Kings Mt. with the NC Dames

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

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)

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

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!!!