roadbed trail and flattened out a bit before it started gradually ascending through a second growth white pine forest for the next 1.5 miles. By now I was praying for some water soon, not just for me, but for my poor puppy. It was a crazy hot day and he was panting his little heart out. The gods must of been listening because right as we are about to crest the mountain, we stumble into a little bitty stream. Enough for Charlie to gulp gallons and gallons of water and enough for me to filter 4 liters. I planned on drinking ever drop at lunch too. haha! Lunch was going to be on top of this beastly mountain and I couldn't wait. After a nice little break, we loaded back up and finally crested Sassafras. I found a side trail that had a spectacular view and as always, as soon as I saw the view, I forgot the climb. I found a nice boulder to have lunch.on. That's when I spread all my gear out to dry, took off my shoes, took a nap on the hot rock, and just relaxed. Aaahh.. I felt good again. I needed this. Charlie caved up in a rhody bush in the shade and napped too. After a good 2 hours of lounging, I knew we needed to go. We still had 3 miles to get to camp. So I packed all of our dry gear away and we hopped back on the trail.

We passed the intersection to Caesars State Park, if I had chosed to hike to the park, it would of added another 10 miles to my hike. I bypassed the intesection and continued down the Foothills trail to the original end, Table Rock. I saw a sign that said Table Rock state park was only 9 miles away. I was really tempted to just suffer and finish up, but I decided I was happy knowing I was going to finish up early. The next mile was pretty much down hill, then I started climbing up Hickorynut Mountain. I climbed up switchbacks and stairs to Emory Gap road and then began to hike down hill through a rhododendrum forest. We make it to a bend in the trail that has a wooden bridge with a nice flowing stream and two perfect trees. So we stopped and I pulled out the poncho liner for us to rest. After a 1/2 an hour, I get up and string up my tarp and hammock, hang the bear bag rope, change clothes, dunk my tired feet in the stream, and read about the last 6 miles of trail I'm finishing up tomorrow. Around 7pm, both JERMM and Don roll by on their way to a campsite a mile ahead. I wave goodbye and congratulate them on finishing their thru hike (in case I don't see them tomorrow.) I realize it's our last night in the woods and I feel both sad and excited. Sad that the adventure is ending, but excited to have actually accomplished this thru hike. I pet Charlie as we both lie in the stillness and tell him what an awesome hiking companion he's been and how proud of him I am. He just thumps his tail like he understands. That night I feed us extra helpings of everything and promised him 3 hamburgers at the end of this journey. We fall asleep around 9pm and I notice the temperature dropping quickly. I snuggle up in my hammock and pull my down sleeping bag up around my ears.

Day 7 The next morning I wake up around 6:30 am, but lay in my warm hammock for another 1/2 hour. It's cold! What strange weather! Finally, I coax my body out, pack up camp, eat the last of the granola bars and hit the trail by 8:15am. I feel good today, even though it's a bit chilly, my hair is greasy, and I am filthy. I feel good. I feel accomplished and confident in knowing I will complete this hike today. It's a far cry from where I was 6 days ago. Wondering if I had it in me to finish. Now, I know I have what it takes and it's a very powerful feeling. I really did enjoy myself, other than the climb up Sassafras, which I chalk up to no energy, exertion, and starvation. I really did enjoy this solo hike.

The trail is rolling with a few steep switchbacks, a few wooden bridges, lots of huge boulders, and a nice steady climb up Pinnacle Mountain. I hear Charlies name called and when I turn around I see it's JERMM. She's started early this morning and we hike together for a bit. When we get to the stunning morning views of Pinnacle Mountain we snap photos of one another and I leave her waiting on Don. Charlie and I finish the climb up to the yellow blazes that take us to Table Rock. When I see the 4 miles to Table Rock sign, I get a rush of adrenaline and finally let me self dream of Table Rock. We made it! 4 more miles to go, all down hill and we will have finished our thru hike! I take a moment to remember this feeling and then Charlie and I start descending down.

Now if you think climbing up 5 miles was tough, try climbing down 4 miles in rooty, rocky, rhody trail. There were places I had to take my pack off just to squeeze through. Charlie had no problem wriggling through the low hanging rhody branches and narrow rocky trail, but I had to contort, backward bend, crouch, and crawl through some of this section. It was crazy! Then, there was a detour trail that I didn't bank on. It had me climbing UP this beast of a mountain on Mill Creek Pass for awhile, til it met up with the Foothills/Pinnacle Mt. trail again. We hiked along this stream for the rest of the way. I met a couple of older gentlement day hiking up to Pinnacle Mt. and back. They congratulated me and Charlie and seemed really happy for us. An hour later I met 6 young college guys just starting out. We chit chatted a bit about the trail and they loved the fact that I had Charlie out there with his own pack. They congratulated me and I wished them well on their hike. I couldn't help but grin from ear to ear from all their attention. I felt great! I finally got down to the Carrick Creek Nature Center Trail signs and I knew I was very close. It was only 10:40am and I wasn't tired, but I wanted to stop, take my pack off and let Charlie splash around in the water. I wanted to enjoy the last possible moment on this trail. As I sat there reminicing my last 6 days, it finally caught up to me. I did it. I finished this trail all by myself. I solo thru hiked and I survived.

At 10:55am, I put my pack back on and hiked in the last mile, passing by a nice, clean family and an elderly couple out taking photos who stopped to ask me lots of questions about my adventure. The last .2 miles of the trail are paved. I put away my trek poles and pulled out Charlies leash. It felt weird to have him on a leash after such a trip. I wonder if it felt weird for him too. Anyways, I finally spotted the East end Foothills Trail sign and at 11:09am I made Charlie pose in front of it. It was Friday, so not lots of people at the Nature Center. We walked out to our car and as soon as I opened the doors of the car, Charlie jumped in and laid down. That's how he stayed the entire drive home. Oh... and he got his promised 3 hamburgers, which he gobbled down, when I stopped for my cheeseburgers and diet coke.

What an amazing trip. I learned so much about myself and what I can and am capable of doing. I learned so much about my dog and what he is capable of doing. He climbed ladders, jumped over trees, rock climbed, stair climbed, wriggled thru boulders, and kept me company over the last 6 days. He totally earned my respect and if they sell it, I will buy him a thru hiker patch of the Foothills trail for his little backpack. He was awesome.

I want to thank my friends that came to see me off. Thank you Kellye and Hemlock. You have no idea how much I appreciate your support and friendship. Thanks for being there for me those first couple of days. It really made a big difference in my mental state for this hike. Like I told you both, you brought my anxiety level down from a 9 to a 4 by just being there. Thank you to my wonderful, understanding, loving husband who lets me venture off on these crazy feats because he knows there is some innate need for me to be out in the woods. I know you were worried those first 5 nights (I really didn't have cell service, promise) and I am sorry I put you through that. But I did it and I am a better person for it, and thank you for "allowing" me to do this solo. Thank you Foothills Trail what a beautiful, well maintained, challenging trail. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Greenway Hike

2011-06-22T20:16:00.000-04:00

I met up with Dame Maria after work and we hike 3 miles at a nice pace within an hour. It was hot and there was lots of foot traffic, but it was nice to get out during the middle of the week. :)

SC Hike

2011-06-22T20:15:00.000-04:00

Several of us carpooled from Charlotte and drove the 30 mintues to Anne Springs Greenway, in Fort Mill SC, where we met up with Joy and Nina. After paying our $3 entrance fee, we parked and got ready for our hike. It was a beautiful day and we had 11 Dames enjoying the outdoors. It was Beth, Karla, Kimber, Sarah, Joy, Dierdre, Nina, Barbara, Linda, Wendy, and me.

At first we had some trouble locating the Timberline trail, but once we found it, we were good. We hiked up the Timberline trail to the top, where we passed by a Peach Farm. Lots and lots of trees dripping with almost ripe peaches. Sarah was curious about the peach tree, so Dierdre gave her permission to have one and she did! haha! She plucked one right off the tree. Oops.... ;)

We continued on, looking for the Blue Star trail. We were supposed to hop on the Blue Star trail, but some how we passed it. Must of been all the chatting we were doing. haha! We ended up on the Dogwood trail and decided to hike down it to the Muscadine trail. After hiking by a couple of ladies out their horses, we find the Muscadine trail just fine. But some how we managed to make a big loop and end up exactly where we started! I called that section of trail the twighlight section, because it was so confusing! Deciding not to hike the Muscadine trail loop again, we road walked it on a gravel road down to the lake. We met a nice man renting out kayaks for $5 an hour and then found the Haigler lake trail. We finished up the hike all safe and sound and then made our way to the Peach Stand for some rewarding, well deserved, yummy, cold ice cream!

I learned that Joy lived in China for a long time while teaching and has hiked all over the Great Wall. Sarah, literally, did a 180 of her life. She sold her house, moved to a different town, started a new career, and began living a life SHE wants. Lots of yoga and hiking! Wow, I was so impressed with her bravery. I learned that even though Kimber was in the Navy, she can't swim! haha! Too funny, we all had a nice laugh. (Sorry Kimber!! We still love you! haha!) Linda is about to go to Alaska to visit her daughter for vacation. I am so excited for her, I hope she has a wonderful time. Diedra had a wonderful time in Charleston, but I the ghost tour wasn't that great. I learned that camping with Wendy will be an experience! haha! She brings everything but the kitchen sink with her. I wonder how long it takes her to set up? I wonder what she's gonna think of my set up? Everything I have for camping fits in my backpack. Hee Hee! Barbara had a brace on her left knee and told us she had surgery for a torn meniscus a while back. She seemed to be doing great on the hike and I hope me asking if her knee was ok didn't bother her. Nina's birthday will be next Wednesday. Happy Birthday NINA!! Even though Beth is stealthy quiet, she has an eye for the trail. How about she knew we missed the Blue Star intersecting trail but kept quiet and let us continue on our chatty merry way. haha! I think I see a trail name in here somewhere for her, maybe Stealthy. Hmmm.... Speaking of trail names, Karla was dubbed this hike with her trail name. Let me paint the picture; It's about 90 degrees out, the sun is shining bright, and Karla busts out an umbrella in the middle of our hike because she doesn't want to get sun on her. We all laughed and that's when it came out. I called her Mary Poppins. So Karla is now AKA "Mary Poppins". HAHA!!

Local hike

2011-06-22T20:05:00.000-04:00

After work, I zoomed to uptown to pick up Kimber. We were going to meet a few Dames at Ribbon Walk Park for an afterwork hike! Since it was a bit early, Kimber and I chit chatted for a bit til Beth arrived. Then, Dianne, who lives right around the corner, dropped by to say hello. She was sore for her early morning workout so didn't hike with us, but wanted to welcome us to her neck of the woods. Kelly pulled in and then Barbara jumped out right behind her.

After a quick chat with Dianne, who gave us some good advice about the trails, we started our hike. The hike was pleasant and easy. We found a nice bench and took a "Trail Dame" pose photo. As we continued down the trail, we noticed that some of the trail markers were missing. There were lots of unmarked trails winding all through the park. At one point, we got so confused we ended up making a big circle. We did pass by an old abandoned little red house that I said was probably a wicked witches house (haha! sometimes I have an over active imagination.) After finally finding the right trail, we continued over the covered bridge and through the birch tree forest where we struck a pose for pictures. haha!

Everyone kept up a nice steady pace and were soaked with sweat by the time we finished up. We had such a great time cracking each other up and laughing that the hike didn't seem like a work out at all. I asked the girls if they wanted to add in another mile and they all agreed. So we climbed up the gradual hill and started looping back thru the forest.

We came up on a few guys fishing in at the pond and I asked if they had caught anything. Not yet, but they were working on it. I also asked if any of them knew about the old little house in the forest. They told us that it was an old slave house, that the property we were hiking on was once an old plantation. WOW, it was an old historical relic, now I wish I had stopped to explore that house a bit. Maybe next time.

We finished off our hike in the stifling southern heat and said our goodbyes. It was a nice workout and a great group of ladies.

Foothills Trail (Day 4-5)

2011-06-17T10:52:00.000-04:00

Day 4 After waking up around 6am, I eat an oatmeal breakfast, feed Charlie, grudgingly change out of my warm sleep clothes, pack up a wet camp, and hit the trail around 8:am (in the rain.) Since we did most of the climbing already, our first 2 miles are nice and flat on a wide road bed trail. We pull into Bearcamp creek, near Hilliard Falls and see that JERMM and Don are still asleep, so we continue on, crossing several small wooden bridges over small streams.

The rain lets up as the trial starts to descend steeply, I mean really steep! We climb down a 20ft wet wooden staircase, embedded in earth. Seriously, this is like a steep ladder and I go super slow so I don't slip and tumble down. Charlie does amazing during this section. He actually preferrs to hike off the stairs and on the dirt, so he's next to me. We finally get down to Horsepasture river and take a quick break befor crossing the 115ft wooden bridge. We climb steeply up out of the ravine and continue down the trail, crossing several more large bridges. Around the 8th mile, my stomach really started grumbling. For some reason, I've been ravenously hungry all day. I eat a granola bar every hour on the hour, but can't seem to satiate my hunger. I'm worried I'll eat all my food for the rest of the trip. I decide I need to stop soon. Just as I get to a turn off near an iron pipe gate, JERMM comes up from behind and tells me she has plans to stop for lunch at Bear Creek campsite. I decide to hike with her to camp and take a much needed lunch break. As we enter the campsite, we see a tree trunk littered with hundreds of butterflies. I take a picture and as we move into the campsite the butterflies start swirling around us. I felt like I was in some magical movie! We find a nice log to rest on and Charlie finds the stream. He takes a quick splash while we eat lunch then comes and sits by me and naps the rest of the time. Don finally rolls in and pulls out a ziploc bag of pickles. He says pickles are his favorite trail food. Ok... to each his own. What shocked me was that fact that he carried these pickles for 4 days, in a ziploc bag, full of hot pickle juice (belch) Oh man... just the thought of that ziploc breaking all over my gear and having that putrid smell all in my stuff made me gag. But hey, everyone needs their trail luxury item. For some it's a pillow, for others it's, evidently, 4 day old pickles. After a nice laugh at Don's expense, I filter some water for the next climb and then Charlie and I are off.

During lunch I looked over my Foothills book and read that Canebrake, the lake Jocassee boat access was 5 miles away. It would mean a 13 mile day, but I thought very doable. We just had one climb, then the last 3 miles was down hill. So we pushed on. During this climb, there were several times the trail crossed a dirt road and it got really confusing. I had to bust out the guide book to make sure I was turning the right way. It was like a spaghetti bowl of trail intersections. I even almost stepped on a snake! He was curled up on the trail, trying to sun itself, when I spotted it out of the corner of my eye. My next step would of been right on it. All I know is that it was a brown, beige snake that barely moved as I jumped around it. Not sure of the variety, but I'll say copperhead. It's the right color and makes the story sound more adventurous. haha! I finally weave my way though the crazy trail and get to a section that has alot of big boulders in the middle of the trail. Well, as a human, I can pretty much contort myself through a maze of rocks. My poor doggie can't. You see we came to an impass of sorts. There were two big boulders that I could squeeze my feet and legs through. But it was too narrow for Charlie and his pack to squeeze through and too high for him to jump. Also, one side of the trail went straight down and the other side was the boulder. After I passed through, I was going to take my pack off and then take Charlies pack off for him to squeeze through. Well, when I turned around, I saw Charlie attempt to ram through the rocks. He backed up and attempted to ram thru again a couple more times. I laughed so hard, pulled out my camera and snapped a few more attempts. Just before I go to help him out, he wriggles his body so he's leaning on one boulder and walking on the rocks sideways. He slowly pushes his pack and himself through the rocks. Then he looks at me, wagging his tail like nothing happened. I just laughed and gave him the biggest hug. I love that silly dog. We continue on and stop at a stream about a mile away to load up our 6 liters of water.

We finally make it down to the lake around 5:45pm and I am exhausted, hungry, and filthy. Guess what... there is no good place for a campsite. One side is a steep climb up and the other is the water. I almost cry b/c my feet are feeling the 13 miles. After a quick rest, we decide to hike one 1 more mile to the designated campsite on the otherside of the lake. Just as I climb over a little hill, I see the sweet stealthyish campsite. It's on a wooded peninsula jetting out into the lake. We walk off trail and find the perfect spot to camp. As soon as I unfold the poncho liner, Charlie climbs on and lays down for the night. He is out! Poor little buddy. I suppose today was a long and tough day. I lay down for a few minutes, then change clothes and air out my wet gear. As I wander off to hang my bear bag rope, I find a nice size stream and dip my aching feet in for a few minutes. I decide to do some much needed laundry, so I go back, grab my hiking clothes and convince Charlie to walk back to the stream with me. As soon as we reach the stream, he plops down in the middle of it and lapps up water. I rinse out my clothes while my feet luxuriate in the cold stream. We head back and Charlie plops back down on his blanket and I hang all my clothes on every branch, rope, tree I see. It's a warm night and the slight lake breeze feels amazing. I snap a picture of my hobo homestead and start boiling some water for dinner. I'm having maxpatch mac -n-cheese tonight with 2 chocolate bars. I'm still ravenous after dinner, so I have a breakfast granola bar and hope I won't run out of food on this trip. After dinner, dessert, second dessert and two liters of water, I lay down with Charlie and flip through my next days itenirary. As I'm reading the mile markers section, it dawns on me that Charlie and I have passed the halfway point! I let the wave of elation wash over me as I let a huge grin spread on my face and hug the crap out of Charlie. He doesn't seem to understand my excitement as he lays there, thumping his tail, taking the hugs, and listening to me coo, over and over again, in my doggie mom voice (really baby talk voice) that we are over half done and that I am so proud of him. Then it hits me. We can do this. I can do this. Though I feel fatigued from the day, I still feel good, strong, healthy. I can finish this trail. I let myself briefly think of Table Rock and it feels awesome. I love today. For the first time, I truly feel like I can finish this trail. We go to sleep tonight to the sound of bass fish piercing the surface of the lake.

Day 5 I wake up renewed, revised, refreshed, reenergized, and happy. I know we have a tough climb today. We have a section called "heart break ridge", but I am ready. We pack up a dry camp, eat breakfast, and around 7:50am we step foot back on the trail. In a mile we cross over a 65ft bridge and pass the designated campsite where Don and JERMM are still sleeping. So we continue the lake side trail for another 1/2 mile before we turn away from the lake and begin our days strenous climb. We literally have to climb 5 sets of steep staircase. As I climb up the first one, I realize why it's called heart break ridge. My heart is pumping so hard I feel like it's going to fly out my chest! Not to mention it's hot and muggy out already. I get to a wooden bench and take a quick break. Then we start climbing again. We climb 5 sets of steep ladder staircases to get to a steep roadbed trail. We finally make it to the ridge and start a nice rolling section. We cross 35 footbridge near a designated campsite, hop back on a roadbed trail, and that's when the sky opens up. I stop to get my rain jacket out and soon we are walking with rain pelting down on us. Poor Charlie gets soaked thru, but he's still wagging his tail. He is such a great hiking/backpacking dog. I don't put him on a leash, b/c I don't need to. He hikes directly behind me and when I stop, he stops. I couldn't ask for a better outdoor dog. I hope he was enjoying the trip as much as I was.

The rain finally lets up and we continue with a gradual climb on an old logging road trail. We stop for a quick lunch at the Laurel Fork boat access spur trail intersection. I rehydrate another blackbean salad burrito and scarf it down. By now I am hungry all day long. I need to remember to readjust my food supply the next time I do a long distance trail. After 20 mins. we pack back up and continue up the trail. For the next four miles, we cross over several large wooden bridges til we reach Laurel Fork Creek. Where we stop to filter some water and relax a bit. Here, we meet a westbounder. You see, I am hiking the Foothills trail from west to east, so I am an eastbounder. Anyways, he just started a couple of days ago from Table Rock. We chit chat and exchange info on trail details. He says I have a rough climb to look forward to at Sassafras Mountain. He pets Charlie and tells me he wishes he had brought his black lab. He was lonely. I wish him good luck and he tells me the same, then we part ways.

Soon Charlie and I start to climb and we see signs for Virginia Hawkins waterfall. We get to the overlook and I snap a few photos. I hop back on the trail and that's when I see them. Stairs... stairs that go on forever. I'm tired from already having hiked 10 miles, so I stop, take off my pack, eat a granola bar, and pull out my Foothills trail book while Charlie lays down for a rest. I read that I have 100 stairs to climb to get to the top of the falls. After a 10 min. rest, we start climbing. About mid way up is a nice wooden bench, I take advantage of it and rest for a second. Then I fnish off the stairs and enter a thick rhododendrum tunnel. I climb through the rhody trail and pray that all my climbing is over. It's been a pretty long, rainy, exhausting, hunger pang day. I'm looking forward to changing into some dry warm clothes, eating a hot dinner and relaxing in my hammock. We finally reach the top of the mountain, cross a gravel road and start descending. About a mile later I cross a wooden bridge and see the designated campsite. It's huge and really open. I look at Charlie and say no, not here buddy. I hike down past the stream and start the small climb up the other side and that's when I see it. A stealthy campsite. We walk 10 yards off the trail and I take off my pack and take Charlie's pack off of him. I pull out the poncho liner and we both spread out and lay there for a few minutes. My grumbling stomach urges me to finish camp chores so we can eat dinner. I look at my watch, it's only 4:30pm, too early for dinner. So I eat another granola bar and start putting up my tarp and hammock. Then, I change out of my grimey clothes, give myself a good wet wipe bath and put on my warm comfy camp clothes. I feel 80% better. My feet still ache in my red croc wannabe's so I decide to reward myself with a nice cool foot bath in the stream, but only AFTER I hang my bear bag rope and I filter our 6 liters. So off I go to bear bag. I've been pretty lucky in my bear bagging this trip. I usually make it in the first couple of tosses. I coax Charlie into coming down to the stream with me and he slowly gets up. I see it's been a tough hike for him too. I make a mental note to give him an extra few minutes on his nightly rub down/massage.

