Dames at the Pocket

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Trail Dames at the Pocket

“Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower.”  ~Author Unknown

You may have noticed that I’ve been doing a lot of solo backpacking trips this spring.   But this weekend I took a break from my loner ways, and instead led the Trail Dames on the Third Annual Hike to the Pocket.

The Pocket of Pigeon Mountain is an extremely special place for wildflowers in Georgia.  The setting is stunning too, with steep rock walls surrounding the valley and a clear blue-green stream and waterfall.  The remote location– lack of signage, (sometimes rough) dirt road, stream crossing– combine to keep this place protected.  Though it’s several hours drive away, I’ve taken the time to visit the Pocket repeatedly each season for the past few years and it has always filled me with awe and wonder.

I arrived at the Pocket at dusk the night before the Dames hike, hot tired and cranky after a long drive.  My mood darkened further as I walked around the short boardwalk.  The plants I’d been eagerly anticipating, the Virginia bluebells and poppies, had dropped their petals and gone to seed already.  All I could see was a drab, empty forest.  I was horrified and mad at myself for not changing the timing of the hike to coincide with the earlier emergence and warmer temperatures this year.  I thought, “What if all the Dames were disappointed and felt like I wasted their time bringing them all the way out here?  What business did I have leading hikes anyway?  I didn’t know anything!”  I contemplated canceling the hike.  In retrospect, I was having a serious case crankiness and (what I later recognized was ) Imposter Syndrome.

Faded Virginia bluebells

Thankfully, an evening spent listening to owls calling back and forth across the valley, a good night’s sleep in my hammock, and an early morning walk around the Pocket cleared my head.  The magic of the place soaked into me.

Morning beauty

Rather than missing the familiar early bloomers,  I noticed flowers I’d never seen before, including wild hyacinth.  Masses of wild blue phlox, wild geranium, and purple phacelia created a sea of purple.  I was actually lucky to have gotten the timing “wrong” and to find these late bloomers I’d missed in previous years.  More importantly, I remembered that the thing I do best (or so I’ve been told) in leading hikes is sharing my enthusiasm for nature.  I resolved to keep my lack of self-confidence hidden, and try to be myself and be there.

Purple phacelia
Wild geranium
Wild blue phlox
Wild hyacinth
Bent trillium

When the Dames arrived, I watched with delight as everyone started pointing out plants and bugs and a million other things, and asking all sorts of fascinating questions.  I could feel their excitement echoing off the walls of the valley.  They totally felt the magic of the Pocket too!  Listening to their laughter and seeing the wonder in their eyes, I realized that what makes the natural world come alive, more than anything else, is having the opportunity to experience it and share it with friends.

Photo by Jules
Photo by Donna

Please note: if you are lucky enough to visit the Pocket, please keep this place preserved for future visitors and generations by staying on the boardwalk and trails, never ever picking or trampling the flowers, and please pick up the GORP pass (which is now required) to help support this place (there is no way to get one at the site, so order it ahead of time online).

Day #175 Trail Dames and a Bee at Stone Mountain

Post excerpt from Fran Stewart

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Day #175 Trail Dames and a Bee at Stone Mountain

Now that I have pictures to include, I can tell you about the hike I went on, around the base of Stone Mountain, with the Trail Dames.
I found out about Trail Dames last year, when Susan Larson, a columnist with the Gwinnett Daily Post, wrote about the founder of the group.
What can I say . . . it’s for women who—like yours truly—are out of shape. I went on one hike last fall and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. The trail was one fairly easy mile to a gorgeous waterfall, then about a quarter-mile straight up. Well, maybe not straight up, but I did have to crawl part of the way and clamber over fallen trees. Half the group had stayed behind to swim at the waterfall (brrr!) and the rest of us tackled the trek to the upper falls.
I slept very well that night.
Two days ago, at 8 a.m., I met up with the group again. Twenty-two people, most of them decked out in real hiking boots and toting real backpacks, some with hoses attached to inner water reservoirs so they could sip as they went along. Two dogs — Molly, shown above, and Buster, who led the trek. Then there was Frannie. I wore a comfortable old pair of tennis, carried a walking stick with a carved turtle at the top (I’d bought it at Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center last year), and lugged along my granddaughter’s old book-bag from fourth grade. I figured if I got left behind, they could spot the bright turquoise bag strapped to my back. Here I am (in the green shirt) at the rear end as some of us posed on one of the bridges.
You see, I’d volunteered for the “sweep” position—bringing up the rear to be sure nobody got left behind. I was concerned, though, that I’d lag so far behind, they’d forget about me. Not to worry. There were a few others as slow as I, and we dawdled along quite happily, enjoying the imposing bulk of Stone Mountain (seen here behind a tracery of bare tree branches), the gorgeous azaleas, and a bunch of wildflowers.
Did I mention the trek wasfive and a half miles? That’s a long way, for somebody who hasn’t walked that far in, oh, about 40 years. Who am I kidding? I’ve never walked that far before. But, I did it, and saw some wonderful sights along the way, as you can see from all these pictures that Cheryl Bharath and Laura James took. I copied them (with permission) from the Trail Dames website. If you look at this picture very carefully, you can see a bee in there.
Check out the Trail Dames www.traildames.com and come join us on an upcoming hike. I survived this one. The next one will be a breeze.
BEEattitude for Day # 175:
       Blessed are those who prepare a lovely home for us, for we shall be content and make lots of honey.
One thing Fran is grateful for right now:
       Joan, who carried my pack for me the last quarter mile.    

