Sometimes, you just gotta play it smart!

I had a really tough decision to make this week.  I've been nursing a swollen knee that my physical therapist assured me would be better by Tuesday, just in time for my scheduled 3-day hike on the Appalachian Trail.  I had iced and babied it for weeks and had told myself it was getting well enough to go on the trip because that's what I REALLY wanted to do! This hike would have finished me on the AT in the Smoky Mountains since we had done the other half last summer.  The video of that hike can be found HERE.

On Monday morning, the day before the hike, I finished packing my backpack. I had gotten the weight down to only 23 pounds in an effort to make it easier on my knee.  That's almost 10 pounds lighter than last year! Just to be on the safe side, I shouldered my pack, tightened up the hip belt and shoulder straps and headed out the front door of my house for a quick trip around the neighborhood as a test run for the knee.  It felt pretty good on the road and I didn't think the distance was going to be a problem. However, just to be on the safe side, I looked for and climbed some neighborhood hillsides and immediately, I knew I was in trouble.  These grassy, smooth hills were nothing like the intensity of the rocky climbs and descents I knew full well the AT would throw at me. But with every step on them, my knee let me know it simply wasn't ready. Devastated, I came home, informed my hiking buddies that I could not go on Tuesday, but immediately offered to provide the shuttle they would need anyway.

They don't call them the Smoky Mountains for nothing!

On Tuesday morning, we traveled up Newfound Gap Road and then up Clingman's Dome Road to the trailhead where I would leave them to hike without me.  Was this difficult? It may be one of the hardest days I've had associated in any way with hiking.  But, I did it for the good of the group.  I could have gone and then gotten part way to realize that I had to turn back.  There's no way they would have let me hike back alone, so I would have ruined their trip too.  I just wasn't going to take that chance. Instead, I said goodbye at the trailhead and wished them a safe and enjoyable journey, fighting back the tears that had come so readily on Monday.  I did stop at an overlook or two on my way back to civilization to snap the shots in this post, and the views were pretty enough to be some consolation.










Also, on the way back, I stopped to pick up my 500 Miles Hiked pin from the rangers at Sugarlands Visitor Center and let them check me off in their register.  That was the suggestion of one of my hiking buddies. She knew that would help me feel a bit better, and she was right!

I will hike again! I'm just not sure how long that will be.  In the meantime, I plan on making a few short, low-key hikes to strengthen the knee and reclaim the sanity that I lose if I don't go to the mountains on a regular basis.  In a couple weeks, I'll know if surgery is in the picture or not.  I'm definitely praying that it won't be, but if it is, I'll still be back!

I'd love to hear about your hardest moments relative to hiking! Would you be willing to share?

Victory on the Appalachian Trail

Well, we finally did it! I don't know if anyone has noticed, but since my disastrous day on the AT in July, there haven't been anymore hiking posts. There has been one hike since then, but not until last week. It was a nice hike, but really just a warm up for yesterday's scheduled "redo" of the previously attempted hike from Clingman's Dome to Newfound Gap.

I swear I think I had a little touch of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after the ordeal on the AT in July. If you haven't read about that hike, you might want to go back to those two posts in July about that trek. It was a mess. I was a mess! I simply couldn't bring myself to don my backpack and head up into the mountains again after such a debacle--for almost six weeks!

Last Saturday, even though there was a good chance of rain, we headed out for a short adventure doing the Old Sugarlands Trail and Twin Creeks Trail, finishing up with the Gatinburg Trail for a total of about 8 miles in low altitude conditions just in case storms moved in. The weather was muggy, but the hikes were pretty and proved to be a good re-entry into the world of hiking for me. It was great to be with my hiking buddies and out in the wilderness again.

Yesterday, we suited up, drove one car to Newfound Gap, continued on up Clingman's Dome Road, and were met with spectacular vistas from the parking lot! Azure skies streaked with jet streams contrasted over the cotton candy clouds creating a sea below us punctuated with mountaintop islands. Those views alone did much to encourage us and lift our hopes of a different type of day on the AT. Still, I perceived that we were all a little tentative. We were deliberate in deciding which of the three short connector hikes to take. Even with maps in hand and our experienced leader in the pack, the trailhead signs and map of this area are still somewhat confusing. We took the Forney Ridge path out of the parking lot to the connection with the AT skirting around and passing underneath the observation tower. When we came to the sign where we made our fateful wrong decision last time, we stopped for a photo op, consulted our maps once again, and then turned RIGHT on the Appalachian Trail--"right" in both meanings of the word!

