Grand Canyon

I got home late Sunday night (nearly midnight) from our great adventure at the Grand Canyon. Between catching up with work, laundry, and wondering why the maid didn't come while I was away, I have had some nagging in the back of my head to write about the trip. I find that I am at a loss for words. Perhaps some pictures will suffice:

First look at Mathers Point

Second glance - trying to hold my jaw shut at this point

The incredibly strong and fabulously good-
looking Western North Carolina hiking group

Look, Ma, no railing - couldn't resist! Looks like a painted backdrop, doesn't it? There is a great book called Over The Edge: Death In The Grand Canyon. It basically says that adults die but kids don't, because they listen to adults...who don't listen...

The Bright Angel Trail - an easy 4.6 miles down, an excruciating 4.6 miles back up. We began our hike before 6:00 AM and it took 9 hours.

Our destination is just around the corner...at the bottom ...Indian Gardens (click on photo)

We got stopped on the Bright Angel Trail going back up while a fatigued hiker (not one of us!) was rescued by helicopter. Warning: It's like a taxi - you ask for it, you pay for it.

The Grand Canyon is a destination everyone should have on their life list, but what made this trip even more extraordinary was the group I was honored to share the trails with. There were over 200 hikers associated with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Hike For Discovery program there to conquer the Canyon as they raised funds to conquer cancer, and the 200 hikers represented $1.2 million in donations -- even more awe-inspiring than the Grand Canyon! Our group representing Western North Carolina was small but awesome and we kicked butt going up and down those trails. It was an experience I will never forget.

Running and Hiking and Flying...Oh My!

The Thin Mint Sprint 5K race on Saturday was very early (7:15 AM start) on a beautiful day and lots of fun. I've never participated in a race before, much less one dominated by little girls. It was also the first race for my youngest daughter, Laura (age 18). The location was Carowinds, a local theme park, and the course snaked around and under roller coasters and water park features, making it entertaining and and distracting from the fact that you are dodging walkers and children who suddenly stop to tie a shoelace. The scent of funnel cakes is not as enticing early in the morning while gasping as it can be later in the day while strolling through the park. The course then popped out onto the parking lot for the last couple of miles and we were thankful that it was still early and not yet the heat of the day.

The event attracted hundreds for the 5K and the one-mile fun run and the energy was great. Of course the kids kept running around even after they had passed the finish line. Looking at the hundreds of photos posted, those young girls are stunning, every one of them. They are grinning and proud, not yet doubting themselves or worried about how they look. How can we help them to skip that part? Unlimited potential right there...How to capture it?

And guess what? Laura won for her age group, and apparently I was the first 50-and-above to finish (well, okay, there weren't very many of us anyway...). An energizing start to a beautiful May day.

Onward to the next event - my HFD group's last training day before our Big Trip. Five of us took two cars to Crowder's Mountain, left one car at the main visitor's center and parked the other at the other end. We walked up the Tower Trail, scoffing at first at the "strenuous" rating, until we hit the steep parts, which properly shut us up. Once at the top, it's a short walk along part of the Rocktop Trail to the rock outcropping and cliff face where climbers climb and lookers look and photographers photograph and lunchers lunch. We could just barely make out the Charlotte skyline in the distance. It reminds me of Dorothy's first glimpse of the Emerald City.

After lunching and posing for photos, two set off back down the Tower Trail and three of us headed onto the Rocktop Trail, which is an extremely fun 1.5-mile walk along the ridge line with lots of boulders and views. Then we hit the Crowders Trail and turned back towards the visitor's center. Once all hikers were back together, we stopped for sustenance at Subway and headed for home.

Tomorrow morning we are flying out early to Phoenix and then on Friday we hop on our bus for the Grand Canyon! Am I excited or what??

Work Week, A 5K And More Hiking

I've been extremely busy this week with work, really ever since I returned from the Hazel Creek trip. If anyone is wondering, I don't live a life of TV and bon-bon eating, but I do have a flexible job. I am a deposition transcriptionist. When people decide to sue someone, everyone hires attorneys, who in turn start asking everyone questions. These Q&A sessions with the lawyers are called depositions. A court reporter, someone impartial and certified, records the deposition and then I transcribe the recordings. I am self-employed, an independent contractor, and I do transcripts for several court reporters. I got into this field many years ago (almost 20) as a part-time thing while looking for work and having been doing it ever since. It has been great for raising kids, volunteering, having fun, because I can choose to work at 2:00 AM in order to play later in the week. When we are busy, we are very very busy, and when we are not...we starve! So my Smokies hiking will be intertwined with when work is coming down the pipe, and hopefully I can stay afloat.

