On May 1st, David and I had planned to go to Nashville for my birthday weekend. We were going to go out and honky tonk and play tourist and eat and get drunk since the girl who bought me a concert ticket for my birthday called the Thursday before to tell me she was selling it unless I wanted to pay my own way because her daughter's birthday party was going to cost her too much this year (yeah, I think she's a bitch too and now I don't speak to her). Sounds like a load of fun, right? Well, it rained. It rained a lot, which really sucked. The rain kept getting heavier and heavier as the night went on. We were planning to have dinner with some friends of David's, but they couldn't make it due to the rain and some of the major roads being closed. We ended up sitting at Catherine's house watching TV all night. We turned on the news and watched a mobile classroom float down I-24. That's when we realized maybe things were a little worse than we thought. We decided to stay the night and pack up and get out first thing in the morning.
The next morning, we were awakened by the sound of what I described as someone throwing a box of silverware down the stairs. Everyone woke up and ran to see what the sound was. It was the retaining wall in Catherine's basement collapsing. Everyone who could make it up and down the stairs quickly started running around getting things out of the basement that could be ruined. After that was done, David and I decided to get out of everyone's hair and head back home. This was easier said than done.
On the way out of Catherine's neighborhood, the roads were blocked. I jumped out of the car in the pouring rain and moved a few barricades (in front of the police station, actually), so David and I could just get out of there and get home. We were one of the only people on the road. Driving home, we could see everything slowly being claimed downtown by the water. The opposite side of the freeway was closed and we were driving super slow due to not being able to see. When we hit Lebannon, the rain completely stopped. It was crazy. Pouring rain so hard you can barely see and then we passed a literal line and it stopped completely. It didn't rain the rest of our trip.
We had lots of people calling us to check on us, as they knew where we were. My phone didn't ring the entire trip though... I guess the weather really pulled a number on my phone!
Catherine and her friends were able to fix their wall and get their basement sorted out, thankfully. I'm glad people we knew were okay. It was a terrible flood!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
A moonlight stroll in Cades Cove
On April 30th, we did something totally new to David and me... we took a stroll in Cades Cove down the paved road. The road closes to traffic at dusk, so it was nice to be able to just walk about and not worry about all the traffic or being run over! Another group of us went on a bike ride just before dusk, so at the end of the event we all ended up meeting up at the Pavilion to hang out and talk :)
Armed with our red light headlamps, which help you not lose your night vision but still enable you to see, we set out on the short loop, which would take us down to Sparks Lane. The road had just been repaved, so the surface was nice and smooth, which was great for those of us with bad knees :) We ended up breaking into small groups as our hikes often do. David and I ended up walking with Kathy, Tina, and Kathy's son Caleb. When we made it to Sparks Lane, the road turned to gravel and there was a little bit of standing water going across the road. You could always tell when someone reached the water because you'd hear a little "WOW THAT'S COLD!" or something similar! The sites down Sparks Lane were very pretty for night time. The meadows opened up and there were some early fireflies out to watch. You could also hear, but not really see, some horses that are in the cove. Once we hit the loop again, the road turned to that smooth pavement and continued on. This part of the loop has heavy tree cover, so it was quite dark even with headlamps. We'd hear the occasional wild animal running around in the thick of the woods. We even came up with a mythical creature, the Eastern Dwelling Tree Hobo, that would watch over us :)
The hike ended with us coming back around to the Pavilion. The bike riders were already there having a good time and joined them for a few minutes to catch up with people we hadn't seen in a while. We ended the night with a trip to Waffle House. All in all, not a bad hike. Nice and peaceful in the dark cover of the night.
You'll have to forgive my not having photos. Kind of hard to take in the dark ;)
Armed with our red light headlamps, which help you not lose your night vision but still enable you to see, we set out on the short loop, which would take us down to Sparks Lane. The road had just been repaved, so the surface was nice and smooth, which was great for those of us with bad knees :) We ended up breaking into small groups as our hikes often do. David and I ended up walking with Kathy, Tina, and Kathy's son Caleb. When we made it to Sparks Lane, the road turned to gravel and there was a little bit of standing water going across the road. You could always tell when someone reached the water because you'd hear a little "WOW THAT'S COLD!" or something similar! The sites down Sparks Lane were very pretty for night time. The meadows opened up and there were some early fireflies out to watch. You could also hear, but not really see, some horses that are in the cove. Once we hit the loop again, the road turned to that smooth pavement and continued on. This part of the loop has heavy tree cover, so it was quite dark even with headlamps. We'd hear the occasional wild animal running around in the thick of the woods. We even came up with a mythical creature, the Eastern Dwelling Tree Hobo, that would watch over us :)
The hike ended with us coming back around to the Pavilion. The bike riders were already there having a good time and joined them for a few minutes to catch up with people we hadn't seen in a while. We ended the night with a trip to Waffle House. All in all, not a bad hike. Nice and peaceful in the dark cover of the night.
