Trail Dames Go Hiking

When I lived in Durham NC, my hiking buddies and I frequently hiked one of the two 6-mile loops at Umstead State Park, or the 3-mile loop around Lake Johnson. Walking amongst trees, with dirt and rock underfoot, feeds my soul at levels that defy verbiage.

Now that I live in Atlanta, I have yet to find places I want to go hiking. I live in the shadow of Stone Mountain, and have enjoyed the 2-mile roundtrip to the top a few times. And the local park's 1-mile paved loop is fun. But I'm wanting more.

I ran across an Atlanta hiking group on Meet Up--The Atlanta Wilderness Backpackers (http://backpackers.meetup.com/126/). They seem to be active, with frequent overnight trips. But in reading postings that indicate that they like to hike 10 miles a day, I know the group is too young or too fit for my needs. That's not to say that they wouldn't welcome my joining and offering to lead more modest trips, but I'm not ready to get that involved at this point.

While on that site though, I saw a "related link" to the Meet Up group for Trail Dames (http://www.meetup.com/traildames/), which describes itself as a "hiking club for women of a curvy nature." Now, that's more what I'm looking for! Yes, I'm getting curvier, now 12 pounds heavier than when I finished hiking in June. But that's not the primary draw. What I'm excited about is their hiking for the simple joy of hiking. All the photos show women smiling, having fun. That's what it's all about!

So, I've now joined Trail Dames, and am looking forward to an outing with them. Very fun!

Teaching Hiking

For the past 8 years, I have called myself a "hiker," and now that I have 3500+ A.T. miles on hipbelt, I know I have gained hiking expertise enough to share.

For all of my lifetime, I have called myself a "teacher." The teaching roles have looked different at different times, but in general I'm happiest when I'm facilitating someone else's learning or growth process.

Since 2000, I have been blessed to be both "hiker" and "teacher" simultaneously, as I've had the opportunity to teach hiking with teenage Girl Scouts. What an honor and privilege! And so much fun!

Now that I have moved 300 miles away from that Girl Scout program, I am looking for new opportunities to teach hiking. One possibility is to work with the Girl Scouts and their leaders here in Atlanta. Another possibility is to join the staff of organizations that lead people on trips. Or, maybe I'll start my own such organization. I'm not sure yet, but teaching hiking is definitely a passion, so I'll find something...

I'm open to suggestions!

Back to Blogging

My last post was in the middle of summer, and here it is almost winter. Since then I've done almost no hiking, a little bit of teaching hiking, and a lot of introspection. Before it becomes en vogue to make resolutions, I'm making one to keep my blogs more current... Stay tuned to see how well I do with that!

Photos at My End Points

It's traditional for A.T. 2000-milers to send their "finish" photos to all those who supported them during their hike. If you happen to be in a trail town along the A.T., stop in at a motel, hostel, outfitter, or restaurant and look for a bulletin board with lots of these photos posted. Most show someone at the sign on Mt. Katahdin, as most 2000-milers finish at Katahdin. As my hike was in 5 sections (counting the final 3.8-mile section), I have five finishes, though two were at essentially the same place.

On 03 June 2007, I finished the section from Damascus, VA to Springer Mtn, GA:


On 20 Sep 2007, I finished the section from Killington, VT to Mt. Katahdin, ME:



I finished in the Port Clinton area twice. I hiked south from Killington, VT, and got to Port Clinton, PA on 28Nov07. An impending winter storm encouraged me to get a ride south 50 miles to Duncannon, PA and hike the section northbound back to Port Clinton. (It would put me in a better place to sit out the storm, if necessary.) I hiked one day northbound, but on the second day, the wind chill was too cold. So, on 01Dec07, I got off-trail at a remote road crossing between Duncannon and Port Clinton. As I sat out the storm, I decided to stop hiking until spring, as the constant eye on the weather was not how I wanted to spend my hike. I don't have a photo of that unexpected finish.

This spring I set out northbound from Damascus, VA. Two days shy of Duncannon, I was hit with food poisoning, which made me very tired and unable to eat much. But I had less than 100 miles to go, and about a week to do it. So, I rented a car and "slackpacked" the rest of my hike. That means I carried just a daypack during the day, and slept indoors at night. Each day I parked the car at the end of the day's hike and got a ride back to the start of the day's hike. I skipped the day-and-a-half section I'd hiked out of Duncannon. This worked really well, and, other than being ill for five days, was a terrific way to end the journey. My last three nights were spent in the 501 Shelter, pictured here. I finished this section on 06 June 2008.