Once on the trail in the right direction, we settled into our usual hiking rhythm with Kirsten and Andrea leading the group followed by Jennifer and me a little further back. We hike together for the most part on the flats, but on the extreme ups and downs, the pace I keep is a little slower than the two leaders. This part of the AT is, I believe, fairly typical of the AT in Tennessee. It's rough with rocks and roots; stairs of logs are laid into the path frequently with irregular rises which make passing up or down them difficult and hard on post-surgery knees. I have grown to hate those steps! Those steps were my nemesis on the previous AT disaster, and I have no greater love for them after yesterday's hike. However, I do appreciate those trail maintenance volunteers who worked so hard to put them in place. Without them, the trail would probably be impassable in places. So that is what I ended up thinking about as I climbed or descended them yesterday even as my knee was screaming at me with each step.

Rather tenuous footing on the AT

I've been reading a book titled "AWOL on the Appalachian Trail" by David Miller. In this rendering of one man's thru-hiking journey along the AT, he states that the White Mountains are the toughest part of the trail since he left Tennessee. That makes me believe that our version of the AT is about as tough as it gets along this wilderness highway. I know it defintely has its tough spots. I've only hiked about 23 of the 70 miles that stretch through this state. That may change next summer if I can get myself in shape mentally and physically for the challenge. Our little group is talking about hiking all of the AT through Tennessee during our summer break (we are all teachers), or at least the miles we haven't already done.

One of the varieties of Gentian that blooms up here

The exquisite views that greeted us on this day did foreshadow the type of hike we would have. The path was bordered in many places with the early fall wildflowers, such as gentian, white snakeroot, and black-eyed Susan's.

The wall at Newfound Gap skirted with
Pale Jewelweed 

Temperatures were perfect with just enough fall chill to keep us briskly moving along the trail. This section of the AT is an excursion with short elevation changes; enough climbs to get the heart rate up and keep it up for a few minutes, but not steep or long enough to make you wonder why you are even doing this. In fact, I had much greater trouble with the extended downhill sections towards Newfound Gap. Much of the last two or three miles are significant declines which really worked on my knees. But the variety of wildflowers and mushrooms helped distract me from the pain in my knee. The last mile or so was prolific with both pale and spotted jewelweed (aka touch-me-not) allowing lots of opportunities to stop and take photos.

Spotted Jewelweed

I ended this hike victorious--victorious over the part of me that was crushed on that fateful day in July which had prevented me from coming back to my mountains. Victorious over the section of the AT that had intimidated me for 6 weeks. I was also victorious over my inexperience, having
learned valuable lessons and survived
virtually unscathed. Here's to perseverance! Here's to great friends and hiking buddies! Here's to victory!

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Lessons Learned on Clingman's Dome

A few days now after our disastrous hike from Clingman's Dome, while my blistered feet are still recovering, I want to reflect on what I learned on that eventful day.

1. If you don't have time to do the preparation for a hike, don't do the hike! Never again will I assume that because I've been somewhere before, I know the territory. My usually strong sense of direction surely failed me on the Clingman's Dome hike. I still cannot make myself understand, unless I'm looking at the map, why you wouldn't turn left on the Appalachian Trail to head out for Newfound Gap. But you don't! If you attempt that trail, be sure to go right on the AT toward the Mount Collins shelter. There is NOT a sign that says Newfound Gap at this juncture, even though you'd think there would be. Trip preparation for me in the future will include on every hike what I usually do on hikes in areas that I have no previous experience. I usually make a list of every trail crossing or shelter or other notable feature in the order in which they should appear. Had I done that on this hike, I would have realized at the first crossing that we had gone the wrong way--only 2.2 miles into our hike.