I try to run a few times a week because I like hiking, and I find that running is efficient training for getting/keeping legs and lungs in shape. Funny, but I don't much like walking around the neighborhood, with cars and houses and the same scenery, so running gives me the exercise I need in the quickest amount of time. I run between 3 and 6 miles about three times a week, although it is sometimes hard to get out there when it's really cold. This Saturday I am participating in my first 5K race at Carowinds in Charlotte. It is sponsored by the Girl Scouts (of course) and it's called the Thin Mint Sprint. My daughter Laura is doing the race also. I am looking forward to the experience of running with a crowd. If anyone has any tips, let me know. If you also like to run in order to hike, I'd like to hear about it. Then, after the 5K, I am headed to Crowders Mountain for one last short hike with the Hike For Discovery team because we leave for the Grand Canyon a week from today! Life is full even when I'm not in the Smokies!

Caesars Head State Park SC

I am planning my next trip to the Smokies, but in the meantime our Hike For Discovery group is still training and preparing for our Grand Canyon adventure. Three of us have signed up for one of the more ambitious hikes at the Canyon, so yesterday we put ourselves to the test with a trip to Caesars Head State Park in South Carolina. If you have never visited the state parks in the mountains of upstate South Carolina, put them on your list because they are magnificent and Caesars Head SP is outstanding. It is part of the Mountain Bridge Wilderness. (Click on the photos below to see full size.)

I have chosen this hike because I went on most of these trails in the summer of '07 with the Berg Wanderers and it nearly killed me. So...if we made it back out I knew we would be okay in the Grand Canyon. And this time I had more experience and training and wanted to see if it was any easier. A map and detailed description of this hike can be found in Hiking The Carolina Mountains by Danny Bernstein.

Joy, Liana and I met up at 8:00 AM Saturday morning for the 2-hour drive. Joy's sister, Julie, and Joy's four-legged friend, Frisco, were along for the ride and would romp in the park while we hiked. We were on the trail by 10:45 AM. The first 2.2 miles is an easy-to-moderate walk to an overlook that is very popular - across the gorge is an amazing view of Raven Cliff Falls, possibly the most photographed waterfall in the area.

But...seeing the falls from across the gorge is simply not enough for the mighty hikers - we must experience its spray on our faces! There is a suspension bridge that crosses near the top of the falls. Off we went whistling on the Dismal Trail (I'm not making that up), 1.5 miles down, down, down into the gorge. As we walked I'm thinking that I'm glad we're not going up this trail, especially since I knew what was up ahead. I wanted Joy and Liana to be happy as long as possible.

At the bottom of the Dismal Trail we turned onto the Naturaland Trust Trail and the fun began. First was the crossing of Matthews Creek - what, no bridge? We have to walk across a tightrope? Okay, so there's a cable to step on and a cable overhead to hold onto. Are we having fun yet? You bet!

Naturaland Trust Trail climbs up Raven Cliff Mountain, up, up, up, up, up! The trick is put the slowest person in front to set a reasonable pace and just take your time. If the fastest person is in front then others feel pressed to keep up and then you have panting, cursing hikers. So we stopped to examine flowers and peek at the views through the young leaves and made our way along to the Cathedral, an incredible 120-foot semicircular rock cliff face. (If you do this hike, there is no sign designating the Cathedral, but you will know it when you see it.) This was a prime place for a snack as we felt water droplets falling from the cliff tops and dribbling down the rocks. In the summer this natural shower is a lifesaver. This stop was made all the more enjoyable by an extremely cute guy (not that I'm looking, of course) and his extremely cute dog and his....girlfriend. Sorry, Liana...didn't know what he was missing, did he?

Onward toward the suspension bridge crossing over Raven Cliff Falls..but just how far IS it? We climbed up ladders and walked on narrow rock ledges and stomped up switchback after switchback. Just as I could feel imaginary daggers in my back from my fellow hikers (are you sure there is a bridge??) we came around a corner to the falls. The bridge crosses near the top of the upper falls and...well, you simply have to go there to understand how incredible it is. Flowing water is fascinating, from the smallest creek to the largest gush at the top of a mountain, and the closer you can get to it, the better. Standing on this bridge, facing across the gorge, directly beneath your feet the water falls away, down and down. If only we could have stayed there a little longer...

