Hiking

The Hike Inn

The Hike Inn
Have you ever been hiking with the TrailDames and were having such a good time that you didn’t want it to end? Well, this year’s Hike Inn event made us feel just like that. Two days of sunny weather on a picturesque trail suitable for newbie’s and seasoned hikers alike, scrumptious food, heartfelt laughter, warm and inviting conversations, festive, foot-tapping music by two talented musicians, and an informative presentation on Benton MacKaye Trail, by enthusiast and fellow Dame, Regina Reiter. Oh, and we shouldn’t forget sipping coffee around the sundial, braving the cold to take in the golden sunrise spilling into the inky valleys of the blue southern Appalachian mountains.  When the weekend ended, our only consolation was that we could do it all again next year!
        To get to the Hike Inn you have to hike! Imagine That! But your trail dusted feet will find ample reward both hiking to, and resting and relaxing at Hike Inn which is tucked into a cozy corner of Amicalola Falls State Park just outside of Dawsonville, Georgia. The moderate 5 mile Hike Inn trail is typical Georgia mountain; up and down, then, up and down again, with a few water crossings thrown in for good measure. Along the way you will encounter heavily wooded ridges, timbered footbridges, rocky outcroppings, rhododendron thickets, and then, get to test your rock hopping skills across several creeks and streams. It may take you a few hours to get there, but, as with all Trail Dames hikes, time always passes quickly.
        Once you step into the clearing that reveals the beautiful, low slung gray buildings that make up the Len Foote Hike Inn, you instantly know you are somewhere very special!  Friendly staff will help check you in as you warm yourself by the wood burning stove. Grab your key, find your bunk room and you’re off to enjoy a hot shower, a snack or even a short nap. Just make sure your snooze doesn’t make you late for the tour of the building at 5 pm. Here, you will get to see all the cool, innovative, green technology that makes this inn so special.
Oh, and these folks know how to cook! The delicious, hearty family-style dinner is served in heaping bowls by the incredible HI volunteers and kitchen staff. Two were even Trail Dames—thanks Fran and Christine! Everyone should know that the HI folks monitor their food waste by weighing all the scraps. I am pleased to report that The Dames in our usual conscientious fashion, received the coveted smiley face award because we saw that no food was wasted!
Afterward, we were honored to have Regina Reiter speak about her month long adventure on the BMT. She had finally—just the day before we arrived—accomplished her dream of hiking all 300 miles of the Benton MacKaye Trail in all four seasons…Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall!  The slide show she put together showing all the scenery…the swollen streams, the heavy rains, and the snow and ice that she and her hiking partner, John, encountered were simply amazing! They are true adventurers that graciously shared their wisdom and hard earned knowledge to a room full of awe-inspired Dames!
Then, we were treated to the local Bluegrass and folk duo, who played into the night as Dames clapped, and tapped, and sang along. Their banjo and mandolin kept time with down home classics like Wildwood Flower and Shenandoah.
As the full moon light and starry night sky called us all out onto the deck there was—as always—some serious Trail Dame style socializing going on! Games were played, drinks were had, secrets were told, laughter rang free, and friendships were made…solid as secret oaths. This, after all, is the Trail Dame way!
But as some would say…all good things must come to an end. After a good night’s sleep and a sunrise that most of us will never forget, we talked at breakfast of all our fun and said our goodbyes slowly. We lingered in this special placed with each other as long as we could, then turned southward, retracing our footprints down the trail that seemed even more magical and beautiful than it had the day before.
Hike Inn….We can’t wait until next year. And actually, we don’t think we will…wait that is. You see, I think Regina truly has something  with her “same Trail four season” Philosophy!  Something tells us Spring is absolutely gorgeous along the Hike Inn Trail. Who else wants to join us?
Dennice D. Kerscher and Jules A. Burroughs
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Georgia with the Dames- part 3

Sweetpeas final thoughts on the weekend’s adventure!!

Georgia with the Dames (Sun)

This morning I walked over to the campfire ring and saw that someone has started a nice morning fire AND had gone and gotten our food from the bear bags. (It’s looking like it’s going to be a great day!) I went back to my hammock and packed up everything so that I could leave with one of the first groups. 15 minutes later I enjoyed the morning fire again, boiled some water for my oatmeal, and listened to all the chatter going on. SHOE, in another one of her food experiments, made some breakfast oatmeal that didn’t quite work out. It looked like some congealed orange glop. HA! That girl makes me laugh! I caught Maggie eating a breakfast S’more and had to call her out. You see, last night she had her first, and what she claimed was her last S’more. Not b/c she didn’t like it, but that it was just too rich tasting. Well, it seems it wasn’t too rich this morning. HA! We both had a laugh and I’m glad she got to indulge in a camping tradition. 🙂

After the traildame morning meeting about today’s hike and car pooling etc… Kelly and I were the first ones on the trail. We only had 5.4 miles to do but had a big climb that morning, a 954 foot ascent in a mile. We started around 8:45am and took out time. We climbed and climbed, and climbed. I thought it would never end! Then all of the sudden Kelly turned around and said, “you see what I see.” I looked up, past her and saw the blue sky peeking over the ridge. I said, “if that’s what I think it is, we are high fiving when we get up there.” And that’s just what we did! We were FINALLY at the top of Kelly’s knob. I dropped my pack and as usual, as soon as I saw the view, I forgot about the climb. It was spectacular. Kelly was pointing out a lake and told me that you could see NC and SC from our GA mountain top. I thought it was the coolest thing. We took lots of photos and a quick water break b/c it was just the first mile of the day, we knew we still had a while to go. We climbed down into Deep gap and decided to by pass the shelter and take a nice break at the bottom before the next big climb. Well, we’re chillin’, when all of the sudden this old dude in JEANS comes running down the trail. I mean running like he’s trying to get away from the cops running. He doesn’t say anything to us. OK… strange. And why would someone be out in the middle of nowhere, running in jeans? Everyone knows you don’t wear cotton on the trail right? ha! I just found it weird.