2. Packing light does not mean assuming nothing will go wrong. As our hikes have gotten longer and more strenuous, I have switched to a smaller, lighter day pack. Thankfully it still holds the large water bladder that my larger pack holds or I would have been in trouble on Saturday. However, in the interest of limiting the weight I carried, I had taken out some equipment that I deemed unnecessary on a hike that should end by 2:00 in the afternoon. The most crucial piece of gear that I left at home was my flashlight. I will never go on another hike without it no matter what time I expect to finish. It was this lack of light that pushed me so hard to finish before dark, which we accomplished with a mere 15 minutes or so to spare. That, in my opinion, is too close for comfort!

3. Always leave an exact itinerary with someone who will worry about you if you aren't out on time. This is something I always do, but again, on this fateful day, things were different. My husband didn't really want me to go on this hike because we had a major vacation coming up soon after, so he went to bed mad at me on Friday night. I got up early on Saturday morning, cut out a small section of the map that covered the trail we were going to do, and went to meet my hiking buddies. I had told him it would be a short hike, but that's about all we talked about. When I was late coming home, he wasn't worried, he was just mad. He had to come to understand how scared I had been before he realized he should have been worried. Had he known exactly what time I expected to be out of the woods, he might have begun to be concerned and be aware that there were probably problems.

4. Conditioning, conditioning, conditioning! I realized during that 20-miler that I need to be in better shape. I need to be able to hike much further than I have scheduled. I did the 20-miler, but I was miserable the last 4 miles. The fact that the last 2.5 miles was almost straight up as it climbed the highest peak in the Smokies didn't help me any. I will be working on improving my conditioning, that's for sure.

5. Always carry a map. The little piece of a map that I had copied to carry with me was nowhere near enough. When we hiked the wrong direction on the Appalachian Trail, we quickly hiked right out of the map I carried. Thus, when we began to be concerned about our location, the trail crossings and shelters were unidentifiable. We also considered alternative routes, but without a full map, we had nothing to get our bearings with.

6. No boots are waterproof in a torrential rain. I love my Keen hiking boots, and they are waterproof under most circumstances. However, if you get caught in a downpour, the Keen-Dry fabric protector can't keep the water from running down your legs or pants and into the top of the boots. My socks and feet were soaked and I ended up with the worst blisters of my life--the only blisters I've ever had in Keen hiking boots. I'm still not sure what I can do in such conditions to prevent that type of blistering; maybe gaiters are the answer. I don't know, but I need to find out.

7. Hiking groups need to either stay close enough together to be in touch at all times, or we need to carry walkie talkies. We could have saved ourselves about 5 miles had we been able to hail the faster hikers in our group when we finally figured out how terribly wrong we had gone. As soon as we realized the error of our ways, we began to blow the emergency whistle and yell their names, but they were too far away to hear us. I understand the desire to hike at whatever speed is your best speed, but the need to be in contact with everyone in the group must be paramount for safety's sake if nothing else.

I blame myself for every aspect of this disastrous hike. I could have prevented the whole thing by simply having looked a little more closely at the map before leaving. I let my hiking buddies down; I disappointed myself; I put others in danger. But, in spite of my many mistakes and weaknesses, as a group we pulled together, supported each other, and made it out. That's what friends are for, and I've got great friends to hike with. I wouldn't trade them for anything! That realization along with our determination to just do what had to be done made this an experience that will not be a negative. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger! Yes, we are all stronger, in many ways!

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Clingman's Dome the Hard Way

Saturday's little 8-mile hike to Newfound Gap turned into a 20-mile nightmare with huge lessons learned in survival mode. Our plan had seemed so simple and so familiar that we made little mistakes that doomed us from the get-go! We dropped one car at Newfound Gap and drove the second car to the end of Clingman's Dome Road where we excitedly donned our packs and headed up the paved path toward the tower at the top of the highest peak in the Smokies. All of us had been to that observation tower in the past, so this felt a little like hiking in our backyard. We also hadn't hiked recently with this particular group of ladies, and we were excited to be back together. Upon reaching the little sign that led us off the paved path and toward the Appalachian Trail, we were giddy and silly. At the intersection with the AT, we tried to find a place for one of the cameras to perch on a rock so that all four of us could be in the picture at the onset of the hike, but that never did work out. Finally after taking separate pics of groups of three instead of four, we took off in what we thought was the direction of Newfound Gap using really just our gut instinct. We did go in the direction of where our car was parked and what we thought was the direction of the road which we had just come up because the AT was supposed to parallel that road back to our waiting shuttle vehicle. At that moment, we were doomed. We just didn't know it yet.

