North Carolina

Reedy Creek- Guest Post from the North Carolina Dames

Reedy Creek Hike

9 Dames made it out on a beautiful mothers day morning for the 3 mile Reedy Creek hike.  (Nina, Lori, Kimber, Chelsea, Diane, Diana, Dolores, Kathy, and me.)  We all met up at the nature center where we chatted a bit before trail maps were passed around.  After taking the “before” picture, we headed down past the Nature Center and started our hike on the yellow Umbrella Tree trail.  We hiked in around .33 miles before Diana decided to take the short cut trail to meet us at the Robinson Rock house.  We all continued the next mile on the blue Big Oak trail.  Everyone seemed to be chatting away and hiking around the same pace, which was great, because I was able to talk to each Dame 🙂

We finally reach the intersection of yellow Umbrella Tree trail.  We stop and I ask Nina which way we should go.  She checks out her map decides we need to turn right.  Perfect!  She and Dolores keep the lead and pace going for the hike for another .33 miles before we come to the next intersection.  Again the ladies consult the map and keep us going in the right direction.  We take a right, then stop to admire a big tree that Dolores points out  before we continue another .33 miles on the red South Fork trail.  We finally run into the orange Robinson Rockhouse trail, hang a right and continue another .33 miles down to the rock ruins.  Dolores was the first to notice the sweet aroma that a honeysuckle makes and I made sure everyone else caught a whiff of that sweet scent lingering in the air.  A few feet later, we passed by the honeysuckle plant and I was so tempted to pluck a flower and taste the nectar.  But alas… we were in a county park where we are not allowed to pluck, pull, cut, or pick up any flower, fauna, tree, or shrub.  So.. I took a deep breathe and settled for the sweet aroma in the air 🙂

I love this section of the trail, not only
because it’s beautiful, but because when you near the end, you round a bend in the trail and then all of the sudden, you stumble upon the rock ruins.  We stopped here for 15 minutes, enjoying and exploring the ruins.  Kathy shared her yummy trail mix with me and I told her I would be hiking with her from now on! haha!  We take our Trail Dames group photo and hop back on the trail.  This time, Kimber and Chelsea lead the way with Chelsea using her map skills to get us back to our car. At the trail intersection we run into Diana, seems as if her short cut, ended up being a long cut!  After adding up her mileage, she had hiked around the same miles as we did. haha!  Oh well, at least we all hiked back out together.  When we get to the nature center, everyone walks over to the pond and picnic table, while Lori and I head back down the trail to check on Diana.  She was right on our heels.  When we get to the picnic table, we all say our goodbyes and head back to our cars.

Kings Moutain Military Park Hike

 

This post is from our North Carolina Trail Dames Blog, thanks to our illustrious Head Dame there, Fabs!!
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.

Posted by Trail Dames of NC