Tag Archives: section hiking

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AT – NJ Sunrise Mountain to NJ 284

A whirlwind of a weekend! As Chair of a community college math department I have been BUSY. Scheduling my auto-response email message Friday morning, I let out a sigh of relief. This weekend was mine. 🏃‍♀️

Bear Spray, Akela, and I made High Point State Park our base camp. Akela would be hiking with me; Bear Spray offered to camp and shuttle us to trail heads. If you section hike, you know the time suck that accompanies moving cars every morning. It was a treat to have Bear Spray as our shuttle driver!

Friday we hung out at the campsite on Sawmill Lake. Bear Spray and I had camped here in 2019. My dog, Sidekick Pauli, had been along for that adventure. Since she was not able to hike long distances anymore, I had shuttled Bear Spray to a trail head. What comes around goes around! I loved Sawmill Lake then because it felt remote and the campsite we had that year was pretty nicely secluded. I believe it was site 4, if you’re interested. This time, I came away not so enamored! We camped at the only site left at the time I registered, site 11. This site would be good for a group also reserving 10 and 12 because they were all connected. Zero privacy. Friday night wasn’t too bad. Perhaps because site 10 was unoccupied OR because there were storms and all I could hear was rain on the tent…went right to sleep! But holy mother of…Saturday afternoon/night was a disaster with loud music, loud talking, extra cars that took up all the spaces, AND after dark…one of the guys must have a medical issue like sleep apnea or something…the sounds that came out in the night…AND THEN HE STARTED TALKING CRAZY SHIT IN HIS SLEEP! 😲

If I had been camping alone, I would have left. That whole group was just…no words.

Regardless, the hiking was GREAT!

Saturday, we hiked from Sunrise Mountain back to High Point State Park. This was a pretty easy trek. There were some small climbs, but nothing really crazy. Although, there is one down that was unexpected and it goes straight down! Might be a good idea to channel your inner mountain goat at that spot!

Mountain Goat it downhill to the left of the Pine

The thing that almost did us in were the mosquitoes. OMG, those blood-sucking little feckers got in our ears, eyes, neck, arms, EVERYWHERE. I literally had one stuck to the rim of my glasses and when I took a selfie (at the bottom of mountain goat drop off) I found there was one on my nose! Our skin was on fire!!

After getting to High Point, we booked it to our campsite to pick up shower supplies and head to the camp showers in hopes of extinguishing ourselves. Arriving at our campsite to the sound of the blaring music and no place to park did not help our moods. I am sure we set the tone for the weekend with our less than welcoming looks to the site 10 inhabitants. 😂😂😂 Don’t care…they were just that bad!

A word on camp showers…a curtain is not enough. Locking doors need to be installed on the showers. That is all.

Hanging at camp later, Bear Spray told us about her day…and she saw a bear!! We saw no wildlife other than mosquitoes and she saw a BEAR. LIFE IS UNFAIR!!!

Saturday night…I knew what I was up against with site 10, so I popped a Benedryl to 1) help with the bug bites which had left little welts all over my freakin body, and 2) help me sleep! It worked for a while, but as I have already stated above, there was no silencing the horrific sounds coming from site 10. 😖 I thought the guy might need an ambulance called at some point! Sleep tests can be a lifesaver…just putting that out there.

High Point Monument

Sunday, our section started at High Point and ended at NJ 284. Shuttling to place our cars at 284, we went through a little piece of New York, Unionville to be specific. What a quaint town! Very cute!