Turk's Cap Lilies near Clingman's Dome

The hike began innocently enough. Although there was considerable fog surrounding this peak limiting the view, the early morning was pleasant and the air was cool. The AT is different from most of the trails in the Smokies--rougher, more challenging in spots. This section descends the face of the highest peak in the Smokies and does so using lots of log or rock steps with some steep drop-offs which were hard on my bad knees. With the help of my hiking sticks, I made it down fine and was busy enjoying the wildflowers that were growing along the trail. Since the views were obscured by cloud cover, I focused on the flowers. Turk's cap lilies were the surprise for me--they grew prolifically along the trail and because of the heavy humidity and literally being inside the clouds on this morning, they were dripping moisture from their anthers. Droplets of water clung precariously to the ends of these pollen production facilities surrounded by bright orange flower petals speckled with brown which recurved back away from the anthers exposing them to the pollinating insects that might pass by.

Within a couple of miles we came upon a shelter. I remembered reading that there was a shelter along the path we would take on this day, and this one was particularly nice with a stone fireplace and double decker bunk area. There was a privy nestled in the nearby woods along a little trail that was surrounded by a stand of daisies and bee balm blooming just for us it seemed. No one noticed the name of the shelter, so we assumed it was the Mount Collins shelter. We continued on.

Bee Balm and other wildflowers blooming at Double Spring Gap Shelter along the AT

After another couple of miles we came to another, much smaller and less impressive shelter. It really almost seemed to be abandoned. There were tree limbs inside that looked like they had been blown in by one of the numerous storms that have ravaged the Park in recent weeks. At this point, Jennifer and I began to wonder why this shelter wasn't on the small section of the map that I had copied to bring with us. We discussed the idea that it was disused and abandoned so perhaps that explained it. We both had a bad feeling though. The problem was that the other two members of our hiking party were nowhere to be seen. Being over 20 years younger, they hike much faster than we do and had gone on ahead of us. They had waited for us at the previous shelter, so they didn't feel a need to wait for us again at this one. We had no choice but to continue hiking until we got to the next place they decided to wait for us. We left that shelter with nagging doubt growing in the pits of our stomachs--doubts neither of us really wanted to voice or face yet.

The AT through this area was an absolute obstacle course with roots, rocks, and dips that seemingly tried to trip you up. At several spots the foliage that surrounded the trail had completely overgrown the trail necessitating the use of our hiking sticks to push back blackberry vines and other vegetation out of our way. A machete would have been nice at a couple of spots! But we pushed on believing that we were nearing the end of our hike, approaching the spot where the AT would cross Newfound Gap Road and we would find our other vehicle waiting for us.

Finally, we came to a trail crossing where the younger girls had waited for us. One of our rules is that we regroup at trail crossings so we are sure we all take the same path. As we came into sight they said they were unsure which way to go because there was no mention of Newfound Gap. I told them I knew for sure that the AT crossed the road we were looking for and that's all I was sure of at this point. They immediately took out following the sign that said Appalachian Trail. When Jennifer and I got to that sign, it said we had hiked 7.4 miles since leaving Clingman's Dome. We hoped the road was just ahead because that was the exact distance that we were supposed to have hiked on the AT to Newfound Gap. The younger girls were again already long gone, so we hiked on. When there was no road crossing after a short distance, we knew the truth--we had been hiking the wrong direction all day. We began blowing the whistle that I carry for emergencies and yelling for the girls to stop, but it was too late. Our fates were sealed. Again we just had to keep hiking until the younger group stopped to wait for us. That ended up being almost 2.5 miles more.

Where we finally turned around!  Not a happy moment!

