Trail Dames - We're Gonna Dance Upon This Earth

SHOE's Hike in the Smokies- Day 3

Smokies ~ Day 3 (08/17/09) Little River Trail

by shoe

Surprisingly I slept pretty well for being on a slant. I think it was close to 8:00 before I rolled out of the tent. I felt blessed that it was not raining when I woke up so that I could get everything packed up. It was already going to be a mess to get all the wet gear packed up, the last think I needed was rain.

We got started at 9:20. We decided to start hiking in our camp shoes since we had several stream crossings right at the start. We ended up hiking about 2 miles in them before donning our boots. But within my first 5 steps I found my self going into the splits while trying to get down to the first water crossing. What a way to start the day.

It was a nice walk back to the car. The trail was mostly wide and well graded. It looked like it used to be an old road. And the trail meandered next to Little River which gave us sights and sounds to walk to.

All and all it was a great hike for a total of  15.6 miles. I knocked off 2 more trails on my Smokies list. The Little River Trail and Rough Creek Trail. And 4.8 miles of the Sugarland Mountain Trail.

We saw a bear on the side of Clingman’s Dome Road on the way back to my car.

Shoe's Hike in The Smokies- Day 2

Smokies ~ Day 2 (08/15/09) Sugarland Mountain, Rough Creek, Little River Trails

by shoe

While we awoke pretty early to start hiking we didn’t get started hiking until around 10:30 since we had to do the car drop thing. We also had to run by the back country office at Sugarlands Visitor Center since I left the reservation information at home (turns out I didn’t need the #).

We finally made it back up to Clingman’s Dome Road to park our car at the Fork Ridge Trail  area. We had a short walk on the Appalachian Trail before we hit the Sugarland Mountain Trail. The elevation for this entire hike was mostly downhill. This doesn’t necessarily make a hike any easier. It may be easier on the lungs but it can be harder on the body.

The trail seemed out to get me right from the get go. The trail was kind of rough with alot of rocks and roots. Well I stepped on a root an lost my balance because it was wet. I didn’t fall but I felt something in the side of my knee feel wierd. It went away after a couple of minutes. All along the trail I was tripping on rocks, some parts of the trail were hard to see because of overgrown grass. It sure it made it alot more challenging than I thought it would be. We did 4.8 miles on this trail before connecting with the Rough Creek Trail.

(click on the pictures to see larger versions)

We finally made it to the Rough Creek trail crossing. We opted to take lunch break here since the profile in The Little Brown book showed this as being a fairly steep descent. It was such a nice spot that I layed back and raised my feet up. I probably could have taken a nap.

Rough Creek Trail actually turned out to be a nice trail. The descent was much milder than the book let it own to be. It started raining a bit while we were walking so we put our pack covers on. It wasn’t enough rain to get us wet but who wants to rush in the even that a down pour occurs.

We made it the 2.8 miles on Rough Creek Trail to the Little River Trail. Only 1.8 miles to Camsite #30 for the night. We had a bit of an elevation gain on this but it was pretty gradual. The bigger challenge would be the stream crossings that the book talked about.

Well we finally make our way up the trail and hit the 1st of the 3 crossings. Sweet Pea made it across fine. I kind of slipped on the first rock and was quite nervous. I kept walking on the rock trying to figure out my strategy. I finally said to heck with it and took my boots off and put my Crocs on. While I was trying to kick my boot off with my other foot I realized that I had really hurt something in my knee, from that earlier slip in the day. I figured I could hike about a half a mile in my crocs since we had 2 other crossings. The second one was nothing but the third one was. Sweet Pea even put her crocs on. It was quite the adventure. Kind of reminded me of Maine but not as big.

Campsite #30…..we finally made it.
We picked a secluded spot through a little rhododenron tunnel. It had a place for a tent and her hammock. We proceeded to set up our home for the night and it started raining. I quickly stowed my stuff inside the tent. It quit shortly so we were able to cook dinner then it started raining again…sigh. I ate my dinner in my tent being very careful not to spill anything. Ramen with Babybel cheese melted into it. And dark chocolate cheesecake by Backpacker’s Pantry for desert. It finally stopped raining again so we packed up all our smelly stuff to hang on the bear cables.