Bear Spray took us back to High Point and off we went! The first part of the trail between NJ 23 and High Point Monument is a little rough. Lots of rocks and some climbing. It was already started to warm up and whew! That piece made us sweat! After that it was downhill to the High Point Shelter, then the trail leveled out. My favorite part of this section were the meadows. 🌻 All the summer wildflowers are in bloom right now. A feast for the eyes and the nose! I could hear a tractor across one of the meadows and it was a nostalgic moment as I thought back to my childhood on our farm in Indiana…my dad on his tractor…sweet memory. 🥰

A picturesque pond along the way

The bugs were not as bad for me during this hike and I was grateful! We were really cruising along, almost to NJ 294, and even with the ever rising temps I was feeling pretty satisfied with our pace. Then we hit a steep hill after Unionville Road…don’t look for it on the map…it is literally a blip…but that blip was a head down, one foot in front of the other, struggle for survival!

Afterwards the path leveled out and it was smooth sailing again, until BOOM right into a bunch of tree branches that were blocking the path.

Thanks to Akela for this pic of the Jungle Woman

Can’t go over it, Can’t go under it, Can’t go around it, Got to go through it!

And we did! Hike on!

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Rock Hopping with the Dames

Big rocks are where it is, friends!

A Maryland Trail Dame’s hike on the Appalachian Trail between Rt. 233 and Caledonia State Park (Pennsylvania)

Tailgate of my RAV4 open, I sat, legs dangling, phone in hand, mindlessly swiping through Pinterest as I waited on the Dames. A blessedly cool morning, I thought, as I swung my legs back and forth, and kept swiping. A car turned off of Rt. 30. Someone was yelling from their car as it was driving by. What the…? It took a minute for me to drag myself from a cute backyard firepit setup that I had been getting ready to pin, so I only heard “…have to pooooo!” Ahh…Queen V had arrived. Well, almost. 😂

A good bathroom is a godsend at a trailhead. Especially for women hikers. Yes, we can go in the woods and do…but a nice bathroom at the beginning. It’s a plus!

Once we had everyone together, we piled into two cars, rode down to the Rt. 233 trailhead, and began our hike up and over Rocky Mountain. We all agreed that the weather was an awesome change from the hot and muggy swamp weather we had been having previously.

This hike is mostly regular dirt trail, but just after the cut-off to Rocky Mountain Shelter, it goes through some spectacular rock formations. OH…and in my previous post, I stated that Dames always stop at the shelters. I should have added IF and only IF (that’s IFF for you math folks) the shelter is a reasonably short distance from the trail! 😁 The Rocky Mountain Shelter is 0.3 miles from the trail, so that was a no go!

The Dames did great along this stretch of the AT. Their comments were it was a shock to the body to get out of the car and immediately be expected to go steeply uphill. AND that Queen V was so not truthful about it being just one climb up, then the rest of the way down. 😆 For the record, I never made any such claim! 😏

After the initial climb, the trail was easy walking until just after the shelter cut-off. Then the trail turns right, climbs a short hill, and we entered the jumble of boulders that make this hike one of my favorites.

We slowed down, picking our way through the rocks carefully. Stopping frequently to take in the wonder of these big rock formations, we theorized how they had come to be. No conclusions, as none of us on this hike are geologists. However, none were necessary. It is enough to be in awe of these phenomenal formations.

Coming down off of the rocks, we descended into what was becoming a hot and humid day. Summer is back. We kept our spirits up and our feet moving by chatting about wading in the creek at Caledonia, then going for ice cream. You do what you gotta do!

The creek was as amazing as we thought it would be! So, so, so good!

The ice cream, friendly service, and cute decor at the Caledonia Cafe was a perfect way to celebrate! Highly recommend if you are in the area. 🍦🍨🧁

Enjoy a Reel with more pics of our adventure!

Hike on!

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Pushing Perceived Limitations…and Doing the Thing!

I enjoy hiking and leading hikes for Trail Dames…like really, really love it. Bearing witness to women’s growth as hikers, experiencing trails through their eyes, and watching confidence grow are some benefits to what I do. It is a blessing to have this opportunity to take women off the sidewalk into adventure!

