10 is the New 5

Hiked: Blood Mountain Loop (AT from Neels Gap to Blood Mountain , Freeman Trail, about 6.5 miles, DeSoto Falls another 2.5, elevation gain about 1,400 feet in the 2.1 miles from Neels Gap to the summit of Blood Mountain )

This is another shared post between Jenny and Andrea.  Today, we hiked Blood Mountain, and we realized that we've both come a long way!  First of all, when we started walking during the school year, 5 miles was a long distance walk for us.  Now, it doesn't seem like a hike unless it's close to 10 miles.  The Blood Mountain loop that we hiked was ONLY about 7 miles, so we decided early on that we needed to stop on the way home and hike DeSoto Falls to make it closer to a 10 mile day.  Also, the 1,400 feet of elevation change was a great cardio workout, but not strenuous like it might have been several months ago.  

As we walked, we talked about how and whether we could help students understand that if they just stick with something that's hard, it will become easier.  The challenge is helping them realize why they should go through that kind of effort.  We hike because we love being in nature, and the great hikes are longer distances and require us to be in good shape.  Why should they practice algebra so that it becomes easier or write more so that it becomes more natural for them?  Something for us to think about!

This is the picture taken as the clouds were rolling in for the rain that hit 2 or 3 minutes later.  We hiked all but the first 2 of our miles soaking wet.  The one day neither of us brought rain gear, it rained!  Hiking in wet socks was no fun...first hot spots ever for Andrea, and I had to hike the DeSoto Falls trail in my sandals; thank goodness it was more of a walking path than a hiking trail.

This shelter on Blood Mountain was built by the CCC.  We stayed here to wait out the rain and eat lunch.

The Freeman Tail was all about rocks (small, medium, and large boulders is more like it) and roots!  That 1.8 miles was the longest 1.8 miles of the day!  

DeSoto Falls turned out to be an easy walk and a great way to end the day!

Hey, Sole Sister

This entry is a shared entry between Jenny and Andrea.

We realized as we walked (and walked and walked) this week that we've become sole sisters.  We also both like discovering plays on words and phrases, and this one suits us perfectly!  We really pushed ourselves this time.  We decided to hike to both Upper and Lower Whitewater Falls for a total of 9.4 miles of hiking.  We actually hiked closer to 10...more on that below.

This is the start of the 1/2 mile path up from Bad Creek to Upper Whitewater Falls.  This was the part that earned the 'strenuous' portion of the moderate-strenuous trail rating.  It was steep with roots and rocks to navigate, but also the prettiest part of the trail. 

So many shades of green in this picture...











We named this tree 'Anaconda Tree' because of this root!






We ate lunch on the large boulder to the right.  The sound of the creek was hypnotizing. We could have stayed there for hours, but we still had any miles of trail ahead of us at that point.

When we came to this intersection, we were headed to Lower Whitewater Falls.  Clearly, the blue arrow is pointing to the LEFT...NOT!  We BOTH read the sign and turned left instead of going straight ahead for a lovely detour that we would have continued walking down had we not run into other hikers who turned us back around to read the sign again!





Upper Whitewater Falls










Lower Whitewater Falls

I'm thinking that experiencing more hikes like this and earning the memories you earn when you get to your destination and stand in awe of God's creation...when you go one more step when you didn't think there were any left in you...when you wiggle your toes on the same boulder beside the same hypnotic river...just a few more of this sort of hike and these sole sisters are destined to become soul sisters! -Andrea

Near the end of this hike, we had a monstrous hill to climb back up. We knew that when we went down it that it was going to be difficult, but instead of crying and whining, I laughed and laughed... and I laughed. I almost fell over. I was on some sort of hiking high, and Andrea said, "Wow, we really get to know each other's personality on the trail." This is so true! Andrea has become not only a trail buddy but a friend, someone that I really enjoy hanging out with and trust. We sweat, get dirty and nasty out there, and don't have time for pretenses. Nature treats everyone the same, judges no one. Sole sisters understand this truth and live it. -Jenny

Bring the Appropriate Tools

Hiked today: East Fork Trail (from Walhalla Fish Hatchery to Ellicott Rock - 9.5 miles total)