I get to the stream, ease my feet in and feel the cool water envelope them while the pain slips away. ahhh.... Charlie climbs in the stream and lays down lapping up water. I start filtering and get to 3 liters when JERMM and Don roll through. I chit chat a bit before they take off for another mile or so to their campsite. After they leave, I go back to filtering and almost get another liter in, when the sky opens up and rain comes pouring down. Charlie and I bolt back to our campsite and sit under our tarp, watching the rain stream down. I eat dinner under the tarp, (Enertia El Capitan Chili) and when there's a lull in the rain, I quickly bear bag the food. For the rest of the night, I hang out with Charlie on his blanket, keeping him company. Around 8pm I slip into my hammock for the night. It's still raining and the winds have picked up, but we are in a nice protected valley like area so I mainly hear the wind. I read my next days itenirary and slowly doze in and out of sleep while the rain beats down on my tarp. I try calling Boo from my celly (I've had no service the entire trip) I get through and that's when I find out the storm I'm in is really a tornado! I also get a text from Kellye and an email from Hemlock. Both are worried about me in this weather. I sent out mgs letting them know I was safe and then shut off my phone and went to sleep.

Around 11pm, the thunder started rolling, crackeling, almost growling and clapping. Then the lightning came and iluminated the entire area every few seconds. The wind was howling and the rain came down in buckets. I heard Charlie stirring about, so I stuck my hand out from my hammock to pet him. He poked his snout into my hammock as if to check on me then he sat there, making sure he was touching my hand. We stayed awake for the next 2 hours, with the weather getting worse. Finally, around 4am, it let up a bit and I was able to fall back asleep. What a crazy night. Thank goodness for my OES tarp. We stayed warm and dry.

Lost in Latta

2011-05-23T17:07:00.012-04:00

Seven Dames (Kimber, Linda, Marie, Wendy, Beth, Nina, and me) met up at Latta Plantation Nature Preserve at 8am on Sunday May 22, 2011. Actually, Linda showed up on Saturday too. I suppose she really really wanted to hike this trail (wink, wink hahaha!) Sorry Linda, but I have to tell the story. She thought the hike was on Saturday. So she showed up, waited and waited, and finally decided that since she was already there, she might as well hike the park. It wasn't til she got home that she realized the hike was on Sunday. But to her credit, she came back out this Sunday morning and hiked some more! Now that's a Dame!

After hellos and a quick briefing on what trails we were going to hike, we started out on our 3 mile hike. The plan was to hike the Hill trail to Split Rock trail and if we felt up to it, hop on the Cove trail for an extra mile.

Well, everything started out as planned. By 8:15am we were

taking off up the orange marked Hill trail. It was an open gravely

road with a steady gradual climb up to our turn off onto the red Split Rock trail. The Split Rock Trail was a nice rolling section of trail that weaved in and out of the forest. We were making good time and decided we all felt we could add another mile, so we turned off on the green Cove trail. Well, we walked and walked and some how we missed our turn off.

We climbed a bit and realized we were almost in a residential area, so we doubled back and walked down towards the lake. We came to an intersection that split off into 4 paths, but none of them were marked. I checked and double checked the map for our location and guessed at which was the best trail to take. The trail led us to the lake, where we took a nice water break and my chocolate lab got a good swim in before we decided to turn back around and find our lost trail.

After a .33 miles, we found our trail intersection and a nice picnic table to take a quick water break. Soon, we were chatting down the trail and that's when we ran into the the ranger that was collecting trash along the trail. We stopped to talk to him for a bit and when he asked us if we had any issues with the trail system or map, that's when Linda let it rip. haha! She told him about the bad trail markings and the lack of markers at the confusing intersection. We all laughed and cheered her on. The ranger actually took our suggestions seriously and let us know they were working on updating the park with new and correct mileage markers. We thanked him for his time and off we hiked. When we got back to the parking lot, Linda, who was wearing her pedometer, informed us we all actually hiked 5.3 miles. 5 miles!! I was so proud of all the Dames!! To reward ourselves, we drove down to the local Mickey D's for a cool drink.

Landsford Canal Hike

2011-05-16T14:15:00.011-04:00

Eight Trail Dames made it out Landsford Canal State Park in South Carolina!

Six of us met up to carpool (Beth, Kelly, Kimber, Nina, Deirdre, and me), while two (Chris and Mara) met us at the park. We drove down to Landsford Canal State Park to catch a glimpse of the infamous spider lilies that only seem to bloom this time of year. It was a quick 30 minute drive and a $2 entrance fee each, but we all agreed, it was worth the price of admission.

As we climb out of our cars, we exchange hellos and catch up with each other. I notice
Chris' new day hiking pack and her weight loss. I am so proud of her. She looks great and her new pack makes her legit day hiker! haha! Seriously, her pack was so cute. Kelly and I helped her fill it with water, showed her how it worked, and explained where the hose goes.

We saw a lot of kayakers getting ready to enjoy the spider lilies up close and personal. You see, these little hardy flowers only grow on rocky shoals of a river and the Catawba River is one of the largest growing sites. The flowers are
literally growing on boulders in the middle of
the river!

After gawking at the kayakers, we found a nice park ranger that was willing to take our photos in exchange for our beautiful smiles. So we took our "beginning of the hike" picture, then we took a silly Dame photo before finally hopping on the trail. Chatting away, it amazes me how easily we all fall into conversations with one another. We have an awesome group of ladies and I got a chance to talk to each and every one of them.

The trail itself was a nice and easy, well maintained path that was very well marked. We started along the river then turn right into the forest and walked along the canal path. We learned that the early settlers made these man made canals through the forest to keep themselves out of sight and safe. We stopped to read all the historical signs and after a mile we reached the viewing platform for the spider lilies.

After taking lots of photos, and a water break, we continued on a nice easy trail for another 1/2 mile up to the stone bridge and official historical Indian trade post sight. I snapped a couple of photos of the Dames on the bridge, then we hiked back to the lily platform one last time.

It started to sprinkle so I mentioned that maybe Kelly's trail name should be Rainmaker. Cause it seems that each time I've hiked with her, it seems to rain. haha! We finally get back to the cars and that's when Nina surprises us. She pulls out a tupperware full of fresh strawberries to share! They tasted so yummy after our hike. Thank you Nina! That was so thoughtful. We say goodbye to Chris and Mara and then the rest of us hop back into my car and head back home. As soon as we pull out of the state park, it starts to rain and we all look at Kelly and laugh. haha! At least it didn't rain on our hike! This was a great hike with a great group. Looking forward to our next adventure Trail Dames.

Reedy Creek Hike

2011-05-11T14:25:00.018-04:00

Nine Dames made it out on a beautiful mothers day morning for a 3 mile hike. (Nina, Lori, Kimber, Chelsea, Diana, Dolores, Kathy, and me.) We all met up at the nature center where we chatted a bit before trail maps were passed around. AFter taking the "before" picture, we headed down past the nature center and started our hike on the yellow Umbrella Tree Trail. We hiked in around .33 miles before Diana decided to take the short cut trail to meet us at the Robinson Rock house. We all continued the next mile on the blue Big Oak trail. Everyone seemed

to be chatting away and hiking around the same pace, Which was great, because I was able to talk to each Dame :)

We finally reach the intersection at the Umbrella Tree trail, where we stop and I ask Nina which way we should go. She checks out her map and decides we need to turn right. Perfect! She and Dolores keep the lead adn pace going for the hike for anotehr .33 miles beforewe come to the next intersection. Agian the ladeis consult the map and keep us going in the right direction.

We take a right and stop to admire a big tree that Dolores points out before we contine another .33 miles on the red South Fork trail. We finally run into the orange Robinson Rockhouse trail, hang a rightr and continue for another .33 miles down to the rock ruins. Dolores was the first to notice the sweet aroma that a honeysuckle makes and I made sure everyone else caught a whiff of that sweet scent lingering in the air. A few feet later, we passed by the honeysuckle plant and I was so tempted to pluck a flower and taste the nector. But alas, we were in the county park and were not allowed to pluck, pull, or pick any flower, fauna, or tree. So I took a deep breathe and

settled for the sweet aroma in the air :)

I love this section of hte trail, not only becuase it's beautiful, but because when you near the end, you round a bend in the trail, then all of the sudden, you stumble upon the rock ruins. We

stopped for 15 minutes, enjoying and exploring the ruins. Kathy shared her yummy trail mix with me. Yummy! We stop to take a group photo and then hop back on the trail. This time, Kimber and Chelsea take the lead. At the trail intersection we run into Diana, seems as if her short cut ended up being along cut!

After adding up her mileage, she had hiked around the same miles as we did. Oh well, ast lest we all hiked back out together. Wehn we get to the nature center, everyone walks over to the pond and picnic table, while Lori adn I head back down

the trail to check on Diana. She was right on our heels. When we get back, we all say our goodbyes and head back to our cars.

It was a beautiful day, a wonderful hike, and a great group of ladies in one of my favorite local parks. I couldn't of asked for a better day. I look forward to hiking with each and everyone of you again soon!

Foothills Trail (Day 1-3)

2011-05-03T09:22:00.061-04:00

DAY 1 Saturday moring, I was on the road by 6am and on the way to Table Rock State Park in SC, where I was meeting a Mr. Bob Hesser at 8:30am, to shuttle me over to Oconee State Park. I arrived at 8:05 and checked into the visitors center, logged in my intentions to thru hike the Foothills trail with the ranger, paid for overnight parking for my car, and headed over to the nature center to meet up with Mr. Hesser. I spotted him right away (since he was the only car in the parking lot), I pulled up, got out, exchanged hello's and started loading up my pack, my dog, and his pack into Mr. Hessers green Cherokee. I offered to pay him $40, but he said that $20 was plenty and we were off to Oconee State Park. My nerves were a bit restless and I arrived with excitement at what I was about to embark on. I was about to attempt to thru hike, eastbound, the 77 miles from Oconee State Park to Table Rock State Park SOLO. My first time hiking solo.... so yep... I was a bit nervous.

I arrived at Oconee State Park around 9:40am. I forced myself to eat a sandwhich I brought, so I would have some sort of energy. I took the obligatory photos of the big Foot Hills Sign, making my dog Charlie the model, then I sat down to wait. I was waiting for Kellye and Hemlock!!! YAY! They were going to walk with me the first 2 days. It put me at ease knowing that my first night out, I wouldn't be alone. That I would have friends hiking with me. They arrived around 10:15am and as soon as they parked, we hopped on the trail and started our hike. My pack was considerably heavier than most trips I've taken. But then again, I normally don't carry 7 days worth of food with me either! I realized that I still had butterflies in my stomach, even though I knew I wouldn't be alone my first night. Well after hiking for a couple of hours, I worked out that I was actually nervous at about completing the trail. I didn't want to think of finishing at Table Rock. I decided that I was going to

walk this trail day by day. So my only destination for each day, would be where to camp for that night. That was the only way for me to handle my fear hiking and completing a long distance by myself.

A couple of hours into our hike we ran into Leah and her dog Zuzu who were out hiking with her church group. After the first 8

miles, we stopped at Lick Log campsite to rest a bit. It was a beautiful site with a nice plunging waterfall. My dog Charlie and Kellye's dog Sammy played in the water, while Kellye and I rested and Hemlock scouted around a bit for some lady slippers that were the blooming around the main campsite. After a nice 30 minute break and me filtering some water, we put our packs back on and headed another 5 miles t

o camp. The trail was graded really well and was rolling. I got to camp first and heard a bunch of voices near by so I decided to stop. It was a beautiful site right on the river. I found a couple of trees and strung up my hammock, while my dog played in the river.

Kellye and Hemlock rolled in soon enough and set up camp. We enjoyed the rest of the evening talking, eating dinner, and snapping photos. Later that night, Hemlock ran into JERMM and she walk over to say hello. Seems as if she and (a hammocker) named Don started the trail today and were going to attempt to thru hike as well. YAY! I would have some company and familiar faces along the trail.

Day 2 I slept soundly in my hammock that night. The next morning, we woke up, ate breakfast and

hit the trail. We only had 5.5 miles to Burrells Ford (where Kellye and Hemlock parked there car), but I still had 6 more miles til camp and 4 of those miles were all up hill. The next few miles were ups and downs along the river then away from the river. As we neared Burrells Ford, Hemlock decided to take a dip in the river and check out a spur trail to a waterfall. Kellye decided to sit along the shore of the river and I decided to hike on to take a break for lunch and rest when I got to Burrells Ford. When I got to Burrells Ford, all I saw was a dirt lot and a privy. I decided to sit in the grass next to the privy and take off my new hiking shoes (I wore trail runner like shoes by Keen and they were awesome throughout my hike) rest, and have lunch.

Kellye and Hemlock finally came out the woods and said their goodbyes and wished me luck on the rest of my hike. Now I felt nauseas. I was all alone and the reality of it hit me. I am now solo hiking... I stayed in that parking lot alot longer than I meant to. Almost deciding that I didn't need to do hike any longer, that I could just call my shuttle guy and be taking back to my car, I really felt a sick nagging feeling in my stomach. It was telling me to quit, after all, I had a nice weekend hike with Hemlock and Kellye. But I talked myself out of it. I looked at my dog and said, "OK, let's get to camp, then we'll decide." So I put my shoes on, got up, put Charlies pack on him, slung my heavy ass pack back on, and I swear my knees felt like jello, even though I hadn't climbed much and was well rested from my 2 hour lunch, my knees were wobbly. We crossed the gravel road and with my stomach doing somersaults, we climbed and climbed, and climbed some more for the next 4 miles. The last mile had some steep switchbacks!

Around 4:15pm, we crossed SC Highway 107 (Fish Hatchery Road) and started to descend. I wanted to get to a nice flat, stealth campsite before 5pm. We passed several small streams and I finally decided to stop and filter 6 liters of water for camp for me and Charlie. Yes, 6 liters is ALOT and extremely heavy, but I wanted enough for the night and for the next morning. So with 6 liters of water, I continued down the trail. I finally found a nice stealthy campsite. It was away from the trail and covered by trees, so no one could really see us. Since it was a long 12 mile day, I pulled out Charlies poncho liner/bed, laid it out and we both plopped down to rest. The next thing I knew, it was 5:26pm, I had dosed off for a 1/2 hour. I grudgingly got up to set up camp while Charlie continued to nap away. I strung up my tarp, hammock, and found a great bear bag tree. In one try, I got my bear bag rope strung up (YAY!!). I then, changed into comfy camp/sleeping clothes and shoes, and plopped down next to Charlie again to review the Foothills trail book for the next days hike. An hour later, I decided to give Charlie a good back rub (that dog has the life! haha!) then it was time to make dinner. Around 7pm, I boiled some water for my 1 serving Enertia San Juan Strognoff, when JERMM walks by. We chit chat for a bit and she tells me she's aiming for a campsite a mile or two up the trail. We wave goodbyes and she tells me to keep an eye out for Don. I finished up my yummy dinner and cause it's Easter Sunday, I have a Dove chocolate bar for dessert. You see, I had given up chocolate for lent, so that first bite was pure heaven. So good... Don finally rolls by and I tell him where JERMM says she's camping out.

By now, I've bear bagged my food bags and am relaxing next to Charlie (who hasn't moved by the way). Around 8:30pm, I climb into my hammock and easily fall to sleep. This whole time I was so worried about spending my first night out in the woods all alone, and here I am, sleeping soundly. I guess I just scared myself silly with all the "what if" scenarios or maybe I was just too tired to be scared. haha!

Day 3 The next morning, I woke up around 6:30am. I wanted to get an early start, so I packed up camp, ate my oatmeal, fed Charlie, and we were stepping on the trail

by 8am. We continued to hike gently rolling trail, til I got to JERMM and Don's campsite at 8:30am. JERMM was up and enjoying a beverage, but I think Don was still sleeping in his hammock. We chit chatted a bit and then Charlie and I continued on. Around 9am, I stopped and filtered some water for our up coming 4 mile climb today. As soon as we crossed Highway 107 at Sloan Bridge, we started our well graded climb.

I finally got to the SC/NC state line sign and not only was it a mile marker for me, it was also like a big welcoming hug. I was hiking back into my home state. We were leaving Sumter Forest in SC and entering the Nantahala in NC. I've hiked this area several times, so the familiarity put me a little at ease. I finally reach the top of the escarpment, and I know it was the top b/c of the nice wooden bench the park provides for some rest and views. Well guess what? No views, none at all. It was socked in with fog. I still took advantage of the bench and rested while I had a granola bar. 20 minutes later, I got up and we walked down hill for a mile, crossing NC 281. We stopped by a nice rolling stream and took a good 10 minute break. I filtered more water and Charlie splashed around. I decided to skip the .5 mile spur trail up to the falls and continued descending. This section of the trail was really rocky and full of big boulder steps. I finally met some day hikers on this section and chatted them up a bit. I didn't realize how awesome it would feel saying I was a thru hiker, until I actually said it. The group of day hikers asked me where I was going and where did I come from and when I said I was thru hiking and came from Oconee, going to Table Rock, it hit me. I actually said I was hiking 77 miles, I was thru hiking 77 miles. I suddenly felt strong, confident, and happy. But I tried not to think of Table Rock during my entire trip. I wanted to take it day by day, mile by mile. Today's goal was to get me to camp. They wished me luck and one of them said, I hope your dog likes to rock climb. I thanked them and had no clue what he meant by that, but I continued descending down to the base of the falls.

Once I got down to the suspended 28 foot bridge, I realized what he meant by rock climbing. There was a giant smooth boulder, that we were supposed to scramble up to to cross the bridge. I mean this was a HUGE rock! It was taller than me! So I took off my pack and flung it up on to the top of the rock and tossed both of my trek poles up. When I turned around, Charlie had plunged into the deep, rushing river and was trying to swim back to the boulder shore. He finally came close enough for me to pull him out by his back pack. Hey just wagged his tail like nothing happened. Silly dog, he almost floated down stream! I took his pack off and threw it up onto the boulder. Then I pick up my 105lb chocolate lab and push him up the boulder until he could catch his balance and scramble the rest of the way up. Exhausted, I look up and see my silly puppy just wagging his tail, grinning down at me. I finally scramble up to the top., get all our packs back on, and cross the bridge.

We begin hiking through a series of steps and small wooden bridges that traverse steeply through a rocky section, then begins a nice flat area along the river. Charlie and I decide to take a nice lunch break near the river and while he splashes around and naps, I eat a rehydrated black bean salad burrito. YUM. After a nice hour break, we haul our packs back on and continue the flat section of trail that is maintained by Duke Energy. All of the sudden, I hear my name, I turn around and it's JERMM! We hike a little ways together, catching up on each others hike so far. We pass by a group of Duke Energy engineer types that are surveying the river and we chat with them for a bit. Don shows up, then we all hike together to Bad Creek Access. It's around 4pm and I have maybe 2 more miles left in me. JERMM tells me they are headed to Hilliard falls, about 5 miles away, I tell her in two miles I would of made a respectable 12 mile day and wish her and Don luck. We all begin the climb up and slowly we all begin to spread out. Charlie and I climb steeply down into Thompson River and I filter our 6 liters of water for camp as JERMM and Don pass by. I check out the designated campsite and it looks bad, so I decide to continue on to the next flat spot. So loaded up with water, we climb steeply out of Thompson river and trek on. At the top of the climb, there is a bend in the road and a sign pointing to a campsite .4 miles down a trail. I look over at the bend and see a nice flat area that looks perfect for a campsite. I drop everything, pull out Charlies poncho liner and we both lay down and rest for 1/2 an hour. It's right around 5:30pm by the time I start to feel rain drops. I quickly get up and start putting up my tarp and hammock. I throw a quick bear bag and duck under the tarp just in time. It rains for the rest of the night. I change clothes, cook/eat dinner, give Charlie a back rub, and read my next days hike all under the tarp. Finally, around 8pm, I climb into my hammock and drift off into sleep as the rain plunks down on my tarp.

Kings Mt. with the NC Dames

2011-04-18T14:13:00.013-04:00

Today, 8 of us (Katherine, Stephanie, Linda, Marsha, Karen, Kimber, Tammy, and me) headed down to Kings Mt. Military National Park for a 5 mile hike on the Brown Mountain trail. It was a beautiful day and the weather was perfect! We all carpooled to the park, which was only 40 minutes away. Once there, we grabbed maps, agreed on a meeting point, and hit the trail! It started out nice and flat but then gently started to climb for a 1/2 mile. Some of the ladies blazed on, and some of us ambled along. I'm really big on "hike your own hike." Meaning, you do you, or hike at your own pace and not worry what everyone else is doing. We will all arrive at the same place soon. Enjoy yourself, see the flowers, breathe in the fresh air, or push yourself. It's up to you, it's your hike.