Well, we spent the next 2 miles climbing up and down 4 mountains. I counted each climb up. DAMN! I can honestly understand why lots of thru-hikers complain about all the PUDS (pointless ups and downs) in Georgia. My goodness, I felt like I was on a roller coaster ride, just up, down, up, down, no view, up, down, up, down. By then, we were getting pretty fatigued from all the ups and downs, that we decided to take a lunch break. I knew from looking at Kelly’s map that after the fourth climb, the rest of the trail should of been all down hill.

Well guess what? The map was wrong. Every time Kelly and I would make it to a gap, we would start climbing again, it got to be a cruel joke that we both laughed at and sort of cried at. THANK GOODNESS I had another person to share the insanity with. Haha! By the way, Kelly was a great hiker, she doesn’t give herself enough credit. She set the pace and led the entire way. All the while telling me she’s a slow hiker. Don’t believe it! She’s a strong hiker and I’d hiker with her again any time. So to get our minds off the climbs, we started thinking about cold icy diet cokes and that helped a little. This was a tough day for me. I hadn’t expected all those extra climbs and coupled with the fact that I hadn’t hiked since early October just made it tough.

We finally push up the last little hill and see the Dicks Creek Gap road up ahead. YEAH! we made it. and it was only 1pm! We hop in Kelly’s car and head into Hiawassee for a diet coke! I was so excited to roll into Haiwassee, only because I’ve read about this little town so many times on trailjournals. I tell Kelly how excited I am to finally check out Haiwassee and then she points out the famous Blueberry Patch Hostel! It looked just like I would imagine it to look like. A blue little hostel. We finally found a little store and head right over to the soda fridges. I pull out a diet coke then spot one of those huge 1 liter diet coke bottles. So I do the right thing and put back my little coke bottle and exchange it for the 1 liter jug. haha! Yea, I got greedy, but that cold coke was sooooooo good. We got up to pay and notice slices of pizza for sale, so my greedy self grabbed one of those too 🙂 I paid the clerk and tell her this place is like a little oasis. She smiles and I wonder if she gets that alot. I mean, it is a trail town. We decided to wait to eat our slice back at the trail head picnic tables, but we took big swigs from our liters of diet coke all the way back. hahha! As we get back to Dicks Creek Gap to wait for Joan and Maggie, we spot Sunny sitting in her car. We invite her to join us at the picnic table.

Sunny used to be a serious hiker/climber/outdoors woman til she got into a really bad car wreck. She still hikes, but not as much distance as she used to do. She and a couple of hikers took the bail out, 1 mile trail back to the car this morning. Seems as if a couple of the girls decided not to finish the hike today. So Sunny went with them to help out carry gear and car pool. Then she came over to the trail head at the end of our section hike to pick up the rest us that finished. As we were talking, I find out that Sunny is really into ultralight backpacking and start to pick her brain for some gear recommendations. She asks if I want to SEE anyof her gear and I excitedly tell her “YEAH!”. She comes back with a huge duffel bag full of gear. I checked out her Patagucci (Patagonia) down jacket that weighs almost nothing. I check out her snow peak stove set that made me double think my Jetboil, and you know I love my Jetboil. But the snow peak was so small, compact, and light. I picked up her western mountaineering 20 degree down bag and almost ran off with it. That bag is soooo light Icouldn’t believe it. Then she showed me my next gear purchase! hahaa! Her Granite Gear Vapor Ki backpack. Man that pack was sweet. She let me try it on and I loved where all the straps fell. I’ve been wanting to get a lighter weight pack, but still wanted one with an internal frame. This one is perfect. I love the outside pockets that were made out of stretchy wetsuit material, I loved the cushioning on the hip and shoulder straps. It just looked and felt great on. I’m going to be saving up my pennies for this purchase!

After ohhing and ahhing over all of Sunny’s gear, Joan and Maggie finally show up. We load up into Kelly’s car and head back out to the cabins. I say my goodbyes to everyone and at 3:30pm, I’m pulling out of Helen GA and headed home. Another wonderful trip with the Trail dames. The weather was perfect, the views were great, the company was wonderful, and even though the trail kicked my butt, I got to be outdoors. I couldn’t of asked for a better weekend. Til next time… GET OUTDOORS!!!

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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Trail Dames Hike along the Appalachian Trail near Harpers Ferry, WV

Re-Posted from GainwithoutPain

I joined the Trail Dames for a “beginners” hike along the Appalachian Trail (AT). Trail Dames is a hiking club for women of a curvy nature but it has become a place where all women are welcome!

We took the blue blazed trail from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy to the AT. Once we reached the AT, we turned left and headed north towards Maryland.

Trail Dames at Jefferson Rock

Trail Dames at Jefferson Rock

After you cross the Potomac River, you are in Maryland on the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal towpath. This is the only section on the AT where horses are allowed.

Trail Dames on the AT and C&O Canal

Trail Dames on the AT and C&O Canal

Sweetwater Creek State Park- Trail Dames Hike

Posted in Around the House, Hiking with the Trail Dames, Travel 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