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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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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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