Soon we come to a road crossing, then descend down a rocky, rooty trail, to a nice flat walk with gentle rolling hills for the next 2 miles. I hiked with Marsha for a while and learned that she's a pretty bad ass Dame! She has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and used to ride bikes for 40-60 mile stretches. I was really impressed. I decided to run up ahead to catch the group and let them know to go ahead and make that final 1 mile round trip push up to Browns Mountain. When I got to the trail intersection, Catherine told me they only arrived 5 minutes ago. I told them I would hang out here and wait for the others and that the group could go up to the top of Brown Mountain. Six Dames (and Dixie the Boxer) climbed up Browns Mountain. Tammy, Marsha, and I sat on a comfy log and traded snacks and stories :)

Soon, Marsh and Tammy decided to get an early start on the return trip and off they went! I waited a few minutes for the others to return and soon we were bolting down the trail. We all made it back to the visitors center and said our good byes as we hopped back into our cars and headed home. All in all it was a great hike, on a beautiful day, with a great group of Dames. I liked the fact that I got a chance to hike and talk with everyone on this hike and I loved how all the ladies seemed to find a hiking partner they could hike and talk with. That's what it's all about, enjoy the outdoors with friends. Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Cultured Rain

2011-04-17T20:06:00.007-04:00

So today was supposed to be the Art Walk along the greenway. Well, it started out that way. haha! I had 12 Dames signed up for the Art walk, but when it came down to it, only 2 showed up. I think the threat of rain scared most away. So it was just me and Kelly. We decided to zip up our rain jackets and brave the outdoors. Since it was just the two of us, we planned a new, more aggressive route, and plugged in some miles along the greenway.

Soon the soft misty rain started to pick up, but we just kept walking, thinking a little water wouldn't hurt us. Then the rain came pelting down, we just cinched up our rain hoodies and moved along the paved greenway path. We got to our turn around point, made the flip, and continued on. All of the sudden, the sky opened up and torrential buckets of water started pouring on us! We tried to hike faster, but just ended up sweating underneath our rain jackets and being soaked to the bone. Then the wind started picking up and whipping thru us. With a mile to go, we noticed an awning that we quickly ducked under. That's when we saw him, the half naked man. haha! He was a shirtless jogger that got caught in the rain and decided to take cover to wait it out. Just as we begin chatting up the jogger, my phone goes off. I get a text from Boo telling me that I need to come home, b/c there is a tornado watch for this afternoon. I laugh and tell Kelly and half naked jogger what my husband says. I text him back and tell him, "I AM in the tornado" haha!

We decide the rain isn't going to let up, and we are already soaking wet, so we duck back out into the elements. When we get to the bridge we see that the water level of the stream has flooded the trail and there is no way to continue down the path. I make the decision to finish up the walk along the street. So with a mile to go, we huff it down Kings Drive, laughing our butts off at the craziness of it all, and marching right thru puddles. I knew right then and there that I'd like Kelly. I mean, anyone that can bust out laughing at our situation instead of complain, is definitely my kind of Dame. haha! You rock Kelly!

So even though it's raining, I think we'll be safer along the road. Right? Wrong..... We were fighting typhoon tidal waves created by cars speeding along the puddles in the road. I think I might of used a couple of expletives, but for the most part, we just laughed our last mile down the road. As soon as we got to the corner and the Art Walk, you will not believe what happened. The sun came out, brilliant and bright and the sky turned that beautiful Carolina blue. The rainy, cloudy, gray sky just disappeared. It looked like there was never even a windy tornado! I said, "I bet we look crazy standing here sopping wet!" Again we just laughed and checked out the Art walk. All in all it was an interesting day as far as weather goes. haha! Kelly was a great sport and we got in an urban hike (with a story to tell.) Haha!. Til Next Time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Crowders (take 2)

2011-04-11T09:23:00.014-04:00

On Sunday, Boo and I headed to Crowders Mountain to get our hike on! Since I was last here, with the Dames, I had a wonderful day, but unfortunately, didn't break a sweat hiking. So.... this hike was for me. For me to push myself, sweat it out, huff and puff up that mountain and come away feeling cleansed, exerted, and estatic! I love a good hiking workout!

We showed up at 8:30am on a cloudy, overcast, foggy, and chilly morning and notice only a couple of cars at the visitors center. As soon as the dogs bounded out the car, they were ready to go! So we decided on the harder 5 mile round trip loop and started our hike.

I had it in my head that I was going to take out all my weeks frustations on the trail and leave it there. Boo knew what kind of mood I was in and told me to hike my own hike. So I did. I pushed myself up that mountain, over boulders, scaling rocks, and up the 1000 foot ascent. I hiked fast and I worked up a good clean sweat.

Once we reached the top, we rested and gave the dogs lots of water. Too bad there wasn't a view, we could barely see 10 feet in front of us due to all the fog.

As we're chillin', I hear someone say my name, I turn and see my friend Katey. She hiked up with some friends. We caught up and I found out she just got accepted into the PHD program at UCLA. I'm so excited for her. She's gonna love Southern California. We made sure we had each others info and made a tentative date to hike the John Muir Trail in northern Cali one day soon. I wish her well and will miss her.

Once we climb down the other side, we had about 2.5 miles left to hike. I turn to Boo and say, "Ok, I need to finish strong, so I'm gonna take off." He smiles and says O.K. So me and thing 1 start to blaze down the rolling trail. After a mile of me plugging away and thing 1 panting

away, we pause so I can check out the time and see how fast we just hiked the mile. Imagine my surprise when I see thing 2 and Boo only 10 yards behind me, jogging down a small hill! I turned back around and with a huge grin on my face, I trekked on. My heart was happy and so proud of Boo. He was keeping up! Even jogging some sections! Wow... I just couldn't help but to be bursting with pride for him. He was awesome on the trail today.

At the road crossing, we only had like .33 miles left with a couple of stream crossings, so I decided to start our cool down, let the dogs enjoy the streams, and finish the hike as a family. I couldn't stop smiling at Boo. He must of thought I was the biggest dork, just staring at him w

ith a huge grin. I couldn't help it, I was just so happy and proud of him, and the dogs definetly enjoyed the streams. I had wet, sleeping dogs during the ride home. haha! Even with the cloudy foggy weather, I still had a great day in the woods with my little family. Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Crowders Mt. with NC Trail Dames

2011-04-06T11:19:00.020-04:00

This past Saturday, 5 of us (me, Linda, Chris, Sharon, and Dianna) headed up to our local mountain for a nice hike 3 mile hike. (I brought my dog with me too. )This was a first hike for most of the Dames and the second hike that I was leading. I purposely chose the 3.5 mile trail in hopes that everyone would be able to finish.

We met up at the visitors center at 9am and started out in the chilly windy morning. The first mile was a nice gradual climb. I hung back with Chris and Sharon as Linda and Dianna blazed up the trail. We finally caught up to them at a trail intersection. They were sitting on a bench and as we got to the bench, both Chris and Sharon plopped down. I didn't realize how hard the trail was til the newbie Sharon mentioned she wasn't sure she could make it to the top. I was just about to give her the "You can do it!" speech, when to my surprise, before I could utter a word, the other ladies showered Sharon with encouragement, compliments, and affirmations that YES!, she could do this! They were going to make sure ALL the Dames made it up! I just stood back, amazed at the commraderie of this group. The others even went so far as to find a stick for Sharon to use to help her for the rest of the hike. My heart swelled and I had to choke down a tear before I finally said. "This is what Trail Dames is all about. I love it!" Women encouraging one another to accomplish what they didn't even know they could do!

With renewed determination, Sharon got up with her stick and started up the trail. We all hiked the last .7 miles, (which happened to be the steepest and toughest .7 miles of the hike), together. When we neared the top, I ran up to the sign indicting we reached the summit. When I yelled back to let them know they were yards away, I heard chorus' of "thank goodness, YAY!, and FINALLY." Haha! As each Dame reached the sign, I snapped a photo and high fived the hiker while each person cheered for the next. Linda made it point to say, it was alot tougher than she expected. Chris mentioned that walking 3 miles and hiking 3 miles were two different experiences. I just laughed and told them that I understood, after all, I was once in their shoes.

With no view in sight, I point up to our very last, strenous piece of the trail. We have to boulder climb (literally climb) up to the summit. They all look at me like I'm crazy. At this point Sharon says that there is no way she can do it. (Crickets...)No one says a word. This time I pipe up and say, "YES you can! You didn't hike 1.7 miles, all up, for nothing. You all worked so hard for that view, you EARNED that view! Now lets go get that view!" One by one, they caustiously placed their hands and feet in foot holds and climbed thier way up the last .15 mile to that view. I went up last to make sure everyone made it up safely. One by one, I could hear the gasps as they each reached the top. Chris, usually chatty, was silent. She was taking in the view. Linda was the first to say it was all worth the climb, (everyone nodded in agreement). Sharon, close to tears, told us that she would of never have seen this view or made it up to the top if it wasn't for all fo us being there for her. We stayed up there for a good 20 minutes, just taking in our accomplishment, before we decided to hike back down to the cars. It was a great day, and as many times as I've seen that view, today's view was especially special because it was a "first time" view for many of these new Dames. I'm glad I was able to show and share it with these ladies. Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Congaree National Park in SC

2011-03-29T14:57:00.012-04:00

First official hike with the Trail Dames of North Carolina. 6 of us (Chris, Lynn, Linda, Deidra, Wendy, and I) headed down to SC to meet up with a GA dame (Kellye) for a nice and easy hike along the boardwalks of the Congaree National Park. After hellos, we headed up to the vistors center to grab a couple of maps and start our hike. The self guided hike was very easy and pleasant.

We learned so much about the native plants, trees, and creeks. Who knew trees had knees. haha! Chris and Lynn learned what poison ivy and a palmetto was; Deidre kept us all educated as she read the points of interests to us along the trail; and Linda seemed like a little Hemlock, so knowledgable about all the trees and flowers in the area. We took a small spur trail to the lake for a view then hiked back to the boardwalks. When we got to a giant first growth tree, we all linked hands and circled the tree, it took 6 dames to get around the entire tree! Kellye and I fell into the familiar footsteps of friends who have hiked together do as they catch up on each others lives. She's lost 50 lbs since I last saw her and I was amazed at how great she looked and how confident she seemed.

I loved hearing how her hiking is progressing and getting stronger. Seeing my friends do well makes me happy. Anyways, after catching up, we realized that the hike was already over. So we headed back to the visotors center, said goodbyes and piled back into my car. We left just in time to avoid the rain. We stopped for some ice cream before arriving back home. I think it was a nice first hike for the Trail Dames of NC. Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Joyce Kilmer Backpck Trip

2011-03-23T16:49:00.014-04:00

What happens when you get 9 Trail Dames (Hemlock, Shemeah, Leslie, Kelly, Denise, Kristen, Sandi, Diana, and me) together in the rugged mountains of North Carolina?

Lets see........

You get your script flipped

when you find out the forest road you need to go up is closed, haha!; You get a new plan that insists you hike UP hill for two days; you get a beautiful warm up 2.4 mile hike of dynamite exploded trees, triliums, yellow violets, carpets of moss and little white flowers (sorry Hemlock, I forgot their names! candy something right?); 82 degree weather; a 1.5 mile climb to our campsite; a lovely rhododendrum lined river cascading next to our campsite that helps soften my snoring (hee hee!); hours of bear bagging attempts; great conversations; an awesome fire to keep us warm when the temperature plummets; some vegan chocolate (who knew Godiva makes vegan chocolate? and it was GOOD!); the birthday song sung to Shemeah and birthday vegan carrot cake (which was delish!); Sandi's 3.5 inch bed buddy (hee hee!); stories of the red eyed monster (Thanks ladies, I was the closest to the trail that night and it took me a good half hour to stop thinking about that monster! haha!); sleeping soundly to the sound of the water rushing by; waking up late and rushing to pack up; some steep up hill 3 mile climb; a giant tree that you could live in!; crawling betwe

en some down trees that were in the middle of the trail; steeper switchbacks; stopping for a snack with Leslie and Kelly on some caterpillar infested rocks and not caring that they crawled all over me b/c I was too tired to move; getting stuck on a fallen log and not minding because I was so tired and the log felt comfortable; pulling a muscle trying to do a cheerleaders split to get over said log (haha!); praying that I wouldn't have more climbing; feeling of relief at hearing cheers from Denise and Sandi as we round up to the top of the mountain; utter bliss at dropping my pack and seeing the view at Naked Ground; realizing that I will be camping at a place called NAKED GROUND! haha!; forgetting how tough the climb was as I take in the amazing view; napping in the sun for an hour; setting up camp for the night; finding out Kristen needed a sodium boost to get her up the hill and thinking her trail name should be SALT; finding out Hemlock hiked up that dreaded mountain TWICE! to check on everyone (She is hard core); a bunch of hikers and dogs stopping by on their way up to their campsites; a hike down to the water source; a hike back up from the water source; plummeting temperatures; a clear, windy night; perfect view of the super moon that only comes around every 18 years; debating if we want to have our own "Super Moon" but deciding not too because of the 3 gentlemen campers near our site (haha

!); another warm Shemeah fire; finding out that sitting on hard rock is actually very comfortable; night time yoga; sleeping warmly in my hammock; waking up to what felt like sub zero temperatures; cooking breakfast with a view; starting our 4 mile descent back to the car; hiking in my PJ's; Sandi falling flat on her bum (don't worry, I don't think anyone else saw. Hee hee!); Denise tripping and eating the trail (yeah, I think we all saw. haha!); 5 dames sqeezing into a hollowed out tree for a photo op (so much fun!); contorting my body (with a pack on)to weave through some down trees; climbing up a boulder to continue the trail; 20 water crossings; a giant grin at reaching the end of the trail; a 1/2 mile walk back to my car; changing clothes in the gorss privy; slipping on flip flops and my feet thanking me for it; saying good bye to some old and new friends; getting a good bye Trail Dame, trek pole salute (so cool, I loved it! thank you everyone!) ;speeding down the mountain to a warm cheeseburger and icey cold diet coke; and finally, thinking I can't wait to do it all over again with this group of ladies.

I had a wonderful time with all the Trail Dames and look forward to more trips with you all soon! I'm so glad I had a chance to talk to every single one of you. You guys are hilarious and so much fun. Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Update on my swims

2011-03-03T17:05:00.007-05:00

Remember how, just weeks ago, I was struggling with swimming 50 meters drills? and how doing 400 meters total a session was exhausting? Well I've got some good news. The scoreboard now looks a little like this POOL-2 SWEETPEA-4. whoo hoo!

I'm amazed at how quickly I'm progressing with my swimming. I'm up to doing 100 meter drills and over 1000 meters total for each pool session in just a few weeks. I can hardly believe it myself! I'm not going to say it's been easy, cause it has not. I push myself at each workout session. I still run out of breath and struggle to get air on the last 25 meter of my 100 sets, I still struggle with keeping my form throughout each 100 set, and I'm still not fully recovering my breathing during each 30 second break in between sets. My goal is to swim 500 meters sets consistently and I'm building with each workout. So far swimming has been fun and challenging. I can tell I'm getting a good cardio, all over body workout b/c when I do break in between sets, my face is burning up and red hot and I'm out of breath, and when I finally go into the locker room to change, I look like a lobster, my arms and legs are beet red. Once I'm in my dry clothes, it takes me a good 10 minutes to stop sweating! So here's to some sweet swimming in the next couple of months. 500 here I come!

Pros and Cons

2011-02-22T08:46:00.008-05:00

I've been thinking alot about my new workout regiment. I suppose it's cause I'm reading tons of books about running (CHI running), weight training, swimming (Total Immersion), and cycling (Beginner Triathlon. Finishing your first Triathlon). It's started this domino affect of understanding and learning about a whole health lifestyle. All these books touch on, not only techniques and workout schedules (which is why I initially checked them out), but also discussed healthy diets, motivation, mental focus, camaraderie, tips, goals, and having fun, (which I never considered). Before, when it came to working out, it was all about weight loss, and hurrying to do my time at the gym so I could enjoy the rest of my life, (kind of like a prison sentence.) I think all the reading has changed my attitude in fitness for the better and it's made all of it make sense. I'm actually enjoying myself. I've set mini goals for each week to increase the speed, intensity, and weights and it's something I look forward to reaching and accomplishing. Anyways, all this info got me to thinking about the pros and cons of why I work out, so I listed a few below. Just my opinion, but I hope it helps.

PROS: I feel great, happy, warm, confident, strong, and fit after each workout session. The weight loss, the inches lost, my clothes fitting better and looser, working out with my Boo, my running shoes (I heart my Mizunos, just putting them on makes me feel strong!), sleeping better, noticing progress with my weight training, getting better with each swim session, running faster, feeling pretty, being less stressed, feeling comfortable in the gym, feeling like an athlete (even though I got a looooong way to go! ha ha!), getting fit for hiking season, how working out motivates me to eat healthier, and my favorite... Boo mentioning I'm getting smaller each time he wraps his arms around me.

CONS: Getting up at 4:30am each morning, falling asleep at 8:30pm each night! Looking fug at the gym every day, cause I have not make up on and my hair is slung into a ponytail. (I literally roll out of bed and walk out the door.) On days I do weight training, I can't lift my arms up til around 9am cause they are fatigued out! Talking myself into having a great workout every morning. I need some new motivational phrases! ha ha! and lastly... the extra loads of laundry I have to do every week cause of all the stinky, sweaty workout clothes and socks!

But it's all good. I think the Pros totally out weigh the Cons :)

Guest Post: Walking in the clouds

2011-02-21T08:41:00.006-05:00

Hey! Today I have the pleasure of sharing with you a Guest Post by Anna, aka Mud Butt. For those of you that don't know who she is, she is the head Dame, the founding Dame of the outdoor women's group called Trail Dames. I've had the great fortune of meeting and hiking with her and many Trail Dames over the last few years. I can honestly say, I have never met a Dame I didn't like! Anna created an amazing group for introducing women to the outdoors. For more on the Trail Dames, check out the link under my Fav websites on the right. Now enjoy a page out of her Appalachian Trail Thru hike down below! Til next time... GET OUT DOORS!!!

Walking in the clouds (Excerpt from Mud Butt's AT Journal)

Well, today I learned what the inside of a cloud smells like. We walked up in the clouds most of the day and it was our best hiking day yet. We did 9.6 miles today and would have gone further except that the weather turned very nasty, very quickly. When the grey fog threatened to overtake us, we pulled into a great campsite out of the wind and hunkered down. The temperature was dropping very quickly, so I decided that the best place to be was in my sleeping bag! It was a great hiking day, though! It was alot of ridge walking, which was fairly flat, with just a few big climbs. We stopped for lunch at Low Gap Shelter and there was a group of fraternity guys there out doing trail maintenance with a member of the Georgia A.T. club. They were so funny, these self assured young men. You should have seen the look on their faces when we told them we were walking to Maine! It was priceless! We did take the time to thank them for the work they were doing on the trail. I for one, am so grateful!

After our lunch break, we enjoyed the rest of the days hike immensely. Bumpkin and I both agreed that it was our best hiking day so far. When the weather turned nasty, she found us a wonderful camp site out of the wind and off we went to find water. The neat thing about our water source was that it was actually head of the Chattahoochee River. You would think that it would be grand and big, right? Well, it was actually a small trickle coming out of the ground. But it does go on to become the Chattahoochee. I think that is kind of cool!

The not-so-cool thing was that it was a half mild hike down a very steep trail. And when I stay steep.... I mean steep! But like Bumpkin said... that is what hiking the AT is all about!

After we had retired to our tents for the evening, we heard two voices shouting out 'Hello!' It was two fellow thru hikers that were looking for a campsite. The combination of the deteriorating weather and signs of bear activity combined to make them pretty nervous and they were very glad to see others in the area. As they set up their stuff, we all introduce ourselves. It turns out that they are the Good Grass Consort, a bluegrass due that we had heard about on the trial. Needless to say, we had a ton to talk about!

The cold soon drove us all back to our sleeping bags and we settled in for a snug night on the trail. The temperature might be dropping quickly and my hands might be freezing, but in case I haven't mentioned it... I am having a really great time!

Love, Anna aka Mud Butt

Checking in

2011-02-18T16:49:00.011-05:00

So it's been 1 month since Boo and I started working out 6 days a week. There's been alot of sweat, a lot of red faces, and lots of cussing. haha! The cussing is only at 4:30am every morning, cause that's what time the alarm goes off to get us up, dressed, teeth brushed, and at the gym by 5am. I secretly love getting there before the doors open at 5am. I'm sick like that. hahaha! On the occasion that we do get there b/f the doors officially open, Boo rants that he could of used the extra minutes (literally a couple of minutes) to sleep in. I just laugh and remind him to have a great workout today.

