What's in a name?

There are many things to think about and consider when planning a hike on the AT. What to bring, how much everything weighs, what to eat etc. But I didn't realize until recently that I also needed to think about an appropriate trail name. After reading a few books I realized that part of the adventure of the AT is leaving your urban life behind. So hikers generally come up with a trail name that they go by while on the trail. These names usually reflect some part of their personality or life situations. Some examples: AWOL, Pepsi, Gotta Go, Chuckles...

On our last hike we spent quite a bit of time discussing appropriate trail names for the four of us. With my real name being Sheila I thought an interesting name would be Aussie Girl since that is what Sheila means in Australia. I also thought that if I could manage to develop an accent people would think I was from Australia. But I can't do accents to save my life!

Now David, has developed a nickname among our family and friends. Anyone who has had the pleasure of my husband coming and fixing something at their house knows that he is quite adept at fixing most anything. Computer not working, no problem. Electrical issues, they are his speciality. Car or lawnmower broke, he can help. Sprinkler system need repair, he is there. So we affectionately call him our Frickin Genius. We all decided that this should be his trail name and we will call him FG for short.

Janice is our fun loving friend who is a bit obsessed with food. She doesn't ever want to be hungry so she always has food with her and she wants to know what time it is while we are hiking so she can know if it is time to have another snack. 1 snack per hour is her rule! So we are going to call her Nibbles since she loves to nibble her way through a hike. Of course her husband Ray thought we said Nipples and he liked that idea much better! Which leads us to Ray's name.

Ray, bless his heart, has a one track mind and it is always going down the dirt track. You can't say anything around Ray without him turning it into something sexual. He isn't usually offensive about it but there is always a sexual undertone that just makes you chuckle! Dirt Track is definately an appropriate name for Ray.

So now that we have picked some names we are going to try them out while we are hiking this year and just make sure they feel right for us. We can always change our mind before we start the AT next year!

Please Don't Shoot Us!

With the beginning of the fall season and the cooler weather we have become very excited about hiking and have added camping to our hikes. The next to the last week of October we went camping at Karik Lake and couldn't help but notice the influx of camoflaged tents, campers, trucks and people. I ask David "is it hunting season yet?" "No, not til November" he replies. Okay. There were people all over the campground with bows and arrows doing practice shooting. Now these aren"t your typical cowboy and indian style bow and arrows...these are very, very large and scary bow and arrows. So I decide that we are going to have to invest in some "Please Don't Shoot Us!" hiking attire before November rolls around. Off into the woods we go a hiking and everything is fine. A few days later I discover that it is actually bow hunting season and we were traipsing around in the woods with deer crazed hunters. YIKES! Of course we didn't see any hunters or deer for that matter.

On the last day of October we headed out to Hurricane Lake for a halloween hike and we all had on our "Please Don't Shoot Us!" hiking attire. We were very bright and visible. This will continue to be our hiking outfit through hunting season. Honestly, I don't worry about the bow hunters too much because they have to be fairly close to achieve a hit. But those guys with the guns...now that is another story!

And Me Without My Legs!

I am one of those kind of gals who when she takes up a new hobby she is all in, I want all the cool toys that go with the hobby. Those of you who know me know of my large collection of scrapbooking toys. When scuba diving was our hobby I was always looking for cool gear, stickers, shirts etc. Now I have moved to hiking as my primary hobby so it stands to reason that I am all about the gear. Cool boots, got 'em. Thick socks, check. Nifty sweat towel, definately have it. Cool hiking pants with zip off legs, two pairs in my arsenal.

As we have been expanding our hiking trail selections we tend to do some of the trails frequently because of the convenience. The University of West Florida multiuse trails are one of our frequently hiked trails. The trail is a good distance at 9 miles, it is a loop trail, it is well shaded, it is well marked, and it is well cleared. It is the well cleared part of the trail that has caused me to become complacent about my zip off pants. I have started wearing them as shorts when we do this trail and leaving the legs at home. It is ridiculously hot here still!

Today was going to be a UWF hiking day but when we received a text from our hiking buddies saying they weren't coming I decided that maybe we should try something new...I am also very easily bored! As we are sitting in our driveway I make this decision to go to a new place today and chose the Tarklin Bayou State Park. We looked up directions and headed off. It wasn't until we arrived and got out of the car that it occurred to me that I didn't have my legs. Oh well, how bad could it be? Right?

There is a trail map posted and there are actually three trails. One is paved and we all know that is NOT hiking! One trail is approximately 7 miles - Perfect! Oh but wait, according to the trail map this trail is very wet, possibly up to two feet of water most of the year. TWO FEET! Oh well, we have hiked wet before so off we go.

In all fairness the trail wasn't bad. We did have to do some creative trail blazing to get around several of the wetter areas. The entire trail wasn't swampy like this and we did come out to a beautiful beach on the Perdido River. But without my legs I was having all sorts of grasses, weeds and briars constantly rubbing my bare ankles and calves. And I kept expecting something to jump out and bite me.

