My Sweet Things » Trail Dames

Trail Dames Hike ~ Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

Donna — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:17:46 +0000

Last Sunday I joined the Trail Dames for another fun adventure! We hiked Cheatham Hill to Kolb Farm Trails Loop at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. The 2,923 acre park preserves a Civil War battleground of the Atlanta Campaign. The park hosts 17.3 miles of walking trails and along the way you will see historic earthworks and cannon emplacements. There were many runners along along the trail and often you would hear a dame shout “runner on the left!’ With that said, we moved on over to the right of trail so the runners could move right along. We were pleasantly surprised with a call of “horses on the left!” and sure enough two beautiful horses and their riders made their way along the trail. I was delighted to meet the Park Ranger and his lovely horse as well.

Our group hike leader Cheryl sharing trail information and getting all the dames signed up and accounted for.

The Illinois Monument is the largest monument on the battlefield. The monument was created in honor of the 500 men from Illinois who died during this battle.

Stopping for a snack break!

“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” ~ Albert Schweitzer

For more information and to see if there is a Trail Dames Group near you click here. Click here and here to see more photos and read more of my Trail Dame adventures.

It’s all good. ~ Donna

Sweetwater Creek State Park ~ Trail Dames Hike

Donna — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:56:23 +0000

Saturday was a super great day as I joined the Trail Dames on a hike through Statewater Creek Park. The 2,000 acre park is located outside of Atlanta and has hiking trails throughout that pass along spots including the George H. Sparks Reservoir and the ruins of a cotton factory destroyed during the Civil War. The hiking paths are easy in some spots and there are some areas where some rock climbing is involved. It was a bit challenging and a whole lot of fun! Cheryl our group leader was so helpful and guided the Dames along the trail, ensuring our safety throughout the hike especially through the boulder section! I met some amazing, strong, funny, women who all enjoy the beauty of nature. We all love laughing and making new friends and that is a good thing!

A quick group photo before we hit the trail.

Gathering together to start our hike. We count out so we know how many Dames are in the group so we can keep track and make sure no one is left behind on our way out.

We begin our hike on the Historic path which will pass along the New Manchester Manufacturing Company.

This mill was built in 1849 on Sweetwater Creek. The mill produced yarn to form cotton and in 1861, the company had a contract with the Confederate Government to produce the materials for Confederate uniforms. In 1864 with so many men fighting in the Confederate Army, most of the employees of the mill were woman and their children. Sadly those women and children were arrested in July of 1864 when the Union Calvary captured the mill and village all around it. If they agreed to sign an “Oath of Allegiance” to the US Government they were released north of the Ohio River and Indiana. Those that did not sign the oath remained in prison until after the war ended. That my friends is a bit of Georgia history!

Sweetwater Creek

There are so many beautiful boulders all throughout!

One of the terrific things about the Trail Dames is that we have so many knowledgeable women who share the history of the area. Here we are taking a break and soaking up Georgia history.

Hello lovely! I had great love for this one and I gave it a big hug! Hug a tree, it’s good for your soul. Really now! There is even a lesson on how to hug a tree. Check it here!

Moving right along the trail you will find it can you give a bit of a workout as you will find the trail rocky as pictured above.

Here are the Dames, getting their heart rates up! There are several areas where climbing up and up is involved.

We take a few short breaks along the way and when we do, there is beauty all around. I love the color and textures we see all around us.

Trail Dames with Cheryl our guide right up front! Ladies, it was so nice meeting a lot of you for the first time. I so enjoyed our day and look forward to doing it all again soon!

For those interested in the Trail Dames, click here to check us out and click here to see another post from a past adventure I had with them.

It’s all good. ~ Donna

Trail Dames – Woody Gap Hike

Donna — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 02:08:49 +0000

Trail Dame time! My second hike with the Trail Dames was to Woody Gap. Once again we hiked on the Appalachian Trail. I am most proud of this hike as there were times where it was quite challenging and I was not so sure I could make it non-stop. A few times on this trail we came across flat ground which then led to downhill which was sweet until we started going up the steep incline and my heart was pumping going up those hills. I heard the Dames say “keep walking and don’t stop until you get to level ground again.” I listened and I love this bunch for their encouraging words! If you are in the Atlanta Area and love hiking and the company of great inspiring woman, check out the Trail Dames and join us!

The Trail Dames!

Not Dames. A Great Dane!

It’s all good. ~ Donna

P.S. – I left the 24-70 lens at home this time and carried the 50mm 1.8 so much lighter!

Trail Dames – Springer Mountain Hike

Donna — Thu, 20 May 2010 01:37:45 +0000

Hello Friends! I have missed you! I have been away from writing for a few weeks but I have been keeping up reading all your lovely blogs and adventures! Speaking of adventures, I want to share my new adventure. I joined a wonderful women’s hiking group in April and I have completed two hikes with the wonderful, amazing, Trail Dames! Trail Dames is a hiking group started by the lovely Anna Huthmaker. I was looking to join a club of sorts where I could meet new friends that share common interests. One trip to Google and I found a site called Meetup. Meetup is a site where you type in your interests and your zip code and they pull up hundreds of different groups to join. I enjoy the outdoors and love hiking so when I found Trail Dames I was super excited! I read their bio and recognized Anna! My older son attended Violin lessons at her Violin shop Huthmaker’s. On hike days we meet up at Huthmaker’s to gather, sign in and carpool. The shop is 5 minutes from my house so perfect! This was meant to be.

On April 18th, I met the Dames, signed in and hopped in car with three lovely ladies that I had never met and started out on a 2 hour drive to the trail. When we stopped at Starbucks I knew this was a good thing for me! My first hike with the Trail Dames was to Springer Mountain and we climbed up to the Southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. The climb itself was .9 miles up and back down. Not a long distance but so fun and so beautiful! This hike was an anniversary hike for the Dames celebrating their 3rd Birthday. Springer Mountain was the first hike for the group so every year they go back there to celebrate. Celebrate we did! We popped the Champagne and had chocolate, and strawberries when we reached the top of the mountain. Really! How awesome is that?!

On the road!

Getting out our gear.

The Appalachian Trail goes all the way to Maine! 2,160 miles!

The trail starts at Springer Mountain and ends in Katahdin, Maine.

Pretty flowers in bloom.

Rocky Trail. Trekking poles really help and I highly recommend using them!

Hello Butterfly!

On the trail I carried my Canon 40D and with my 24-70 lens. It was a bit heavy but not so bad and I was glad to have it.

Dames on the Trail.

View from the top!

Champagne!

Strawberries and Chocolate!

Cheers!

Dames enjoying the great company and the view!

This is Sterling. He started the trail and is hiking solo all the way to Maine! He was so kind to take a group photo with all our cameras!

Trail Dames! This photo is from April’s camera posted on the Trail Dames Meetup site.

Happy Birthday Trail Dames! Yes, we had cake after we walked back down to the bottom of trail. Sweet! Just for the record. They usually do not have cake, champagne, chocolate and strawberries on every hike. I did ask!

So Happy to be a Trail Dame!

It’s all good. ~ Donna