Here's what we've been doing:

Monday: Running and weight training

Tuesday: 45 minutes of cardio (elliptical usually)

Wednesday: Running and weight training

Thursday: 45 minutes of cardio

Friday: Running and weight training and at night swimming

Saturday: Off

Sunday: Swimming

I've mentally and physically have gotten used to the schedule. The first week was rough! I was tired all the time. But now I feel good all day long. I think for the next month, I'll add some spin classes in the evening. Sounds crazy and I can't believe I'm saying that. Hell, I can't believe I'm enjoying it so much. I think I'm becoming a gym rat! haha! Seriously though, I think you need to be working out for over 6 months or something to officially be labeled a gym rat. Right? Anyways, it's actually a nice and comforting feeling seeing the same people at the gym every morning. We share a smile, a slight nod, a bond in knowing that we are hard core for getting up so early to beat ourselves into shape. There is even an elderly man who walks around handing out peppermints to all us 5 am'ers every MWF. He's so sweet, he makes me smile and look forward to those little treats, like it's a reward or something. Anyways... off to the pool! Enjoy your day and make it a good one!

Slo-mming

2011-02-01T16:42:00.005-05:00

Slo-mming, as in SLOW SWIMMING. That's what is on my mind today. My first experience back in the pool (competitive swimming, not recreational swimming) was a humbling experience. Let's just say if I kept score, it would look like this. Pool-1, Sweetpea-0.

Swimming kicked my ass. It's been a loooong time since I swam races. I was a swimmer in high school and had a pretty respectable freestyle, so going into this, I thought it would be alot easier than it was. After all, I've been running for 6 months, so I should be good cardio wise right? WRONG, so wrong. I could barely do 50 meters without choking on some water trying to breathe. I did eight 50 meter sets with rests between each set and I was beat when I finished the 400 meters. At least now I know where I stand. Looks like I got a good challenge to keep me going :) Til next time.... GET OUTDOORS!!!

TIRED!!!!!!

2011-01-31T10:51:00.007-05:00

WOW.... I have never experienced tiredness like I have this week. I just want a good 12 hour nights sleep! I go to bed every night and sleep the entire night thru, only to wake up, to what feels like, minutes later. But it was actually a good solid 7 hours of sleep. What is making me so tired you ask? Well, it's my new workout schedule. It's tough, but doable. I'm starting week two this week, and I'm sure my body just needs to adapt. haha!

Here's what I'm doing. So I continued the running 3 days a week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday mornings. I've actually upped my pace and doing some tempo runs to challenge me, which is good. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, I do straight cardio for 45-60 minutes on an elliptical or bike or combo of both. At night, we, (Boo and I), weight train for a good 45 minutes doing an all over body workout. We did Tuesday and Thursday last week, but we are upping that to 3 days a week this week, so M-W-F nights, we'll be hitting the gym a second time, after work, for a good weight training session. THEN, sometime in the week, we'll incorporate a nice 400-600 meter swim. Wow... pretty aggressive and pretty intimidating, but I'm ready to work on my fitness. Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Winter Hiatus

2011-01-19T09:05:00.003-05:00

So I've taken a small break (4 weeks) off of running. It started with a really bad run back in the December. I hopped on the treadmill and could only go 10 minutes, after running 41 minutes just 2 days before! Now I've heard of people having bad runs, but this really took me by surprise and just really knocked me down. Top that with the holiday crazy schedule of party's, dinners out, and cocktail drinks. I just spiraled a bit out of control and the next thing I knew.... it was 4 weeks and I hadn't ran a yard. So this week Boo and I got up early and hit the gym.

What inspired me and motivated me, was watching Boo go to the gym w/out me and seeing how much better and happy he felt afterwards. So on Monday, at 5:30am, I was at the gym and on the treadmill. I was sure I wouldn't be able to run more than 8 minutes b/c of the hiatus I took, but I was surprised when I ran 25 minutes straight without any pain. I will admit that I was a bit out of breath, but I was surprised that I finished 25 mins. I stopped b/c I didn't want to hurt anything.

Well on Wednesday, we showed up at the gym at 5:15am and Boo went to the indoor track to do his run and I hopped on the treadmill for mine. I was determined to run 30 minutes. I was really surprised at how much easier Wednesday's run was than Monday's. I actually upped my MPH and I finished the 30 minutes! I felt so much better and like I'm back on track with my running. I'm going to try to go for 35 minutes on Friday and hopefully see how much of my endurance I've kept. I was running 41 minutes with a goal of 60 minutes. So we'll see. Til next time... GET YOU BUTT TO THE GYM!!! haha!

Disc Golfing 2011

2011-01-01T19:16:00.004-05:00

It's been a while since I've been disc golfing. So today, Boo and I got up (late, hahha!) and headed down to our usual disc golf spot. We got to the course at 10am and it took us just under an hour to finish all 18 holes. I thought for sure, I'd be out of the swing of things, but both Boo and I played pretty good! I got 2 birdies and threw some pretty shots and Boo got 4 birdies! It was awesome. We are starting out the new year outdoors and looking forward to what 2011 has to bring. Happy New Years to everyone. Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

I must of been a good girl....

2010-12-30T13:56:00.021-05:00

Cause Santa brought me some GOOD stuff!! I had, probably THE best Christmas EVER. Better than my childhood ones, better than the Christmas' spent in the Caribbean. It was awesome. It all began after Thanksgiving. (We hosted a Thanksgiving and had friends over.) Boo and I had put up the tree, decorated it, and started getting our Christmas card list started. We even started listening to Christmas music. Through out December we really had the Christmas spirit going. The week before Christmas was crazy, we had two movie previews to catch (True Grit and Black Swan, both really good.) A Christmas Concert at one of Boo's Coworkers' church. Then we had two Christmas parties to attend. Friday, one of my friends, and Saturday one of Boo's friends. We were hardly home all week!

Christmas finally arrived. Santa had left me stuff I've always wanted. I can't remember any Christmas where I actually got stuff I really, truly wanted! I was that kid that was always too shy and afraid to ask for what I really wanted, so I never got what I really wanted. No one's fault but my own, and I'm still that kid, but somehow Boo listened to me talk incessantly about the things I wanted over the year and he told Santa exactly what to get me. I can't believe Boo actually listened to me. haha! I now know exactly how a little kid feels when they get exactly what they want for Christmas. HAPPY!!! EXCITED!!! LOVED!!!

Ok...Here's what I got...

The new Snowpeak Giga Powered Litmax Titanium 1.9 oz backpacking stove with the serated edge!! (wow... that sounded alot like a Ralphy from Christmas Story asking Santa for an "official Red Ryder Carbine-Action, two hundred shot range model air rifle!" haha!) I was drooling over this stove last April during Trail Magic in GA when Sunny (who tests outdoor gear before it comes out to the retail market) pulled it out of her goody bag to show us the new 2010 model backpacking stoves. Santa brought me the perfect stove with the serated edges, not the one with the prongs. Just like I wanted!

I got a Buff, which I've been wanting to warm my neck and keep my hair back for years! and Santa brought me a black one, not one of those weird patterned/tie dyed ones! He knew exactly the one I would like and want!

I got an awesome Snowpeak Trek 700 Titanium backpacking mug that is great for cooking. This would of been an amazing gift if I already didn't have the Evernew Titanium 700 Ultra Light mug, which I love, love, love. Seriously, I felt like being greedy and keeping both, but decided to return the snowpeak for more future gear. Santa brought me something I really liked. I liked so much I bought myself the equivalant back in April. Thanks Santa, and your return will yield more things that I really want!

A couple of Wigwam Fusion outdoor socks for hiking. For those who hike, you know what quality socks can do for your feet and how important good socks are in making your trip an enjoyable one. Seriously, try backing 60 miles in some cotton socks, bet you won't get but 6 miles til your feet hurt b/c of some bad blisters. haha! So these pricey socks are definately worth it. Thanks Santa, for thinking about the comfort of my feet on my trips!

A new 32oz Purple Nalgene from REI . YEAH! I usually take two with me when I plan a trip into the woods. Thanks Santa. Boo says now I can stop using green nalgene :)

A warm fleece Earhat Flap hat from REI to keep me warm in the winter months! Too cute! Thanks Santa, for thinking of how cold my noggin and ears get at night in the hammock.

and finally....

A Garmin Forerunner 405 watch. OMG!! This thing is the most awesomest gadget I've ever gotten! This watch will monitor my time, distance, pace, heart rate, GPS track me, and wirelessly tranfer my data onto my laptop so I can check out the progress of my runs and chart it out. Cool huh! Santa, thanks for watching me slogging away for the past 5 months. I really really love this gift.

Thanks so much Santa! I love all my gifts and like I said, best Christmas EVER! Special thanks to Boo, but listening to me obsessively talk about backpacking gear, then taking notes, and telling Santa what I wanted. You are the best. Love you!

Post C25k

2010-12-06T12:33:00.004-05:00

So since finishing the Couch to 5k program, I've started the 1 hour running program and I am amazed to say that I'm still running and guess what??? It's getting easier and easier and easier. Who would of thunk it! haha! Seriously, I'm up to running 41 minutes and still plugging along. I have to admit, I run 3 times a week, usually a short 30 minute run (look at me saying 30 minute is short! I remember when 30 minute was the goal! haha!) then a longer run for my second, usually around 35 min. then the final long run, which this week is 41 minutes. I'm on week 6 of the 10 week program. I'm excited that I'm actually still doing it. My pants are falling off of me, but my scale still hasn't moved much. I think I need to, No... I KNOW I need to supplement some weight training, but honestly, I hate it. I need to wrap my mind around that fact that that's what I need to do to move that scale. Oh well.... Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!

Post C25K

2010-11-16T10:13:00.010-05:00

So I've completed the couch to 5k program and I am actually in my 3rd week of the 1 hour running program. I figured, since I'm not into running races, I needed something to keep me going thru the cold winter months b/c hiking season is right around the corner!!!! Whoo hoo!! And being a 3 season hiker/backpacker (I'm so not into freezing my ass off in knee deep snow and blizzard condition winds. haha! but hats off to you if you can do it!), I thought, the best way to stay in shape is to keep running thru the winter. After all, I enjoy how I feel AFTER I run, not before I run (I ususally procrastinate or dwell on how much I don't want to go running), nor during (I usually count down the laps on the track or the mile markers on greenway, or check the minutes on the treadmill), but AFTER, I feel great! Like I can take on the world. I feel warm, confident, pretty, relaxed, and happy. So that's why I run. I do it to feel good for the rest of the day :) And let me tell you, music has ALOT to do with keeping me going. A good playlist can make or break a run haha! at least for me it can. Since I'm running longer, I just put on the playlist and go! and just when I think I want to stop, I hear a sweet 808 beat and it propells me forward, faster. haha! Seriously, Boo made me some great playlists for me. Thanks BOO! So anyways, that's the plan, to ramp up my runs for an hour. Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Beers and Brauts in Helen GA.

2010-10-26T11:41:00.041-04:00

This weekend, Boo and I ventured down to Helen GA for some Oktoberfest fun! We had rented one of Kellye's cabins (the True Love to be exact) and were zooming down I-85 after work on Friday. Boo has never been to this little German Alpine Mountain village like town, so I thought he would enjoy the ride thru town before getting up to the cabin. I've been a couple of times, in fact, when I finished my last stretch of the GA Appalachian Trail, we has my congratulatory lunch here. It's the cutest little town. If you ever get a chance to visit, it's worth the trip, just to suspend your imagination and really get in to the spirit of the little "Heidi" German town.

As I drive thru Helen, we see lots of people still out and about enjoying some steins of beer, even boots of beers, and walking from tavern to bar. Boo and I decide to check into the cabin, then come back down for some night time fun. So we roll up the mountain and I start to remember where we were, I had been to Kellye's cabins before, but couldn't tell you have to get there. We pull into the check in area, grab our keys, and follow the winding gravel road up into the heavily wooded mountain. Boo liked how secluded it felt being deep into the woods. I was dark when we pulled down the long driveway. We fumbled with the door and finally spilled into the cabin and flipped on the lights. It was a cute, cozy, comfy living room with a fireplace, to the left was an orderly kitchen with a table. I put our water and sodas inside the fridge while Boo lugged our luggage up the stairs to the bedroom loft area. He was surprised and looking forward, to hopping into the big pink heart shaped hot tub that was next to the comfy bed. After we unpacked and put on some warm clothes, (it was chilly up in the mountains!), we headed back down to the little town of Helen to join in the festivities.

Boo walked around with eyes wide open, taking it all in. We walked up and down the entire little town on both sides, just so Boo could get a good feel of the town. Finally we check out Viele Margaritas (yes, a Mexican bar in this little German town), it was hopping! Lots of people enjoying some beer. We decide it's not our scene (frat guy scene or as Boo calls it, "a sausage fest") and move up towards the village area. We pass by the chocolate shop and you KNOW I had sto stop in. Boo and I drool at all the yummy confections and I decide on 2 chocolate covered cherries. The counter lady, tells me to come back tomorrow, where they will actually be making treats in the window front, so we agree we will! We walk along and cross the street over to the Old Heidelberg Tavern. There's some fun stuff happening in that little court yard, so we people watch for a bit and decide to call it a night. It's around 11pm and we've been up since 5am that morning, so we head back up the mountain to our little retreat in the woods.

After a SUPER night's sleep,(we slept til 10am!)we finally rouse up, shower, and get ready to enjoy the days festivities! We pull out around 11:30am ready for some lunch. Boo drives up to the rental office and I check us in (since we got in late last night) and like she is reading my mind, the office clerk asks me if I need any recommendations for lunch! haha! I say yes, actually I do, and she whips out a map of the town, and tell us to go to The Old Bavarian Inn,it's supposed to have the most authentic German food. So with map in hand, I climb back into the car, share my new found info with Boo and whirl down the mountain for some Oktoberfest! We park in the same $5 lot as we did last night and float into the swarm of people that are out and about, already enjoying the day. We walk along the Chattahoochee river and right by the Troll Tavern, a cute restaurant/bar that's located just under the bridge. What a perfect name for a bar under a bridge! haha! Climbing the stairs, we walk across the bridge and see The Cafe International, that's along the river is happening! I mean, it has a DJ playing music (country music) and it's packed with people downing beers the size of Texas. We decide to cross the street right in front of Paul's Steak house, (last night, this place was busy with lots of couples slow dancing.)and continue on looking for our lunch spot. We find the little shoe shop, and see this adorable alley way and finally find The Old Bavarian Inn! It's tucked away in the middle of the alley. We put in our names and are told we have a 20 minute wait. So we continue walking along the alley way looking into little shops until our number is called.

I wanted to sit downstairs to watch and hear the silly lederhosen wearing accordion player, but our table was upstairs. Our waiter suggests a beer called Spaten,imported from Munich. Boo really liked it, I thought it was OK. For the next round, Boo got another Spaten and I got an AugustinerBrau. I think I just liked saying it haha! In my very best German accent, August-stiner-BRA! haha! I must of been feeling the Spaten b/c when the Augustinerbrau came out I SWEAR the label looked like it had the current POPE on it! NO JOKE. I asked the waiter and waitress who was dressed up like a St. Pauly's girl, if the guy on my beer bottle looked like the Pope, the dude had no clue who he was, and the waitress said that the current Pope is actually from Germany, so it could be possible. Boo was mortified, he just shook his head told me that there was no way the leader of the Catholic church would pose on a beer bottle and laughed at me. Oops... haha! I called it Pope beer the rest of the day :) It went down pretty good too. So the food comes, I had ordered Knockwurst with German potato salad and red cabbage. Boo had something similar. I have to say.... The Germans are certainly not known for their food. So carby! I felt like I was eating a Nathans hot dog. I couldn't stomach the pickled red cabbage, but I did like the vinegary potato salad.

As we tumble out of the Old Bavarian Inn, I notice a sign that tells us to come back for happy hour, where there will be free appetizers and 1/2 price beer, so I make a mental note to come back to check it out. We wander around the town a bit more and find the candy store again. It took a while to pull Boo away from the candy store window, he liked watching the candy apples and carmel being made. I got a cute picture of him pressed up against the shop glass. We walked down to Hofer's Bakery, it's supposed to be an authentic German bakery,(let's hope their pastries are better than their food!) There's a live musician playing and a looooong line for the restaurant part of the bakery. Boo and I bypass the sausage case, and peer into the glass cases full of yummy looking treats. I told Boo, before we go home, we have to stop by Hofer's for some pretzels, strudel, Bavarian cream filled eclairs, and an apple fritter! YUM! The pastries ARE better than the foods! haha! We knew we had some serious beer to drink, so we walked out with nothing, but yummy anticipation of what's to come later on tonight :) We walk back down thru the town, duck in and out of shops and finally make it to the Festhalle, where they are having live music, 2 liter Steins of beer, dancing, food, and fun. So we pay our entrance fee (which was too much!) and get in line for the beer. Boo gets a commemorative 2010 Oktoberfest Beer Mug and I just get a beer :) We sit down along one of the long cafeteria tables and drink away the afternoon as we listen to some live bands. There are lots of people in lederhosen (which look so goofy to me. haha!) and ladies dressed like St. Pauly girls with boobs hanging out and all, and they all seem to be the only ones dancing. After a couple of hours and 3 beers later, a couple of photo ops with a giant beer mug and little gingerbread house cut out, Boo and I decide to stumble out of the Festhalle can head up to the happy hour back at Old Bavarian.

The next thing I remember, we were in a smoke filled, upstairs tiny little rustic bar that was packed like sardines! Boo and I stand with our beer and as soon as we see a couple leave, we grab their table and proceed to people watch. Our waitress is in authentic St. Pauly gear so I ask to take a picture of her, and she obliges, we meet an older guy with a military retired hat on that asks us if we see what he sees and have we met them yet. He then tilts his head over to two guys who looked like either Hispanic or of middle eastern descent. I tell him know, we haven't met them. He says, "well I'm going to take care of it." I look over at Boo and say, "did that really just happen?" OMG, seriously, yeah I saw the guys while I surveyed the room during my people watching. It never registered that they could be terrorist. To be honest, the only thing I thought about, was I bet these are a bunch of Atlanta people that came up to enjoy Oktoberfest. So it took me a bit back that this old geezer was still in Nam-mode and profiling at a happy hour. WOW... people are always surprising me. Oh, and the poor guys he went to take care of, left a few minutes later. We found out they were actually from Brazil. So sad, I forget I live in the South sometimes.... Anyways, we meet another couple of younger veterans (lots of vets at this bar) and I notice them cause they have this huge glass boot filled with beer! I snap pictures and we talk a bit. Boo notices this table full of older, (probably vets too) guys with tons of beer bottles on the table. I have to see it for myself, so I get up, a bit light headed from all the beer, and wander over. OMG that's alot of beer bottles! So I snap a picture of it.

After our beer at the happy hour, we decide to wander around a bit, sober up, grab dinner, and head back to the cabin for a nice relaxing evening in the hot tub. We walk around town and decide to head back to Hofer's. Before we get there, we enter a few other stores we didn't get a chance to duck into. Like a nice jewelry store where Boo buys me a ring :) the Christmas shop that has a giant Santa outside where I have to get my picture taken, oh! and a cut out of a boy and girl dressed in traditional German clothes where Boo and I mug for a picture. We finally make it down to Hofer's bakery and raid the pastry counter. haha! I load up on pretzels, and an apple fritter. Boo gets some Bavarian cream filled eclair a couple of other yummy treats. We both decide that we are done with German food for the rest of the year and opt for a delicious Italian panini and meatball sub from Blimpies. (We are easy, haha!) So a couple of hours later, we take our loot and head up to the cabin to call it a night. When we get there, Boo turns up the fireplace and we have dinner and dessert by fireside :) We relax a bit then head up to the hot tub to soak away the days dirt and grime.

The next morning, we wake up around 9am and pack up to head home. For breakfast we east the last of my panini and rest of the pastries. On the way out of Helen, we stop by Hofer's one last time so I can get my soft pretzel fix. I also buy some strudel and a Bavarian muffin for the ride home:) The ride was nice and easy going. I'm glad we were able to take a trip up to Helen, GA for some Oktoberfest fun. The stay at the cabin was perfect and we had alot of fun swilling beer, people watching, shop hopping, and hot tubing :) Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Flamenco and desserts!

2010-10-16T13:15:00.012-04:00

For my birthday Boo had made reservations for one of the nicest Italian restaurants in our town. Well guess what? I flipped the script on him and told him I wasn't in the mood to dress up and remember what fork to eat with. So..... I suggested having some wine, then going to a trendy french bakery where they have poetry reading nights and art discussions.

Tonight they were having Flamenco music and dancing! So... after dressing down (instead of up) we had some good wine and headed over to Amelia's. It's decked out all in Parisian themed and very "arty". We grabbed a table right in front of the dance floor, and Boo went off to get us some hot chocolate and desserts. I told him to surprise me, so I had no clue what was coming my way. As I sat their holding on to Boo's seat, (the place started to fill up quick!), I started to bounce my head to the guitar heavy, beautiful flamenco music and chit chat with my neighbors. I don't know what it is about Flamenco music, but it just gets under my skin and makes me want to dance! (It could possibly be the wine going to my head as well haha!) I see some of the other patrons had let the music get to them too and they are actually dancing on the floor. Some of them are amazing Flamenco dancers and I was mesmerized by the fluid swirls, sharp turns, and graceful moves.

