Oh I know, I have been MIA for quite a while. I have been really busy lately. I went back to Arkansas and had 13 sessions which means I had 13 sessions to edit...plus the sessions I did here in Georgia for my photography business.
Then I went to the Virgin Islands for another business venture, Virgin Islands Charter Yacht Vacations. The website is under construction right now until we get the yachts added. So we are also working on that...on top of our 8-5 jobs!! :)
I haven't been doing great on my eating or working out for that matter. I have gained 5lbs back....UGH!!!
However, over Thanksgiving break instead of consuming buttery mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, green bean casserole and fattening stuffing, I backpacked the Appalachian Trail. Yes that's right...I backed packed part of the Appalachian Trail. I surprised myself because I didn't think I could do it!
Day 1...I got off work at 1:00 and we had to drive 2 hours to drop the truck off, then drive 1 hour north to start our trip south. So we didn't get started until 4:00. The first day we only hiked 2.4 miles, but it was up Standing Indian Mountain. It wasn't really to bad since there were some switch backs. When we got to the top we were greeted with one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen in my life. It was all kinds of colors and you could see the mountains for miles. The elevation of Standing Indian is 5,499' so we were way up there and could see it all.
Once we took that in it was crunch time to get our tent up, bear bag hung, sleeping pads blown up, sweaters on the dogs, and firewood collected before it got dark. That's a lot to do before the sun goes down and it was going down quick.
Mike got the tent up and I started a fire. It was COLD. The wind was blowing on that mountain pretty hard. There wasn't much wood so the fire fizzled out pretty quick. Mike boiled us some water and we had some freeze dried beef stroganoff. It actually wasn't too bad. We then loaded everything up in the bear bag and got in bed.
That night sleeping was not the easiest. We read the first chapter of A Walk in the Woods and then turned out the lights. The wind was blowing which made noises. It was super cold and Cosby, our Lab, was freezing so he laid next to us shivering so we both let him in our sleeping bags. Buster was super warm..that dog has a lot of hair!! I tossed and turned for hours before I finally fell asleep.
Day 2...I woke up around 4:00 and couldn't sleep. I was freezing. I am really claustrophobic so zipping up the sleeping bag all the way had not been an option, however I had to calm myself and do it because it was WAY to cold! It got down to the mid 20's.
We finally got out of the tent around 8:30. Mike boiled some water and we made some lovely instant mashed potatoes and some hot tea. Then it was time to pack up....release the air from the pads, stuff your sleeping bag, take down the bear bag, and organize everything in your pack.
Then we were off! Since the mountain we hiked up was north and our final destination was south we had to go back down it. Our car was parked at the bottom so we took a break and had lunch in the car. We met a couple of day hikers and a couple of guys that were from Indian that had been hiking north for over 5 days.
Then it was time to get to our next destination. Our original plans were to go about 7 miles that day. After the cold nights sleep Mike asked if I wanted to go more and only stay the night one more night. That would mean I would have to go a little over 9 miles each day. I agreed to it since I didn't want to sleep in that cold 2 more nights. Since 2.4 miles were already done I figured I could do it....until we started up that next hill. I thought I was going to die and quickly changed my mind to stay 2 more nights! So we ended up doing 7.3 miles total that day. I know 2 more miles doesn't seem like a lot, but with a 23lb backpack on your back going up hill, 2 more miles was just to much for me.
When we reached our destination we had more day light since it was 3:30, however we were in a valley so it would get darker sooner. We were out of water by this time and there was a little crappy stream nearby. Mike had to make many trips with the filter to get our camelbaks filled back up and get us enough water for dinner.
We got our camp all set up and gathered fire wood. The fire I made on this night was much better than the one the night before. We made freeze dried lasagna for our Thanksgiving meal and enjoyed a fun size snicker for dessert! The moon was shining bright and since we had a larger fire we stayed outside until about 7:30!
Then we headed in for the night. Since I had such a hard time sleeping the night before we decided to take a Benadryl to make us sleepy. Mike read chapter 2 from A Walk in the Woods and I was out before he even finished. This night was another cold one....very cold.
