Spring Chicks Hike in May

It is a lot greener and cheerier around the 11-mile sign post in May than it was in April. These women are still smiling after several hours of hiking 11 miles on the 17-mile scout trail at Oak Openings Preserve near Toledo, Ohio. That is Lynn (age 50) with the walking stick she bought in the Smokies. Marita (age 65) is wearing the Swan Creek Day Breakers tee shirt which she designed. Marita and Lynn smiled even bigger when they finished the last 5 miles!


This is the group which started the hike. From left to right: Lynn, Pat, Marita, Susan, and me. Pat (age 53) and Susan (age 62) had intended to hike a section of the trail. They ended up walking further than they had ever walked before!
I must give all of the women credit for even showing up at 8 am last Saturday. It was raining and cool. They could have stayed home in bed. I'm so proud to associate with women who leave fear and laziness behind and step out for change and challenge.


This spring hike was not an easy one. Much of the trail was covered in water and had to be hopped from log to log, or we would scout a way through the woods to get around the standing water and boot-sucking mud. Pat is balancing well here!

Then we had some dry areas like the oak/blueberry forest pictured below in which Susan is leading the group. Can you see the yellow blaze on the tree in the left foreground? That's the color you follow to find your way along the entire 17-mile scout trail (which is really only 15 1/2 miles due to rerouting around wet areas).

The trail weaves through much more than wetlands, flood plains, and flatwoods dotted with vernal pools in the preserve's 6000 acres. We enjoyed the filtered light of the savannas, prairies with blooming blue lupine, whimsical pine plantations, and cactus-studded sand dunes. The migrating songbirds whizzed around us and stopped us in our tracks with their chorus echoing overhead. Deer spotted us while we took our breaks. Sweet aromas stimulated deep, deep breaths. And safe completion boosted self-esteem and self-confidence.

Congratulations to Susan, Pat, Lynn, and Marita! I mention your ages so we all know that even "old" spring chicks can....can....can.....and can!

May it Happen!

One of the things I would like to do in life is sit.
Sit for 30 days in the woods and watch the changes.



I have decided mid-April to mid-May would be the most amazing time. These photos were taken April 17th and May 17th on the 17-mile Scout Trail at Oak Openings Preserve near Toledo, Ohio.







Can you believe this is the same place?














April looks pretty bare here. Notice the river.













Can you see the river in May? The skunk cabbage grows thick and lush in one month.

I intentionally shot photos from the Polly Fox bridge because there is a nice story behind it. High school girls built this bridge under the direction of a female park ranger. The girls are single moms from Polly Fox Academy. Several of them have backpacked the 17-mile scout trail. Isn't this a unique way to do something useful for the community and learn life-skills at the same time?






What will sign-post 11 look like in May?
Coming soon on my next post!

Break My Day

If you can't travel to the Smoky Mountain National Park and trek on up to the Appalachian Trail, you can experience life on the AT vicariously by absorbing yourself in a copy of Bill Bryson's true story, A Walk in the Woods. This was a best seller for a few years. I was told during my visit on the AT in April that the number of thru-hike starters is down to its normal numbers. According to a worker with the trail alliance, this is a relief since many readers would attempt to hike the trail without proper preparation or an understanding of the "leave-no-trace" ethic.



Shortly after I returned to Toledo I took an 8 mile walk with this playful group, the Swan Creek Day Breakers. They meet nearly every morning of the year at 6:45 AM. They walk 4 or 5 miles together even on super-cold mornings when all they can see of each other is a nose and two eyes. They see the seasons change, study birds and flowers, and meet and greet others on the trail. They have semi-annual potlucks and celebrate each others birthdays. In the winter, these day-breakers get to walk in the light of the lingering moon.



The Day Breakers were enthusiastically telling me stories about experiences they have shared on walks in "their" park. Swan Creek Metropark has become such a part of their lives for the last 13 years that they refer to it as "my" or "our" park. A few times a year they travel to other parks. I met with them at Oak Openings Preserve. I was the youngster, their ages ranging from 65 to 80. You know, they didn't even notice when it started to rain. They mindlessly adjusted their hoods and jackets while they continued with their happy banter and gentle tread.




You can sit in your easy chair and travel vicariously all you want, or you can get up early and make your day with the Day Breakers. They made mine!

Bye Smokies!

The view from 5000 ft Mount Cammerer in Smoky Mountain National Park is well worth the climb. In my opinion, if you get a clear day, the view from any mountain top is icing on the "I-did-it" cake. In this photo, I am standing below the fire tower. The camera's self-timer clicks the shutter in these "lonely" places.



It is so quiet at Davenport Gap Shelter where I spend the night. I am here by myself for a few hours. Notice the chain link fence on the front of the shelter. It keeps out the bears. The park service is starting to remove the fencing because the hikers don't like the feeling of being caged. There hasn't been as much bear activity at the shelters since there is more care in hanging food. This preventative measure is easier to do since the park put in high cables which we pulley our food up for storage each night.



I finally get a couple of visitors. Ann (age 62), pictured reviewing her map, is walking every trail in the park....over 1000 miles! She lives nearby and hikes a few times a week all year long. There are several walking clubs in the area so these day-hikers can always find someone to walk with.



In this view I can see the expressway heading north. It is the road I will be on TOO SOON.