Boo finally arrives with a decadent piece of chocolate on chocolate ganache cake with a nice heaping hot chocolate for me and an eclair for him. I slowly seep into a chocolate coma while I let my eyes feast on the sexy dance known as Flamenco. For those of you that don't know, "Flamenco is a style of music and dance which is native to many regions of Spain" (wikipedia)

Finally the show begins. We watch several couples perform, a group of women perform, and were finally graced with the presence of a renowned Flamenco dancer by the name of Carmela Greco. She was great, just the emotion in her face and body as she danced and stamped her feet was amazing. She really got you into the dance. Not to mention, the music was awesome. This will probably go done as one of my favorite birthdays ever.

Thank you Boo, for being OK about me changing my birthday plans and for making it a eventful evening. I had one of the best nights out. Love you! :)

Garlic and Wine Festival

2010-10-11T12:04:00.084-04:00

This past Friday, Boo and I took a 1/2 day, then zoomed up to Tyro VA. We were camping out at Crabtree Falls for the night. The ride up was pure silliness. Let's just say, there was some laughs, giggles, and robotic popping going on. As we crossed into Amherst County VA, I paid more attention to the rolling hillside and meadows and as we entered Nelson County VA, I just oohed and ahhed at the views of the mountains, apple orchards, and cute farms with pumpkin patches sprinkled about. We finally pulled into the campground, picked up our permit and headed out to site #23. It was full of trees, a bit steep, and you could hear the stream near by. The site was perfect for us hammockers, but we were worried about the Jacky, Brian, and Brian, who were meeting us there and were going to be in tents!

As Boo and I were hanging our hammocks and tarps up, a cat came up and started following us and rubbing it's tail up against our legs. We tried to shoo the camp cat away, but the more we tried to make it leave, the more it stayed around us. We just gave up and him roam around our campsite. Boo and I decided to start the coals going on the little grill for our burgers, well.... the cooler did it's job and kept the ground beef frozen solid. I suggested walking up to the campground store to see what they had for provisions. They had nothing but canned spam, beanies and weenies, pop tarts and candy. So we hopped in the car and drove up 3 miles up and over the mountain and stopped at Montibello Campground and checked our their store. (Cute store by the way.) We decided on some hotdogs and buns and a bottle of ketchup. Driving back to the campsite, I remembered that the AT runs thru this area on a section called the Priest. Boo says he saw the AT trail head as we started up the mountain to our campground earlier today. I only wish we had the time to climb it!!

As we pulled into camp, Boo started making a fire, while I lounged on my camp chair and pet the camp cat. About 20 minutes later, Jacky, her husband Brian, and her brother Brian pulled in. We helped them set up camp, then Boo started the grill for our hot dog dinner. The weather has turned a bit on the chilly side, so we all bundled up and called it a night. Boo and I had our down jackets and chillaxed in front of the fire a bit more. We noticed all the stars out and Boo pulled out his I-phone, with the star chart application and we tried to find out what all the stars are. It's a beautifully clear night with tons of stars and hints of the milky way. Around 11pm, we put out the fire, slink into our hammocks, and call it a night. I sleep warm and snugly through the night.

Around 7am, I wake up naturally and hop out of my hammock. Boo is awake as well and it seems he has company. The camp cat decided to sleep underneath his hammock last night. The others are still sleeping, so Boo and I sneak off to take showers. By the time we get back, everyone is awake and making breakfast. Brian breaks out the gourmet hot chocolate and we all sing happy birthday to Boo as we drink our cocoa to start off the day. After everyone is showered, dressed, and full, we hop in my car and zoom down the mountain and back into Amherst County for the 20th annual Garlic and Wine Festival! As we pull into the parking area, there's already a crazy line of people just waiting to get in. We all spill out of my car, grab our camp chairs, and head over to the entrance to wait in line with other garlic fanatics. The aroma of garlic is swirling around our noses, making us salivate. Minutes later, we are walking thru the gates, getting carded, and slapped with a festival winetasting bracelet. We are meeting Judy and Bob, but since they are not here, we scout out a nice shady spot to put down our chairs. We decide to sit under an Osage tree that has some interesting fruit, monkey brain fruit to be exact. I swear that's what it's called. Thanks to (brother)Brian for researching this interesting, grapefruit sized fruit that was gingerly dangling above> us on this tree. Poor other Brian almost got knocked out when one of the fruits fell just 2 feet away from his head. We all heard that loud thud. Anyways, we set up our chairs, and lay out our blankets in between two music stages, under the Osage tree. Just as we finish getting comfy, we get a call from Jacky's sister, Judy. She said her and Bob just pulled in and are in line. We walk up to the gates to meet up with them. After hello's and hugs, we walk back to our camp spot, set up Judy and Bob, and head out to pick up our commemorative wine glass so we can get down to business. WINE TASTING!!!!
As a group, we all navigate through all the vendor stalls, stopping to sample garlic goodies, and checking out the crafts. We finally get to the wine glass tent, hand over our purple ticket, get our tasting bracelet's checked and are given our 20th anniversary Glass Garlic Festival wine glass. We collectively walk down to the tasting tents and begin our rounds! We start with the Mountain Cove Vineyard tent and are literally 4 deep in line. After we tasted 4 different wines, Boo and I agree we liked the Tinto and that we are sooooo getting a bottle of SKYLINE White to sip on later in the afternoon. I liked the Peach wine too, which is interesting, considering I'm not a big peach flavor anything person. Next we move over to Wintergreen Winery tent and we all think that the Chardonnay was the best. I still heart the raspberry dessert wine and the Viognier though and I thought the Cabernet Franc was OK. By this point, I'm feeling slightly warm and giggly. We all move on to the Rebec Winery tent. We get up to the front and considering this is the title Sponsor and we are AT the Rebec Winery, I have to call out Rebec. B/C the older, long hair in a low pony tail lady who was pouring our wine had the worse sour look on her face. She was not engaging or educating us on the wines like the other wine tents. Her pouring was literally a splash. Barely enough to wet my mouth and taste the wine. So out of spite, we all sample every single wine. Yep. ALL 15 wines. hahaha! Honestly, b/c the lady poured such small amount, it all mixed together in the glass and I couldn't tell a difference. Plus, between Boo and Bob with their funny commentary on each taste, I was laughing to hard to notice the wine. Bob decided to bum rush the crown and just wedged himself up in line. Boo whispered to me, "Look at Bob, he doesn't play, he wants his wine tastings!" I laughed (probably b/c I had too much wine already) and blurted out to Judy, (and probably all people within a 2 mile radius), what Boo said. He turned red and Bob just laughed. I seriously had the giggles and I didn't let the sourpuss wine pourer ruin my buzz. We all had such fun pronouncing Gewurztraminer and I almost pee'd my pants just looking at the faces Boo made when he tasted the Rebec red wines. Oh... and did I mention it was a whirlwind tour? Before we had a chance to swill down the minuscule sip, she was whipping out the next bottle to splash in our glasses. So this all happened really fast, and sloppy, but it was so entertaining and funny. After 3 tents, we decided to pace ourselves better and save the next 3 tents for later. So we walked the rest of the festival booths and sampled some more garlicky treats. Like garlic burgers, garlic chicken, garlic infused olive oils (25 of them), garlic bread, garlic dips, garlic chips, garlic BBQ sauces, garlic jams, garlic pasta noodles, garlic fries, even garlic popcorn! Who needs lunch when you've got free samples!! hahaha!

Sober again, we decided to grab a bottle (or two) of our fav's and head back to our picnic spot, to relax, sip on our wine, and isten to the live musicians. We lounged around chit chatting and drinking for a couple of hours before Boo and I decided to take one last walk around the festival, to see if we missed anything, and to check out another wine tent.) We saw booths selling 20 varieties of garlic, we saw more tastings and even tried pickled garlic. Seriously. haha! Then we hit the Hill Top Berry Farm and Winery. Again, it was packed, but we waited in line for our turn and I have to say, this was THE BEST wine presentation of the day. The lady pouring was the daughter of one of the wine makers. She told us a story for each wine, gave suggestions on pairing the wines with food (like if you're making brownies, use fruit flavored wine instead of water to give the brownies a nice flavor.) She explained and educated us on each wine, and was just all around excited and happy to be there. She made me want to be there, not to mention her pourings were pretty ample too. What was interesting is that not all the wines were made of grapes, mostly fruits, but it was still very good. We even got to try the mead and a pear sangria. I'm still thinking about the sweet cherry wine. Yum! I walked away with a real appreciation for Hill Top and a feel that they really cared about their wine.

When we got back, everyone was looking for something sweet to soothe their sweet tooth, so we all ventured over to the ice cream vendor to score some garlic ice cream, (kidding!, but they did have one year.) Boo and I split a strawberry short cake sundae and are stuffed to the gills. After listening to another hour of music, we decided to call it a day. We packed up our stuff and rolled back up to Crabtree Valley Campground, where we decided to go for a hike! Their was a waterfall hike (that was all up hill). It was 2 miles up to the upper falls and 3.6 miles (up hill) to the Appalachian Trail. Since it was Boo's birthday, I decided to stick with him and hike up as far as he wanted to go. The rest of the group went all the way to the top, Boo and I made it about 1/2 way up, then turned around and hung out near the trail head. A few minutes later, Judy joined us. We chit chatted for an hour before the others made it back down. After our hike, we all felt pretty hungry for dinner so we let the birthday boy choose the restaurant, via GPS, since we didn't know what was around here and then we drove up the mountain and hopped on the Blue Ridge Parkway. As we sped along, we noticed that the sun was going to be setting soon, so we decided to stop on an overlook and catch the sunset. It was such a beautiful ending to a great day. After lots of photos, we piled back into the car and arrived at the restaurant, only to find out it was closed!!! hahaha! We just let it roll off our back and went across the street to check out THAI MEX for dinner.

Seriously, the restaurant was called Thai Mex, and it sold both types of foods under one roof. Intrigued, we all decided to check it out. As we walked in, we noticed it was live music night, YAY! There was a guy playing some beautiful guitar music in a candle lit dark room with a bar. I immediately liked the ambiance of the little place. We were escorted to our table and chips and salsa were brought out for us to munch on as we checked out the menu. Soon, a really social Thai woman comes over to greet us and take our order. We have a fun time discussing the menu, ordering up our dinner, and finding out the guitar player is really the local Judge letting off some steam. We finally order and Boo and I both go for Mexican dishes, Brian and Bob also get Mexican, while Judy, Jacky, and the other Brian all take their chance on Thai. When we finally get our food, almost all the orders are wrong. haha! But everyone was in such good spirits, that we just went with it. At the end of the night, we hear the Judge wishing someone a happy birthday as he starts strumming the birthday song, we all start singing and wish Boo and happy birthday. (Oh... Jacky, Brian, and Brian. THANK YOU so much for treating us all to dinner!) Stuffed and relaxed, we say good bye to Bob and Judy (whom are staying at Afton B&B) and shuffle off to our campsite. Little does Boo know, that at the campsite, Jacky, Brian and Brian, brought birthday cupcakes to celebrate his birthday. Once we are all settled in, we once again, entertain Boo with our lovely singing voices and belt out the birthday song. The cupcakes were yummy and a nice treat to end our full day. We call it a night around 10pm and all slink off into our little respective homes for the evening.

The next morning, Boo and I wake up later than usual and start packing up for our ride home. Jacky, Brian and Brian have another full day of fun ahead of them. They are hitting a couple of winery's, hanging out with Bob and Judy, and then going on a hike before heading home on Monday. After a quick breakfast of more gourmet hot chocolate, Boo and I say our goodbyes and head down the mountain, past the apple orchard, past the pumpkin patches, past the rolling meadows, and onto the highway. I wanted to stop by my favorite little liberal arts college on the way home. I love this campus and I love all the amenities it offers it's students. It's a private all girls college named Sweetbriar College, (their colors are my blog's colors! Pink and Green!) and if I had to do it all over again, I would of LOVED to have gone to this school. It has an equestrian center, a boat house, rolling meadows with hiking trails, brick statuesque buildings, and it's tucked away down a long winding road thru a forest. It's so enchanting and such a beautiful campus. I can just picture my future daughter (if we EVER have kids and that's a big IF) attending school here. I can see her riding her horse in the meadows, rowing her boat in the lake, jogging along the dirt trails, checking out the stars in the observatory, playing tennis in one of the 50 courts, walking along the shaded brick campus.....aaaahhhh..... I don't know what it is, but I really have this deep affinity and affection for this little college. Boo saw the score board in the soccer field that said they are called the Sweetbriar Vixens. How adorable is that! Anyways... a girl can day dream can't she? hahaha! The rest of the ride was pretty easy. We made it home early enough to have a relaxing Sunday.

It was a great weekend getaway spent with friends, enjoying wine, garlic, and camping. I hope everyone had a much fun as I did, and Happy Birthday Boo! Hope you had a good weekend. Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Still slogging....

2010-10-08T11:51:00.008-04:00

Becky and I just finished our 20 min. slog (slow jog) this morning and it feels better and easier than the first time I did the couch to 5k. I think my legs muscles are remembering! Looking forward to the next few weeks, we are jogging three 25 min sessions one week, then 28 the next, and finally 30 minutes to complete the program. Then I'm going hiking! hahaha! Seriously, the only reason I'm jogging is to help out my hiking :) Shameful, I know. Please don't tell any purist runner my secret. Becky wants us to do a 5k. Maybe the Turkey trot in Nov. or Jingle Bell run in early Dec. It's not my thing, but I'll do it with her if it keeps her motivated. I'm a good friend like that. hahaha!

This week I got an email from the group I had hiked the Shenandoah's in VA with last October. They were getting ready to go out for a week to continue plugging away miles on the AT in VA. I was kind of bummed I'm not joining them this October. (I didn't want to miss Boo's birthday again and we have so much stuff planned this October, I just couldn't fit it in.) I wished them all well and safe hiking. They are going out again for another week in April and I am seriously thinking of joining them for that 80 mile section. It'll give me something to look forward to AND a reason to keep me slogging away. hahaha! Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Riverfest!!!!

2010-10-03T20:15:00.033-04:00

After jogging with my friend Becky at 7:30am Saturday morning, I rushed home, jumped in the shower, threw on some jeans, and hopped into the car next to Boo. We were headed down to Wilmington NC for the 2010 Riverfest. Whoo Hoo!! It was a nice easy 3 hour drive and as we drove across the Cape Fear bridge around 12:30pm, I could feel the stress of the week just melt off into the salty, coastal air. Boo navigated us through the festival traffic and found a great (and the last) parking spot, near the Cap Fear Community College. We decided to leave our jackets in the car, because the overcast day turned into a beautiful, breezy, sun shining day.
We walked the two blocks down to the breezy river front and folded into the throngs of people walking about. We took in a small skateboarding competition for kids that was set up with a small skate ramp, then we checked out little ones flying up rock climbing walls before we decided to stroll down the street and check out the craft booths. To the left we saw a full fledged wrestling ring and saw some adults in tights really wrestling! haha! We moved along and dipped in and out of small canopied booths that caught our interest. I really loved the photograph and painting booths. I did check out some of the jewelry tables, but didn't find anything that struck me. Lots of sea glass jewelry set in silver and glass beaded necklaces though. Boo and I found an interesting coconut booth. Everything was made out of coconuts; lamps that looked like miniature palm trees, tables, bird feeders, silly animal figurines, etc... We walked down along the street food section, everything from cold lemonades, roasted turkey legs, funnel cakes, deep fried blooming onions, lamb gyros, shaved ice, you name it, it was there.

Boo and I had plans to eat at our fav, place, so even though our hungry mouths were watering, we bypassed the aromatic festival section and walked down to the main stage area. I really wanted to catch the 2pm reggae band called SELAH DUBB ,and with 10 minutes to spare, Boo and I grabbed a seat on the city hall steps to people watch and checked out the stage. The backdrop of the stage was amazing. It was the waterfront of the Cape Fear River with the river court (for those who watch the show One Tree Hill, you know what I'm talking about, it's filmed here) and the battleship North Carolina, whose permanently docked there. Well, in true reggae time, the band started up late, hahaha!, around 2:30pm. They were pretty good too! I found out they are from Boone, NC, and moved to Wilmington to continue pursuing their music. The singer really had a strong reggae voice, it reminded me alot of Shaggy (Mr. Boomtastic). Boo was totally mesmerized by Hula Hoop Ho... I mean girl.... haha! You see, there was this girl who had brought her really short skirt and hula hoop out to the festival and was shaking her mid drift cut off shirt for everyone to watch her. Honestly, she was a really good hula hooper, even if she was attention starved :) Anyways, we stayed and watched the band (and hula hoop girl getting picked up by a pirate) til 3:45pm, then we strolled down along the boardwalk to Georges for some lunch.

At Georges, we opted for an outdoor table, (I love, love, love outdoor dining!!), ordered two Corona's and the warm spinach artichoke dip we love, and continued people watching. When our beers came, Boo and I did a little toast to getting out of town for a bit and as soon as Boo had his first sip, he said he felt completely relaxed. It made me smile and feel good that he was able to chillax for a bit. After two rounds of Corona's, we ordered our entrees. Boo got the shrimp Po'boy with malted fries and I got the baby spinach salad with goat cheese, pecans, and cherry port dressing. (YUMMY!) We enjoyed the waterfront view, the awesome 72 degree weather, and left with satisfied smiles on our stuffed faces. We strolled along the Front Street and finished checking out all the vendors and wandered up to the boardwalk again. We decided to just chill for a second and sat along the waterfront wall. Well, Boo sat, I laid down for a bit and enjoyed the breeze and watched the boats coming up the river. An hour later, we continued walking along the boardwalk til we got to where the Flotilla entry boats were being decorated. We checked out the Pirate Themed boats and watched all the sailors on board swilling back some rum concoctions and laughing the day away in their pirate outfits. (One day Boo, one day we'll be dressed up in silly costumes, hanging colored lights off of our boat and swilling down some rum concoction. I promise. )

We decided to make one last stroll thru the craft vendors to see if we missed anything. Oh, I forgot to mention how many ECU Pirate t-shirts, hats, and sweatshirts we saw all over the festival. It's nice to see my fellow alumni representing our college. I, of course, had my ECU hat tied to my purse, in case I needed to wear a hat :) So after attempting to buy some international flags to round up our collection at home, we headed to the boardwalk wall to grab a seat for the FLOTILLA. For those who don't know what a Flotilla is, it's a parade of boats all decked out with Christmas lights or any themed decoration. The Riverfest Flotilla was Pirate themed and started at dusk. We watched swashbuckling sailors float by playing their sea shanty music, firing booming cannons, and showing off their "booty" treasure chests, all the while lit up with all kinds and colors of Christmas lights. Once the show was over, Boo and I decided to head on home, we had a nice long 3 hour drive ahead of us.

What a perfect day trip down east to Wilmington, NC for the annual Riverfest. Not only is Wilmington one of our favorite little spots on the planet, it's also full of history, and is by far, one of the best coastal towns around. I'm so glad Boo and I took the opportunity to go on this adventure. Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Hiking and Hanging

2010-09-20T07:22:00.048-04:00

Friday afternoon I picked up Boo from work and we zoomed up to Hot Springs, NC to meet up with some fellow hammock hangers and to do some hiking. I had a date with a 13.5 mile section of the AT that I just HAD to do. hahaha! Seriously, I needed to complete that section in order to be officially done with the Hot Springs area.

We pulled in around 7pm, said hellos, mingled a bit, then strung up our hammocks just in time for the sun to disappear. That night we all gathered around the campfire, catching up, trading trail stories, and talking gear. I hope I have everyones names, but here's a list of who was all there; Gunner, Running Feather, Hanging Burrito, Suess, Hogg Tyed, Shrek, Snakeman, Detailed Man, Tweaky, Shadow Moss, Vic, Hoop Cheese, Ground Hog, Bearpaw, Sleeps with Skunks, me, Boo, and Tweaky's kids. We were quite a group! After the fire died down Boo and I finally slinked back to our hammocks and called it a night. It was just after 11pm and I had to get some sleep b/c I had a 7am shuttle I to catch the next morning.

I woke up around 5am the next day and tried my hardest to get back to sleep, but I was too wired and nervous about my hike. I was going to hike from Max Patch to I-40 by myself and it was a looong 13.5 miles. I've been stressing about it all week. Wondering if it was too much too soon, and trying not to scare myself silly for hiking alone. But I knew that once it was done, I could officially cross off that 50 mile section from I-40 to Allen Gap off. So I laid in my hammock til 6am pondering my day. I finally got up and playfully tried to wake up Boo, whom was sleeping so soundly I could hear his soft snores whistling in the air. Since it was still pitch black out, I poked my headlamp under his tarp and whispered, "good morning." His eyes fluttered open and in a low growl, he said "turn that god damn light off." I know when my usually playful husband is serious and boy was he dead serious. hahaha! I shut off the light and scurried to the bathrooms to change in to my hiking clothes. When I got back, he's out of the hammock milling around. He wants to see me off to the outfitter, which is only a short 2 minute walk up the road, but I let him be the protector that he is and hop in the car. We drive down the block in search of some breakfast, but I see that Bluff Mt. Outfitters is already open, so we stop, I decide to just grab a pack of crackers, some coffee and a cliff bar for breakfast. We meet up with my shuttle guy and after Boo senses that I'll be safe, he kisses me good bye. The shuttle guy and I hop into his minivan and start the windy road towards Max Patch. He's a nice Irish gentleman with some good stories about Ireland.