I am amazed that every time we hike a new trail or situation I learn something from the experience. Today I learned that while I don't always have to wear my legs, I should always take them with me so I can have the option!

We ended up completing the trail without getting wet but I am confident that if there had been much rain recently this would have been a very different story. I also did a lot of thinking about how to treat snake bites today and have David in there researching this for me as I write. I hope that is information I will never have to use but better to be prepared!

Happy Hiking

Mental Weakness/Mental Toughness

Mental Weakness vs. Mental Toughness

A few years back we adopted a saying around our house called "mental weakness". This term is used in our household in many situations. For example, the whole house gets a stomach bug except one person, well the sick people are just mentally weak. Can't talk yourself out of a nice warm bed on a winter morning to exercise then you are mentally weak. We pride ourselves on avoiding mental weakness at our house and frequently challenge one another by calling them mentally weak. So this past weekend when David and I decided to tackle the hiking trail at Torreya State Park we were having no part of mental weakness talk. We had read that this trail was the closest you could come to Applaichain Trail conditions in the state of Florida. Great, we're up for it. David's sister had done this trail and told horror stories of the difficulty of the trail. Surely she was just mentally weak. Well let me just say I was wrong. There was a river of mental weakness flowing off my body while we hiked this trail.

Torreya State Park has two hiking trails. One is a 7 mile loop and one is a 5 mile loop called the Torreya Challenge. David and I were drawn to the challenge loop like a moth to a lightbulb. It had the word challenge in the name so it had to be hard right, RIGHT. We missed the trailhead where the maps that had mileage were located so using a posted map we found an connector trail to the main 7 mile loop where we then hiked to another connector trail to the challenge loop. Of course we had to reverse this process on the return trip. No problem it doesn't look that far. No mental weakness for us.

Well 5 1/2 hours later we finally emerged from the trail. Challenge was an understatement. This trail was up and down hills all the way. You would hike down a long trail into a ravine and then hike back out of the ravine only to do it all over again. I was doing good for the first 3 hours and then all these mentally weak thoughts started creeping into my head like "what are you thinking?"; "just think how hard this is going to be when you are carrying a 40 pound pack on your back!"; "are you crazy, you can't do the AT"; "are you sure you even want to do the AT?" and it just went on and on as my legs got weaker. After 4 1/2 hours I really hit a wall and just had to stop, sit down and drink a lot of water. I was so hot and tired that I just thought I would die. MENTAL WEAKNESS!

But guess what? I didn't die! I took a deep breath, a long drink of water and told myself to get my butt off the ground and get moving. I can do this, I want to do this and I will do this. It won't be easy...if it was easy everyone would be doing it! MENTAL TOUGHNESS!

It takes mental toughness to make it through life. The mentally weak see themselves as victims. The mentally tough see themselves as survivors. This hiking thing is about getting out of my comfort zone and pushing myself to the limit and coming out on the other side stronger and tougher!

In the end we calculated we hiked 10 miles in 5 1/2 hours. Now 2 days later the pain in my calf muscles is finally easing off and I am left with a stronger sense of mental toughness and memories of the 7 deer we saw while on the trail. We may just drive to Torreya this weekend and do it again!

Happy Trails!

Spider Kisses

Spider Kisses

I know you probably can't see the spider in this picture very good but let me assure that he was BIG. Or maybe HUGE would better describe him. As David and I were walking along the trail today we came to this web which was gorgeous with the sun striking it just right to show all the beauty of the design. Of course the BIG, I mean HUGE, spider was in the middle with two smaller spiderettes at the 2 and 4 o'clock positions. I was very engrossed in taking pictures (which turned out terribly) of said spider and web when I turned around to start hiking again I found myself face to face with another BIG, I mean HUGE, spider. I would like to say that I just backed up, shrugged my shoulders and proceeded on down the trail like any self respecting mountain girl would do. But sadly I have to report that I screamed and jumped around in the woods making all manner of sissyfied girly sounds. It was a dark moment of shame in my otherwise mountain girl lifestyle I am trying to develop. But seriously I don't want to be kissing on a BIG, I mean HUGE spider in the woods, mountain girl or not!

Today we hiked at Rocky Bayou State Park in Niceville. Very nice park with 3 hiking trails although they were all much shorter in length than we hoped. The trails are very nicely maintained and are wide enough to hike side by side (but look out for those HUGE spiders). Admission to the park is $5.00 per carload. So lace up your boots and get hiking

Hike on Baby, Hike on!

Bear Pepper Spray

David, Sheila, Janice and Ray - Super Hikers!

Today as we were hiking with our friends we were discussing our upcoming plans to start hiking the Appalachain Trail when the subject of bears came up. Now I know there are bears up there on the trail but I haven't really given them much thought until recently. A couple of weeks ago there was a news broadcast about Jack Hannah from the San Diego Zoo having a run in with some grizzly bears somewhere out west. Jack being the animal guru that he is knew and had in his possession some bear pepper spray (who knew). Apparently, he and his family were hiking on a paved trail when they came across 3 grizzlies. Jack and his family retreated but the bears became aggressive. Jack whipped out his spray and started aiming for the bears. Apparently it took about 3 sprays before they backed down. I mentioned this story to my husband and we decided that this item will be a MUST HAVE on our AT hike.