You'll have to forgive my not having photos. Kind of hard to take in the dark ;)
Counting Ash Trees for the Park
On April 17th our hiking group was given an opportunity to give back to the Smokies by helping them with a data project. We took place in a program that was counting ash trees in Greenbrier, which is an old settlement from the days before the park was established. Ash trees need to be monitored because of a little insect called the Emerald Ash Beetle, which destroys these trees and wreaks havoc on the ecosystem. Counting the trees while they are healthy will let the park know if beetles come into the area and destroy the trees. We were given a quick lesson on what these trees look like, given GPS plotters and some waterproof paper (it was rainy morning) and set off in quadrants 20 x 20 meters large to see what we could find.
The project only took us about three hours to complete. There were about 20 volunteers there, including 4 from our group. We did lots of counting and identifying (distinguishing green ash from white ash) and plotting on the GPS, which seemed quite difficult at first, but got easier as the day went on. At the end of the project, some of use helped pick up some trash that had been strewn about by tourists, including a Budweiser can that was at least 20 years old, and some old used tampons throw in the middle of the road. It's very sad that people don't think before doing something like this, especially when the picnic area with garbage cans is less than 1 mile from where we were, but I digress.
Our group finished up together with a short hike down Old Settlers Trail. The trail itself is a road with many old homesites and is over 15 miles long. We just did about 1 mile in and out total though. By this time, the sun had come out and the day was warming up.
It was great to be able to give back to the park. For me, with a sore knee, it was an easier maintenance project since most of the maintenance in the Smokies involves manual labor.
This photo is David, Kevin, and me trying to figure out those darn GPS plotters. I loved the confusion on everyone's faces :)
The project only took us about three hours to complete. There were about 20 volunteers there, including 4 from our group. We did lots of counting and identifying (distinguishing green ash from white ash) and plotting on the GPS, which seemed quite difficult at first, but got easier as the day went on. At the end of the project, some of use helped pick up some trash that had been strewn about by tourists, including a Budweiser can that was at least 20 years old, and some old used tampons throw in the middle of the road. It's very sad that people don't think before doing something like this, especially when the picnic area with garbage cans is less than 1 mile from where we were, but I digress.
Our group finished up together with a short hike down Old Settlers Trail. The trail itself is a road with many old homesites and is over 15 miles long. We just did about 1 mile in and out total though. By this time, the sun had come out and the day was warming up.
It was great to be able to give back to the park. For me, with a sore knee, it was an easier maintenance project since most of the maintenance in the Smokies involves manual labor.
This photo is David, Kevin, and me trying to figure out those darn GPS plotters. I loved the confusion on everyone's faces :)
Bryson Place, campsite 57
April 9th I was ready to try backpacking again. I had done Deep Creek Trail before when I was able-bodied, so I was fairly familiar with the terrain and I was ready to do this! It's amazing what the human body will allow itself to do when you're really dedicated to something!
Our friend Kevin pulled the 80,000 backcountry permit in the park for a fishing trip, so he decided to make a good group backpack out of it, which is exactly what we did. Kevin went in by himself to fish on Friday and David and I, Dawn, and Kevin's friend Adam would come in Saturday afternoon.
Saturday morning David and I got up early and made the long drive in to Bryson City to the Deep Creek trailhead. When we got out of the car, there were only a few cars at the trailhead and a man with a large camera doing some day hiking. He wished us luck on our 6-mile trek and said it was good I was already backpacking on my knee. He had a total hip replacement in January and was doing pretty well himself! We started off on our way.