Meet Catrina aka Blossom

Meet Catrina aka Blossom
1.      How long have you been hiking?  How did you get interested in hiking?I’ve always enjoyed Hiking.  I can remember going on family trips up in Yosemite when I was a kid, then going on hikes and camping trips with my friends in High School.  I have to admit when I entered into grown up land, and became a mother, I did let my love for hiking and nature go to the way side.  Never let it go, just didn’t make it a priority.  After many years of not hiking, and living for 5 years in the flat lands of Florida, I moved up here to the beautiful state of Georgia, just a 3 miles from Kennesaw Mountain. After spending several months driving by it, I finally stopped and started walking around it.  It took me about a month of just hiking the lower trails to get the courage to climb to the top. I finally put on my Vans, carried 1 bottle of water and my two son, and quickly found out how rocky and hard Little Kennesaw mountain was.  I thought I was going to die, but I did it.  I learned that if I had gone the other way, it would have been easier.  But I went home that night, knowing I wanted to do it again, but my boys told me under no circumstances was I going to be able to get them to go again, so I knew I had to find someone to go climb that mountain with me…….

2. Describe your first hiking experience with the Trail Dames.

In June, my boys were down in Florida visiting Family. Being new to Georgia, I was really wanting to meet people and get out of the house,  One Saturday I thought hey let’s see if I can find something to do this weekend…..I don’t know what I put in for my search, but I was ruling out every singles meet up, and I saw Trail Dames. That was the first one I clicked on to look at, and lo and behold they had an orientation the next day!  So I went to the TD web site and read some more, and I was like, this seems like my kind of people.  So I went back to the meet-up, went to sign up for the orientation, but the reservations were closed.  I so wanted to go, so I just decided, I’d just post a message to see if I could come anyway.  It was yes, so I came.  It was an easy hike, I jumped right in.  I tried to keep up with the faster Dames, but I found myself falling to the back of the pack, and it was OKAY!  The thing I feared the most was dissolved right then and there.  I knew that no matter how fast or slow I hiked, in this group it was the perfect pace, and there was going to be someone with you encouraging you every step of the way, and I didn’t look back.

3.  Do you have a trail name? Would you like to tell everyone how you earned it?Blossom.  As I stated I started in June with the Trail Dames, and the first few hikes I did were just a few miles. They were tough for me and I struggled. In December I did my first AT Series Hike, Jarrard Gap to Neels Gap, up and over and down Blood Mountain.  It took me all day, but I did it! Anna was saying that I had grown so fast, going from barely be able to do a 2 mile hike to doing Blood Mountain in such a short time, she said I Blossomed!, and that was when my Trail Name was born… in the parking lot of Mountain Crossings.  Thats a good place to find your trail name.

4. When did you join Trail Dames? How did you discover the group?

I joined in July, and I discovered y’all on the Meet-up in June.

5. Outside of TD, what occupies your time?
Work mostly.  I do Payroll and A/R for the Creative Loafing Family.  But on the weekends, if I’m not hiking, I’m catching up on the many many tv shows I like to watch.  I like a lot of Action and SciFi types of shows, but I steer very far away from Chick Flick type of shows.

6. What trail is your favorite? Why?
I don’t really feel like I have hiked enough to really have a favorite yet. The one I have done the most is Kennesaw Mountain.  I’ve conquered it 4 times now. But is it my favorite? Maybe. It is the one that inspired me to start hiking again, and led me to Trail Dames. But there is so much beauty in all the trails and I have some many more to explore.

