“My first solo hike…” by Christine

I joined the Trail Dames of Central Va. because I was feeling old and looking for an activity that would be be both fun and good for me. I had remembered enjoying hiking as a child but now I was so much older and very hesitant…

When I first met Michele (Central Virgina head dame), and the other Trail Dames they were all so welcoming, supportive and low key. They answered my questions, taught me about trekking poles and encouraged me to take breaks, snap pictures and just enjoy the day.

I enjoyed my first hike. What a great adventure and I was hooked… I felt that despite my age, lack of stamina and size I could “do this”.

Shortly thereafter I started planning my first solo hike – a hike of 5 miles off the Blue Ridge Parkway. The day of my 1st solo hike I got up early, packed my day pack and excitedly called my sister to tell her of my planned adventure! I was proud of myself for being more active and I felt empowered thanks to the support and encouragement of my fellow Dames. Parking at the trail head, I jumped out of my car.

Close by was a large bear trash can with posted bear warnings. Yahoo – what an adventure! I immediately grabbed my camera to capture the moment and the bear safety warning….and just like that, everything changed…

While snapping my very 1st picture I forgot to look where I was going and down I went! Ouch! …and that was the end of my first solo hike. My sprained ankle and my damaged pride hobbled the ten steps back to my car.

Three weeks later, my ankle recovered, I finished my first solo hike. Since then I have hiked several mountains and lots of beautiful trails, both alone and with my husband.

Thanks Michelle, Karen and my fellow dames. Your kindness and support empowered me to take up a healthy hobby that provides tons of fun, beauty and exercise!

Christine

“What is a blaze?” by Pua Ali’i KH Lum aka Mašté

One year ago today, I huffed and puffed my way up Sky Meadows State Park’s North Ridge Trail with a group of ladies. As I carpooled with an acquaintance to this new place, I felt nervous about my ability to hike much less walk because the athlete I had once been turned into a heavy couch potato. In 2012, I came to the area for a job promotion, and I knew no one. I promised myself once I got settled I would reintroduce myself to the active woman I enjoy. Over the years, I learned the heavier you are, the less people acknowledge your presence. With that in mind, some part of me wanted to remain invisible, but the universe had a purpose for me that I said yes too, so no matter how many times I tried to deny my calling by eating, sleeping, watching TV, and gaining weight I always came back to the reality that I am, was, and will always be visible.

Anyway back to the day at hand, I asked what any newbie hiker, I use the term “hiker” loosely, would want to know, “How hard is this hike?” She nonchalantly stated, “It’s pretty flat.” With that answer the couch potato in me felt much better about the decision I had made to attend my first hike. The beauty of the park helped me stave off my desire to beat feet home. It wouldn’t have mattered my car was tucked safely in my garage, and by golly, walking that far was absolutely out of the question. We made our introductions and began our trek up the unknown elevation gain. While dodging cow patties and wishing I had an oxygen tank, I slowly, but surely made my way up Mount Kilimanjaro. Oops, I mean the North Ridge Trail. A lovely woman kept my mind occupied by telling me her story. Another tried to engage me in conversation by asking me the get to know you questions. Many grunts and groans made it very clear that talking, and walking were out of the question! So the first lady, took me under her wing and walked with me up that BIG, HUGE, MAMMOTH hill. She understood my plight by waiting on me while I rested, and sucked wind like a newborn baby. She told me her age and I was flabbergasted that I had let myself go so much that a woman some years my senior was waiting on me. Somewhere between being out of breath and disappointed in letting my health go, I vowed in that moment that I was far too young to have this fixable problem and that someday I would hike this trail with ease.

