2010 08 01 karen comes to visit

Susan Donnelly Ultramarathon Trail Runner. Motivational Speaker. http://www.susanruns100s.com

Karen Comes to Visit Date : August 1, 2010

Me and my sis.

July 24 – 25, 2010. Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials. – Lin Yutang

I love spending time with my sister and don’t get to do it enough. We’re alike in many ways and opposite in others, and no one can make me laugh like she does and she is, after all, my sister.

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A few years ago when I sat down to list the handful of things that truly matter to me the most so I’d know where to spend my energy and time, my family was an easy entry. I find as many opportunities to see them as I can and never pass up a chance, like last weekend when Karen came up to visit for her birthday. She loved spending her birthday in the Smokies last year, likes to be outside, and needed a change of pace from Florida, so we decided to do some trails in the Smokies that were new to her.

Enforced posing on a mossy split split rail fence.

Big Creek (6 miles) The Smokies offer tons of great trails – there are no bad ones – so when I asked Karen her preferences to narrow down the zillion options, she said she’d like to be near water. Big Creek was the obvious choice since it follows beautiful Big Creek the entire way and it was new to her. Our plan was to hike at least to the bridge and get our own swim in along the way.

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Funny, we didn't even know we dressed alike until the photo.

On a hot, humid summer day like today, Big Creek was absolutely packed. Every picnic table was occupied, the parking lot had overflowed onto the adjacent road, and the swimming holes were filled with kids and adults cooling off and generally splashing around.

One of Karen’s hobbies is photographing butterflies, which, until now, I hardly ever noticed. I wouldn’t have expected many in the Smokies because it’s cooler up here but they were everywhere. I’d just never noticed them and now was seeing the trail through Karen’s eyes.

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Pretty mushroom.

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Indian pipe.

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One of the many butterflies we saw along the way.

I had a hard time at first taking the trail slow and making so many photograph stops (is this how Rob feels with me?). Families with small kids, older adults shuffling with canes, and people clearly not in good shape were passing us and I was chagrined to realize that I had to consciously hold a lid on deeply ingrained race instinct. When I finally tuned out the passing people and started looking at what Karen was looking at, I saw the tiny world even I usually miss in a leisurely run when I’m looking for things on the side of the trail.

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Mouse Creek Falls.

When we reached the bridge, we had the place to ourselves. Karen took to a deep blue pool below the bridge like a fish and I joined her (at least up to my knees), while Rob watched our stuff on the bank. Even a brief shower didn’t deter her. The water washed away the sticky sweat and cooled us down. Afterwards, Karen sat on a rock and soaked in the scenery while Rob and did the same from the bank. So peaceful.

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Cooling off.

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The view upstream is beautiful.

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Taking it all in.

We walked up the trail a little further to a nice beach where we could poke around and see what was living in the creek. Rob polished his skill at skipping stones.

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Rob skipping stones like the Ohio native he is.

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Yeah, it's a good day.

Karen and I ended the hike with another dip in the pool below the bridge at the picnic area. The perfect end to a great day.

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Soaking the legs before we head home.

Alum Cave Bluff (5 miles) The next day, Karen opted for something different – views with, of course, water. The best choice was the classic Alum Cave Bluff hike, which she’d probably hiked while growing up but didn’t remember.

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At the trailhead.

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Postcard Smokies.

This was another bizarrely hot day in the park and it was hard to keep Karen out of the cool, enticing pools of Alum Cave Creek on the first half of the trail. I couldn’t blame her. I was sweating buckets in my tank top and shorts so a dip would have been a relief but we had a definite destination today and needed to stay at least remotely focused.

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She's tempted but has to wait until the return trip.

At higher elevation than yesterday, stray rhododendron blossoms still decorated part of the early trail. The elevation and dark woods at the start also meant fewer butterflies but the views of the creek are so beautiful, Karen had plenty to photograph.

We climbed up through Arch Rock, a fun novelty, and after more climbing eventually emerged on the open rocky, heath bald of Inspiration Point where there’s a huge view of the long valley over the next ridge and all the little mountains folds in between. We soaked up the view for a moment and continued climbing past mountain laurel and the daintier but tougher-working sand myrtle. Our destination was near.

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Rob taking notes.

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Climbing through Arch Rock.

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Heading up.

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Yet more climbing.

The reward for me at the huge, whitish bluff was seeing it through Karen’s eyes. The place never fails to impress and since it was late afternoon, we even had this eminently popular place to ourselves.

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So glad we made it!

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Weird, but we dressed alike again today by accident. Sisters.

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Taking in the view.

We all hated to leave, since that meant not only the end to the weekend but the end of Karen’s visit and Karen leaving the park for probably another year.

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Another good day. Hate to go.

You can always find the good in something bad if you look hard enough and this time it found us. As Karen and I were descending toward Inspiration Point, we heard a bird of prey’s scream, saw a large, bluish bird fly around Peregrine Peak halfway across the valley, then back to its perch. We grabbed Karen’s binoculars and looked. A peregrine falcon sat regally on the dark rock outcrop, surveying it’s kingdom. Wow. So unexpected. This was actually another item on my dream list I could now cross off and I never would imagined it would happen here, today.

Of course, we had to polish off the day with another dip in the creek. We say we need to soak our legs and feet but it was really just an excuse to hang out and watch the water.

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It's not a summer Smokies trip unless you get in the water.

That evening, the three of us reminisced over the weekend’s sights and wondered where the time went. It’s hard to have time fly by but that’s also the sure sign of a good weekend.

On Monday, her birthday, I took Karen to the airport and said goodbye. It was hard, when it felt like I’d just picked her up here moments ago, but I’m so glad we spent the weekend together.

These moments don’t come often but if it’s a choice between something that seems vitally important and something that really matters to you, it’s an easy choice. Decide what really matters in your life and put aside the nonessentials so you can make the really important stuff happen.

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Saying goodbye at the airport. Let's make "next time" soon!

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