By 8am, I am stepping foot on the AT and headed SOBO for I-40. I'm excited and a bit nervous. After the first 1/2 mile of gradual climb, I start to psyche myself out and start thinking about all kinds of scary scenarios. I stop and force myself to breathe, then I shake my head around, as to get rid of all my silly thoughts. I ask god for a sign that everything's going to be safe and then guess what.... Around the bend in the trail from where I stopped I hear... "SWEETPEA!!" No joke! As I look over every ounce of panic leaves my body and I grin and exclaim, "GREENBEAN!!" We met over labor day weekend when Boo and I were hiking the AT NOBO into Damascus, VA and she was SOBO'ing it to Springer Mt, GA from Harpers Ferry WV. She was sitting having a snack at a shelter we decided to stop by for lunch. We chit chatted a bit before she started hiking again. What a relief it was to see her smiling, perky, familiar face and what a coincidence! We catch up a bit and I ask her how her hike's been so far. She said she spent the night on top of Max Patch last night and caught the most amazing sunrise she's ever seen, and that she's ready to be off the trail. Other than that, she was still in good spirits. I snap a picture of her and we continue hiking and chatting away for the next mile. As we start to climb up another mountain, I see her walking further away from me and I laugh and yell, "I guess this is where we leave each other." She turns around and I say, "I can totally tell your a long distance hiker, cause you go up at the same speed that you climb down a mountain. And I, the section hiker, go slow on the up." We both laugh and say good byes. I see her take off over the mountain as I follow, huffing and puffing away. That moment changed the hike for me that day. Just knowing Greenbean was on the trail with me and knowing I wasn't alone, made all the difference to me. Now that I had my head on straight, I hiked on, admiring all the sights, sounds, flowers, frogs, butterflies, and birds, feeling safe.

By 10am, I reached Ground Hog Shelter, I had hiked 5.8 miles in 2 hours! and I was feeling good. I stopped just past the shelter at a campsite with an inviting log just begging for me to sit on and for 30 mins. I rested, loaded up on water, and ate a PB and snickers fun size bar. I knew I had a 2 mile climb up Snowbird Mountain ahead of me, so I was resting my feet up. At 10:30am, I started the slow ascent and told myself I would be up there by at least 12pm and b/c at noon, I had some serious plans for an orange I bought earlier that morning. I slugged it up Snowbird one switchback at a time at a slow and steady pace that I surprised myself at how little I stopped going up. I finally saw a blinding light at the end of the tree tunnel and when I hiked up to it, it led me onto an open, flowery, butterfly filled, bald mountain top. It was so beautiful, I had to stop in awe at the view and the sights. From here, to the south, you can see the views of the Smokey Mountains, which are right on the otherside of I-40, and they looked monstrous! To the east was an stunning view as well. It was so pretty up there that I spent another 20 minutes, just taking pictures and admiring the spectacular view. By the way, this is one of those mountain tops you can drive up to and I would say the view is well worth the trip. But it's much more satisfying knowing I climbed up here to see it :) Oh, and it was 12pm on the dot when I emerged from the forest onto the bald :)

After gulping down my sweet juicy orange and drinking 1/2 liter of water, I rounded the top of Snowbird Mountain and started my 5.5 mile descent down to I-40. There were some rolling sections, but for the most part, it was down hill. Sometimes, going downhill is tougher than going up. I plugged away at the miles and around the 4th mile down, I ran into a stunningly beautiful woman, who looked to be around 56 yrs old. I mean she took my breathe away. She was so pretty she could of been a model. She was NOBO'ing to Hot Springs from Newfound Gap and it was her 4th day on the trail. She saw me first, since I had my head down, watching where I was stepping, trying to avoid those damn acorns sprinkled all over the trail. She asks me, "are you Sweetpea?" I look up, surprised that she knew my name and say, "Yes! I'm Sweetpea." She says, "Greenbean told me to look out for you. She wanted to let you know she would be at Standing Bear hostel." I say, "Cool! I bet she's like 3 hours ahead of me isn't she?" and laugh. She laughs too and says, "No, it was just a little while ago." WOW... I've almost kept up with Greenbean! I thank the beautiful lady (forgot to get her name) and continue down the trail, hoping to catch Greenbean before she walks up to the hostel. I make it to the gravel road, for the turn off up to the hostel and realize I only have 30 minutes to hike 1 mile to I-40. I stop, take a break and drink some water before I hop back on the trail. I finally get to the end with 10 minutes to spare, and climb down the stairs where I wait for Boo. I call him to let him know I'm done and when we hang up, I sit back, let my tired feet rest, and grin. It's 2:50pm and I just hiked 13.5 miles :) I glance over at I-40 and can hear the cars rushing by. I look up and I can see the beginning of the Smokey Mountains and think, someday soon, I'll be coming down that end of the AT.

Boo pulls in at exactly 3pm. His hike this afternoon went well. He hiked a 5 mile section of the AT in Hot Springs from Tanyard Gap back to Hot Springs then hung out with the rest of the hammock hangers. As soon he parks the car, I pop the back and pull out my flip flops and peel off my boots and socks. I sling my day pack in, close the trunk and hop in the front seat, letting all my muscles slowly relax and sink into the seat. aaaahhhh.... Boo and I ride with the windows down on so I can let the sweat evaporate off me and my clothes (and to air out the car in case I reek! haha!) We make the turn off I-40 towards Hot Springs and I tell Boo I am famished! We pull into a gas station that has a subway and we split a foot long Italian sub and I drink like 5 soda refills. It feels like the best lunch ever.

We finally pull out and drive back into Hot Springs the back way, from Max Patch to Hot Springs, and I see all the gang chillin' around the campsite. I pull out my chair and plop down to relax the rest of the day. Around 6:30pm, someone starts the fire for our hot dog roast and as I'm chit chatting with Detailed Man, I'm introduced to his wife Tweaky. Come to find out, Tweaky and I graduated from the same high school, the same year! We even lived in the same neighborhood! We knew of each other, but didn't know each other. After we talked a bit, we realized we could of been friends, we both grew up in SoCal and moved to NC our last year of high school. We had so much in common it was so funny! We talked the rest of the night, catching up about all the people we knew and what they were up to. Sometimes I really think we live in a tiny, tiny world.

I ate two roasted (burnt) dogs that night, had a great day hike that enabled me to cross off a section of the AT from my NC list, had a nice time catching up and chit chatting with fellow hammock hangers around the campfire, and fell asleep soundly in my hammock. It was a great day :) The next morning, Boo and I woke up, said good byes to everyone and hopped in the car and headed for home and to our dogs. It really was a nice weekend in Hot Springs :) Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

US 91 to Damascus, VA.

2010-09-05T23:16:00.033-04:00

This labor day weekend I had fully planned on crossing off a 30 mile section of the AT, but when Boo asked if he could come out backpacking with me, I jumped at the chance to make it a family event. So on Saturday morning, we loaded up the car with our packs, changes of clothes, last night's left over pizza, and two very excited dogs. I had picked a nice and easy 20 mile section for us to do over the 3 day weekend, where we actually crossed into Virginia and into the trail town of Damascus.

We pulled into Mt. Rogers Outfitters around 10:50am, just in time for our 11am shuttle ride out to US 91 in NC, our starting point. Our shuttle driver was Dave of Dave's Place/hostel. He was by far one of the nicest shuttle drivers I've encountered. On the trip up, he gave us lots of local history, trail knowledge, and water updates. I would definitely use him again for any other sections up in the area.

As we step out of the van, I'm slapped with a wall of cold temperatures. It's 62 degrees out! and it's windy and chilly for my short sleeves. I always seem to forgot how cold it gets up in the elevations, but it makes for great hiking weather. I've got my pack all set and am waiting on Boo to lace up his boots, when I glance over at the trail head. I can see the trail winding up over nice rolling meadow/pasture and I can't wait to step foot on the trail! The dogs are just as antsy as me. 10 minutes later at 12:15pm, we enter the turn stile and are officially hiking the AT!! The first .5 miles are nice, wide, gravel trail. The open meadow made for some amazing views of the surrounding valley's and mountains. It was just so pretty and picturesque. Let me tell you, the NC and TN section of the AT, or at least the sections I've hiked, have had some stunning, beautiful views. I'm really proud of the AT through my state :)

As we climb up the rolling pasture, we hit another stile and enter the woods with a nice climb up to the ridge. And for the rest of the trip that's where we will be, ridge walking. At the top of our gradual climb, we see Double Springs Shelter and decide to take a quick lunch. We meet a hiker sitting at the picnic table, her name is Green Bean and she is hiking from Harpers Ferry, WV to Springer Mt. GA, southbound. Damascus was her 1/2 point. I congratulate her and wish her the best. After munching on left over pizza, we hit the trail again, and hike on til 6pm. The trail is nice and rolling, nothing to steep or long, just enough to get your heart rate up. We cross over highway 421, hike a couple miles in and stop right before a spring and figured we had done a nice 8 miles at a good pace. At the campsite, we find a couple of good trees and begin hanging up our hammocks. I've got a new tarp that I'm eager to try out, it's made by OES and of Spinn material, so it's really crinkly sounding, and I'm hoping it won't be loud tonight. I get my tarp and hammock set up and go to hang the bear bag rope. When I get back, Boo is chilling in his hammock and the dogs are passed out. I unpack a poncho liner from the dog's pack and lay it down for them. They immediately get up and plop down on the poncho. I wonder if the grounds going to be to cold for them. I then pull out the alcohol stove and start preparing dinner. It takes forever to boil two cups of water for our dinner, and the wind is picking up, making it extra chilly tonight. We finally eat dinner and Boo likes the chicken pasta dehydrated recipe I got from Kellye. (Thanks Kellye!) We finish off with a small size Snickers, then bear bag the food and call it a night. While in my hammock nice and toasty warm, I wonder if Boo's going to be warm enough with just his poncho liner underquilt. I hope so, but we are definitely buying him a new underquilt soon.

I woke up the next day and found both dogs still curled up on the poncho liner. Boo was still snoring away, so I got up, watered the leaves and went to take down the food bags. When I got back, both dogs were up and stretching and Boo was slowly making his way out of the hammock. We packed everything up pretty quickly, ate a breakfast bar and hit the trail by 8am. Last night I had figured we had hiked 8 miles and new we had 13.5 left, so I thought we would take it easy and just hike 8 more and leave the last 5.5 til Monday.

About .25 miles into our hike, we finally find spring and it's a great flowing spring, so we top off all of our water bottles and bladders. (Usually I don't carry a water bladder. I hate drinking out of the tube and I hate the weight of it in my pack. In my mind, it's heavier than the two liter nalgenes I carry. It may not be true, but in my head it is! hahaha! Anways, I carried the extra 3 liter bladder for extra water for the dogs and in case this section happened to be dry.) So fully loaded up, we continue on and hike up and down small hills til we cross a forest road and gradually climb up to Abingdon Shelter. Around 10:30am we reach the shelter and I see a two dogs playing around. One is a giant St. Bernard and he just looked so funny to me. My chocolate lab snuck up behind him and scared the crap out of that giant dog. It was so funny to see a dog that big jump up and run away. hahaha! We see an older, bearded guy in the shelter and I ask him if he is Heavy Metal. He said he was, and I told him that Green Bean told us we would run into him in at this shelter. He is a character. He's NOBOing it to Harpers Ferry, so he's hiking around 1,000 miles and as soon as he gets to Damascus, he'll of completed 500 miles. While he was in the Smokies, he fell off the trail down a steep incline and lost his tent. So he's been hiking shelter to shelter ever since. He also had the gift of doing some serious Yogi-ing and guilted me into giving up some of our food. haha! Boo and I decide take a short water and snack break. All of us chug a ton of water and I volunteer to filter more to top us off. Well, an hour and a serious hike later, I made it back to the shelter. The trail down to the water source (sketchy water source) was steep and loooong. I seriously had more elevation gain on the jaunt to get water than I did the entire trip! haha! Reminded me of getting water on top of Standing Indian Mt., far and steep. I finally, breathlessly, climbed back up and joined Boo on the picnic table. Seems as if he and Heavy Metal became fast friends while I was gone. I told him I was ready to get back on the trail, so we threw on our packs, said goodbye, and headed NOBO. I waved to the St. Bernard owners and do you know what that big ass dog did? He spotted us, barked, and charged me and my lab! No joke. I ran down the trail screaming OH SHIT!! thinking I was about to become Bernard Bait and Boo just laughed at me. He said the big dog was just getting us back for scaring him. haha!

So we plodded on til 2pm where we found the nicest little camp spot and decided to stop for lunch. I pulled out all the fixings to make our black bean and ground beef dehydrated burritos, (another recipe courtesy of Kellye.) I got the water boiling and Boo lounged while I put out the tortillas, taco bell hot sauce packets, and cheese. In about 10 minutes we were feasting on some really good trail burritos. And the beans and meat reconstituted back up perfectly. I knew this recipe was a hit when Boo says it was the BEST trail meal he has ever had. (THANKS Kellye!!) After another hour and 1/2 of lounging, we set off around 3:30pm and I noted to Boo that we only had 5 more miles to go til Damascus, so if he wanted to take it easy or find a camp spot we could. He said that lunch really made him feel better, more energetic and he wanted to just finish up our hike. I was surprised and thought, surely, he would want to stop soon. He's known as Mr. SS7 (Slow and Steady 7 miler). But I put on my pack and we pushed on. I think just knowing that civilization was right around the corner made him more determined to make it into Damascus, cause he took off at a nice fast pace. Faster than I have ever seen him hike. Maybe this will make him more inclined to come out in the woods with me.

We got to the TN/VA state line and posed for the cheesey photo op. It's actually nice to say I've hiked both into NC and now out of NC/TN into VA. So it was a nice feeling. Now I just need to do the middle of NC/TN. haha! We knew we only had 3 miles left, so Boo kicked it into gear. We stopped to load up the dogs with water, then hiked the last mile down into Damascus and by 6pm, we were coming out the woods and into the town park! We walked under the AT "Welcome to Damascus" sign and through the park til I found a nice open area that I could sneak the dogs down into the river. I let them splash around and cool down before I joined Boo on a park bench. My feet ached so it felt good to sit for a bit. I looked over at Boo and said, you know you just hiked 13.5 miles today. He just grinned. I wonder if he wanted to get into town, or just not spend another night out in the woods? hmmmm..... I was so proud of him. All in all it was a great weekend. I realized that Boo could really be a great hiking partner, as long as I cook well on the trail. hahaha! I remembered how much I loved having the dogs out on the trail with me, and I enjoyed spending time with my little family out in the woods. Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Rafting the Ocoee

2010-08-23T07:51:00.019-04:00

Woke up at 5am to pack up my car and head down to GA to meet up with Kellye, SHOE, Leslie, and Joan. The 5 of us had an appointment with a raft and the Ocoee River. Woo Hoo! Along the way I picked up Kellye and Joan and we made it to Rolling Thunder Rafting Outfitters by 11am. As soon as we stepped out of my car, SHOE and Leslie pull into the parking lot. After hugs hello and catching up, we checked in with the outfitter. Since we had 2 hours to burn, we decided to walked thru the metropolis known as McCaysville of some lunch. Seriously, we walked the entire town in about 10 minutes. haha! It was a cute little town though. We rolled up on what looked like a town carnival. There were big slides, about 2 craft booths and a guy in a dunking tank. We watched some kids throw baseballs at the target until they hit it and made the guy plunge into water tank. We ducked into a little candy/fudge store that ended up being a huge shop. It had different sections from antique knick knacks, black bear novelty items, a candy/fudge/jam/general store shop, handmade wooden furniture, to a quilt shop. It was pretty interesting. We then made our way to the only Mexican Cantina in the town. I had a quick flash of what eating Mexican food and then jumping into a river full of class 3 and 4 rapids would be like, (puke fest!), but I quickly forgot about it when the chips and salsa came out. :)

After a yummy lunch, we headed back to the outfitter. Once we were there, we learned that they were running a bit late b/c the early morning rafters had a "situation" that they had to handle. Well... this is where I learned that Kellye was deathly afraid to go rafting. I mean she was really spooked, so nervous that she couldn't even look at the "pictures of carnage", that the outfitter had up of all the raft crashes on the river. I thought they were pretty funny, but I didn't let Kellye know. We all gather up to hear the safety rules and get our gear (helmet, PFD, and paddle) then we break up in groups. Kellye goes back to hear the safety rules, again, that the outfitter is giving out for another group. We finally load up on the stinky, wet, school bus and are on chugging along down the road to our output, when we hear this really drunk fool making a spectacle of himself. I have to admit, that for the first 15 minutes, he was pretty entertaining, but it got old after a while. He kept rousing the guide up front and yelling at the bus driver, and making fun of his friends. Anyways, I couldn't wait to get off the bus, not just b/c of him, but when I looked at my knees and hands, there was some dirty muck on them that came from the bus seats. I almost lost my tacos when I discovered it. We make it to the put out spot, get off the gross bus, and find our guide Brian. Immediately I like him. (He's wearing an ITALIA soccer shirt, only my favorite country in the world.) Because of the earlier "situation", there was no practice time for us, we had to get on the river ASAP, so we hauled up the raft and walked it down to the line forming at the river. I looked over at Kellye and I swore I thought I saw her go two shades whiter than her normal pasty self. ha ha! I mean there was no break, no practice time, no nothing. We just got off the bus, grabbed our raft, walked to the output, and BAM! within 5 feet we were in two sets of Class 4 rapids called Broken Nose and Slice & Dice. I hung on and knew it was going to be a wild ride!

After a couple of more rapids, we came to a section that looked pretty tough. The rapids were called Double Suck and Double Trouble. I knew we had to all paddle hard if we were going to make it through, so after Brian barked orders at us, I yelled for us to paddle hard! We coasted off that first ledge of a rapid that felt like we dropped 8 feet down, and got the raft going the right way again. After we made it through the second rapid, we pulled off to the side to spectate others attempting to make it through. Well, just our luck, we saw carnage and before we could even blink, Brian had us paddling hard out into the middle of the rapids to rescue a girl floating down the river. We made it out to her and as SHOE grabbed her PFD, our guide swiftly pulled her into safety and ordered us to paddle hard. I glanced at the girl to make sure she was OK and she looked terrified. I've never seen anyone so scared in my life. We smacked the second rapid and it wasn't pretty, no one fell out, but the boat went over the rapid sideways. All we could do is hang on. After we were in safe waters, we all look at the girl and the first thing she says is, " I lost my flip flops!" After that terrifying event, all she could think about was her flip flops! ha ha! We got her safely onto her boat and we continued plowing down the Ocoee. We were so on point with our paddling that we owned the rapids and I felt like a freaking warrior conquering the Ocoee. I whooped and hollered it up, we all paddle clapped and cheered each rapid. It was so much fun.

Towards the end of the trip, we pulled over to the side of the river so Brian, our guide, could touch base with another boat. Well, I finally got a chance to turn around and talk to Kellye. Poor thing, she had been scared silly this entire time. (Come to think of it, the usual chatter box WAS awfully quiet the entire trip down the river.) I felt so bad for her that I gave her a big hug and promised that all of us would paddle our hearts out so she wouldn't fall out the boat. I swore I saw crocodile tears well up, but it could of been river water. I'm glad she took on the Ocoee and I'm glad she stayed focused and strong. It says alot about someones character when they are in a dangerous situation and they stay focused instead of losing it. (Kind of like I lost it on my first ocean sailing trip. I curled up like a fetus and cried my eyes out til Boo took us to safety. Yeah... I can be a big baby sometimes. But that was a looooong time ago. I can now sail with the best of them.) Kellye stayed strong, contributed to all of our safety's, and endured the ride. And boy was it a wild ride! She can check white water rafting off her bucket list now.

We headed back to the outfitter on the dirty bus, and everyone seemed to be in great spirits. I'll have some great memories of Joan paddling like a wild woman and her wide eye in amazement look about her as she commands the right front of our boat. Then there's Leslie's ever present 1000 watt smile and laugh holding up the right side middle. SHOE's cheesey grin and child like spirit with those foggy glasses manning up the front left side of our boat. An the look on Kellye's face when we pulled out to the rivers edge to end our Ocoee adventure, it was pure relief with a touch of joy. And I'm sure I had a bit of every one of those emotions running through me as well. It was a great adventure with the ladies from GA. What's next ladies? haha! Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Workouts for Week 2

2010-08-20T09:22:00.011-04:00

This weeks workouts were pretty good. It started with a hike on Saturday with my friend Becky. We then did some Yoga on Sunday with a new instructor, that I didn't like. Not that I didn't like her personally, but I didn't like her yoga routine or the way she massaged our feet as we rested the last five minutes of class. Too weird, plus she talked waaaay too much for me to enjoy the calmness that yoga is supposed to bring and I think she f'ed up my left calf, cause since her yoga class, it's not been right.

On Monday, Becky and I did the week 2 workout 1 of the C25k program.

On Tuesday, I met my other friend Tracy and we started a new strength training program. We were assigned this 12 yr old Governor Arnold looking boy with emo hair that was constantly in his face to show us how to use the free weights. Well Zak sucked. He briefly went over the weights and cables for like 10 minutes and then, all hood like, said, "YOU GOOD?" Really? did he just say that to us? I looked over at Tracy and mockingly said "You good?" She says, "Good, you good?" Then to Zak I said "We good." (GOD I so wanted to roll my eyes just then.) I asked him to write up the routine he flew through so we could start some sort of weight training. After an hour at the gym, we had finished up chest presses, chest flys, bicep curls, tricep exercises, ab workout on a balancing ball, shoulder workouts on cables, and walking lunges that were crazy hard. The next morning I texted Tracy to see how she was feeling, and it wasn't pretty.