However, over the years, I have found that leading for Trail Dames resulted in me not taking on the hard challenges for myself. With Trail Dames, I keep the hikes between 2 – 7 miles and don’t include anything crazy terrain-wise. We take breaks when needed and enjoy the social aspect of hiking together to the extreme. This is great, but I feel like I put myself in a box and, it is weird to say this, but I started to believe that I was not physically able to do MORE.

This summer, I did two hikes with a guy, a colleague, as he works on completing the Maryland portion of the Appalachian Trail. My first outing with him was an out and back hike from Route 40 to Black Rock Cliffs. It was enough to show me that hiking with him was different. This particular hike was not a tough hike for me, but it was a good hike to judge what kind of hiking partner I had. First difference from Trail Dames: We didn’t stop much. Second difference: I brought and ate a lunch at Black Rock…I didn’t see any snacks come out of my partner’s bag! 😆 Like, I don’t even understand that, but to each their own! 😂 Anyway, I thought, this is good. Hiking with this guy will help me push my self-imposed limitations and get back to more challenging hikes…SWEET!!!

So, when he texted about a section north of Route 40, I suggested if he was amenable to hiking together, then he could do a bigger section, specifically PenMar to Wolfsville road, about 10 miles. This was partially self-serving because I wanted to test myself…I thought I was ready, but I needed to get boots on the trail. He was down! We included another colleague and off we went!

The Appalachian Trail from PenMar to Wolfsville Road is my favorite part of the Maryland section. It has a rocky climb up to High Rock, lush forest with big ferns lining the trail, two shelters, two water crossings, a walk through a meadow, and a couple more climbs. A heaven of diverse trail!

You can find more out about this route on Alltrails!

https://www.alltrails.com/explore/recording/appalachian-trail-pen-mar-park-to-wolfsville-rd-47a3893

It was a challenge to be sure! We started off at a good clip, climbed up to High Rock, and okay, I am so slow compared to the hiking companions, but whatever…*eyeroll* …🐌 we arrived at High Rock before it got too warm, and took a break. It was just gorgeous yesterday and we could see a long way out.

Then back to it, we made good time down to the Raven Rock shelter, where I detoured to use the privy…no other takers. Third difference from hiking with the Dames…we always stop at shelters…A.L.W.A.Y.S. 🤣 This level up was getting good. 🤗 Down to the actual Raven Rock, cross 491, then the Antietam Creek.

Pause for a moment: I have never seen the water level in the creek as low as it was yesterday. That was bizarre!

Obviously, no problems crossing the creek! On we went up the next hill…oooooo it was getting warm on that one. Yeah, still slower than partners, annnnnnddd still don’t care 😄 Onward!

Up, then down to Warner’s Hollow…love sitting by this creek! Before the hike even started I told my hiking buds that I was filtering water at Warner’s Hollow. It is such a beautiful spot. Water was flowing, cold, and delicious!

Break over! Up the third, and last, hill of the day (thankfully)! I felt good! I was doing this with, despite being slower up hills, in decent form! I didn’t hurt, my knees were not yelling at me, my right hip felt a little tight, but not too bad, and even my feet felt decent. Double-digit miles, I got you today!

A great day! What did I learn from this? It’s a question I ask myself after every hike or backpacking trip. Sometimes, I have no answer. But today, today I do. I learned that it is important to diversify my hiking partners. Hiking with different people encourages me to challenge myself. It leads to new conversations and experiences. I am grateful for this opportunity to learn and grow as a hiker!

Hike on!

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The Blogging “Gap” Year…Ha!

August 2022 was my last post. That is kind of tough to say aloud. By the way, “aloud” is one of my good starting words on Wordle. 😀 Anyway…I am calling this embarrassing pause my gap year.

Did I stop hiking? No.

Did I stop leading hikes? No.