I can't begin to count the number of times I've asked students to bring the proper tools to class.  The bare necessities include something to write with and something to write on.  Ultimately, having homework completed and being prepared with outside reading are included as well.  I struggle as a teacher of seventh graders to help them understand that coming to school prepared is important.  It's really a matter of perspective.  To me as their teacher, being prepared means that students are ready to learn so that they can eventually graduate from high school and get a job.  To them, being prepared means wearing and doing exactly the right thing as measured by their friends.  Hence lies the challenge of being a middle school teacher - how to help them see beyond who they're going to sit with at lunch and see where they might be in 5 years (hopefully graduating from high school) or 10 years.  This difference in perspective means that I put pencils and paper in my shopping cart every time I go to the store so that I can keep teaching even when students are not prepared.  Anybody who's a teacher can relate!

I've learned some life lessons being on the trail about being prepared.  Today, Mike and I hiked to Ellicott Rock from the Walhalla Fish Hatchery in South Carolina.  We brought the appropriate tools today: hiking poles and worn in waterproof boots.  Last time we hiked this trail, it had recently snowed as you can see from the picture of me walking in the snow.  Mike is crossing Bad Creek in this picture taken today.  Today, he was prepared with hiking poles and waterproof boots. In February, much of the trail was covered with a combination of snow, ice, and slush.  We were not prepared with hiking poles, and the trail was treacherous in spots.  The river crossing was cumbersome and really not fun at all. Luckily, the only price we paid by not being prepared was that it took about 20 minutes to cross that same creek that we crossed today in minutes because we were prepared.  The rest of the trail also took extra time as we navigated slippery areas and hoped for the best.

We have also learned to be prepared with day packs containing first aid supplies JUST IN CASE and plenty of water.  As you can tell from the picture of me walking in the snow, I was carrying nothing with me - not the best idea for a 9 mile hike in the snow.  

School...the trail...life....be ready to make the absolute most of the experience - safely and enjoyably.  This is what I hope to teach my students.  

A Tribute to Prepositional Phrases

Today for some reason I kept thinking about prepositional phrases and how difficult it would be to explain today's walk without them.  This must be an English teacher phenomena.  There's just no other way to explain walking down about 900 stairs than using the prepositional phrase, "down the stairs."  I have this idea that prepositional phrases really don't get the credit they deserve, and my students have always had a difficult time recognizing them.  They don't add amazing descriptors to nouns and verbs like adverbs and adjectives do.  They're there for logistical reasons - more to serve a purpose than to make something beautiful.  When I think about it, if I had to pick a part of speech to be, I'd be either an adjective because of the sheer power of being able to help someone see, hear, smell, taste, or feel something OR an adverb because they help know EXACTLY how something is done, and I like the action of that.

Anyway...so today, I walked down the stairs (900 by the time I was done).....

...across the suspension bridge....back up the stairs (what goes down must of course go back up).....

...and looked over the gorge at the overlook on the other side of the trail (which, although I've been on this trail numerous times over the past 20 years, I've never done.)

Once on the South Rim of the trail, I crossed under this structure (and wondered what it was before now....)

...and around this bend to see a stone bench someone had carved under the tunnel.  

In summary, I walked down the stairs, across the suspension bridge, up the stairs, around the rim while looking across the gorge, back down the stairs and across the suspension bridge, back up the stairs to the beginning of the trail.  

NEXT TIME, I will get a pass so that I can hike into the gorge and swim in the river at the bottom of the gorge.  

Thanks, prepositional phrases.  I couldn't have written this post without you.

My Dog's an Extrovert

According to Psychologist Marti Olsen Laney, 2/3 of people are extroverts, which leaves the rest of us measly 1/3 introverts feeling outnumbered to say the least. Many people think that the term introvert is synonymous with being anti-social. However, the real difference lies in where one gets his/her energy. An extrovert gets ones energy from being around other people and scans the external world to gather stimuli in order to fuel ones brain and body, while an introvert gets ones energy from one's inner self, ones thoughts, feelings, personal reflection, and quiet time. Depending on your temperament, both are acceptable and normal sources of energy. With that said, my dog is definitely an extrovert. We hiked the perimeter trail at VB today, only 3 miles or so, but I was carrying a 35lb backpack. I am starting to train with it in preparation for my first solo, overnight backpacking trip. We were hiking along, and I was thinking about my upcoming trip and various other things, while trying to reinforce proper leash walking with my dog. She doesn't pull too badly, but she is still working on it. To give some positive encouragement, I called her to me and talked sweetly to her. She, of course, soaked it up and buried her head in my legs, wagging her tail and perking up significantly. The difference in her demeanor was drastically different than before. After a few moments, I said, "Let's go," and she took off on the leash, forgetting any prior training. When she hit the end of the leash, she looked back as if to say, "What, aren't you coming?" That's when I thought it - my dog's an extrovert!