Day 3....I woke up around 3:00a and just laid there tossing and turning. As long as I didn't stick my head out of my sleeping bag I could stay warm. Since we had both dogs in the tent and all of our breathing was hot and it was freezing outside, the tent was raining inside with condensation. And it was COLD condensation!
We got up again and did our normal clean up routine and had some more mashed potatoes for breakfast. On this day we had about 6.4 miles. Some areas were downhill, some were level and some were very steep. There were a few times I didn't think I was going to make it! We stopped and had a long lunch and stretched out and ate a warm freeze dried meal...chicken teriyaki. It was gross!!!
It was very windy and cold on this day. We finally made it to our destination and set up camp. The place we set up camp was down in a valley and there were dead trees all over the ground. At first this meant firewood!! I went around and gathered up a TON and made a huge blazing fire. Mike set up the hammock for me and a rested a bit while he set up the tent and gathered more water. (Such a good hubby!)
The clouds quickly came over us and it started sprinkling a bit. This made me nervous. I texted my sister to find out the radar and she said it should stop by 6 and it did. The wind however did not stop. It was blowing on the hills so loud and those trees were swaying like crazy. Those dead trees that were all over our campsite that I was so excited about for firewood quickly became scary since I knew they had fallen from the wind.
Our fire was blazing away, but it started getting really dark since the clouds were covering the moon so we decided to hit the sack! I was so looking forward to only hiking 4.6 miles the next day and getting to our truck! Since our phones were almost dead we couldn't read another chapter so we got out our maps to look at the trail and see where we had walked. Then took a Benadryl and went to sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night to the sounds of the wind, trees branches slamming into each other, and the howling of some sort of animal!
Day 4...Wooo hooo! Last day! Now when I say this, it's not because I did not enjoy backpacking, it's simply because I have never been so cold in my life. It got down to the low 20's that night and the condensation turned into ice on our tent, sleeping bag, and pillow. My hands were so cold on this day that it felt like someone was ripping my fingernails from my fingers. It was crazy.
We needed to be at our truck by 1:00 since we had so far to drive to pick up the other car and then to get back to our cabin. We were having Mexican food and margaritas with our cabin neighbors that night and nothing was going to stop us!
Right away we had a pretty long hill to climb. Once we made it past that I knew there was only one more small hill and then the rest was down hill. I was so happy when we hit the peak of that second one. Now it was about 1 mile down hill to our truck. Nothing was going to stop me now.
That is until I tripped over a rock and my backpack sent my forehead lunging into a rock on the ground in front of me. It was like slow motion. First, my right toe hit the rock and I started going down. My right knee hit the ground first. Then I stuck my hands out to try and brace myself, but the weight of my pack pushed against the back of my head and bam, my head hit the rock. I remember as I was going down I could see the rock I was about to hit and yelling "oh no". I looked up to see Mike and just started bawling. It hurt so bad. He came running up and checked to make sure I didn't crack it open. When he moved my hair it hurt so bad. I instantly got a horrible headache. I was bummed that we were only 1/2 mile from our truck when it happened cause we almost made it out uninjured, but at the same time it was good it happened then and not at the beginning.
I am not sure I have ever been so happy to see that truck before. I jumped in, took my boots off, turned on the seat warmers, and head for the cabin!!
That night we had a pitcher of margaritas, mexican food, and told our stories to our cabin neighbors. Joe, is who Mike went on his first trip with. He said he was very proud of me. I told him he shouldn't be because it was very hard for me and then he said "Most women won't even sleep on the ground like you did." That made me feel kind of good.
2 side notes....1. Our dogs were rockstars. Cosby, who has hip dysplasia, was so good. He lead us the whole time and had a blast. Buster, carried all of his food and supplies as well as Cosby's. He stayed right next to us the whole time. Those boys has a BLAST. 2. My husband was a rockstar. He made sure we had everything we needed, got our camp set up each night, packed up our camp each morning, and cheered me along the whole way. There is no way I could have done it without him.
I can't wait until our next trip.....when it's warmer!!