Did I lose motivation for writing? Well, sort of…I still write in my journal, but it is mostly bulleted lists or drawings or a few sentences here and there. Case in point, my last entry in my journal was “June 30 – July 1: Led a backpack to kick off July 4th weekend with Trail Dames” and I put a Shenandoah National Park sticker next to the entry. Unacceptable! Not a fail, but definitely D-level submission! 😂 I did better on Instagram and made a Reel…oooooo fancy! And here is a pic of some of us at the Rock Spring Hut. FYI…the spring is WAY downhill, but it is an amazing spring…lovely water source!

With blogging, I kept saying “maybe I’ll write about the next hike” over and over and the blog just sat here waiting for me to notice it again. And today, I did!

To inspire myself, I actually Googled “why I should write” … yep, this is where I am. 🤦‍♀️

And I thought about it. The more I thought about writing about hiking I kept coming back to two comments I got from Dames who came along the backpacking trip I led this weekend.

  1. “This trip surpassed my hopes! It was wonderful and I enjoyed every moment. Thanks to Kylena for organizing it and to each and every one of you for sharing your stories and your backpacking knowledge“
  2. “What an amazing trip! Thanks for welcoming me so warmly into this group. I loved getting to know my fellow adventurous Dames. A huge thanks to Kylena for her mad organization skills that made this trip a reality and for encouraging me to attend.”

If I were reading my blog, what would I want to take away? This blog holds stories of hikes and people that have shared the trail with me along the way. Now, I feel a need to level up and be, oh, I don’t know…more entertaining and inspiring. To assist in some small way in making the outdoors more enticing and welcoming for everyone. I want everyone feel like Queen V looks standing atop Little Stony Man cliffs (also from this weekend)!

Hard truth – when I start actually thinking about writing, instead of just doing the thing, anxiety and procrastination set in. To be honest, thinking does me in EVERY time. If I start thinking about doing something, it becomes thinking forEVER and I never get to the doing of the thing. 🤯

So, fuck it, I’m writing. I am going to set a schedule, because I love schedules, and when my Google calendar tells me it is time to write, perfection be damned, I am going to write!

And for all of you who “think” your way right out of hiking, or walking, or just going outside…I personally challenge you to stand up and do the thing. Get up, open the door, take a step, then one step more.

🥾🥾

Hike on!

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AT – VA: US522 to VA55 The Mountains are Waking!

Kicking off another Spring Break hike with blue skies, frigid temperatures to start, and, this time, a hike more strenuous than any I have done in a while. I was excited to return to this section of the Appalachian Trail between US522 in Front Royal to VA55. I was also a little anxious. Would my legs hold up? I was fairly certain they would, but I double-checked that I was packing ibuprofen. 😀

I met my hiking partner “Somewhere” at the VA55 trailhead. Wow, it was cold! I thought I would ditch a layer before hiking, but backtracked on that decision quickly as the cold, cold wind reached my innermost layer. Brrrrr! We shuttled down to 522, then set out a brisk pace. I am thankful for the body’s ability to warm itself! It was freaking cold for the first 20 minutes, then we warmed up nicely as a result of 1) the sun rising above the ridge, and 2) climbing the first hill. It was welcomed warmth!

This stretch had two climbs that reminded me that I need to get out on the trail more consistently, but they were doable.

*Translation – I handled them with only slight discomfort.* 😀

Thankfully, because I would have been appalled to literally fall over in exhaustion on this hike. Perhaps my ridiculous pride kept me upright? 😀 😀 Nah…It was a lovely hike. Bunches of Bloodroot pushing up through last season’s leaves greeted us on that first uphill. The lower canopy was greening and the trail itself was easy going for the first five or so miles. The only tricky part of this section is the hill just before reaching the train tracks near VA55. That hill is an eroded mess. That was the last hill for us and I was glad of it!

The day had added thrill when I met up with my first thru-hiker this season, “Backstroke”, a physicist who has just taken a job with the government. He caught up with us as we were headed to the Jim & Molly Denton shelter. We let him pass, but then walked a piece with him. We discussed teaching as we strolled along.