A couple arrived around this time. They were setting their stuff up as we chatted with them for a minute when it started pouring down rain. I tried to run to my tent but that wasn’t happening. I could really feel my knee when I did that. I made it and zipped my fly shut. Layed back and relaxed listening to the rain. I look out my tent and realize there is a pond forming at the base of my tent. You have got be kidding me. I sat in my tent pondering what to do. I had water pooling under my tent. I finally dragged myself out of the tent to move it….I look around….the whole site is a freaking pond….I had about 2 feet I could my tent back to get it out of the pond. Which meant I was at an angle all night. I hate the combination of tents and rain…and the mess that goes with it.

SHOE's Weekend in the Smokies

A weekend in the Smokies ~ Day 1 (08/14/09)

by shoe

The following is an excerpt from fellow Dame SHOE's recent hike.  I hope you enjoy it!!

Me and Sweet Pea spent another weekend wandering around in the Smokies.

We met up at the park on Friday night at the Smokemount Campground. It was definitely cheaper than staying in the hotel room. I made it to the park and was worried…as I was driving into the park from the Cherokee NC side there was a flashing sign that said Little River was closed. This wasn’t a good thing as our get out point where the 2nd car was to be was to be at Elkmont off of Little River Road. I went into the visitor center and they called and assured me that we would be able to make it to Elkmont. So all was good.

I headed on down the way and there was a huge traffic jam. I figured it was some kind of wildlife ans I was right. On the left side of the road in a field was a whole bunch of elk. I pulled over like all the other tourists and got out to take pictures. I was really amazed at some of the people. One lady was dragging her young children closer and closer to the elk. I bet she was no more than 20 feet from them. Crazy crazy if you ask me.

       SHOE (Slowest HIker On Earth)

Ho Rain Forest Part 2

We woke up this morning to a bright blue sky and the sounds of buzzing insects and swift water. My neck is stiff from waking every half hour last night to stick my head out of the tent to see the stars. They were spectacular! Silver
Lining remarked that at one point she got up and saw two shooting stars, one right after the other.  She said, "You know it is a clear, beautiful night when there are so many stars that you cannot pick out the milky Way!". 

This is yet another pay-off for hiking far enough away from civilization that there is no man-made light whatsoever. I wish that I had had the energy to just lay out and look at
the sky all night long. 
     As we got up and started fixing breakfast, filtering water and packing up stuff, the humor turned somewhat scatalogical.  I don't know what it is about backpacking, but it tends to turn all three of us into 10 year old boys,
laughing hysterically at every burp and tee-hee-ing at references to privy humor. It really is funny! HBB says we are like 10 year old boys with jobs and credit cards.  How scary is that?   As we giggled our way through the final
packing up, it got hotter and hotter.  We finished wrapping up my feet and SL's ankles in duct tape, (we are both having boot issues), and hit the trail.  HBB kindly let me lead the way, and I took off.  At one point, the others stopped to
filter some water, but in Silver Linings words, I had found my groove.   
     I felt like I was sailing down the trail, pack and all, and I keep thinking about the Trail Dames. This trail is so perfect for them! Those women are experts at recognizing beauty and they would absolutely love this.
   It is so interesting how a trail can look the same from one evening to the next morning, yet feel so different. Of course, all of the usual cliches apply....everything is clean, fresh and new. You would hope that I could come up with some better references than that, but there it is.  But at the risk of
sounding like a junior high English essay, the trail feels hopeful. Between the
sun beams, fresh dew on the ferns and smell of moss, I feel like I can accomplish anything. I can walk for miles, jump over rocks, grow more, live better and love better.  

     Have you ever felt so much promise that you could barely contain it?  As my vacation is drawing to a close, I want to bottle this feeling, and hold it close so that when the stresses of rental season and bow rehairs come a-calling, I will have a secret talisman. I will recall this moment and let it glow brightly, coloring my attitude as needed. 

