Sports

Backpacking With The Dames

This is a cross post from Hemlock’s wonderful Blog….. for more of her writing, check outhttp://ramblinghemlock.blogspot.com/

Same trail, a week later

Winter wonderland.  Photo by S. Adams.

The story this week was how a group of Nine Warrior Women braved 14 miles of slippery trail as we hiked on the Appalachian Trail from Hogpen to Unicoi.  We faced a night of bone-chilling, finger-numbing, frigid temperatures (18 degrees!), and I will never forget how the Brave Dames on this trip came together as a team and had a total blast.

It’s hard to comprehend how the same trail that I scouted just one week ago could be so completely different than it was this weekend, magically transformed as it was by a layer of snow and ice.  At first, I was nervous because I’d never backpacked in the snow before, though I’d done plenty of hiking in worse conditions.  But my fears drifted away as we gazed in amazement at the trees cloaked in snow, breathing in the crisp air, listening to the crunch of frozen leaves underfoot.  Eventually, the sun broke through the fog and clouds, making the forest sparkle and ice shimmer against the deep blue sky.  I felt grateful to be out enjoying my first winter weather of the year, while nearly everyone else in Georgia was down in the valley having a regular fall day.

When we stopped at the Low Gap shelter for lunch, we listened to a group of young guys describe their miserable night in the snow.  I hoped that we wouldn’t look as wrenched as they did the following day.

We hiked on and the trail joined an old road.  Icicles were forming along the rocky outcrops.  As we descended in elevation, pockets of snow became more scarce.  Finally, we reached our campsite which was thankfully free of much snow, due to its sunny exposure.  Everyone pitched in to help with making camp, helping set up tents, gather firewood, and hang the rope to keep our food away from bears.  Still Waters had a fire blazing before the rest of us returned from fetching water.  We huddled around, telling stories and laughing, recalling the high and low points of the day.

                   Draped in my under-quilt, huddled around the campfire.  Photo by S. Adams.

We turned in for the night at 7:45, since we were all getting cold as the air temperature plumited.  At first I lay shivering in my hammock, wondering if I would freeze to death during the night.  Finally, I slipped my pack beneath my feet, and shifted the sleeping pad and underquilt around.   Miraculously, I warmed up enough to finally drift off to sleep.  Whenever I woke during the night, I heard a chorus of soft snores around me.  How could everyone else be sleeping so well?!  In the morning, we’d all discover that EVERYONE had this thought during the night– we must have all taken turns lying awake shivering and sleeping and snoring.

The trail the next day had some serious climbs, and was treacherous with icy leaves over slippery rocks.  We only took brief rest stops because we got too cold when we weren’t moving.  Last week, I’d sailed up these hills, but this time, they left me sore and tired just like they had on my first backpacking trip with the Dames a year and a half ago.   Funny how just when I think I’ve got everything figured out and am feeling strong and confident (as I was last week), the trail will continue to provide new challenges.

Things I learned:

– Who you’re with can make all the difference.  I am so grateful to all the Dames who continue to teach me the meaning of friendship, strength, perseverance, and bravery.

– I need to figure out how to keep my hands from freezing.  I’ve always struggled keeping my hands warm, and I loose all dexterity when my hands get cold and also I have a lot of trouble thinking coherently when I loose feeling in my fingers.  I’ve tried various gloves and handwarmers, which work OK during hiking, but my fingers freeze when I take off my gloves to do stuff around camp.  Maybe I need to develop a cold weather camp routine that doesn’t require the use of my fingers or thumbs.  Any suggestions on how to cook and get water without either getting my gloves drenched or having my fingers go numb?

– One of the first signs of hypothermia is mental confusion.  Next time we are standing around discussing how we are all having sluggish thoughts, take that as a sign to warm up!  Also, Still Waters kept telling me to take off my wet gloves and put my hands near the fire to thaw out, and I just stared at her blankly.  This was sort of like the tendency hypothermic people have to take off their warm clothes when they are freezing to death.