Wednesday Becky and I did week 2 workout 2 of the C25k program and we ended the day with a spin class. It was actually not that bad.

Thursday I woke up so soar it hurt to even move out of bed. My abs killed from all the sit ups and the back of my thighs ached from the walking lunges. I wanted to call Tracy and cancel our workout, but Boo made me stick it out. So I met Tracy after a ridiculous traffic jam day. It took me almost an hour to drive 4 miles. I got to the gym late, but then so did Tracy. We both were hurting but we had to work out. I saw that in 10 minutes they were going to start a cycle class and I asked if she was interested. She said sure! lets try it. So off we go to pick out our bikes. Our normal instructor was out on vacay, so we had some guy named Teri subbing from another Y. Well.... let's just call him Psycho Cyclist. He was like the drill sargent of spin class. I mean he was yelling, walking around screaming for us to hit it harder! turning up our tension to make the bike pedaling harder, checking to see if we were sweating enough. I mean he would walk right up to you to see if you were exerting and sweating! and if you weren't he would yell! This guy was nuts! AND he had us up off the seat for 90% of the workout. It was crazy hard. Poor Tracy kept looking over at me with a painful look on her face. I felt so bad, she will never come back to a cycle class ever. After our workout, we wobbled up to the stretching area and Tracy rolled herself down onto the mat. We both cracked up at how stiff we were feeling. We stretched for a good 15 minutes and noticed a really fit couple, that was in the cycle class with us. They walk up and ask how we liked the class. I told them it was Tracy's first spin class and they pleaded to her that this was not a normal spin class and to please come back. Even they were hurting! Tracy said she would be up for another class, so the Psycho Cyclist didn't scare her away.

Friday morning I ran/walked again with Becky to finish up my Week 2 Day 3 work out of the Couch to 5k program and it was tough. My legs were fatigued from all I did this week but I finished the last set of runs pretty strong. Tonight I am definitely taking it easy cause I got so crazy plans with the ATL girls this weekend and I am looking forward to it! Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

5 mile Hike

2010-08-14T12:58:00.007-04:00

Today I invited Becky back out for another easy 5 mile day hike. I picked her up around 8am and we zoomed up to Troutman NC where we were meeting a group to go hiking. It's one of my favorite local trails, Lake Norman State Park's, Lakeshore trail. It's a nice rolling trail, nothing too steep or too crazy, but enough to get your hear pumping and your body sweating. We started out following Mike, he hiked at a good pace, so we kept up him and got in a good workout.

With a nice 15 minute break at the half way point, we finished up in just under 2 hours. And let me tell you, I was sweating up a storm! All in all it was a great day to be out, it was nice and overcast, so not so hot, the trail was tree covered to keep us cooler, and the breeze floating off the lake was just what we needed to keep us going at a good pace. There were a few times when we didn't talk cause we needed to breathe, but other than that it was a great beginner hike. Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

My new Hell.....

2010-08-13T15:41:00.009-04:00

So I've attempted to creep back into the gym. My original thoughts were to take it slowly with a class or two a week, maybe hit the elliptical, some weights.... you get the idea. Well.... it seems I shot out the cannon with both feet running. You see, I bought my Y membership last week and invited my friend Becky (whose been wanting to get back into the gym) to start out slowly with me. After our hike on Saturday, she was a bit sore, so we THOUGHT we would take it easy this week. On Sunday, we went to the Y and took a Yoga Basics class that was really good. I've never taken an actual yoga class, just did th DVD thing, so it was neat. The instructor had the lights out, the soft music playing and for an hour I twisted and manipulated myself into a pretzel. It was tough to start, b/c I'm not the most flexible person, but I loved how I felt after the class, so loose and limber. We will definitely be back for another stretch session soon.

On Monday, we started the Couch to 5k series again, she been wanting to run, so I told her I'd jog with her. Week 1 was pretty easy for me this time around :) Then on Monday afternoon I get an email from her saying there was a Spin class she wanted to take that night. Since I've never taken a Spin cycle class before, I was mildly interested and told her I was game. She picked me up around 6:30pm and we headed to the gym for our 6:45pm Spin class and boy was it HELL!!! hahaha! Oh my... I got in a real good workout with that class. We had the cycle Nazi instructor from hell and not even 5 minutes into the class I was out of breath and sweating up a storm. She had us up off the bikes for about 75% of the class, and it was a good thing too, those seats were hard! They hurt so much and made my bum numb, that I actually looked forward to when she made us stand and cycle. (*Note, bring a gel seat cushion to Spin cycle class if you ever go.) Anyways, we loved it so much, we did the same routine jog/spin on Wed, and Friday. haha! We're going to add some sculpt classes on Tues and Thurs, and do some day hiking on Saturday. Sounds like alot (and it is) but my body can handle it so far and I'm having lots of fun. That cycle class is definitely a challenge that I want to beat. So... Til next time...GET OUTDOORS!!! (or indoors, just get moving!!!) :)

Nice hike today

2010-08-07T22:15:00.019-04:00

Aaaaahhh..... it's been a while since I've been on a day hike and it's been a LONG time since I've been to Stone Mountain State Park in NC. So I was looking forward to my summer hike. I had invited Becky, a newbie hiker, and had promised her that it would be an easy 5 mile hike. The only hard part would be the first .75 miles, where we would actually climb up 750 feet in elevation, but the rest would be nice trail.

Around 8:30am, I picked up Becky and we zoomed up to the mountains and at 10:30am we were stepping on the trail and climbing our way up to the top. Now it has been a while since I've been to this park, over 7 yrs and I took my mom last time, and alot has changed. As we were climbing up these never ending nice wooden stair cases, I was telling Becky that back in the day, we used to hike up this mountain along the rock face and had to literally hold onto roots, trees, and rocks to get us up to the top. The trail has also changed a bit, it used to be along the side of the mountain, where you had some great views for most of the way up. Now the stairs wind thru the woods and you don't get really good views til you get to the top. It's a shame they changed the trail, but I can understand why. It's safer and more accessible for more people to come out an enjoy the park. Still, it was really a workout before and you felt like you were really deserved the views b/c you were busting your hump over the rock face.

So after we reached the summit, we stopped for a break to snap some pictures, eat a snack, and drink lots of water. Then we walked the ridge a bit and started our descent down along a 200 ft. water fall. The last 4 miles were pretty smooth and easy and I think Becky really enjoyed it. Once we got to the bottom, we took a picture of the rock faced Stone Mountain we just climbed. I didn't see the usual slew of rock climbers out, but it was pretty hot. We made it down to the little outdoor museum settlement, which consisted of a barn, corn crib, garden, another building, an outhouse, and a little cabin. We met a nice man named Mr. McGrady, and he told us his grandfather used to live in the settlement and he remembers spending lots of nights in the old two room house with a loft. The property was in his family since it was granted to them in 1783 and The Hutchinson family eventually sold it to the state park system in the late 1960's. It was really cool to talk to a real live part of history. It made the little museum that much more interesting. We hop back on the trail for the last 1/4 mile and we are back at the car by 1:30pm. As we hop in the car, I ask Becky if she wants to stop and have lunch at the little country store that is famous for it's ice cream! She says yes and off we go to enjoy our earned reward. As we were browsing the little gifts in the shop, we come across this sign, right above the homemade jelly's, that reads, "Flies $1.89 each, this box." We both immediately think it's for REAL flies! and start laughing, after all it's set up right by all the food stuff, not the fishing stuff. Anyways, I snap a picture and we head out to go home. It was a perfect day for a hike, the weather was overcast so not that hot, and the climb gave us a good work out. Becky enjoyed the hike and I loved being outside. Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Pepper Concert

2010-07-16T11:32:00.017-04:00

Whoo hoo! Thursday night, Boo and I headed over to a local venue to catch the lively tunes of Hawaii's own Pepper. These boys hail from Kona, Hawaii, then moved to "the Diego" to make it big. That's San Diego for those who don't know. Now ya know. If you've never heard of them, you're missing out! The band is an awesome mix of reggae/rock/rap and those boys know how to throw down a show! It was soooo much fun. They came out to an all Baywatch Beach themed show. Sounds corny, but it was cool. They had the lifeguard stand, surfboards, sand, beachballs, and Pam Anderson cut outs. haha! Anyways, they came out in the mandatory red lifeguard board shorts, sunglasses, and straw lifeguard hats. Too Chill. If you want to hear their music/albums, check out this link. PEPPER.

The Outlaw Nation opened up for them and I found out they are signed on at Slightly Stoopid's record label. They actually covered a couple of songs from Slightly Stoopid. I really dug them. But then again, I love me some Stoopid. It was a great night, great show, and great company. Thanks Boo! Til the next time Pepper is in town... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Grandfather Mt. Highland Games

2010-07-11T19:09:00.074-04:00

FRIDAY:

Friday afternoon I zoomed up to Linville NC and to meet up with some girlfriends for the 2010 G randfather Mountains Highland Games. I've never been to the games, so I was looking forward to it. My friends all had Scottish backgrounds and I realized I did to. My grandmother was a Campbell so I was looking forward to learning more about the Campbell surname. Kirsten and Cathy drove up on Tues, and Lisa showed up Thursday night for the Torch Ceremony. I had to work and could only get up there for camping on Friday and Saturday. So around 2:30pm, I pulled up to Grandfather Mountain in Linville, NC and up to the check in area to get my parking sticker and my camping pass (green wrist band). I called Kirsten to let her know I was here and she told me she'd be over in a second to show me where to go. Literally, a minute later she showed up and we entered, what I like to endearingly call, "the Shanty Tent Village." Seriously, there were miles and miles of tents and RV's all decked out in Scottish Flags. It was crazy! hahaha! We pulled up to our camp spot, a nice section on the bend towards McVillage, and met up with Cathy and Lisa. After quick hellos, I unloaded all my stuff (cooler, backpack, chair.) I had given Kirsten my tent last week, so they could save me a spot next to them. It was already up, so I dropped off my backpack and unfolded my air mattress and let the pump do it's job. In a couple of minutes, I was all unpacked and my air mattress was full. Kirsten went with me to go park my car at the camper's lot and we shuttled back to our shanty tent town.

Well, as soon as we walked up to our tent site, it started pouring rain. We all huddled under the canopy and since there was nothing else to do.... we started drinking! hahaha! I pulled out the Bourbon and Lisa and I had bourbon and gingers, while Kirsten and Cathy sipped on Beer and Scotch. When the rain finally let up a bit and we were feeling quite toasty, we all ventured out to give me a tour. We met up with the Browns, a family that Kirsten met a couple of years ago, when she came down for the highland games. They were such wonderful people, they had roasted an entire turkey and later that night, stopped by our tent to bring us a HUGE hunk of it to share. After goodbyes with the Browns, we venture back out onto shanty town lane and pass by a crazy looking Little House on the Prairie wagon that was decked out as a camping tent. You KNOW I had to check it out. haha! I met the crazy owner, who was waaaay more soused then I was and he said I could climb into his Scottish Gypsy Wagon and take a look. He had actually built the wagon over 2 years and customized it for traveling. It was like a mini RV. We continue on thru tent city and finally get to the vendor area and I get a sense of the place, but by then it was 5:30pm, so most things were closing down. We made one last stop at a Jewelry Tent and got caught in another crazy rain downpour. So we hung out with the vendor for about 45 mins. They were pretty cool and chit chatted with us about the Highland festivities. When the rain let up a bit, we high tailed it back to our tent site to make some dinner. A guy named Patrick noticed our stuff was getting wet, so he offers to plastic wrap one side of our canopy tarp and we graciously accept. He saved the day, cause our stuff was dried out and it didn't rain the entire rest of the trip! haha! Pat's a nice older guy who know's our other neighbor Linville, and is staying in an RV with his son around the corner. He and his son play bagpipes and they were here enjoying the festival and competitions.

More rounds of bourbon and ginger ales and introductions with our neighbors. I got to meet Linville Rose, who was a very refined gentleman with a HUGE ass tent for just him and his grandson. I mean his tent could be classified as a McMansion of tents. It had like 5 separate rooms. He had a closet with a wardrobe rack full of clothes in one room! haha! Seriously, he knows how to camp with style. I loved Linville, he was like the grandpa that watched over all of us, but was cool enough to thrown down and party with us too. Next to Linville it was Cynthia, her husband Mike, and their three kids. They were really nice and REALLY into being Scottish. Mike had the Scottish ancestry and wore his kilt the entire time we were there. He actually taught me alot about kilts, claymores, dirks, sgian dubh's, shields, tartans, and Pict's (the blue painted warriors, like in the BraveHeart movie). So Mike was an interesting character. Not only did he school me in all things Scottish, since he's been coming down to these games for years, he knows lots of people and when they would stop by, he would introduce all of us girls to everyone. So I got to meet other die hard Scots rocking out in kilts. Literally rocking out. You see, I got to meet/see most of the members of the popular Scottish band Albannach. They would stop by Mike's tent for a beer or just to chit chat! I saw Jamesie (Bass drummer), Donnie (bagpiper), and Aya (drummer and tambourine). I also got to meet the second mayor of McVillage (you have to be here to understand) McVillage is like the "cool" camp spot where the long timers get together. Lucky for us, we were up on the bend from McVillage, so we were close enough to meet some characters. I met Darin and Erin from Canada and got a really good photo of Darin and Mike doing the Captain Morgan pose in their kilts. hahaha! Anyways, back to our little bend. The neighbors on the otherside of us were pretty cool too. Tom was an Englishman (by the way, the Scots hate the English waaaay more than the Irish do!) and Sprague, from Raleigh. They had the skimpiest set up. I mean, all it was was a small dome tent and that's it! No chairs, no fire pit, no tables, nada. We made sure they hung out with us and got to meet everyone. I totally felt like the social chair for our little nook in Shanty Tent Village.

Later on that night, we went over to the rowdy side. You see, the camping is divided into two areas, the quiet side, which everything quiets down by 10pm, and the rowdy side across the street into the woods, which shuts down around 1am. So we headed over to the rowdy side to catch Patrick's son Andy, play the bagpipes and join a drum circle. It was definitely a younger crowd and livelier side. As we hiked up (in flip flops) on a dry creek bed with tons of loose rocks, I'm too toasted and laughing too hard to notice all the times I slipped and slid on the rocks. When we get to the large bonfire, (and I mean HUGE fire pit, as in the biggest I have ever seen,) we join in the circle of dancing people and check out the bagpipers and drummers. After about an hour we decide to just head back to our own fire pit and chillax a bit. Plus it was FREEZING! It might be 100 degrees back at home, but up in the mountains it was a chilly 65. Well, when we get back, there's a ton of people already at our campsite waiting for us. So we fix some fresh drinks, and chat all night long with our neighbors and guests. Around 1am, everyone goes to sleep, but me, Darrin and Mike. This is where I learn alot about the Scottish heritage, the highland games, and weapons. I finally decide I need to go to bed, cause we have a LOOOONG day tomorrow! So around 1:30am, I crawl into my cardboard box... I mean tent. (I so missed my hammock right about then) and plop down onto the air mattress, which kind of deflated a bit over the course of the night, and I couldn't pump it back up without making so much noise with the pump, so I sagged on top of the air mattress, draped my down sleeping quilt over me and the next thing I knew, it was 8am the next morning.

SATURDAY:

I got up and because I had just arrived, decided to forgo the cold showers. So I changed clothes in my tent and since it was my day to do the cooking, I pulled out the bagels, got the water boiling for coffee, put out Advil's for everyone, and started skewering fruit for fruit kabobs. Soon, Cathy and Kirsten came back from the showers, and Lisa finally woke up and we sat in our chairs having breakfast and planning out our day. Around 10am, we headed over to the field with our chairs and watched some of the games. They also had a marathon going on that morning, so we got to see the runners enter the track area and cross the finish line. It was pretty cool, lots of people running in kilts. And we actually knew one of the runners! Daniel from back home was in the marathon race, when he came by our section we cheered loud and saw the huge grin on his face when he recognized us. So, the games. We caught the hay bail toss, which basically was a guy in a kilt, with a pitch fork, tossing a bail of hay over a bar, like a pole vault jumper bar. Then we saw the weight toss, a heavy weight tossed as far as the thrower could. We caught the herding dogs, herding sheep and white ducks. That was really cute, those border collies really get into their job! We saw a bunch of shirtless men in kilts wrestling, saw a ton of girls in kilts dancing, and then decided to walk into the groves to catch a couple of bands.

The groves were pretty cool. You walked up a little hill and over the ridge, and down into an open area covered by trees. It made for some great acoustics. We got there in time to catch a band called Trebius. Which consisted of a drummer, bagpiper, and a guitar. They were very good. Then we walked over to Grove 1, the bigger area, to catch Albannach. It got crowded fast and we only had standing room. You could feel the energy in the little "holler" as soon as the band took stage, (which the stage was a giant boulder, very natural setting, kind of what you would think it looked like back in the day in Scotland). Once the music began, it was mesmerizing, almost primal. The drum beats just took over and I felt the music. I really got into it. Later on that night Mike told me that if you have just a drop of Celtic blood in you, as soon as you hear those drums beat, it will awaken the Celticness inside you. I totally believe it. It was definitely an experience that I can not describe other than very primal, very raw, very tribal..... Anyways, I really enjoyed Albannach. I wanted to buy their CD right away, but I held off and told myself that if I saw them tonight and I felt the same strong, raw, stirring, feelings, then I would buy it.

After the music we decided to take a break and walk around to see the Clan tents and grab some lunch. . The Clan tents were set up around the track, while the festivities happened inside the track on the field. We stopped by the Scottish food vendor and I got a meat pie, I was too chicken to try the haggis or the Scottish Eggs (google either one and you'll see why) and my verdict is... what I expected. Pretty plain food., just some meat wrapped in a pastry. We then headed down to the Woodlands tent for some good NC BBQ (vinegar based sauce is the BESTEST!). We hauled our goodies back to our campsite and ate lunch there on our table.

After lunch, we filled up our "water" bottles with some amber colored liquid and headed back to catch more of the games. Lisa and Kirsten wanted to catch another band, so Cathy and I went to the games. While we walked around the field, we walked passed some of the Clan tents and I actually did the whole "Sorcerer and the stone" thing at one of the Clan tents. The kilted man asked me what I believed to be most important to me and I said it was my little family. Then he asked me to pull the sword up out of the stone, and I did! I was grinning like a silly kid when he made me a "Lady" and pinned a button on my shirt. I know, it's the corny, but it's the silly things that I love. hahaha! Anyways, after touring most of the Clan tents, (some even had complimentary shots of scotch!) we caught a couple of Caber tosses (telephone pole tossing) and then headed over to the music groves to catch some more music. We watched Albannach again and I got a great picture of Jamesie, up close and personal. haha! I mean I got up right in his grill and snapped away. He was a good sport about it too. AND I was still digging the music. I knew I wanted the CD now, but I wanted to wait til the concert tonight to make sure the raw passion I was feeling wasn't the amber colored liquid from my water bottle!

Around 6pm, we shuffle back to our campsite and because it was my turn to make dinner, I put Jeff (a neighbor) to work on getting the coals on the grill hot, while I assembled the marinated beef and veggies into kabobs. I also put out the tortilla chips and black bean and corn relish/salad I made for everyone to snack on. So while everyone (we had a nice crowd follow us back) was sitting around the fire, refreshing their drinks and munching on my dip, I started grilling the kabobs. We are laughing and relaxing, when Linville decides that he wants to get a group photo of us girls. I suggest getting a group shot of everyone, so we all gather up our cameras. I spotted a random guy walking by and grabbed him with the promise of a beer if he is would to take our photo. He deserved that beer too, cause there were about 12 cameras out for him to shoot our picture! hahaha! After the photo shoot, my kabobs were ready and thank goodness I had enough for everyone! I got some great compliments on the dinner. Since the rule is, if you cook, you clean, while I was cleaning up, everyone was chit chatting away, waiting for the concert that night. Cathy helped me out alot and I was able to finish up faster than I thought. By now, Kirsten had switched me to Gin and Tonics, now I thought I didn't like gin, but these were delish! They went down like water. Around 8pm we finally head out to the main concert event area (the track) to catch the concert that night. Well, Kirsten and I take our sweet time and tell everyone we need to pack some "provisions" for the night and that we'll meet up with everyone there. So the group takes off and we go about packing a day pack with ginger ale, bourbon, scotch, gin, and tonic. You know... the essentials. haha! On the way up, Kirsten and I were doing the "I love you girl", hugging each other, almost about to cry, bonding thing, when we get almost to the gate entrance. I mean we are so close I can see the stage! and she goes, "I can't find my camera". Without skipping a beat, I say, "Well lets go back and get it, I need to refresh my drink with ice anyways," and we walk the 1/2 mile back to our campsite. She scours her tent and finally finds her camera, while I mix us a couple of gin and tonics, and off we go again. Well, we get right to that gate again and she has forgotten her jacket. I laugh and say, lets go back cause it's going to get cold tonight, plus, we need to refresh our drinks. We stumble back, still doing the "I love you girl", and she grabs her jacket while I make us another gin and tonic. Off we go again for the third time, walking that 1/2 back up to the gate, and about half way there, we forget something else, I can't remember what it was, but we both burst out laughing and walk back to the campsite. By this point, it's 9:20pm, the concert has already started and we haven't left the campground area. As we are leave our campsite, we see Lisa and Cathy walking back. They were getting their jackets, so we decided to walk to camp with them, then all of us walk up to the concert. We finally enter the gates and the music is pulsing in the air. We find our camp chairs smack dab in the middle between the two stages. It was really a perfect spot. We all plop down and start dancing in our chairs, enjoying the music, and taking silly pictures. The concert is a compilation of all the bands that were their today and the headliner is Albannach. Well, Albannach finally got on stage and started playing and they were amazing. Right then and their I vowed to buy their CD the next morning.