7. Why is spending time out there in nature important to you?
I love getting away from all the hustle and bustle of the city.  I love to to just stop on a trail to look and listen.  You don’t hear the buzz of computers, the rumbling of engines, or music, it’s just peaceful and tranquil.  That is something you can’t get at home.  And it’s always so beautiful no matter what the season.

8. What single piece of advice would you give to beginning hikers?Yes, you can.  Don’t ever think you can’t do it.  When you are climbing a mountain, and you start wondering how much further do I have to go, stop turn around and look at how far you came, and then you realize, it doesn’t matter how much further you have got to go, because you already made it this far, and it can’t be much further now……then turn right back around and keep on going.

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Sweetwater Creek State Park- Trail Dames Hike

Posted in Around the HouseHiking with the Trail DamesTravel Adventures on 01/15/2012 04:56 pm by Donna

Saturday was a super great day as I joined the Trail Dames on a hike through Statewater Creek Park. The 2,000 acre park is located outside of Atlanta and has hiking trails throughout that pass along spots including the George H. Sparks Reservoir and the ruins of a cotton factory destroyed during the Civil War. The hiking paths are easy in some spots and there are some areas where some rock climbing is involved. It was a bit challenging and a whole lot of fun! Cheryl our group leader was so helpful and guided the Dames along the trail, ensuring our safety throughout the hike especially through the boulder section! I met some amazing, strong, funny, women who all enjoy the beauty of nature. We all love laughing and making new friends and that is a good thing!

A quick group photo before we hit the trail.

Gathering together to start our hike. We count out so we know how many Dames are in the group so we can keep track and make sure no one is left behind on our way out.

We begin our hike on the Historic path which will  pass along the New Manchester Manufacturing Company.

This mill was built in 1849 on Sweetwater Creek. The mill produced yarn to form cotton and in 1861, the company had a contract with the Confederate Government to produce the materials for Confederate uniforms. In 1864 with so many men fighting in the Confederate Army, most of the employees of the mill were woman and their children. Sadly those women and children were arrested in July of 1864 when the Union Calvary captured the mill and village all around it. If they agreed to sign an “Oath of Allegiance” to the US Government they were released north of the Ohio River and Indiana. Those that did not sign the oath remained in prison until after the war ended. That my friends is a bit of Georgia history!

Sweetwater Creek

There are so many beautiful boulders all throughout!

One of the terrific things about the Trail Dames is that we have so many knowledgeable women who share the history of the area. Here we are taking a break and soaking up Georgia history.

Hello lovely! I had great love for this one and I gave it a big hug! Hug a tree, it’s good for your soul. Really now! There is even a lesson on how to hug a tree. Check it here!

Moving right along the trail you will find it can you give a bit of a workout as you will find the trail rocky as pictured above.

Here are the Dames, getting their heart rates up! There are several areas where climbing up and up is involved.

We take a few short breaks along the way and when we do, there is beauty all around. I love the color and textures we see all around us.

Trail Dames with Cheryl our guide right up front! Ladies, it was so nice meeting a lot of you for the first time. I so enjoyed our day and look forward to doing it all again soon!

For those interested in the Trail Dames, click here to check us out and click here to see another post from a past adventure I had with them.

It’s all good. ~ Donna

Trail Dames Hike ~ Vickery Creek Trail

Posted in Hiking with the Trail DamesPhotographyTravel Adventures on 02/19/2012 11:27 am by Donna

Yesterday I joined the Trail Dames for another hiking adventure. Vickery Creek Trail is located in Roswell, Georgia. The creek formed on the property of a mixed-blood Cherokee woman named Vickery. Sadly she was forced to move west with the rest of the Cherokee nation on the forced march know as the “Trail of  Tears”. The creek name is her lasting legacy.

The weather was cool and comfortable and the trail was a moderate 6.3 mile loop. I enjoyed the laughter and conversations along the trail and after the hike, I joined a group of Dames for lunch at Chaplain’s in Roswell Mill. I carried my Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L on this hike. I have been using this lens on hikes lately so I have the ability to zoom out for group shots. It is a bit heavier to carry around but very versatile for hiking.

Hello there! A fellow Dame was kind enough to snap this photo so I could be included in this group shot. There I am, sitting on the right side of the bench, wearing my Trail Dames t-shirt!

For more information on the Trail Dames, please click here. I added hiking with Trail Dames in my category listing on my left side bar, so if you would like to see other hikes and photos I have taken, please take a look there.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you the sweetest day!

It’s all good. ~ Donna