Fast forward a month, I had been walking up to 6 miles a day, rowing on my machine, and eating healthy again. Two friends and I from the first hike visited Sky Meadows North Ridge Trail again. I moved up that hill like a teenager. What a sense of accomplishment! I kept that same passion for my health up to today one year later. In honor of my hiking anniversary, I hiked my second Section on the AT between Keys Gap and Harpers Ferry with the Trail Dames of VA. It was a 6.5 mile hike that turned into 10 miles. The day before I hiked 11.5 miles. So it goes that the views drive me to the top, the waterfalls call me into the swimming holes, the off chance I might see a bear terrifies and excites me, and I am planning several Section hikes over my three week vacation in October. This peace filled place I live is about good friends, laughing, eating, and of course, hiking. I love to hike solo, and with others. I am planning my vacations around the John Muir Trail and the AT, however, I am still a shower after a hike, and sleep in my own bed type of woman. If you want to find me hiking, look on the TD of VA meetup group, we’d loved to have you just as you are. I’ve been taught hike your own hike when your solo, and hike with the group when you attend an excursion because after all the group is the place where I am encouraged to push my limits, be myself, and take it easy all in one day.

So I asked, “What is a blaze?” Well, the blaze is me moving at a speed that I had only dreamed of. I am here because I said, “Yes!” Then the multitude of women showed up to guide, support, and lead me to this wonderful life I cherish called hiking. There are so many to thank. Nancy M., Tina C., Lisa H., Lola, Barb, Thelma, Jana, Char, Joyce, and all the ladies that I continue to meet on the trails.

This is my most treasured quote by Marianne Williamson that I want to gift to you:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Liberate yourself and join us! We would love to have you laugh, relax, and love nature as we all do!

Breaking Vertical

I tried not looking at the trail ahead of me. The sweat raining from my face and the pounding of my heart in my neck told me it was treacherous. Still, I’m a glutton for punishment. There in front of my eyes it appeared, a pitch that looked something of Biblical proportions. I was certain that I was about to hit my vertical limit. It was nowhere close to Mount Everest, but to this nearly 300+ pound woman, I might as well been hiking at 29,000 feet. I was too tired to notice the disgusted looks from other hikers peering back down the mountain at the boulder of a person trying to make her way up. I had bigger problems. With every step my mind had some sign posted telling me why I couldn’t do it, why I wouldn’t make it, why I’ll always be fat, etcetera, and etcetera. And then it happened, just after I made the summit and back down the mountain to my vehicle. I drove off from the trip feeling elated only to pull over not even a mile from the trail head to sob in my car alone. I broke vertical. The limit I had placed on myself shattered when little ol’ big me silenced all the negative voices competing inside my head. I was overwhelmed with the realization that all these years I had been living nowhere close to my vertical limit.

Mountain top experiences are fabulous, but alas I don’t have any photos of conquering summits. I’m just an ordinary woman who is slowly finding victory in the small summits in life, like getting on a bike for the first time in nearly 20 years, being able to bend down and tie my own shoes, being able to say “Hi” to someone on a hiking trail and feel okay that somebody actually saw me– all 300 sweaty glorious pounds of me huffing and puffing.

Losing weight is hard, but finding and embracing an inner strength that I scarcely knew that I had was, and is, more treacherous than climbing any mountain or hiking any trail. It sounds silly, but I’m finding myself again. All these years hidden beneath the layers of fat there was a perfectly beautiful me waiting all along to be discovered.

If I could offer any unsolicited encouragement to the woman sitting at home reading this, you are immeasurably strong in your spirit. These daily summits we ascend quietly build our character and resolve, sometimes without our even being aware of it. Don’t stop fighting those internal recordings in your head that tell you that you don’t measure up, that you can’t change, that you won’t make it. Give those voices an eviction notice. You deserve to live, love, and have laughter in your belly. You are a gift to this world that is meant to be shared. There is a perfectly beautiful you waiting to be celebrated by the world. So get off the couch, take a risk on yourself, and take a hike with your fellow trail sisters. Who knows, you might just find yourself breaking your vertical limit.

Yours for the Hiking,

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“Trail Mix” aka Stephanie