– My camera is NOT an item I should leave behind just to save pack weight.  What was I thinking!?!?

– Even at the lowest point of the trip when I was nearly in tears because I was so freezing cold, I still wanted to be on the trail more than anything else– I don’t want to be at home.  Even when I’m scared and uncomfortable, I still feel like I belong on the trail.

Caving with the Dames

IMG_6196

This is a guest post by our own Joan aka Hemlock– originally posted on her bloghttp://ramblinghemlock.blogspot.com/

This weekend I went on a caving trip with the Trail Dames.  We were fortunate to have several experienced guides and the Dames, as usual, were incredibly helpful and supportive.  Even though we went to a so-called “horizontal, easy” cave in northwest Georgia, it offered plenty of challenges for us nervous first-timers.

Caving was a fantastic experience, both for the physical challenge and because being within the earth proved utterly peaceful.  After getting the hang of it (thank goodness for the kneepads and helmet!), I enjoyed squeezing though the tight spots on my belly while pushing my pack in front of me, and rolling down the passageway, which turned out to be easier than crawling.  My arms, shoulders, core, and legs all received a satisfying workout.   I went through holes that I couldn’t believe I’d fit through and went down inclines that scared me, and felt such a sense of accomplishment after I realized I could do it!  Also, the cave was such a different, simplified environment– constant weather, fewer sounds, darkness.  Instead of being scary and claustrophobic, I found this environment enhanced and focused all my senses:  I could really smell the cave, listen to the sound of the drops from the ceiling, and see the glint of rocks.  I felt utterly alive and fully present.

A few times on the return trip, there was no one ahead of me and I tested my route-finding skills.  It took my brain a while to adjust to reading the cave.  Where was the easiest route?  Should I crouch, crawl, or roll?  Which way had I gone before?  Trying to remember the route, I visualized not just a two dimensional trail, but the series of interconnecting tubes that branched in three dimensions.  Using rocks and mud as landmarks was challenging for me because I am normally use plants and trees for navigation because for me they are so easy to remember.  I began to develop a better eye for subtle differences in rocks and formations, like how in winter, tree shapes and shades of brown become totally fascinating.   Mud in some places was dryer like clay for pottery and resisted pressure, while in other places it melted beneath your feet and stuck and slurped.  Caving was thus totally mentally engaging in addition to providing a full-body workout.

During rest breaks, our trip leader instructed us to lay down on the rocks and let our body heat radiate into the ground.  This had such a calming effect.  Much more so than just sitting down or standing during breaks.  The physical connection to the ground is so peaceful, and it reminds me to practice my yoga relaxation and breathing techniques.  I would love to take this practice back with me to the trail.  I normally stand during resting moments, but I think I will experiment with reclining against a tree or even laying down and being aware of my connection to the earth.

-Joan aka Hemlock

The Curvy Chicks Guide To Hiking- Part 2


This is a re-post of an article that I wrote for The More of Me To Love Website.  For more info, check out www.moreormetolove.com

TD fun2

(Continued from part 1)

As I said in part 1………..

First, remember the basic tenants to responsible hiking.  

  • Always tell someone where you are going
  • Research the trail
  • Take a friend
  • Never leave your car without the 10 Essentials. 

    Simply put- food, water, rain gear, warm clothes, fire starter,   compass and map, first aid kit, head lamp, knife, and emergency contact info. 

A simple Google search will list the 10 Essentials in more details for you. Just remember that being prepared on the trail is the best way to assure a pleasant trip.

 

    Physical Challenges  

The physical challenges that rounder hikers face can be easily compensated for.  These fall into several different categories:

 

    Managing your pace-When you hike, the first thing to remember is to enjoy yourself.  It is not a race or a competition.  The best thing about being out on the trail is experiencing the smells and sounds of nature, which you cannot do if you are rushing.