    The end of our hike finds us passing more and more day hikers, each smelling like fabric softner and perfume.  As we walked through the parking lot, with it's clean tourists holding giant cameras and scolding their children, I ask HBB if it is wrong to feel just a bit superior. :) I am really smelly, quite sweaty and sporting a magnificant "tan" line made of dirt, where my socks meet my legs.
I feel like I have truly experienced the Hoh Rain Forest.
    Tomorrow it looks like we are going to spend the day sailing on the Puget Sound with HBB's friend, Barney. If something remarkable happens, I will let you know, otherwise, it looks like our hiking/backpacking is done for now.  I did learn a few lessons during this vacation......I learned that flexibility is a trait I need to keep working on   I am still bummed at the disintegration
of my Wonderland Trail Adventure, but am managing to get over myself.  It is
like Greg Mortenson says in "Three Cups of Tea", 'my spirit did not fail, my body did'.  I think I can live with that.   I also learned that losing a little bit of weight can really mess your feet
up! My beloved boots are chewing up my feet like crazy and I feel like they are
old friends that have greatly let me down. So, would someone please let Winton
know that the next time I am at Mountain Crossings, I need to request a little
bit of his time for a boot fitting. I guess I had better get that done before
his status as a famous author spreads far and wide!   I have to go sailing
now, but hope you all have a wonderful dayand thank you for sharing my Washinton adventures!!
Anna
www.traildames.com

Washington Adventures Continued....The Hoh Rain Forest

 

Well, if you can't do the Wonderland Trail, you might as well do the Hoh Rain Forest!

   Today we backpacked into the Hoh Rain Forest and it was simply magical! We
are West of Seattle, in the Olympic National Park, and have found the absolute
most Tolkein-ish forest anywhere! After a beautiful drive, in which we exhausted
all possible tasteless jokes regarding the "ho" hike, we found the trailhead and
took off.  We are all four together again, as HBB decided that she could finish the WT another day and that she would rather hike with us.  That is a good friend for you......
     These woods are dark and mysterious, with huge ferns that reach above my head. The trees are huge...some of them easily large enough to drive a car through.  I keep wondering if they have Redwoods in this part of the country.
    The trail is fantastic and different from anything I have ever hiked.  Mostly it is smooth....which in itself makes it unlike most of what I have hiked. Every now and then, huge roots curve up through the ground like giant worms.  I pick my way up and around them, wondering if they are going to come to
life and grab me! You may laugh, but this forest is truly that fantas-tical.
    For several miles, the trail curves up and down like a gentle roller coaster, and the sun shines through the thick trees in broken beams. It really is quite wonderful.
The only thing keeping this from being truly heavenly is the fact that it is 95
degrees.  Seriously.  This area of the country is under a heat warning and they are 
predicting temps between 95 and 100 all week long!  The heat is oppressive and
the bugs are absolutely loving it.  However, thanks to my good friend Deet and a
mid-hike stop to cool down in a glacial river, the hike was still really
fabulous.
     The best thing that happened to me, though, was completely egotistical.  
We came upon a group of middle school girl scouts, with two women leading them, just as
we decided to stop and chill out in the river. They were very sweet, and after a
little conversation, they took off down the trail.  After 15-20 minutes, we took
off as well, with bandanas dripping cool water down our necks.  What happened
next was truly amazing.    No... it was astounding! I actually caught up to them!! 
Me!! The slowest hiker around!  Well, I was also with Silver Lining and Little
Bit, but we all caught up to them. As they stepped aside to let us pass, I told
them, "You might not want to do that with me...I am pretty slow!".  One of the
leaders turned and said, "But you caught up to us!".  I realized that in all my
years of hiking, I had never caught up with other hikers, much less passed them. 
Yes.... the girls were over-loaded with big packs, and they were tired....but I
couldn't help but feeling like all my hard work in the gym was paying off a little.
     Ok, ego trip done.... :)  
   We finally reached camp and set up on the banks of a beautiful, lilting river. After eating a delicious dinner of tuna and beef jerky, (me) and Ramen, (everyone else), we stowed away our bear canisters, and are relaxing for the
evening.  We are laying back watching the sky go from light blue to a soft gray
as the sun sets behind the mountains.  A partial moon is rising right across
from us and it won't be long before the stars start appearing.  I am typing to
the sounds of soft laughter as the other women joke lightly. You know, I always
say that to see this exact view, you have to actually be the one that walks to
it.  Tonight I would add that if you are lucky, sometimes that very same walk
can bring you to this peace and friendship as well.  And that is worth all the blisters and sore muscles in the world.
Good night..........

Wonderland Trail...well......