Deep Creek Trail is an old jeep road for the first mile or so. It's rough terrain on the feet when you're in hiking boots, thats for sure! We passed several trailheads and a waterfall very quickly and then started our ascent up the hill. We passed campsite 60, a reservation site in good time. Then the real hills start. The hill after campsite 60 is about 1/4 mile in length. The elevation is pretty steep for this hill and it takes a while to get up and down... add that to a bum knee and you've really got a haul in front of you! We continued on our way, taking it slow and doing lots of rest breaks. A few miles further, you'll hit campsites 59, 58, and 57 with 56 just a little bit further up the trail. It looked like 59 and 58 needed quite a bit of work done if they were going to be camp-able at all. Lots of downed trees, hard to get water access, etc. After we were at 57 for a few minutes, I felt like I could go no further. I sat down on a stump and David said he would go on to see how much further the campsite was. He returned in about 10 minutes to let me know how close we were and that he would even carry my pack for me. I declined his offer because I wanted to do this myself. It was a long road to get here and I was so proud of myself for doing it! We reached the campsite less than 5 minutes later and I just wanted to cry because I was so happy! I'd done it! After reaching camp, we set up and both took a good nap before our usual campsite shenanigans and exploring. Bryson Place was the last homestead for Horace Kephart before the park became what it is today and there is a millstone down by the water commemorating his last camp. He was a major player in making the park. The stone was placed in the 1930s by a boy scout troop.
At camp, we had the biggest backcountry fire I'd ever seen and sat around and ate and told our stories of trips gone by. David and I packed in some bacon-wrapped filets and baked potatoes. We kept our vacuum-packed steaks cold by floating them on string in the creek. We definitely had the catch of the day! :)
The next morning we set out on our way back. I was pretty sore by this point, but there's no choice. You've got to keep on moving if you want to get back home. After we passed campsite 59, there was a young deer in the middle of the trail, one of four we'd see on this trip. The deer just hung out near us for a little ways, even followed us down the trail from the safety of the woods. The hill getting back up to campsite 60 was a killer and we took it slow and steady with multiple breaks, even getting passed up by Dawn, Kevin, and Adam in the process. Once we made it down to 60, we decided to take off our shoes, put our feet in the nice, cool water, and take a rest break. The crew was down there as Adam and Kevin wanted to fish. We had a good snack, rested a bit, and let our feet cool off in the water before we were back on our way again. On the way out of the site, a man on a horse pointed out a piece of telephone wire and a ceramic transistor up in a tree to us. This was the old crank phone wire that once ran all the way from campsite 57 where we were staying all the way down to the Deep Creek Ranger Station more than 60 years ago when the campsite was a CCC work camp. Very cool. By the time we hit the jeep road again, I was in some serious pain and I was feeling quite defeated. I was ready to call it quits and just wanted to go home. We took several rest breaks on the way out and we were passed by a ranger in a truck who offered to give me a ride if I wanted it. Again, I declined because I wanted to finish my hike. We took our final rest break at 0.4 miles from the trailhead. After about 10 minutes, we headed back to the car. I felt so many things, exhaustion, pain, defeat, and victory all rolled in to one.
Was this trip smart? Not so much. Am I glad I could do it? Absolutely! 12.2 miles in 2 days on a knee that I can hardly bear weight on was a priceless experience. I was so glad to get back into the backcountry!
The photo below is of the millstone dedicated to Horace Kephart:
Our friend Kevin pulled the 80,000 backcountry permit in the park for a fishing trip, so he decided to make a good group backpack out of it, which is exactly what we did. Kevin went in by himself to fish on Friday and David and I, Dawn, and Kevin's friend Adam would come in Saturday afternoon.
Saturday morning David and I got up early and made the long drive in to Bryson City to the Deep Creek trailhead. When we got out of the car, there were only a few cars at the trailhead and a man with a large camera doing some day hiking. He wished us luck on our 6-mile trek and said it was good I was already backpacking on my knee. He had a total hip replacement in January and was doing pretty well himself! We started off on our way.
Deep Creek Trail is an old jeep road for the first mile or so. It's rough terrain on the feet when you're in hiking boots, thats for sure! We passed several trailheads and a waterfall very quickly and then started our ascent up the hill. We passed campsite 60, a reservation site in good time. Then the real hills start. The hill after campsite 60 is about 1/4 mile in length. The elevation is pretty steep for this hill and it takes a while to get up and down... add that to a bum knee and you've really got a haul in front of you! We continued on our way, taking it slow and doing lots of rest breaks. A few miles further, you'll hit campsites 59, 58, and 57 with 56 just a little bit further up the trail. It looked like 59 and 58 needed quite a bit of work done if they were going to be camp-able at all. Lots of downed trees, hard to get water access, etc. After we were at 57 for a few minutes, I felt like I could go no further. I sat down on a stump and David said he would go on to see how much further the campsite was. He returned in about 10 minutes to let me know how close we were and that he would even carry my pack for me. I declined his offer because I wanted to do this myself. It was a long road to get here and I was so proud of myself for doing it! We reached the campsite less than 5 minutes later and I just wanted to cry because I was so happy! I'd done it! After reaching camp, we set up and both took a good nap before our usual campsite shenanigans and exploring. Bryson Place was the last homestead for Horace Kephart before the park became what it is today and there is a millstone down by the water commemorating his last camp. He was a major player in making the park. The stone was placed in the 1930s by a boy scout troop.