    If you are gasping for breath, slow down.  I have done trails that required me to take a step….stop and breathe…take a step…..stop and breathe.  In the end, you will still get to the top of the mountain; it will just be a much more pleasant journey if you respect your body’s natural pace.

    Along these lines, chose your hiking partner with care.  You want someone that has a similar walking style and speed.  Finally, taking rest stops frequently will help you to not only enjoy the hike, but to take in your surroundings.   

 

    Knee Health– While all hikers need to take care of their feet and knees, the curvy hiker has to be even more aware.  The majority of stress that we are asking our bodies to support can be alleviated in two simple words.  Hiking poles.  Hiking poles are a girl’s best friend!  Not only do they help protect your knees, they also improve your balance.  They make crossing a stream on rocks much easier and even give you something to lean on when you get tired. 

    However, be aware that not all hiking poles are the same.  The cheap hiking poles available at many big box stores are fairly worthless.  I have seen many cheap poles break under pressure and that could lead to an ugly spill.  Good hiking poles tend to start around $80, but the health of your body is certainly worth that, wouldn’t you say?     

 

    Foot Health– This is one place where shoe fit is very important.  Poorly fit shoes or boots can lead not only to blisters, but to more lingering problems like plantar fascitis and Achilles tendonitis.  Many trails can be hiked in a good pair of running shoes.  If you decide that you love hiking and would like to move up to a pair of boots, go to a specialty hiking store and have them professionally fit.  Again, the health and comfort of your feet are more than worth it.

    Also, carry blister treatment and prevention with you on all hikes.  If you feel a hot spot coming on, sit down on the trail and take care of it.  Don’t make the mistake of saying, “It is only a mile back to the car”.  A mile on a hiking trail is longer and harder than a mile on a road.  Go ahead and treat the hot spot and you will be on your way before you know it.

 

    Sweating and Chafing – On a little more personal note, sweating and chafing are a major concern.  Again, they are concerns for most hikers, but they seem to be a larger source of discomfort, both physically and mentally, for curvy hikers.

    When it comes to sweating, I say enjoy it!  Revel in the fact that you are moving your body…. exercising it and stretching it.  You are doing something athletic and you should be sweating.  In terms of keeping yourself comfortable, pin a bandana to the strap of your day pack and let it hang down as you hike. This keeps it handy so that you can wipe off your face as you walk. 

    Also, remember that light jacket in your pack?  The one from the list of 10 Essentials?  When you stop for a break, throw it on.  Your damp clothing will cause you to get chilled very quickly and that can be dangerous. 

    Finally, don’t hike in cotton.  It absorbs all of that sweat and lets all of your body heat out.  Look for performance materials that allow your body to stay warm when they are wet.

   

    Chafing– chafing takes place wherever moisture and rubbing meet. Anywhere you have skin rubbing on skin, chafing can become an issue.  This can be the crotch or groin, under your arms, and under your breasts. Chafing can become very painful if not treated. 

    The best way to avoid chafing is to stay dry.  Hmmmm…..not so easy when you are hiking!!  Luckily, there are several products you can use to combat chafing.  My favorite is Body Glide.  It can be found at most sporting goods stores.  It looks like a deodorant stick and can be applied anywhere chafing is a potential problem.  I truly never leave home without it.

    You can also apply Vaseline or petroleum jelly to affected areas.  This both prevents and treats chafing.  Slather it on before you leave home.  A little prevention will go a long way to helping you have a wonderful trail experience!

   What is your personal challenge?  Comment below and we will visit the topics in a follow up post!

Anna aka Mud Butt

The Curvy Chicks Guide To Hiking- Part 1

 This article is a re-post from one I wrote for the More Of Me To Love Website.  or more details, visit www.moreofmetolove.com

The Curvy Chicks Guide to HikingTD fun


Have you ever wanted to stroll along a trail or climb up a mountain?  Hiking is the perfect pastime.  Of course, we all know that it is great exercise.  It is not only good for cardio and strength conditioning, but also for balance and coordination. 