*insert…I know he probably slowed his roll a bit to walk with us, but even so, I was pleased to be able to keep up the pace and talk at the same time* 😀

He seemed intensely curious about teaching and is motivated to explore it as his career as a physicist unfolds. We had lunch with Backstroke at the shelter, then he was on his way! If you see him on the trail, be sure to say hi…he is super friendly and great conversationalist!

I look forward to the day when I chance to meet up with you along the AT! I will keep working these legs of mine…See you out there! 🙂 Hike on!

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AT – MD Back to Annapolis Rock

I question my judgment at scheduling a hike so early that I had to leave my house at 6 AM. This is the first day of my Spring Break and just what the heck was I thinking??? It was dark, it was cold, … , it was the FIRST DAY OF BREAK…hadn’t I just been telling folks how exhausted I was and how I couldn’t wait to sleep in? Honestly…ugh.

But got up I did. Coffee – yes, coffee again – yes. Out the door at 6 AM, promptly!

I-68 east to I-70 south, then up Rt 40 to the Annapolis Rock trail head. Surprise…I remember why I scheduled it so early. To avoid the parking lot fiasco…and I was successful! I was the third car into the lot, huzzah!

My fellow Trail Dames showed up soon after and off we went up the mountain. What a glorious morning! Blue skies and sun pouring down on us. Oh, and I was very impressed with the trail work that has happened in my absence from this stretch of trail. Nice work on the grading and stone placement, PATC Trail Maintainers! Absolutely beautiful!

Soaking up the Sun!

We chatted amicably about some exciting trips that our dames have planned for summer. One is headed to the 100-mile Wilderness in Maine! My plans are more sedate…heading down to complete the section with the Priest in Virginia. All of us are so pleased that we are post – pandemic and can start adventuring further afar to hike.

Arriving at Annapolis Rock, we found the place deserted. Perfect! I sat out on a rock and ate my sub that I had picked up on my way in at Sheetz. That is one VERY conveniently located Sheetz…and it has a drive-thru. You’re welcome. 😀

The nasty old man winter wind picked up while I sat there munching away. I stared that wind down and pretended it was a lovely spring day…until I devoured the last delicious bite of my sub. Then I picked up my stuff and scrambled back into the trees.

We saw several folks headed up as we were headed down. The skies by this time were covered in heavy gray clouds and the wind was picking up. Sorry for them, happy for us! Oooooooo…and we found our first Bloodroot sighting!! Hike on!

Bloodroot!
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Good people make a Good life!

As I start this post the Beatles song “with a little help from my friends” is rolling inside my head. This year, more than any before, I am appreciating friendship. The people in my life who I look forward to being with, laughing with, and sharing with. Each inspires me in little ways that enrich my moments spent plodding through life. And plod I do!

So, this is an appreciation post for all the people who are still hanging with me here in the Spring of 2022.

OF course I need to include my partner here. But she is a private person…so I won’t say much except that life would not be as fun without her. She is also a teacher and there is no one else who gets my shizzle like she does. She also swings a mean hammer and paint brush. House renovations would go much slower and be a LOT more expensive without her mechanical prowess! ❤ ❤ ❤

No particular order of importance…but I need to put D in Damascus in here because this post would not be happening without her. Over the last few years, she has become a wonderful photographer and decided to start her own blog to showcase her photos. She has no idea how this has inspired me to get back to writing…but here we are! D is also my go-to colleague at work when everything feels like it is falling apart, so that is a bonus! I post one of her lovely photos here … so please ooooo and ahhhhhh over it for at least thirty seconds! 🙂

You can find more of D’s work over at https://dyagodich.wixsite.com/photos

And then there are my Dames…what would I do without my hiking gals?