At camp, we had the biggest backcountry fire I'd ever seen and sat around and ate and told our stories of trips gone by. David and I packed in some bacon-wrapped filets and baked potatoes. We kept our vacuum-packed steaks cold by floating them on string in the creek. We definitely had the catch of the day! :)
The next morning we set out on our way back. I was pretty sore by this point, but there's no choice. You've got to keep on moving if you want to get back home. After we passed campsite 59, there was a young deer in the middle of the trail, one of four we'd see on this trip. The deer just hung out near us for a little ways, even followed us down the trail from the safety of the woods. The hill getting back up to campsite 60 was a killer and we took it slow and steady with multiple breaks, even getting passed up by Dawn, Kevin, and Adam in the process. Once we made it down to 60, we decided to take off our shoes, put our feet in the nice, cool water, and take a rest break. The crew was down there as Adam and Kevin wanted to fish. We had a good snack, rested a bit, and let our feet cool off in the water before we were back on our way again. On the way out of the site, a man on a horse pointed out a piece of telephone wire and a ceramic transistor up in a tree to us. This was the old crank phone wire that once ran all the way from campsite 57 where we were staying all the way down to the Deep Creek Ranger Station more than 60 years ago when the campsite was a CCC work camp. Very cool. By the time we hit the jeep road again, I was in some serious pain and I was feeling quite defeated. I was ready to call it quits and just wanted to go home. We took several rest breaks on the way out and we were passed by a ranger in a truck who offered to give me a ride if I wanted it. Again, I declined because I wanted to finish my hike. We took our final rest break at 0.4 miles from the trailhead. After about 10 minutes, we headed back to the car. I felt so many things, exhaustion, pain, defeat, and victory all rolled in to one.
Was this trip smart? Not so much. Am I glad I could do it? Absolutely! 12.2 miles in 2 days on a knee that I can hardly bear weight on was a priceless experience. I was so glad to get back into the backcountry!
The photo below is of the millstone dedicated to Horace Kephart:
Backpacking to campsite 24, or: Too Much, Too Soon!
On April 3rd, a group of us were planning to ride in a boat shuttle from Fontana Dam to campsite 90 and then hike the 1 mile to campsite 89. An easy hike for a crippled hiker like I was at the time. Unfortunately, the road to Fontana, US-129 (AKA, the Dragon) was closed due to a rock slide. We decided on an easy trip up to the popular reservation campsite #24, which is about 4ish miles from Elkmont campground.
David ended up being back in New York, the same place he was when I originally pulled the number on my knee, so I was going it alone with some of our other hiking buddies. Dawn, Kevin, Alex, and I all decided to meet up at the trailhead that morning close to 10 a.m. and hike in together while Alex, Carrie, Greg, and Angela were already up at 21 the night before and were going to hike in to 24 to meet us.
The hike got off to a good enough start. We started up Little River Trail, which is graded, graveled, and bares much resemblance to the jeep road it was for so many years. We make some chit chat, going slowly to adjust our packs and to have Kevin point out some spots in Little River that make for good fishing. About 1 mile in, my knee really pulls a number on me. It starts to get red, itchy, and swells up pretty large. I had to make the decision to turn around and let me friends go on without me and I would trek back to the car, defeated... :(
On the way back down to the car, a ranger stopped me and asked me for my permits and what my business was in the park. We had a bit of a conversation and I told him where I was headed and who I was with, which seemed to suffice. He offered to give me a ride back down to the trailhead, but I declined, wanting to at least hike the milage out so I wouldn't feel quite so sad.
I made it back to my car without too much problem and drove back home. I did, however, stop off at Little River Trading Company and bought myself a new T-shirt. A girl's got to feel better, right?
Here's a photo of Dawn, Kevin, Alex, and me at the trailhead just before setting out.
David ended up being back in New York, the same place he was when I originally pulled the number on my knee, so I was going it alone with some of our other hiking buddies. Dawn, Kevin, Alex, and I all decided to meet up at the trailhead that morning close to 10 a.m. and hike in together while Alex, Carrie, Greg, and Angela were already up at 21 the night before and were going to hike in to 24 to meet us.