However, hiking is also great for the mind and spirit.  It can clear your head of worries, stress and anxiety as well as give you a huge boost in confidence.  I guarantee you that nothing feels better than reaching the top of a climb and looking back to enjoy what you have accomplished.  Hiking will get you in touch with strength and pride that you never knew you had.

Hiking is an activity that can be enjoyed by everyone.  However, many curvy people shy away from hiking due to concerns, both physical and emotional.  Here are some basic guidelines that will help you overcome those worries and get out on the trail.

First, remember the basic tenants to responsible hiking.

  • Always tell someone where you are going
  • Research the trail
  • Take a friend
  • Never leave your car without the 10 Essentials.

Simply put- food, water, rain gear, warm clothes, fire starter,

compass and map, first aid kit, head lamp, knife, and emergency contact info.

A simple Google search will list the 10 Essentials in more details for you. Just remember that being prepared on the trail is the best way to assure a pleasant trip.

Emotional Challenges

    When asked why they don’t hike, many round women will say that they are embarrassed or ashamed. Between the gasping for breath and sweating, they see hiking as an activity that points out their weaknesses, rather than their strengths.  However, one can combat these feeling of inadequacy by putting a plan in place. 

   

    Select a Good Partner

   The first thing to think about is your hiking partner.  Does he/she make you feel good, strong and capable?  Or slow and anxious?  Just because you love and cherish someone, does not mean that they are the perfect person to hike a trail with.  In general, male hikers tend to be more goal oriented than female hikers.  For that reason, they tend to be faster, i.e. harder to keep up with.  In female hiking clubs you often find women that joined so they didn’t have to worry about ‘keeping up with the guys’. 

    In any case, whether you want to hike with women or men, think about your partners hiking style.  Are they fast?  Are they patient?  There is a world of difference between a partner that will barely conceal her impatience with your pace and one that laughs, smiles and matches your walk up the hill. 

    Hiking can be a vulnerable experience if you are new at it, so chose someone that you can be yourself with. 

    While we are at it, don’t limit yourself to just one person.  Call a group of friends and hit the trail together.  Not only is it a ton of fun, but you all get to brag around the water cooler on Monday morning about the mountains you climbed that weekend.

   

    Change Your Paradigm

    Remember that book from a few years ago, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People?  One of its most profound chapters talked about changing your paradigm.  Simply put, change the way you see the situation.   

    Hiking gives us a lot of opportunities to practice the habit of changing our thoughts.  The biggest of these is the idea that people are laughing at us.  In my twenty years of hiking and backpacking, I have often been the curvytest woman on the trail.  In fact, I have often been the ONLY curvy woman on the trail. 

    When I first began to hike, I was determined to not let the ridicule of other hikers get to me.  I was going to hike anyway, by golly! Throughout the years, though, I slowly noticed something. No one ever made fun of me.  No one laughed at me and no one ridiculed me.  All those snide comments I prepared myself for?  Not a single one came my way.

    You can chalk this up to two different things.  One, hikers are actually really cool people.  They don’t look at you and see someone that looks different from them.  They look at you and see someone that shares a common interest with them.  In the hiking world, if you love the outdoors, you are pretty much automatically accepted. 

    The second thing is that people aren’t paying nearly as much attention to us as we would like to think.  When that Boy Scout troop goes flying by you on the trail, they are thinking about hotdogs, s’mores and campfires.  Trust me; you and I are the last people on their minds. 

  Claim Your Place

    Finally, this is your world and this is the perfect time to claim your place in it.  The outdoors are there for everyone to value, experience and love.  When you step out on the trail, claim your place on it.  You belong there as sure as anyone and everyone else. 

    When the little voices in your head tell you that you are not fit enough, fast enough, trail-wise enough or good enough, remember… what does that voice know?  That voice is not your friend and the things that it tells you are not rooted in reality at all.  Reality is that with some preparation, common sense and just a touch of courage, you can be climbing mountains in no time. 

To Be Continued…………

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!!!