Hemlock

Falling

Falling

This is a cross post from Hemlock’s wonderful Blog….. for more of her writing, check outhttp://ramblinghemlock.blogspot.com/
Well, that’s the last time I’m gonna leave my rain pants in the car in the winter!  Because this weekend, I discovered another reason to carry my rain pants…

At a large stream crossing only twenty minutes into the hike, my hiking partner, Still Waters, cautioned me to be careful since she’d fallen at this tricky crossing before.  Ignoring her, I confidently bounded across on a wet log.   After spending weeks exercising with myheavy backpack, I’d been feeling quite nimble under it’s full weight and I totally forget I had it on.  To my surprise, in the middle of the stream, my foot slid off and I couldn’t regain my balance under the weight of my pack.  I ended up waist deep in water, my arms submerged up to my elbows.  Never having fallen before, I was shocked how easy it was with the pack on to topple over once I was off balance.  I was drenched but thankfully uninjured, and felt really lucky that I fell on soft sandy stream bottom.

It was way too cold to continue drenched as I was up to my waist.  I thought about just leaving on my soaked pants and moving fast to stay warm, but I had already been chilly before the fall, and I started shivering.  I stripped off my wet clothes and wrapped my poncho around me.  Thankfully, Still Waters went back to the car to retrieve my rain pants so I’d have something to wear.  I hiked the rest of the day in my rain pants while my pants dried on top of my pack.

Lessons learned this weekend:

1. Rain pants work great as a spare pair of pants and will keep me toasty warm.   In warmer weather, I could have gotten away with only wearing the poncho (or a stylish, black plastic trash bag) and hiking with bare legs, but in the winter it’s too cold (even in Georgia!), to not have coverings for my lower half.

2. I am not immune to gravity.  Sure I may feel strong and light on my feet with my pack on, but I need to be more cautious and realize that I can fall just like anyone else.

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).

How Hemlock Found the Dames

Monday, January 4, 2010

How I found the Trail Dames

I moved to Georgia in fall of 2008, not knowing anyone in the whole state. The first Saturday after I moved, I hiked up Blood Mountain with one women’s hiking club. They were nice and I had a good time, but I could tell this wasn’t the group for me. On my way home, I stopped at Mountain Crossing (at Neels Gap) and asked them if they knew about any hiking groups. The guy at the desk gave me a card for the Trail Dames and said he wasn’t sure if I’d fit in with this group, but this group has the most fun and laughs the most and to give them a try. I went and looked at their website, and found out it was a hiking club for “curvy” women who hike slow. I’m average size but the thing is, I do hike fast. I put the card away.

In the next four months I hiked with nearly a dozen other hiking groups (and random people I met on the internet). I hiked with botanists, college kids, athletic guys who flew up mountains, a firefighter, a lady who talked nonstop, and many other wonderful, fascinating people. I learned to be open. I learned to look beyond superficial differences and connect with people from different backgrounds. I kept searching for my tribe. I was looking for people that would be more than just people to hike with. I wanted friendship and community.

When I showed up at Woody Gap on an early spring day for my first hike with the Trail Dames, I was filled with uncertainty. What would they think of me? Could I hike at my own pace? Would I be accepted? It turned out that I smiled and laughed the whole time and felt more relaxed with them than I had in a very long time. It wasn’t my typical hiking pace, but I was eager to join them again.

View from Blood Mountain, my first AT hike in Georgia

Weather Forecasting for Hikes

Ever noticed that the forecast for the nearest town to a hike may be vastly different from the conditions up in the mountains?  You can get the forecast for any location in the mountains or in the middle of no-where using the NOAA website.  They have an interactive map that provides the “point forecast” for your hiking destination using a Google Map locator.

Here is an example for Tray Mountain:

Here is how I get this forecast:

1. Go to the main NOAA website and the left box labeled “Local forecast by “city, St.” Enter in the nearest town to the hike.

2. Scroll down to the middle of the page, and on the right side, locate a box with a google map labeled “Click Map for Forecast”. Move the map by dragging your mouse on the map and zooming in and out to locate where you will be hiking. Double click on the location to select the location of interest. It will then become highlighted by a green box. NOTE: I find it helpful to consult my National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map (#777 and #778 for our area) which shows detailed trail/town and road locations on a topo map so I can orient myself on the google map (which doesn’t always show trails but does have contours).

3. This will provide a forecast of the exact location of the hike. I take the forecast for the highest elevation I will be at for the day.

Here is more information if you have trouble or want to learn more.

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Backpacking Food-Tips for Beginners

Several folks have asked about easy backpacking food ideas.   Figuring out how to eat on the trail has been one of the most challenging things for me, but has ended up making the biggest difference for how much energy I have on the trail.  I hope these tips can help you out.

Here are a few of my principles and thoughts on backpacking food:

-The most important thing is to bring food that you know makes your tummy happy.  Sometimes you may not have much of an appetite, but you need to eat anyway to get energy, so it helps to bring foods that you find appealing.

-Figure out what works best for YOU. There are many approaches to backpacking food.  Find one that works for you, depending on what type of person you are.   Do you like to cook and experiment? Do you want to spend more time relaxing and not worry about it?  Some people need to eat a lot on the trail (like me), while others like to refuel after they get off the trail.  Some people like powerbars. Some like packaged dehydrated meals.  Don’t worry about what other people do– they may eat more or less than you, or eat at completely different times.  Stay in tune with your body, and pay attention to your energy levels.  Everyone is different, do what works for you.

-Think about food as your fuel. Choose foods that give long-lasting energy (with lots of complex carbs, healthy fats, and protein). You will burn a ton of calories out backpacking, and while many of us want to loose weight, you still need to eat or you’ll “boink” (which is crash and have no energy and feel terrible).

Eating right out of the bag saves on cleanup

-Choose foods that are easy to prepare.  While I love to cook at home, on the trail I prefer food that I can eat instantly and that require no cleanup, things I can eat right out of a bag. If I cook (which I rarely do anymore), I boil water and add it to a bag of food– I don’t like to cook anything other than water in my pot so I don’t have a pot to clean up afterward.

-Eat like a hobbit on the trail!  This will help you maintain constant energy and prevents stomach upset.  When you backpack, you are asking your body to work hard for long periods of time, so it may have more trouble digesting large meals. So when you backpack, have a bunch of small meals and snacks.  I eat every two hours when I’m backpacking.  I think of it as breakfast, second breakfast, tea time snack, lunch, afternoon snack, pre-dinner snack, dinner, and dessert.

-Weather changes your metabolism.  Many people get really hungry when it’s cold.  Feeling queasy or have a headache on a hot day?  It could be because you are dehydrated and/or not getting enough electrolytes. In the heat, salty foods, electrolyte replacements, or fruit help replace what your body looses in sweat.

Tortillas, cheese, instant black beans, and peppers make a fast and easy lunch.

Here are some websites to get you started:

One Pan Wonders  – lots of great recipes.

Trail Cooking and the Outdoors– more easy recipes

Food in the backcountry  -another viewpoint on how to eat in the outdoors

Freezer bag cooking information

Going stoveless

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