The hike got off to a good enough start. We started up Little River Trail, which is graded, graveled, and bares much resemblance to the jeep road it was for so many years. We make some chit chat, going slowly to adjust our packs and to have Kevin point out some spots in Little River that make for good fishing. About 1 mile in, my knee really pulls a number on me. It starts to get red, itchy, and swells up pretty large. I had to make the decision to turn around and let me friends go on without me and I would trek back to the car, defeated... :(
On the way back down to the car, a ranger stopped me and asked me for my permits and what my business was in the park. We had a bit of a conversation and I told him where I was headed and who I was with, which seemed to suffice. He offered to give me a ride back down to the trailhead, but I declined, wanting to at least hike the milage out so I wouldn't feel quite so sad.
I made it back to my car without too much problem and drove back home. I did, however, stop off at Little River Trading Company and bought myself a new T-shirt. A girl's got to feel better, right?
Here's a photo of Dawn, Kevin, Alex, and me at the trailhead just before setting out.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Backlog of hikes
It's been a super busy spring and summer with my messed up knee, trying to get in some hiking, trying to lose weight, and planning a wedding (yes, a wedding!) I'm working on getting up a backlog of all my spring and summer activities and will be posting them within the next few days, as my schedule permits. I know that not too many people will be reading this blog, so this is just something I'm doing for me.
I've recently become fascinated with the history of the GSMNP and all the old maps, so I will be doing some intermittent blogging about manway hiking and old maps as well.
Stay tuned... :)
I've recently become fascinated with the history of the GSMNP and all the old maps, so I will be doing some intermittent blogging about manway hiking and old maps as well.
Stay tuned... :)
Thursday, March 18, 2010
So you're wondering about my activity lately, huh?
Well, I've not been hiking lately. On 2-27-10, I slipped and fell while at a friend's house. The result? I displaced my kneecap, had 12 oz. of blood surgically drained off my knee, and tore my meniscal cartilage.
The recovery has been fast, but not fast enough for me. I was in an immobilized for 8 days. The day after my surgery, I started physical therapy. The physical therapist took away my leg brace, my ace bandage, and sent me walking! The physical therapy has been really tough. I'm only up to about 92 degrees at range of motion at this time. I'm working really hard and exercising my knee every day. A wonderful friend of mine lent me a Polar Care unit that I've been using to keep the swelling down. I get terrible swelling every day.
I haven't quite kicked the pain pills yet, and that's really hard for me. I've never needed to take pain pills for this long, even when I had wisdom teeth removed from my jaw bone! The pills make me sweat and break out. I also start severely itching after about 30 minutes and this will last up to 3-5 hours. I can't wait until I don't need one every day.
Despite all of this, I will be trying to hike this weekend and will be doing a couple days of camping up in the Smokies! I can't wait to get back outside and feel the trail beneath my feet. I'm sure I'll be slow, so we'll just be doing the nature trails on our park map this time. I'd like to build back up.
After all of this, our AT hike for April is called off. I just won't be physically strong enough to carry a 35-pound pack for two weeks. The AT will always be there... we're going to try again in late August or early September. I can't wait.
Here's a photo the day before my surgery, the last snow of this year, at the Chimney Trailhead. I had the hiking bug, so we had to get out into the Smokies and enjoy it!
The recovery has been fast, but not fast enough for me. I was in an immobilized for 8 days. The day after my surgery, I started physical therapy. The physical therapist took away my leg brace, my ace bandage, and sent me walking! The physical therapy has been really tough. I'm only up to about 92 degrees at range of motion at this time. I'm working really hard and exercising my knee every day. A wonderful friend of mine lent me a Polar Care unit that I've been using to keep the swelling down. I get terrible swelling every day.
I haven't quite kicked the pain pills yet, and that's really hard for me. I've never needed to take pain pills for this long, even when I had wisdom teeth removed from my jaw bone! The pills make me sweat and break out. I also start severely itching after about 30 minutes and this will last up to 3-5 hours. I can't wait until I don't need one every day.
Despite all of this, I will be trying to hike this weekend and will be doing a couple days of camping up in the Smokies! I can't wait to get back outside and feel the trail beneath my feet. I'm sure I'll be slow, so we'll just be doing the nature trails on our park map this time. I'd like to build back up.
After all of this, our AT hike for April is called off. I just won't be physically strong enough to carry a 35-pound pack for two weeks. The AT will always be there... we're going to try again in late August or early September. I can't wait.
Here's a photo the day before my surgery, the last snow of this year, at the Chimney Trailhead. I had the hiking bug, so we had to get out into the Smokies and enjoy it!
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