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!!!

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!

Pros and Cons

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

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

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!