The thru-hikers have to keep on truckin' as recorded here in the journal at Davenport Gap shelter (GA-ME 08 is short for 'from Georgia to Maine in 2008'). The thru-hikers have 2000 miles to cover this summer so they better keep "movin' on," like Cuatro briefly journaled. If they don't move on, they will get caught in the snow this fall at the northern terminus, Mount Katahdin.
Looks like Pips is loving the sunsets, sunrises, and the adventure. Looks like Pips and Kraut are loving each other too!
Happy Trails Thru-hikers! Bye-bye Smokies!

Thru-Hikers Are Not Through Yet

OK, so why do I like backpacking on the Appalachian trail in the Smoky Mountain National Park each spring? Because you never know who you will meet up there, but you can bet they will have a story. These are three of the five guys I spent my first night with at Davenport Shelter. I know them only by their trail names, which is the only way they all seem to know each other. Resin, on the left, is only 18 and wanting to experience the world before he starts college. The guy on the right is older than me and well educated. Rainfly, with the orange bandanna on his head and writing in the trail journal (see my blog dated April 22nd), is in his 40's, a high school drop-out. We slept on the wooden plank bunks in this shelter. I enjoyed talking with all 5 of the hikers and they loved me because I hiked uphill several miles with homemade brownies to share with them. I also gave extra food to two of the guys who were running low.
All of the backpackers who I meet at this time of the year are thru-hikers. These adventurous souls start in Georgia in early spring with the intent of walking more than 2000 miles until they come to the end of the trail in Maine. Every year several hundred hikers start but only 10% finish the entire trail. What I like about them is their attitude. I meet dozens of them in April, 200 miles into their trip, and they all still think that they are going to make it to Maine, or at least they express a lot of hope as they nurse blisters, sore backs, shoulders, hips and feet. They come in all sizes, shapes, ages, socio-economic backgrounds, American-born and foreign. Most are starting out alone but end up with a network of hiking friends all known to each other by their trail names. In the photo above are the first two women thru-hikers I met this year, HiLo and I-trod Along. They walk the same pace so they often walk together although they started in Georgia separately.


This is where I spent my second night, Cosby Knob shelter. There is always a spring for drinking water near the shelters. Here you can see two thru-hikers, Willow and Gentleman Jack, fetching water.


There are lots of chores to do when the day's hike is complete. These two women thru-hikers, Longwe Tru (an attorney) and Pickwick (a lab tech), are preparing dinner. They also are hiking alone. Actually Pickwick (with red bandanna) is not a thru-hiker. She has already hiked the entire Appalachian trail and is just doing a section of it this year.


The thru-hikers generally retire before dark. They make their own space within the confines of their sleeping bags to read, write in their personal journals, or sleep (toss and turn like a rotisserie many of them have told me). Willow, Pickwick, and I extend the day with a pajama party discussing gear, trail food, guidebooks, maps, and life histories. I could be friends with any of these women, I'm sure. You should know that Willow never backpacked before and she is 53 years old!
After I return home, I continue the journey by logging on to: trailjournals.com and looking for some of the hikers I have met who are submitting journals. This year I can follow Gentleman Jack and Longwe Tru. You can too. Just click on the link above, select Journals, and sort by trail name to find Gentleman Jack and Longwe Tru. Carefull though, there are hundreds of hikers that might drag you along and you could end up hiking the Appalachian Trail yourself someday!

Backpack Birthday

Backpackers Journal on the Appalachian Trail, April 5, 2008, Davenport Gap shelter. Click on the photo to enlarge it and read some of the entries from the thru-hikers who are backpacking over 2000 miles this year from Georgia to Maine.



I think it was for my 50th birthday when I did my first solo backpacking trip. Now I love it and try to get myself to the Smokies every April to celebrate my birthday. Here's some photos from this years trip.


It's a steep climb getting up to the Appalachian Trail in Smoky Mountain National Park.


Lots of streams to cross. This is a small one but a good place for a break (not a leg) and sip of cold water.


Don't you agree this is a great birthday gift? In my next blog entry you will discover why I really love to get up on the Appalachian Trail. Happy Trails!

Beach Blast 5K Run

Excuse the tilt, but I hurriedly shot this sunrise photo while riding my bicycle to the race start.


From Cayo Costa on the Gulf coast to St. Augustine on the Atlantic coast, we have found another Florida State Park in which to tent camp and call home for a few days. We were signing in at the ranger station at Anastasia State Park when I noticed a flyer about the upcoming Beach Blast. Students enrolled in the sporting facilities and events class at Flagler College in St. Augustine organize this event each spring. It includes a volleyball tournament, surfing contest, and a 5K run. I haven't run 3 miles since last summer's triathlon, but when I signed up I was hoping this Beach Blast 5K would kick-start my training.


This is the race course...out and back on the beach (3 miles total). Look at that storm moving in. It was a beach (you know what I mean) running against 15 mph winds.



I watched out for this young guy when I heard his name was Devin, my son's name. He gave me a big smile and wave when he passed me on the course but fell behind later. I cheered him in as if he was my own son. His mom took this photo after the race and vowed to start a fitness program herself.

Did you read the inscription on the mug in the top photo? At the awards ceremony, the students called me up as the recipient of the 2nd place female, age 50 and over award. I remember coming in behind a woman in a green shirt at the finish, but they didn't call her up for 1st place. The students awarded some other woman 1st place. We asked the students what our finish times were but they said those got all mixed up (papers were blowing around in the stiff wind). So the 3 of us ladies had to figure out our placement. Remembering our approximate times on the clock at the finish line, we determined I should have been placed third. We told the students, and they gave me a different mug. The prize mugs were wrapped in cellophane with pretty ribbons. When I unwrapped mine back at camp, the inscription read "2nd Place Female, Age Group: 18 & Under." Bless those kids!