At the next trail crossing, near Derrick's Knob shelter, after having hiked over 10 miles, we faced the ugly truth and turned around, already exhausted and now facing a 20+ mile day to return to our car at Clingman's Dome. This also meant that we would have to climb that peak that we had planned so carefully to descend, not climb. Honestly, at that point, I was devastated. I felt that I was personally responsible for this mistake and had let the group down. My knee and hip were both killing me, and I just didn't know if I could do another 10 miles before dark. I wouldn't have been able to without the encouragement of Jennifer. That hike back was the single hardest thing I've ever done in my life. We could hear thunderstorms in the valleys around us, and we prayed continuously that they would stay away from where we were. Two separate storms skirted around us that day drenching us with rain, but not subjecting us to lightning. Each storm that we heard brewing in the distance though acted as incentive to pick up the pace even though we were totally out of energy. None of us had packed lunch for such a short hike, so we subsisted on Clif bars, beef jerky, and the Energy Bites that I had made the night before. Those, by the way, were delicious and I'm not sure where we would have been without them to give us the energy we needed to make it out.

When we made it back to the smaller shelter, which turned out to be the shelter at Siler's Bald, we snacked and rested. There were two young guys there who had cleared out the brush and were carrying water up from the water source. Funny, this shelter no longer looked abandoned and desolate. After a short rest, we then trudged off to the next shelter which was approximately 2 miles on up the trail. From there we would have another 2.5 miles to the end of this nightmare. We kept telling ourselves that we could do this. I tried not to think about what those last couple of miles would be like trying to ascend Clingman's Dome as tired as I was. I remember looking up at one point when the slope of that mountain came into view and actually whimpering out of despair because it was so very high, and I was totally drained of energy.

Views from the AT near Clingman's Dome

That ascent was an act of sheer will, desperation, and divine intervention. I no longer looked up. I simply watched the trail right in front of my feet, willing myself to put one--foot-in--front--of--the--other. Those steps I had hated coming down the mountain were even worse going up. With each step, I told the Lord I was out of strength and that this step would be taken with His strength, not mine. I was dizzy occasionally, and lost my footing more than once. My balance was weak, and there were times when I was no longer sure we would get out by dark. It had rained so hard that the trail was like a river in spots, but going around the water took too much energy so we just trudged through it. Up and up and up that seemingly endless face of the summit, we willed ourselves to go.

At 8:43 pm we made it back to our car--dispirited, disheveled, and blistered, but thankful that this ordeal was over. We had spent 13 miserable hours on the AT instead of the 5 hours we had planned. Lessons had been learned the hard way but that will be another post. We had been severely tested, and I wasn't very proud of how I had responded, but we had survived.

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No Bake Energy Cookies for Hiking

I'm looking forward to another hike on Saturday--this time along the Appalachian Trail in the Smoky Mountains, from Clingman's Dome to Newfound Gap Road.  I just discovered this recipe on Pinterest for No Bake Energy Bites that I am going to take with us.  Although this hike is only about 8 miles, these might be really good on longer hikes which lay ahead of us in our quest to hike ALL of the trails in the Great Smoky Mountains.  These cookies look and sound great, and I believe my hiking partners will be excited when I show up with these.  I do NOT take credit for this recipe--I'm just going to try it!  Update to follow on the reception of these little wonders among my hiking group!  Oh, and just in case you're wondering, the chocolate chips will NOT be optional!  :)

No-Bake Energy Bites Recipe
Ingredients:

• 1 cup (dry) oatmeal (I used old-fashioned oats)
• 2/3 cup toasted coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup ground flaxseed or wheat germ
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Method:
Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed.  Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.  Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like.  (Mine were about 1″ in diameter.)  Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.
Makes about 20-25 balls.
Tip:
Substitution ideas can abound for just about any of these ingredients!  Feel free to substitute in your favorite nut butter (almond butter, sunflower seed butter, etc.) for the peanut butter.  And you could also add in some wheat germ in place of some or all of the flaxseed.  I would caution, though, against substituting agave nectar for the honey, as the honey’s thickness helps hold things together.
Some other fun substitutions for the chocolate chips (or an addition to them) could include:

• chopped dried fruit (apricots, dates, raisins, etc.)
• dried berries (cranberries, cherries, etc.)
• chopped almonds, pecans, walnuts, or sunflower seeds
• other chips (butterscotch, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, M&Ms, etc.)
• other grains (different kinds of oatmeal, rice cereal, etc.)