Ok, so we hiked in, and turned around and hiked back out.  So ends my
illustrious Wonderland Trail vacation. :(

Due to road crossings and permit
restrictions, it looks like the rest is not do-able. I was really bummed out,
but at this point I am moving on and having a vacation anyway.
     So, as of now, we are supposed to be going out for different overnighters
all over the Olympic Pensiula. Little Bit seems to be sick again, so we are in
limbo. Tonight's plans were to hike a neat coastal trail with views of sea lions
and whales.....I will let you know if it happens. Who knows where the next update will come from?    Anna aka Mud Butt

Wonderland Trail Adventures- part 6

       Ok, so after sleeping for 18 hours straight, and two days of no food, I am
feeling a little better. We got out a little yesterday and I managed to eat
some, so it looks like I am on the mend. 
     My body, though....whoo-wee!

Big giant blisters? Check. A dozen bruises? Check. Over 50 mosquito bites? (and that is just from the knees down!) Check!

Oh yeah, and two big scratches in  a place better off not mentioned, from where I had a disagreement with some rocks. ;)    I am telling you, this trail is rough on a girl! But, the pain and discomfort
are no problem. Every night on the trail, we sit around and play the "What hurts worse" game.  Anyone that backpacks knows that this is just part of it. A very small price to pay for getting to see such amazing beauty in this world, as far as I am concerned. :)
    My problem now is.....strength.  This has really taken it out of me. I am at about 60% and this trail takes about 110% of what I have on any given day.  So, I am kind of up in the air.

BUT....I am not giving up! Today we are hiking out to meet HBB at her campsite, with the plan to hike back tomrrow.  I will use it as a litmus test of sorts. Simply put, I will not go gently into that good
night!!       As for the rest of the WT, here is where we stand....tomorrow would be a 15
mile day. Definitely not going to happen.  After that, there is a six day
section with no road access whatsoever.....once you are there, you are there.  And there is no deviating from our permitted camp sites because this is one seriously regimented trail.  The rangers regularly patrol the trail and they give tickets for those hikers not at their assigned campsites. Hmmm....
That is what is up in the air.
     So for now, I am hitting the trail and praying for energy.  Keep me in
your thoughts and I will let you know what happens!
Anna aka Mud Butt

Wonderland Trail Adventure- Part 5

Wonderland Trail- Day 4

    Well, it is official, I am really sick.

     The indignity of it all!!! Not only
did I have to get out of my tent over and over, but each time I got out and in, 432 mosquitos come running (well, flying) in yelling, "Whoo-hoo! We have access!".  And then to top things off, now, this might sound weird, but, when you get up in the night out here, you have to be very, very careful to not get lost. It
is a lot easier than you would think!  So everytime, I had to go to great legnths to make sure I could find my way back to my tent.
    In any case, by the time I woke up, I wished I were dead. After a pow-wow with the Babe, we agreed that she would hike the 2.8 miles to meet SL and LB, while I would do the 1.3 to the nearest road crossing. There is a visitors center here and later, SL will come get me.  This is the first road crossing since we started the trail, and if you remember, that one was actually 5 miles away from the WT! So I guess, if I had to get sick, at least I was lucky that I wasn't a three day walk from the nearest phone and road.
   I have to say, that was the hardest mile I have ever hiked. I know that part of the issue is that I in major 'bonk' mode because I haven't eaten or drunk anything since yesterday afternoon.  I just have no energy at all.   After what felt like hours of plodding along....pick up one foot, put it down....repeat.... I finally make it to the visitors center. I proceed to lay down on a bench and sleep on and off for the next four hours.  I know I look like a smelly homeless person, but I don't care.
Actually, I also look like an axe murderer cause I have on my mosquito head net.  
   At one point, I got up to call my mom and beg for sympathy, which she provided in spades.  What is it about hearing your parents voice that just makes you want to cry?  An elderly lady walked by and said kindly, "Are you ok, honey? You were out like a light." I explained that I was not feeling very well and she just smiled and walked on.
        Silver Lining arrived sometime after noon and took me home.  Turns out that she had the same
thing a couple of days ago, only not as bad, so we figure I caught it from her.   She is already starting to feel better, so maybe this will pass quickly.  But the biggest issue now is getting back on the trail.  Between the permit system and the access points, this is going to really screw things up.  Oh well,       I am going to crash for now and will let you know when I am back to normal.
 