Queen V brings her jokes, her exasperation with hills, and keeps me in stitches on every hike I take with her. She is a treasure. I can text her “hey, I found an unmarked trail …want to check it out?” and she ALWAYS says yes. She almost always bitches about it while we bushwhack through some unforeseen truly terrible trail…but she shows up and has fun…I think. Anyway, she also has just the right advice when it is needed. Level headed, she kindly points out all sides of an issue while I rant…and rant…until I manage to slow down enough hear her. Then I’m like “yeah, that makes sense…” The perfect friend to take hiking down the trails! 😀

Queen V and me on the Long Pond Trail in Green Ridge SF

There are so many good people in my hiking life…I certainly could not list them all. I wish I could, but it would take many lifetimes to do so. And so many I have not yet had the opportunity to reconnect with in 2022.

A few more photos that have frozen an amazing moment in time for me. Moments filled with pure joy shared with friends on the trail. Oh, how I look forward to getting back to regular hiking life this year! Hike on! 🙂

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AT – VA: James River VA501 to Long Mtn Wayside VA60

Well…this was a post COVID shutdown shock to my system! 😀

After driving down for a little over three hours from Frederick, MD, and another two hours placing cars, we hit the trail while the hot afternoon sun beat down on us. The parking lot at VA501 was easy to find and I was happy to exit the hot pavement and enter the just as hot, but at least shady, woods!

Day 1 we hiked in to the Johns Hollow Shelter. Blessed with a fine running stream, I took a good amount of time refreshing myself before cooking dinner. The shelter is in a delightful location with several almost level places to put a tent. Except, of course, for the place I put mine! But I was exhausted and fell asleep quickly.

View from my slanty tentsite

As usual, I awoke a few hours later after darkness had closed in on the forest. Since morning would not wait for certain things, I finally, after debating for at least 20 minutes, had to commit to getting out of my tent.

Okay, okay…I’m up, I’m out…oh, wow, it is really, really dark.

I made my way across to the privy and happened to look up. There was a perfect crescent moon shining down. It was framed by the upper most branches and leaves of several trees…perfectly timed…well done Mother Nature!

Once back in my tent, I could not fall back to sleep and tossed, turned, and created a ton of noise from my sleeping pad which has not become less noisy with wear FYI. Finally getting into a somewhat decent position I started to doze off. It must have been early…like 2 am…a yip, then a yowl, then a whole orchestrated sonata sung by a local coyote group. Beautiful!

The view from the creek

I know you will find this surprising, but I did not wake up refreshed and ready for a 9 mile day.

Day 2 was an up, up, up day. We climbed about 2000 feet up. It was our first climb and we got up while the sun was still low in the sky and breezes were frequent. With proper breaks here and there we made it to the top without any terrible memories burning in my memory. A beautiful view awaited us!

About halfway up the mountain there was a payoff!

We stopped at Salt Log Gap for a sit-down break. I got just two things to say…1. Someone said there was a spring. If that is true it is so far downhill that you’d be nuts to go looking for it. 2. Careful of the stinging nettles, but if you do get swiped try hand sanitizer on it. That worked wonders on the areas where I was attacked!

The second mountain of the day…ugh. Bluff Mountain is no bluff! The trail went up the sunny side of the mountain and it was a hot afternoon sun. Several thousand breaks later we rounded a corner to find the memorial for Ottie Cline Powell, an almost 5-year old boy who wandered away from his school in November 1890, got lost, then died on Bluff Mountain. His remains were found by a hunter in April 1891. This choked me up and I cannot get this kid out of my head even now. Poor, poor baby. 😦

Summit of Bluff Mountain

I was so glad to get to the Punchbowl Shelter. Such a pretty sight with a pond filled with chatty bullfrogs. 🙂 I went about setting up my tent, minding my own business, when the black flies descended. Oh my gawd, this was awful. Like on level with chiggers awful. I got so many bites. 😦 Bug spray didn’t phase those little suckers one bit. I capped off Day 2 with three ibuprofen and a benadryl.

I am loving my new tent…Big Agnus Tiger Wall UL2. The pond is in the background.

