Congaree National Park in SC

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

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

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!