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Hemphill Bald - GSMNP

October, 2008

This may look like a well-manicured lawn area, but I can assure you it isn't.  Hemphill Bald is one of the few maintained "balds" left in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Balds are naturally grassy areas at high elevation (this one is almost 6000') that were once used for grazing cattle.  Hemphill Bald can only be reached by hiking no less than ten miles, but as you can see, once there, it is a sight to behold.  This is looking off to the North Carolina side toward Asheville.  Hemphill Bald Trail runs the boundary line of privately owned property and the National Park.  The owners of this land have graciously built the table, the fence (to keep cattle out) and the log benches for use by hikers.  The trail runs just behind the table.   

The red backpack is mine.   We were combining some trails and this was going to be my longest mileage hike to date.  I was excited, but also a bit nervous as one always is when pushing themselves to new heights.  I remember being very diligent as I loaded my backpack.  There would be a very thin line between having exactly what I needed, but keeping the pack weight light.   Trying to carry a backpack too heavy has been the downfall of many a hiker.  Believe me, adding 10-20 pounds of weight to your back makes walking a whole different ball of wax.  Although it was a long hike, circumstances (it wasn't very hot, we were never far from civilization, etc.) dictated that we could hike with just the basics.  Problem was, just exactly what were the "basics."  

That's a little how I'm feeling today. Over the past few days, I've exposed my innards and come out swinging!  I feel free, light and ready to hit the ground running.  Trouble is, I don't know which way to run.  I've been doing this weight loss thing for so long I'm having to remind myself of the "basics."  So, for now, it's one hour at a time and some hours, thanks to Karen at Waisting Time's post written just for me, it's 20 minutes at a time.  For today, it's Dawn at It's My Time's voice in my head saying, "just eat clean, Sharon, just eat clean."   And for the rest of my life, it's yours truly saying, "let your "yes" be "yes" and your "no" be "no."  Those are some of the basics for today and they are working.  I've got to keep my "pack" light.

Thank you to Food Addict, Lisa and Deb for the honor of this award:

There are two rules for this award:  1) Summarize your blog's philosophy, motivation and experience in five words and 2) pass the award to ten others worthy blogs.   I'm going to abstain from passing the award along today because I want to find ten new blogs who haven't received this award and are putting something out there that is full of substance.  I may pass it along one at a time!!

My five word blog philosophy came to me almost immediately:

Encouragement For Myself and Others

It's been a busy day today.  More business to handle with mother-in-law.  Today would have been their 59th wedding anniversary - the first "event" hurdle to cross.   I wanted to spend most of the day with her and we had a lovely time that included a mixture of laughing, crying, planning for the future and of course, eating lunch.  I chose Aubrey's, a locally owned small chain of restaurants and I ate well.  Now, I am off to choir practice.