We TRIED to get out earlier on day 3 so we were done hiking earlier due to the heat. A group of five…we did try! And maybe we were out a little earlier??? Anyway, the day’s elevation looked decent and I was optimistically promoting a day that would allow our fired up muscles a day to recover somewhat. Hahahaaaaa 😀

Love this! A boost in the middle of hot exhausting day

The elevation wasn’t bad in comparison, but it still managed to get at me. The heat and humidity was suffocating and I could smell rain. Picking up speed around the Lynchburg Reservoir, yessss! This was good, this was easy!

Rounded a corner…Oh for Christ’s sake. What horse of the Apocalypse are we on now?

A monumental disaster of epic proportions lay before us. A tangle of huge blowdowns over a ravine. Every woman for herself! I decided to crawl under and through it dragging my pack behind me. It worked!

Feeling superior, I temporarily forgot that this was a miserable hike and plodded on down the trail happily the victor. 😀 There was even an congratulatory creek with rushing cool water about a mile after. Huzzah!

The day got long again and my feet were screaming with every step once we reached the bridge across Brown Mountain Creek near the shelter. I wasn’t the only one having physical turmoil and we were glad to be done for the day.

Brown Mountain Creek

The Brown Mountain Creek area is fabulously wild and gorgeous. In the early 1900s, a community of African American sharecroppers lived here. I looked and found evidence of homes long since abandoned. I am surprised and disappointed that there is no roadside history sign about this community at VA60. I went Googling for information once I got home and found “Brown Mountain Creek – Before the AT”.

I settled in for the night, best sleep on the whole trip under a big old oak tree. I had some quite disturbing lucid dreams about little Ottie. I woke up suddenly during one of those dreams to a lightning bug blinking his light as he passed my tent…a good sign. I got up and looked out ….ohhhhhhh…*sharp inhale*…the lightning bugs! I was mesmerized, and after the dreams I had, a little emotional.

The last day was a short hike out to VA60. Sitting in my tent, early in the morning, while the lightning bugs were still blinking, I wrote:

“I am humbled by these mountains. Blisters on my heels burn with every step. Black fly bites have formed hard spherical mounds that itch like the dickens. Stinging nettles brushed my legs with a touch that was anything but gentle. My COVID shutdown body is tired and demoralized. Another day my mountains.”

Now healing, beer in hand, and looking forward to another day…Hike on!

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AT – VA Dripping Rock to Rockfish Gap

Backpacking with my gal pals last weekend! How is it to know these women, these outrageous trail bitches who understand this is not a frivolous hobby? We understand each other in a deep way even our life partners don’t get. We see the desire burning in each other’s heart for the outdoors, for the forest, for walking in and not having to walk out right away. Hiking and backpacking is something we do because it is what makes us whole! and it is what makes us reasonable human beings in all the other areas of our lives.

With that in mind, we all piled into Akela’s minivan, WHICH HOLDS ALL SEVEN OF US AND OUR GEAR!! Headed south to Dripping Rock, one of us has forgotten her cell phone…turn around, back to Rockfish Gap…OKAY, now we headed for Dripping Rock … for real! 😀

A sunny, but very chilly morning, at 20 degrees! Thankfully, climbing first thing. It is a lovely stretch of trail up the mountain. Some of us hike a little faster, some a little slower, … all of us hike with optimism, smiles, and support for one another.

The views at the top were amazing, of course! We stopped for lunch at the highest point of our hike. A nice break on the sun splashed rocks until the sun went on hiatus and the wind decided to pick up and play chicken with us. Okay, okay, we are going, seriously! Gloves and hats back on! Ladies, someone has an issue with letting us soak in the sun!

We felt good as we started down towards Paul C. Wolfe Shelter. Golden leaves covered our path in spots as we hiked one way, then the next, zigzagging down the mountain on a kazillion switchbacks. A big nice trail for the most part!