After the concert (what we caught of it), we head back to our campsite around 12pm. We are still wired and Lisa, Linville, Patrick, and I decide to head over to the rowdy side to see what's going on. On the way there, we are stopped by a girl and guy, who looks familiar, but I can't place, handing out cherries that were steeped in some grain alcohol. So I do the polite thing and take a cherry from a stranger as they tell me about the highland games in Gatlinburg TN next year and how Albannach will be playing. Then it hits me, the guy is Donnie, the bagpiper from Albannach! I'm celebrity stunned then and can't focus to say a thing now. After they leave, I tell Patrick that we just met Donnie and he laughs at me. We continue on to the rowdy side and find Patrick's son, Allan, playing bagpipes around a fire pit for a crowd of people. As we mingle, a guy that Kirsten met, Dan, asks where Kirsten is. We say she's back at our campsite passed out in her tent. We all decided to go wake her up, so we walked back down the dry creek bed, slipping and sliding everywhere, walk across the highway, and into our campsite. We peered into Kirsten's tent and whispered (and giggled) "wake up!" She did, laughing at us and we all continued to have fun. Cathy is still chit chatting away with a few people around our fire pit, so I join them for bit. Around 2am, we decide to call it a night and everyone headed back to their campsites. As Lisa and I were cleaning up the campfire, Jerry, in nothing but his red plaid kilt and flip flops, walked up and asked me if I want to go over to the rowdy side and party some more. I politely tell him no, like 15 times. I'm wasn't going over there that late, and especially not with his half naked self! I think he finally got the hint when I turned off our strung up Christmas lights and crawled inside my tent. It was a good day, but I know I'm going to feel it in the morning.

SUNDAY:

The next morning, as I had guessed, was a rough one. I got up around 8am, donned on my sunglasses, and started packing up. It was the last day and we were leaving that afternoon. I deflated my air mattress, roll up my sleeping quilt, and packed up my backpack. When I stepped out my tent, I saw Cathy almost packed up. She needed to leave earlier than the rest of us. Kirsten made us breakfast that she called kitchen sink and Mike our neighbor called "bubble and squeak" (which is a real Scottish/English dish. But the name makes me hurl. It means left overs in one pot that usually bubbles up and makes a squeak noise when cooking it.) She mixed all the left over veggies we had with eggs. (Tomato, avocado, onion, garlic, mushrooms, and eggs) and it was actually good. I topped that off with a couple of Advil and some coffee. After breakfast, Cathy left, and the rest of us went to retrieve our cars to loaded them up. Once our cars were all packed up, we decided to walk around the festival one last time, then hit Douglas bakery for some treats to take home. We caught the closing bagpipe parade and then walked down into the grove so I could buy my Albannach CD. We hit Douglas Bakery and I loaded up on some orange cranberry scones for me, and some Scottish oatmeal/chocolate chip cookies for Boo. Then we finally end up at the flag tent where I bought some flags to hang in my bonus room at home. I got the Old Scottish flag, an Irish flag, an American flag, and a Welsh flag. Now all I need is a Costa Rican flag and a Bolivian flag to finish off our heritage collection. Lisa, Kirsten, and I slowly, and wordlessly walked back to our campsite one last time. We said good bye to all of our neighbors, hugged one last time, and by 12pm, we were on the road headed home.

It was an amazing weekend. It opened up a whole new appreciation of Scottish heritage for me that I can't wait to share with my dad. He needs to know his heritage. Hell, I may even get him a kilt. haha! I had so much fun with my NC girls and look forward to doing it all over again next year, once my liver has had a chance to recover. I found an amazing band, Albannach, that I really dig, and I met some great people that taught me alot about being Scottish. This weekend totally took me by surprise in how much I really, truly enjoyed learning what it means to be Scottish. Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Thank you Georgia!

2010-07-08T12:22:00.013-04:00

Just a few people I want to acknowledge and thank.

SHOE: I first met you on my first trip to GA to hike the AT with the Dames and every time I came back to GA, you were there to make sure I made it thru a Georgia section safely and not alone. You have been there for every inch of my GA section but the last 25 miles b/c of an injury. Thank you for your time, expertise, planning, countless backpack training trips in the Smokies, funny stories, serious chats, and most importantly your friendship. I have learned so much from you my friend. You have made me a better backpacker and hiker and I look forward to future hikes with you. I truly think you're my hiking soul mate, it's so easy to get into a groove on the trail with you, we know what we need to do, sometimes without even saying a word, and our pace is so similar, it's scary. We do make a great team. NC here we come!

PYRO: When I met you, you were just starting out in backpacking. Well my friend. Since you've backpacked 43.6 miles (is what we calculated) with me on the AT in GA you know what that makes you? Besides fire maker extraordinaire, it makes you a full fledge backpacker. Thank you for all the funny stories, laughs, and fires that kept me warm during our trips. I look forward to hiking with you again!

MUDDBUTT: I am so glad I found the little blurb about trail dames on the Whiteblaze website on that fateful day in October 2007. Since that day, my outdoor life has changed for the better. You have started something wonderful, that really brings the outdoors to those women who didn't think it could be possible and you've created an opportunity for women to build confidence in themselves and their abilities that can never be replaced. All the while having fun and enjoying camaraderie. Thank you for Trail Dames. I am a better person, hiker, backpacker because of it.

TRAIL DAMES: To all the wonderful ladies I have met. I've had the honor to hike/backpack with some of you and I can honestly say, I have never met a Trail Dame I didn't like. You guys are awesome. Keep the outdoors fun and beautiful!

BOO: For letting me hike/backpack b/c I wanted to. For understanding that my soul needed to. For supporting my crazy dream of section hiking the AT no matter how long it takes me. I know at times it worried you, (hence the SPOT) and I will never forget that look on your face when you dropped me off for my first solo 14 mile hike from Allen Gap into Hot Springs. I know you must of thought you were the worst husband in the world to drop me off in the pouring rain on the side of the road and hope I make it without getting eaten by a bear or worse. But on the contrary, you were the the best husband for dropping me off on the side of the road in the pouring rain. B/C I learned so much about myself on that trip. Thank you for the countless weekends I left you alone to fend for yourself while I went off gallivanting in the woods. For the vacation weeks I took without you to hike a big section of the AT (SNP and GA). How can I ever repay you for that time? I love you.

Last section in Georgia Day 2 & 3

2010-07-07T13:53:00.030-04:00

After waking up at 6:30am, I packed up camp and joined everyone for breakfast. Pyro gets an early start up Rocky Mountain, I leave about 20 minutes later, and then Speedy and Water B follow a few minutes later. The climb up Rocky was long and Speedy and Water B blaze up the trail with no problem. I really need to start jogging again. I haven't ran in a month and I can totally feel it in my lungs! We are almost out of water when I catch up to Pyro. We decide to stop at the first available water site. Pyro and I find a dismal puddle and filter up on the downside of the mountain. Then, about a 1/4 mile down the trail, we see a really nice flow. Isn't that how it always happens? haha! We finish the descend down and thats where Pyro's hip starts to bother her a bit so we take it easy til we get to Unicoi Gap, where we take a small break. Pyro says she needs a bit more of a break, so she tells me to go on up without her. I start up Blue Mountain and it's kicking my ass. Then it hits me. I hadn't eaten a thing since breakfast. So I stop on a nice log and decide to have a long snack break. I was hoping Pyro would catch up to me and we could finish this beast of a climb together. But after 20 minutes, I decide to move ahead. On the way up, I ran into a mother and daughter backpacking together. The mom was 69 yrs old and they had already hiked in from Springer Mt. They were headed to Dicks Creek. WOW, I had to say "Go Mom!" when I heard how far she had already come. It's amazing to see people out hiking at her age. I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I hope to be climbing up mountains when I'm her age. I meet another group of backpackers, they are a little family out for a nice holiday weekend trip. One of them thru hiked in 2006 and had a cocker spaniel dog by the name of Springer. I said, "what an appropriate name for your dog!" We all laughed and went our separate ways. I finally reached Blue Mt. Shelter around 1:30pm and find Speedy S'mores and Water B chillin'. I also meet a hiker named "Paul with Bunions" He's such a character. He's hiking a section from Harpers Ferry West Virginia to Springer GA and then flip flopping back up. He's taking his time and enjoying the trip.

Well, after two tough climbs, I take off my boots and lay down for a second b/f I finally eat lunch. I called SHOE to see if she had Pyro's #. I was going to call and and make sure she's alright. After a couple of hours we were all getting worried, when all of the sudden, Pyro struts in all smiles. YAY! I call SHOE back and tell here not to worry, we are all back together. We take another break with Pyro and just relax, enjoy the shelter and the conversation. Water B goes to the spring and gets us all filed up for the rest of the trip. Another 45 mins. pass and we decide we need to forge on. After all, we've only gone 5 miles and had a long day a head. So off we go. We all hike together down Blue Mt. for another couple miles til we get to a nice log and campspot and take a break. Pyro's hip is really bothering her and I could see the tears of pain welding up in her eyes. I knew she didn't have long, so we let Water B go up a head to look out for water, while Speedy and I took a few items out of Pyro's pack to lighten the load. It was a crazy hard day today and I didn't want Pyro to loose herself in anger and pain. I told her this is when she really needs to dig down deep inside and pull up the true backpacker within and focus on getting to camp. I've hiked with her several times and knew she could do it, but she had to believe she could and not give up on herself. So I told her that we would hike a couple of more miles and find a campsite.

About a mile later, we get to an intersecting trail and Water B says there is water down a steep hill. When Pyro makes it in, she tells us that the spring down the hill is the beginning of the Chatahochee river. Pretty cool, but no one wants to hike down to see it and Pyro's has already done it. Pyro is still needing some time, so Water B stays behind with her for a bit while Speedy and I move ahead to look for the water pipe another hiker told us about. I must of walked another 2 miles along the ridge, when I came up on Speedy. She was sitting on a log waiting for us. She thought we could just camp there for the night. From the map, I think we were at Cold Spring Gap and there was no good place for Speedy's tent or any good tree's for my or Pyro's hammocks. Speedy volunteers to scout up ahead for 1/2 miles for a suitable campspot, so she's off. I sat down, then Water B comes up, and 10 minutes later Pyro shows up and has gotten her second wind. She hugs me and says she found a shiny penny on the ground and it reminded her of her brother and that she felt like she heard his voice encouraging her. So she got her second wind and made some amazing time up AND she wanted to keep going! By then, Speedy returned and said that the trail is pretty much carved out on the side of the mountain the last 1/2 mile she hiked and no spots for camping. Pyro says she remembers a nice campsite that her and SHOE stayed at once, and she thinks it's about a mile-2 miles away. So off we go. Tired and in need of water, we all hike on. Thank goodness the trail is either flat or has a slight up hill, cause I don't think any of us could of handled another climb.

We finally find the corrugated pipe coming out of the ground and Pyro and I stop to filter up. Pyro describes the campsite to Speedy and Water B and they continue on to look for it. I climb down to the pipe and fill up our bottles and as I climb back up, Pyro's steri-penning the water, she tells me a bit more about her brother. I tell her that she found that lucky penny at exactly the moment she needed it and I tell her about my good luck charms. Little ladybugs and just then, she tells me to look down and what do I see? A ladybug! Right then and there, I knew the rest of the trip would be a good one. We put on our packs again and head down the trail and not even a mile down, we see Speedy and Water B. They had found a campsite. We all unpack and put up our perspective back country homes and as I'm fiddling with my tarp, Pyro builds us a nice fire. We sit around the campfire, enjoy dinner, chit chat, then call it an early night. We are all tuckered out.

Not more than 15 minutes of laying in my hammock, and I hear a loud scurrying in some brush near by. I call out... "Kellye!" and she says she heard it too. We see Water B pop a light out of his tent so they must of heard it too. Well, then we hear it again! Pyro tells me she thinks it was just a deer. Not sure if she's telling me that so I don't get scared of if she really wants to believe it was a deer and not a bear. haha! I believe her and am fast asleep within 2 minutes. Thank goodness I have some hiking companions on this trip.

The next morning I wake up around 5:30am and start packing up in the dark. We have a long 7 mile day back to the car and want to make it there by 3pm. So after breakfast, at 7am, we all step foot on the AT and continue on. I'm feeling good on this flat trail so I kick it up a notch and Speedy's right behind me. The next thing we know, it's 8am and we've hiked 2 1/2 miles to Low gap shelter. We are so stoked we made it so quickly that we high five one another. A couple of minutes later, Water B arrives and a second later Pyro shows up. We all made it so fast to the shelter! We decide to load up on water for the last 4.6 miles of the day and walk down to the shelter. When we get to the water source, we meet a family from Florida out hiking from Hogpen Gap to Unicoi Gap. A couple of them are in clark jungle hammocks and we talk gear a bit. They were hiking with two dogs, a German Shepard and a Chocolate Lab, both puppies were limping around sore. I asked the owner if she had any aspirin and to cut one in half and give it to both dogs. She said she already gave them some Vitamin I. Poor puppies, they have a rough climb up Blue Mountain today. After pumping water, Speedy, Water B and I took a quick snack break. When we reached the AT again, we noticed Pyro was gone. She went ahead and started the 500 foot in a 1/2 mile climb. Water B went ahead of us and Speedy and I hiked together. I was actually able to keep up with her. I wonder if she was going slower for me? hmmmm.... hahaha! Anways, we make it to the top and find Pyro relaxing on the trail waiting on us. I take another break and for the rest of the trip, Pyro and I hike together. I take this time to really enjoy this section of GA. It's my last and I want to make sure I take it all in. I spot these giant clover leaves and they immediately remind me of Boo, so I snap a photo of them. Funny how the littlest things can have such a powerful connection out here in the woods. I spot a white blaze and am moved to touch it. I realize it may be the last blaze I see in GA, so I snap a photo of it too. As we descend down and climb up again, we finally make it into Hogpen Gap. YAY! I've offically completed the AT in Georgia! Whoo Hoo! and it's only 12pm!!! The first thing I do is fling my pack off and change out of my boots and into some flip flops. I've been craving Mexican Food since Pyro mentioned it about 3 miles back. So off we go to the cute little town of Helen GA for our reward. We make a quick stop at this quirky little place called, Goats on a Roof. And there really ARE goats on a roof! We only stopped to change clothes, but can't resist the corniness of it all and take time to tour around the place. Got to love little places like this. We finally get back on the road and as we come into the town of Helen, we join the crazy holiday traffic jam and it takes us over 20 minutes to drive the one mile into town. It's OK though, cause we are driving along the Chatahoochee river and see hundreds and hundreds of families tubing along the river, having a great time and keeping cool in this heat. We pull into town, park and head in for our reward lunch!

Over all it was a great trip and I got to hike the last section of Georgia, with a Georgian, Pyro, and usher in a new state with North Carolinians, Speedy S'mores and Water B. Georgian will always hold some great memories for me, but I look forward to the new challenges of a new state. So NC, bring it on, I am ready for you! Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

Last section in Georgia Day 1

2010-07-05T20:29:00.022-04:00

So I had this idea that I would be hiking the last 25 miles of the AT in GA solo. Yeah, my first solo backpacking trip that would last 3 days. I figured I could do it. Well, that lasted about a day. haha! I chickend out and sent out last minute emails to SHOE, Pyro, Water B, and Speedy S'mores. I thought there was no way anyone would be able to backpack with me on less than a weeks notice. Well, I was wrong. I know some amazing people. ALL of them were going to be able to meet up and hike some section of the AT with me. YAY! So on Saturday, I got up at 4:30am to load up my car and wait for Water B and Speedy S'mores to meet up at my house to car pool to Neels Gap. We were meeting up with SHOE, Pyro, and some Trail Dames to day hike a section then backpack the rest so I could finish up the last bit of the AT in GA that I had to do.

We arrived at Mt. Crossings/Neels Gap around 8:30am and I gave Water B and Speedy S'mores the tour of the Walasi Yi hiker hostel and Mt. Crossing outfitter. I have good memories of this place. Each time I've hiked in GA, we always made our way to Mt. Crossing for something. After touring/shopping, we decide to repack our packs. You see, I just couldn't end my 25 mile section with a straight shot, I had to get creative and divide it up into a 7 mile day hike with the Trail Dames from Hogpen Gap to Neels Gap. Then I'd finish up my last 18 miles backpacking from Tray Gap to Hogpen Gap. hahah! It's complicated, but it works for me :)

SHOE finally arrives and I hug her hello. This is when I find out that she can't finish the last 25 miles with me :( My heart sank for a second. After all, SHOE has climbed every inch of GA up to this point with me and I was looking forward to closing it out with her. Seems as if that nagging pain she gets in her left foot was actually something serious. So her doctor told her to stay off it a while. Even though she couldn't hike with me, she still came up to shuttle us around and make sure the other Dames got in a good day hike. I'll missed her on the trip, but she was with me in spirit.

The rest of the group finally showed up. Shemea! Yay! I hadn't seen her since Trail Magic in April and I hadn't hiked with her since last summer, so I was looking forward to catching up. I also meet two new Trail Dames, Shelley and Latrice. They have hiked b/f but are brand new to Trail Dames and this is their first outing. We shuttle up to Hogpen Gap, (where I'm leaving my car),where we are meeting up with Pyro, and begin our 7 mile hike back to Neels Gap. We start out with a climb, but not a big one and everyone is doing great. We stop on Cowruck Mt. for a nice snack break and to take in the view. It's a bit hazy, but the view is still amazing. I catch up with Shemea here,and that was the last time I saw her. She's a fast hiker! haha! Pyro and I hung back with the newbies and made sure they were OK and have enough water.

It was a loooong day. It took us over 7 hours to hike 7 miles and it was HOT! But I think the newbies had a good time. They certainly learned a lot and found out what it took to hike the AT. hahaha! I have to give them some props though. For their first hike, they went out, guns blazing, and hiked on the AT. I asked each if they would do it all over again and both replied NO! Not until they got some good miles under their belts. Either way, they did it and it was a giant feat. I made sure to let them both know that they were hard core for hiking this trail as their first hike. When we climbed down into Neels Gap, and we were greeted with a round of applause. SHOE, Shemea, Water B and Speedy S'mores were all there cheering us on as we pulled up. It must of made the newbies feel awesome, b/c the look on their faces said it all. They also had a cold drink waiting for us and I spotted a Sprite with my name all over it! After pictures and good byes, SHOE shuttles us over to Tray Gap to begin the next section of our hike.

Around 7pm we said good bye to SHOE. Pyro, Water B, me, and Speedy S'mores decided to hike the mile down to Cheese Factory to spend the night. When we get there, there is already a nice fire going and we meet a young couple named Johnnie and Sammie. They were just out for an overnight and were enjoying a nice fire. They invited us to come over, so after we set up our camps, we gather around the campfire where we are offered S'mores. This is how Speedy S'mores got her name, you see, she ate 5 s'mores and passed out immediately. All the sugar in her body and she goes to bed early! She must of been tired! Well, the rest of us soon follow suit. It's been a long day and we have a nice couple of climbs tomorrow. So, til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!

NESCO BABY!!

2010-06-25T16:59:00.012-04:00

So after drooling over Pyro and Hemlocks yummy dehydrated dinners and lunches over our recent back pack trip in early June, I knew I wanted to get a dehydrator. Well imagine my surprise and gratitude when Pyro offers to let me borrow her NESCO dehydrator!! YEAH!! WHOO HOO!! Thank you so much Kellye!!!(Pyro), I really, really, REALLY appreciate it. Now let's hope I can concoct some good (edible) eats for the trail like you guys had.

Well, I actually was able to dehydrate a couple of "easy" items. I bought two cans of mandarin oranges and 3 apples that I sliced up and sprinkled with cinnamon. I wanted to start out slow. hahah! I laid out the oranges on one tray then the apple slices on the other four trays. I plugged the one set temperature dehydrator on before I left for work and let the magic happen.

When I came home that night, it was still running smoothly, but I knew the fruit had a couple more hours, so I went about my nightly routine, (change clothes, fix dinner, catch up on DVR) and by 8pm, I checked in on the dehydrator again. I calculated that I had it on for roughtly 12 hours. The fruit looked dried, so I turned it off and let the trays cool down a bit. The apples were perfect! The mandrin oranges could of used a bit more time, but they were yummy. I can't wait to try them on my backpack trip this weekend! Once I get my own dehydrator I'm so experimenting. I was kind of scared to dehydrate some chili on Pryo's dehydratoor. I'm afraid I'll ruin it. haha! Got to go! Off to research some freezer bag cooking websites! Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!