I finished the entire journey by hiking a gap I left last year: 3.8 miles in the Smokies, from the Fork Ridge Trail up to the summit of Clingmans Dome. Here's a photo of me near the summit on Independence Day, 2008:


My little green and blue friend is Hike Monkey, who hiked the trail with me.

Happy trails,
Em

2000-Miler

I just put my 2000-miler application in the mail to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC). Yippee!

"2000-Miler" is the designation for people who have walked all (not just 2000) of the miles of the Appalachian Trail. "2000" was chosen as a nice round number, as the length of the trail changes from year to year due to minor relocations that are done for various reasons. (In 2007, the official length was 2174 miles.)

The ATC doesn't care if you walk all of the miles in one year (a "thru-hike") or in sections over multiple years (a "section-hike"). They also don't care how much weight you carry or how fast you walk (or run). Or, if you go northbound (NOBO) or southbound (SOBO) or a combination thereof. But if you miss any of the trail's white blazes, it needs to be on an official detour route for bad weather, forest fire, construction, etc.

My hike in 2007-2008 started out as a thru-hike, but it ended up that I didn't finish within 12 months, so it's officially a section hike. Rather than starting at one end and hiking to the other, I chose a unique itinerary, mostly because prior commitments required me to be off trail for most of June and July in 2007.

The itinerary of my 2007-2008 hike was:

Mar 24 - Mar 27, 2007:
SOBO - Pearisburg, VA to VA 606 (~24 mi)

Apr 09 - Jun 03, 2007:
SOBO - Damascus, VA to Springer Mtn, GA (~470 mi)
[minus 3.8 mi on the north side of Clingmans Dome]

Jul 24 - Sep 20, 2007:
NOBO - Killington, VT to Mt. Katahdin, ME (~500 mi)

Sep 25 - Dec 01, 2007:
SOBO - Killington, VT to Port Clinton, PA (~450 mi)
[plus 17 mi NOBO from Duncannon, PA to PA 325]

Apr 06 - Jun 06, 2008:
NOBO - Damascus, VA to Port Clinton, PA (~720 mi)
[minus VA 606 to Pearisburg, and Duncannon to PA325]

Jul 04, 2008:
SOBO - Fork Ridge Trail to Clingmans Dome summit (3.8 mi)

What a fabulous itinerary! In spring last year, I hiked south in the section where the folks who'd started in Georgia were hiking north. I loved meeting them as we passed!

Then in the summer, I dropped into the middle of the pack and got to hike north with them. I remembered many of them, mostly from their trail names. Many were hiking faster than me, so I'd see them for a day or two once or twice, but some were hiking the same pace as me, so I got to have some trail family, which is really great. I summited Katahdin on Sept 20th with Partner, Stand By Me, and Route 66, whom I had met on my first or second night out in July. Awesome!

I "flipped" right back to Killington and headed south, expecting to see and hike with some of the folks who'd started in Maine. But I ended up having to be off trail for 2.5 weeks in October, so I got behind the pack and had quite a lot of solitude as the "last southbounder of 2007." By late November, there were winter storms passing through every five days or so, and the nights were consistently below freezing. On Dec 1st, I woke up to 26 degrees inside the shelter; that was fine, but not when complemented by a strong northwesterly wind. I could not keep myself warm in that windchill, not even while hiking. So, I got off trail, originally just to sit out the wind and impending storm, but then decided that hiking alone in winter conditions wasn't something I wanted to do.

After four busy months of "street life," I returned to trail in April. Having had my solitude opportunity, I decided to join the "class of '08" northbounders. It was very fun hiking with them, getting to know folks and building community. I feel very blessed to have been part of the thru-hiking community in both years.

Missing the 3.8-mile section on Clingmans Dome was a dumb glitch at the time. In the end, though, it was very cool to finish this journey at the A.T.'s highest point, and on Independence Day! :-)

So, I'm now a 2000-miler, or, I will be when they send me my patch and certificate. And that is very cool.

Happy trails,
Em

All Things Hiking

In this blog, I'd like to share my thoughts about hiking. By "hiking," I mean primarily what many folks call "backpacking."

I now have over 3000 Appalachian Trail miles under my belt, or on my feet. This total is a combination of the 1000+ miles I hiked during four months of 2000, the 2174 miles I hiked during eight months of 2007-2008, and the miles hiked during a few dozen shorter trips with friends and Girl Scouts.

On any given day, I may choose to share a story from the trail, or lessons I've learned in teaching backpacking with Girl Scouts, or something I've learned about gear or technique.

Happy trails,
Em