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?

Iced In! When you can't hike, plan to hike!

On a day when Tennessee has declared a state of emergency as a result of the ice storm, all I can do is think about hiking instead of getting out there to do a little hiking. This storm is probably going to mean I don't get to hike tomorrow either, Saturday, as I had planned to--and that's a bummer!
A hiking addiction with a full-time job and family responsibilities means there's a great deal of time spent longing to be on the trail when you can't really get out there. But I've come to find that the planning that goes into a goal like hiking all of the trails in the Smokies is half the fun.

Every Smoky Mountain hiker should have a copy of Hiking Trails of the Smokies--probably considered by most to be the Bible of those who walk the trails of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This book gives trail descriptions of every official trail within the park boundaries, listed alphabetically. The trail descriptions include not only interesting things to see along the path, but also historical accounts of the region and stories of those who lived here before the park was founded. There are also elevation maps which mark all significant water crossings--something quite beneficial especially if planning a winter hike when water crossings can be cold at best and dangerous at worst!

But if you are considering planning to hike all the trails of the Smokies, there's another resource you MUST have--Day Hiker's Guide to All the Trails in the Smoky Mountains by Elizabeth L. Etnier.
Liz had divided the park into regional sections and has mapped out a way to do all the trails in the park as day hikes, albeit some of them very long day hikes. This book includes directions on whether you need one vehicle or two for a hike and suggestions on where to park them. It also maps out designations of "new miles" and total mileage hiked for those of us who are tracking those statistics as a way to show progress toward the goal. However, this book would also be an excellent reference for anyone looking for day hikes that most park visitors never consider--something that is of great benefit during the highest visitation periods of the year when the most popular day hikes are often crowded, far from the secluded retreat you might be seeking. The vast majority of the trails listed in this book will not be well-traveled. In fact, on most of the hikes we do, encountering other people is a rarity.

And then there is the question of maps. I have two--The Great Smoky Mountains Trail Map on which I highlight the trails as I have completed them, a visual record of my progress and also a reminder of all that which remains to be hiked. Now that's motivation! I know hikers who have laminated this map and hung it on an office or bedroom wall, highlighting it as they go. That would be a great way to do it too, but I just keep mine folded on my desk. I highlight each new trail almost as soon as I get home and unpack my backpack.

My second map is a waterproof topographical map that makes almost every hike carefully stowed in my backpack, just in case something goes wrong. After having made a wrong turn on the AT last summer resulting in a harrowing 20-mile hike that was supposed to be a 7-miler, I have made it a point to hike with this map. I purchased it right after that hike, and it is a staple in my backpack. This map has enough detail to be of great help in case you should get confused at a trail intersection or need to know the fastest way out of the wilderness to get help.
Between all of these resources, which can be found here, I can spend hours on a cold, icy day looking forward to and mapping out the hikes I hope to do in the coming weeks and months. I can think of better ways to spend a day--hiking would be choice number one! But if it's too cold and icy to get outside, this isn't a bad way to spend an afternoon.

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