It was a great day filled late Autumn forest magic. A gust of wind showered us with leaves, a beam of sunlight warmed us for a few minutes, a deer silently sneaked a peek at us, and birds called out to each other as we passed. I arrived at the shelter free of all regular life stuff. No place but here, no time but now.

I got my tent up and had dinner as the forest went dark. The moon was almost full giving me all the happy vibes. 🙂

A couple of dads and their sons were camped at the shelter. “NO worries about bears tonight”, I thought, as those boys ran up and down each side of the creek having the time of their lives.

I crawled into my tent, broke open some ‘hothands’ to warm up my tootsies and my sleeping bag, then fell promptly to sleep…at 7:00 pm. Woohoo! Hiker midnight!

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Morning now nigh…Dang, it is always a tough time getting out of the bag on a cold morning!! Deep breath and up I was. Packing up warms you up, so move, move, move! And, oh crap, I have to filter water…oh, but what a nice view I had!!

Hot oatmeal warmed my insides and coffee made me a little more coherent, then it was down the trail we went. It was much warmer on Sunday morning and with temps climbing we were soon plenty warm. The trail had some disaster blow downs which gave us an aerobic edge to our hike. We were shedding layers like crazy! “Lost&Found” had to do an extensive striptease on the trail since she needed to get her long johns off…if that would have been me, I know a fricken entire boy scout group would have appeared! Luckily, she got it done without any such embarrassment!

We spent several minutes at the Lowe cemetery. Akela suggested that it would be a good cleanup project. I have to agree. A tree had fallen over a few graves in the back of the cemetery.

Next stop was Mayo Homestead…a very nice place it must have been with that big fireplace! I can imagine riding a horse up to the cabin and seeing smoke drifting up out of the chimney. A promise of freshly baked bread or other delight waiting for me!

Along the last stretch we met ‘Walking Spirit’, a south bound thru hiker. He was sitting by a nicely flowing spring, enjoying his break. That is what is great about solo hiking. You hike, you break, you eat, you sleep, all without needing to check in with anyone. On the flip side, you get to an amazing view or beautiful tree and you want to share the awe with someone, but all you have is you.

I love solo, but my trail gals…awwwww yeah… that’s my heart!

Hike on!

by

I Think It May Be Spring!

Thank goodness, right? If your winter was anything like my winter…ugh.

Father Winter was a big tease with lots of potential, but no big exciting events. In Maryland, we would get icy mix, a little snow, then it would melt and we were left with a few damp, chilly days in the mid-40s. Brrr…rrr

Thank you Goddess of Spring for finally taking control!

Last weekend, I led a “newbie backpacker” trip. We had 4 new and 5 experienced backpackers. The newbies had completed two shakedown hikes prior and felt somewhat prepared.

We began our adventure at Shippensburg Road trailhead on the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania. Saturday started as winter…very cold and windy! We got moving!

As we hiked the seasons turned. A lovely day indeed!

In general, we took this stretch slower, and with more breaks than I would take if I were going alone. Which makes perfect sense for new backpackers. They had plenty of time for adjusting the pack, stretching, resting, and enjoying the woods!

We rolled into Tom’s Run Shelter mid-afternoon, plenty of time for the newbies to set up.

It was a cold night and one newbie had not brought the recommended 20 degree bag. She learned and will pack accordingly next time. Sometimes, we have to learn the hard way. 🙂

Spring rebounded on Sunday! The trail was a slight disaster with tons of water flowing down it and many blowdowns that had to be climbed over, under, or around! Our newbie, who hadn’t slept much due to being cold the night before, just about petered out on the last hill of the day. We got some extra food in her and took it slow…she was determined to finish! She dug deep and conquered the last hill!

Everyone finished sucessfully at Pine Grove Furnace State Park with smiles (and a few emotional tears). I am so proud of these women! We stick together, push through our fears, learn from our miscalculations, and always Hike On!