Anna aka Mud Butt

Wonderland Trail Adventures- part 4

Wonderland Trail- Day 3

      This morning I tried to hit the trail early, knowing I had almost 9 miles of hard hiking ahead of me. I felt fantastic, though. Last night the mosquitos were ferocious, so HBB and I hit our tents very early. She managed to cook her dinner by just sticking her hands out of the zipper from inside her tent, but I settled for cold dinner out of my food bag. When we got up this morning, the skeeters were swarming everywhere but we had hopes that once we started hiking, they would relax a bit.
    Todays hiking was simply stunning. First rolling hills through a deep green forest, and then sub-alpine meadows full of wild flowers.  My favorite part of the day was when both sides of the trail were thick with vibrant, purple wildflowers. They smelled so good and I kept stopping to take pictures of them. 
I just kept thinking, no one back home is ever going to believe this.
    I climbed steadily for much of the day singing my favorite uphill song, "One
Hundred Bottles of Beer on the Wall".  Before long, I topped out over Packtrain Ridge.  The views were 360 degrees and I totally felt like I was on top of the world. :)
   From there I was above tree line for a while, with nothing but brown rock surrounding me. I finally caught sight of one of the famous whistling marmots that had been singing us both to sleep, and awake.  They are small, fat, tan and brown furry things, about the size of a house cat.  I came across a man and woman that were day hiking and they said that I had just missed a bear.....that she had come within 50 feet of them! I remarked that that was much to close for my personal comfort, and the man just laughed and said that she wasn't the bit interested in us. Hmmmmm.....I think I will just keep my eye out anyway so one doesn't get that close to me! 

      After a gorgeous day of hiking, I pulled into Sunrise Camp and since the Babe wasn't there yet, I picked out a site and set up camp.  The mosquitos are seriously unbelievable. They swarm continuously, and you can see clouds of them in the air.  I was pretty sure that they couldn't get much worse. Wrong! There is no water at the camp, so I had to walk down to the lake to
filter water. I can see the skeeters thick in the air and can hear a continual 'buuuuzzzzz', which is a bit like being in a bad horror film.    It is a little weird.  Then I got down to the water and wow, oh wow..... The lake is extremly shallow.  A good 20 feet out into the lake, it is still only about three inches deep.  And the entire thing is full of mosquito larve.  I am not kidding.  Thank goodness for my new Sweetwater filter!!  Between the silt and larve, it is a miracle that I got water at all, but it did the trick beautifully.
     By the time I get back to the tent, I am starting to not feel so good. I dash into my tent to escape the bugs and crash on my sleeping bag.  When the Babe shows up three hours later, I am dead asleep. She had met Silver Lining and Little Bit at a road crossing and Hiker Biker Babe had brought back treats.  As soon as she said the word 'treats' I knew I was in trouble.

My stomach is not well at all. 

With that in mind, I am signing off.
Anna aka Mud Butt  

Wonderland Trail Adventures- part 4

Wonderland Trail- Day 2, part 2

      From that point on the trail climbed a bit more, and yes, from time to time there was more snow. But I was so happy to be on the trail that I didn't care! Soon I was reaching full-on alpine meadows, the hiking got easy and the world opened up before me.  All of the sudden, there were wild flowers everywhere. The
sun was warm and the meadow rolled out in front of me like a carpet of colors with a gentle brown trail running through it. I looked up and saw Mount Ranier hovering above the meadow...the closest I have been to her. I stood there as tears flowed down my cheeks and thought,

"How?"  

 "How did I get this lucky and blessed?" I tell my traildames all of the time to look at a view and to realize that the only people that get to see it are the ones that worked their way up to it. Well, I had worked hard today, but I didn't deserve this! It was flat out the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. 
    After a while, I pulled myself together and walked a bit further til I heard a familiar voice calling me. Hiker Biker Babe was laying on a giant, flat rock, basking in the sun.  She graciously moved over and we shared our tales of the day.  I was right in the middle of telling her my saga when I grabbed her arm. Across the meadow, lumbering along, was the biggest black bear I have ever seen! HBB began
humming "From A Distance", which is our personal motto for how we would like to view wildlife....especially bears.  We watched as he wandered around and she finally remarked that if he came any closer, we would be doing the 'Dance of the Scared Woman"!  But he stayed far
away, enjoying his meadow and enriching our day.
He really was beautiful

      The swarms of mosquitos eventually drove us to our feet along with the call of camp.  The final 1.5 mile of the hike was beautiful and gentle and we finally settled down at Mystic Lake. Tomorrow's going to be a hard day so now I am going to sign off. 

The marmots are whistling and the creek is singing. Good night.
Anna aka mud Butt