The Light at the End of the Tunnel....My Version

I'll be honest.  Sometimes, my favorite sight at the end of a long hike is the glimpse of silver at the end of the trail.  Do you see it?  That's my car, which means that we're back at the trail head.  My car.... *whew* .... it signifies so much after a long, hot hike: the relief of taking off heavy boots and putting on sandals, the promise of air conditioning on a comfortable ride home, and rest.

Today, I glimpsed this beautiful sight after 8 1/2 miles on the trail.  It was an elevation gain of about 1,000 feet, mostly on the way back.  We hiked the 8 1/2 miles in 3 1/2 hours, so our hiking stamina is definitely increasing.

Today, my favorite steps on the trail were these last 6 up the stairs and back to the car.

Oh yeah - it was a great hike.  We hiked to Station Cove Falls, which Jenny and I hiked to Wednesday...only Wednesday, Jenny and I hiked from Oconee Station for a pretty level mile.  Today we hiked it from Oconee State Park on a 4 mile one way trail....down to see the falls, then back up to the trail head.  

Noticing the Details, Slime Mold, and Uncomfortable Hikes

This past weekend I visited Smithgall Woods Georgia State Park with some close friends to go on two different hikes. It was a beautiful day where we could all celebrate our friendship, spending time together, and the beautiful world that we live in. The trails meandered through lush woods, with some parts on pavement, some on worn trails, and a number of "this is NOT a trail!" moments.

 

One of my friends on the journey is also an art teacher.  In my last post, I mentioned getting distracted by the details along the trail-- I think it must be an art teacher thing! We were both getting called to catch up because we had stopped to take photographs of colors, patterns, the light filtering through the trees, and (my personal favorite) SLIME MOLDS!  

 This one is my favorite! I am incredibly inspired to make art based on this photo...stay tuned for results

My sister the biologist/ ecologist identified this as "dog vomit" slime mold. SO COOL.

I think that noticing details along the hike is a little characteristic of my teaching style... I can see the big picture, but I take the time to focus and give attention to the smaller details. This takes action in my teaching. I feel that it is important to celebrate small, sometimes overlooked, successes to make students feel special and encourage their creativity. 

Beautiful textures, colors, and patterns... Small creative successes.

Now to the next important lesson that the trail (or not trail) reminded me of. Keeping a positive attitude, staying patient, and staying persistent throughout the tough stuff. This is something that I really struggled with throughout my first year teaching. The second hike that we went on was on a trail that required hiking up and down large hills and fording 2 large creeks (YAY!). I was SO EXCITED to start this hike. It was a little off the beaten path and I got to jump in and hike through creeks. 

There were a number of times when we had to bust out the map to figure out where we were headed... But I was still having a blast.

The trail was awesome until we came to an open firebreak with an un-mowed path and TICKS. My friend found 6 ticks on his leg. BLECKKKK! I grew up in suburbia- piano lessons, neighborhood swim team, playing on my backyard swing set-- nice non-tick activities. I immediately clammed up- I stopped talking, smile wiped off my face... NOT A HAPPY CAMPER. I moved to the back of the line and let the rest of the group do a little bushwhacking while I took some time to reflect. I realized that I needed to take this as a learning opportunity to recognize the things that we going right that day and how lucky I was to be in nature among friends. I needed to quit sweating the small stuff and "keep calm and move on." After a few minutes of prissy pouting I was back to my normal positive attitude and happy to continue on with the hike. 

Then my friend chased me with a dead snake. I can't find too much of a lesson in that one.

 Until next time, I will be preparing for my cross country journey with my sister. Happy trekking :-)