Still miles to go before we were done, and the hour was getting late so we picked up the pace. What's this? More ladders and climbing and yet no more vistas? We finally intersected with the Gum Gap trail, which is an easier walk, but the group was ready to mutiny. I thought to myself, they will thank me someday, because this is where the REAL training begins. How do you keep on going when you are tired and there are miles ahead? Yeah, just like you know your teenager will call you up and thank you one day! But look up ahead -- it's the cute guy, his cute dog and his...girlfriend. Can we push her off the next cliff? Well, at least we have something to look at for a few minutes before they move on out of sight.

On the Gum Gap Trail we met a young woman on her way back from a weekend backpack trip. She had done 45 miles along the Foothills Trail. One look at her loaded pack and we were humbled, mere dayhikers. She was very nice, chatted for a few minutes, and went on down the trail. We took our last turn, back onto the Raven Cliff Falls trail heading back out to the car, where Julie and four-legged Frisco were excited to see us. Our trek took just over 5 hours, including our stops, and was about 8.4 miles (except Liana says it was 10).

Today I am feeling just great, except for my sore feet and sore thighs and sore calves. It's all good.

Girl Scout Camp Many Years Ago

My first camp experience was when I was in 6th grade and a Junior in Girl Scouts. I had been a member of Girl Scouts for about two years in my little town in Virginia and we definitely did not do outdoor stuff. The opportunity came up to spend a week at Camp Kittamaqund (Camp Kitty, which still operates, by the way) and off I went with friends Leigh and Virginia.

The three of us stayed in a platform tent but we had cots to sleep on. As anyone who was in Scouting as a kid can tell you, it might be hard to tell you about the troop meetings, but those outdoor experiences are vivid. Some memories: Tent inspection in the mornings, rolling up the tent flaps, pillowcases facing toward each other to say "hello", sweeping the floor. Our tent was in a unit where the river flowed nearby and one day there was a rumor that there was a.....BOY.....prowling near the river. We tried our best but did not encounter him.

I was very allergic to poison ivy as a kid and of course I developed a rash at camp. I was sent off to the camp nurse. There was already a girl ahead of me complaining of a sore throat. As the nurse and another adult chatted, the nurse handed the girl a Dixie cup and told her to drink it, which she did. Then my turn came. My rash on my arm was deemed impressive but not fatal so, alas, I could not be sent home. The nurse placed a Dixie cup of liquid in front of me and turned to talk to the adult again. I was an observant child and I picked up the Dixie cup and chugged it. I was contemplating the burning sensation in my throat when the nurse's eyes grew big and she lept toward me and snatched the cup. How was I to know that the cup contained some kind of topical medicine to be applied to my rash with a cotton ball? Alas, I still did not get sent home.

I wrote letters home to my mom filled with homesickness. I said I even missed my little brother! My mom sent letters back giving the Little League baseball scores and news of a small town. She saved both my letters and hers and they are a wonderful slice of a girl's life when read chronologically. A true excerpt from one of my mine: "Virginia forgot her toothpaste so I am letting her use mine. And I forgot my toothbrush, but don't worry, she is paying me back by letting me use hers." Was it real or a joke? Even then my wit was advanced.

As the week went by my homesickness faded. We did outdoor cooking, swimming in a lake, arts and crafts, endless piles of popsicle sticks. I remember meeting for the first time a Jewish person, one of the girls in my unit. I remember huge sing-a-longs while waiting outside the dining hall for meals, shouting what are deemed today to be politically incorrect numbers such as "Gray squirrel, gray squirrel, on the power line" and "Little Bunny Foo-Foo." To this day I can sing "I Know A Place" and "Flicker." If you are a Girl Scout or leader and you don't know these songs, look them up and learn them! Like all music, Girl Scout songs can transport you back in time.

Notes To Self

Wisdom gained for future trips:

1 - Points earned for carrying sunscreen are forfeited when sunscreen is not used

2 - It's good to have too much toilet paper in the backcountry

3 - Lamaze breathing techniques and a focal point come right back to you when your feet hurt and you have to keep walking

4 - Hot flashes in a sleeping bag can be dangerous to your tent mate

5 - Hot flashes make it easy to go outside the tent at 3:00 AM for a nature break

6 - You know you're having a good time when the end of the trail makes you think about...the beginning of the next trail

Photos At Last

I have finally figured out the photo thing so I am going back and adding photos to old posts. In the meantime, be sure to stroll through my favorite links and see what's happening in other outside venues!