Now David is also reading the book "A Walk in the Woods" which details Bill Bryson's trek along the AT. At the beginning of this book Mr. Bryson spends a good amount of time on the subject of bears. There is even a story of a 12 year old boy who is dragged from his tent and killed by a bear on the AT and this boy has the same name as my husband! Weird, right? Now in my mind, where everything is rosey, there is nothing to fear from the outside world in the woods as long as I am zipped up in my tent. I might have to rethink this theory! Anyhow, today we were talking about bear pepper spray and how best to use it if we come across aggressive bears. Janice thought that if we meet up with bears we should just not make eye contact and play dead but David told her that doesn't work for black bears which are the kind we would most likely encounter. Then she decided that we don't have to out run the bear, we just have to outrun the slowest person in our group - that would be me - YIKES! David decided that he would be spraying his pepper spray at the first sign of a bear and we better close our eyes. Then we decided that maybe we should just be the first to spray the pepper spray but rather than spraying the bears we would spray everyone else so that we could be the fastest runner and the bears would get everyone else. Now don't you just wish you were coming on this adventure with us!!

Turtle and grasshopper on steroids that we saw on today's hike.

Happy Hiking!

Don't lose sight of the trail!

Today's hike started at Krul Lake where we entered the Sweetwater Trail which began with a boardwalk and passed by a working grist mill and then over a suspension bridge and along a creek for approximately three fourths of a mile before becoming a dirt trail. The Sweetwater trail runs into the Bear Lake trail at approx. 1.3 miles. We then looped around the north half of the Bear Lake trail until it met up with the Jackson connector trail. This is where we got into trouble. So the Jackson connector trail was blazed in blue and it quickly ran into a dirt road where we turned right. We followed the road until it crossed a paved road called Hurricane Lake road. We continued on the dirt road for 10 minutes or so when we realized that there were no more blue blazes on the trees. So what do we do? We kept walking thinking that someone must have forgotten to blaze the trail for us! Rookie mistake. So we trek on for another 20 or so minutes until we run into another paved road called Old Martin Road and then there is no trail or dirt road to follow. So we do an about face and head back up the road. We did find the trail on our way back and in our defense the markings for where the trail turned off the dirt road were completely covered by brush. At this point we opted to just continue back to the Bear Lake trail as we were getting really hot. Did I mention that today was the hottest day of summer with a heat index well over 100! Anyhow, we continued back to the Bear Lake trail and hiked it back to the Sweetwater Trail and back to Krul Lake. Once we got back we ate a little lunch then went for a very refreshing swim. Total hike distance was 9 miles!

What I learned hiking today:

1. Don't lose sight of the trail. If you do, STOP, turn around and find it again!

Beginning Our Adventures

David and I are both in our mid 40's and are mostly childless at this stage of our lives. We have been trying to do "things" on the weekends other than sit around watching TV. We have often talked about hiking the Appalachain Trail which spans from Georgia to Maine. Now, we realize we can't hike the entire trail straight through but possibly would hike a week or two a year until we can retire from work. But before we set off on a nearly 3000 mile hike we think it would be wise to condition ourselves a bit and be sure that I won't be totally freaked out by the woods. I am a city girl after all. So we have taken up hiking locally, Northwest, Florida. So far this month we have done a 4.5 mile, 9 mile and two 6.8 mile hikes. We have bought hiking boots, socks and pants after tearing our legs up on a particularly overgrown trail. Today we hiked the Juniper Creek Trail which is 6.8 miles of dense trail leaving from Blackwater State Park. This was our second trip on this trail which we liked very much. The trail starts in a marshy area with a lot of wildflowers growing along the trail as well as pitcher plants (a carniverous plant). The trail crosses several small streams and creeks and is well lined with wild blueberry bushes which we nibbled on at every opportunity (beware though, as there are other berries that look like the blueberries but definatly are NOT). Then the trail begins to run beside Juniper Creek for a couple of miles. We stopped and went for a refreshing swim and snack. Once you reach the shelter on the trail then you are about 45 minutes from the road where your car is parked. Todays hike was very wet as we were sprinkled with rain and then soaked with rain for probably half the trail!

Things I learned hiking today:
1. When it rains in the forest the bull frogs sing.
2. A large amount of "self talk" is necessary to convince myself not to panic when surrounded by tall trees and lightening in the area.
3. Large thunderclaps in the forest sound like shotgun blasts.
4. A wide brimmed hat works wonders for keeping the rain off your face.
5. The footpath of the Juniper Creek Trail turns into a river when it rains so just give up trying to avoid the puddles and plow on through them!

Happy Trails