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I am in incredibly proud to call Tennessee home. Of course, I didn’t truly appreciate my home state until after I left. But now, when I visit, I relish being home. While I was born in East Tennessee and that’s where my family remains, I also spent five years outside of Nashville, so I consider Middle Tennessee as much my home as I do East. My parents live about 30 minutes from the Great Smoky Mountains. You can even see them in the skyline from their home. If you’ve never seen the Smokies, you are truly missing a treat!

One of my favorite things to do is hike. It’s the best form of sweatbetes ever, and I can take my dogs along! I don’t make it home as often as I’d like, and when I do, it’s usually a rushed trip meaning no time to hike in the beautiful mountains. But Monday, I found time. I took the girls and we set out to reach Clingmans Dome. Unfortunately, the sun setting kept us from making it all the way to the top, but we were close. (While beautiful, the mountains are no place I want to be after dark — at least not without a tent and another person. And maybe bear repellant.) The views, as usual, were breathtaking. I feel close to God when I’m in nature. To think He made such incredible and complex beauty is amazing, awe-inspiring. I got a late start Monday but Thursday, I hope to leave early enough to hike Mt. Le Conte. It’s the highest point in the Smokies, and I’ve never hiked it but always wanted to. A park ranger told me Monday there’s a good chance there could even be snow atop Le Conte Thursday. I sure hope so.

Back to the sweatbetes… if you haven’t tried hiking, you definitely should! If you look around and watch nature, it doesn’t even feel like exercise. Sure, you break a sweat, but you’re not gasping for breath like when you, OK, when I run. And if you’re spiritual, there’s no better place to connect with God. Throw your bible study in your pack and when you find a spectacular view, sit and have some one-on-one time with your Maker.

I knew I was I hiking Monday, so I wanted to set myself up for good numbers Sunday night. Just before bed Sunday night, I was low, about 67. I ate two glucose tablets and went to bed figuring it wasn’t low enough to stay awake and recheck and two tabs wouldn’t skyrocket me. I woke up Monday morning with a 300. What the fructose? How on earth did that happen? I treated it and managed to come back down to around 200. I ate a hearty breakfast before leaving the house. I packed a sandwich, snacks, juice and other essentials for diabetic hiking. (Diabetes adds 10 pounds to your pack, I swear.)

As I drove up the mountain, my blood sugar continued to rise. It reached 400 before I could park at Newfoudland Gap where the hike began. I questioned whether to turn back. I knew if I had ketones, exercise wasn’t particularly a good idea. But hiking would also lower my blood sugar which is also the reason I was scared to over-bolus. I had changed my site that morning and wondered if that was the problem. Maybe I had a kink. I had a vial of Humalog and a syringe, so if I didn’t come down, I could adjust. While trying to figure out whether to go ahead with my hike, the arrow on my CGM finally leveled out. About 20 minutes later, I had the diagonal down arrow I’d been waiting for. I leashed the dogs, grabbed my pack and hit the dusty trail. (OK, actually I hit the paved trail because Clingmans Dome Road is closed for the season and it was one of two trails I could take the dogs on).

From the trailhead, it is seven miles to the top. There’s a store at the top, along with spectacular views. I needed to be back by sunset though, so I had to turn around before reaching the top. I’m not sure how far I hiked, but I figure about 8-10 miles based on how long I was gone. It was a beautiful, peaceful hike. Since it was a closed road, I didn’t even leash my dogs. The only people I encountered we’re two cyclists making their way up. (Major props to those two guys (even if they were Oregon Duck fans.) That hike is straight up. They made it back down as I was loading up the car and they made it all the way to the top. I’m impressed with anyone who can bike that!)

On my way up, I kept a close eye on my sugars. I came down to 160 and decided to eat half my sandwich and swig some Gatorade. On the way down the mountain, I cruised a steady 118-120. Now that’s the kind of sweatbetes I’m talking about! So now my fingers are crossed the weather allows me to make it to Le Conte on Thursday.

What about you? Do you hike often? If you’re not a gym fan, like me, what’s your favorite form of sweatbetes?

**This post was published from my phone, so please forgive any errors or photo issues. It will be edited later. **