Here’s a little synopsis of the Warrior Hike program:
In 1948, Earl Shaffer told a friend he was going to “walk off the war” to work out the sights, sounds, and losses of World War II. Four months later, Earl Shaffer became the first person to hike the entire length of the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine.
Following in Earl Shaffer’s footsteps and in recognizing the therapeutic effects of long distance hiking, Warrior Hike has created the “Walk Off The War” Program which is designed to support combat veterans transitioning from their military service by thru-hiking America’s National Scenic Trails.
But now, the program isn’t just about the A.T. They have several trails including the Arizona Trail, the Ice Age Trail and the Florida Trail.
Next year, they will include the Mountains-to-Sea Trail across North Carolina. It looks like new trails aren’t added all that often. The Warrior Hike organization provides logistical support as well as other help. So including the MST is a big deal.
The fundraising event will be on Saturday from 2 pm to 8 pm, featuring bands, beer and barbecue — and me. It’s at Atagahi Park, in the Connestee Falls estates. Just getting in to see these falls is probably worth the price of admission.
I’m eager to see people and walk, of course, but I also want to photograph the MST and its people, so I can enter, not one, but two photo contests. Neither have an entrance fee and both have great prizes.
Carolina Mountain Club photo contest. This is the first (hopefully) annual CMC contest. It has three categories: landscape, people on the trail, and plants and animals. You can only enter one picture per category, so choose carefully.
Mountain Laurel
The picture must have been taken on a hike that CMC has in its hike data base. So no pictures of your vacation in Maine. But the photo doesn’t have to have been taken on a CMC hike. That’s a good thing, since serious nature photographers don’t want a bunch of eager hikers around them.
A second but connected photo contest is sponsored by Friends of the MST.
Here you can submit your photos of North Carolina’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail — from Great Smoky Mountains National Park to the Outer Banks.
Photos will be judged by a panel of prominent judges in three categories:
– The View from the Trail
– People on the Trail
– Youth Photographer (17 and under)
The deadline for submitting photos: Saturday, October 31, 2015.
Lorie Hansen of Hendersonville has become the 50th person to complete the 1,000-mile hike across North Carolina. According to a Blue Ridge Now article, Hansen was very grateful for all the trail angels who helped her along the way. She found the logistics challenging. That’s the big problem – where to stay the night. Everything else is easy, much easier than the Appalachian Trail, to which it is always compared.
The majority of those completing the trail are much like Hansen, a first-time long distance hiker. She also represents the increasing number of women of all ages completing the trail. PJ Wetzel is also hiking the MST, in a leisurely manner and is now in Pisgah National Forest. He seems to be circling back to his van most nights, therefore walking the trail twice. Lorie and PJ actually met on the MST last month.
By the way, according to Blue Ridge Now, Lorie is 63 years old. PJ is certainly not much younger. As I keep saying, hiking is a “life sport”.
The first to complete the hike were long-time outdoorsmen Allen DeHart and Alan Householder in 1997. I was number 21, finishing in 2011. It seems such a long time ago that I completed the trail.
“We’ve got a long way to go to catch up with the Appalachian Trail, but it should be recognized that it was about 30 years between the first A.T. hiker and the 50th ” Kate Dixon, Executive Director of Friends of the MST said.
Congratulations, Lorie. Come out with Carolina Mountain Club. We’d love to hear your story.
About 225 (or was it 227) members showed up to learn the latest about the MST, renew friendships, and get tips on how to hike the trail.
Mike Murphy, head of the NC State Parks system, invited us all to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the state park system.
Yes, I know, that I’ve been mentioning the 100th anniversary of the National Park System but it’s also a big year for state parks. I think we can keep them straight. There will be major celebrations at Mt. Mitchell, the first NC park, and Fort Macon, the second. We are becoming the Great Trail State.
State Parks, with lots of help, is working on a master plan for the MST. The Statewide Master Plan will create the foundation needed to complete a continuous off-road hiking trail across North Carolina. The trail may also include paddle and biking alternatives. The hired firm that is actually writing the master plan will need input from MST enthusiasts like us. See their website.
Tom Earnhardt, writer and host of UNC-TV’s Exploring North Carolina, was the guest speaker. You’ve all seen him on Thursday nights. Tom is as enthusiastic in person as he is on TV. A lawyer by training and profession, he’s turned into a avid naturalist, a real renaissance man.
Tom started by praising walking. “Walking is the most noble form of transportation.” OK. He grabbed me from the beginning. He spoke about the importance of ground truthing. Maps and GPS are important but you have to get out there. You have to see and feel the ground: cold, wet, smell and feeling that you get by actually being in the place you describe.
He recalled his 10 to 12 year old self. No skepticism, no cynicism, no politics. His father took him to the Eastern Continental Divide around Bearwallow Mountain and explained that here half the water went to the Atlantic Ocean and half went to the Gulf of Mexico. That captured Tom’s imagination. The next thing he did was to bring all his 10 to 12 year old pals and they all peed to send their liquid both ways.
But most of his presentation was about the wonders of North Carolina. He threw out a lot of numbers, but you didn’t have to catch them all to understand why our state is so diverse biologically.
MST Completers
I had the privilege of moderating a panel of MST Completers.
Nine hikers finished the MST in 2014 and seven participated on the panel. They were a diverse lot. Two university students felt that it was a perfect trail for students because you could do it in a summer.
Two veterans scouted out the MST to see if it could be used for the Warrior Hike project. The hike is set for September.
The panel discussed what they thought the best part of the trail was. Almost everyone said “the people”. They loved walking the road because it brought them through small towns where they met locals. There were the usual practical questions about where to stay and how heavy were their packs.
I hope the panel and the whole annual meeting convinced a few more people to get on the trail. Because at the end, you have to ground truth the MST.
Sharon McCarthy, Smoky Scout, a CMC member and my Mountains-to-Sea Trail hiking partner, always says to mountain hikers You have to get out of the mountains, people.
And here’s the best way of getting out and seeing what’s happening on the MST east of Black Mountain Campground.
You’ll meet several important and interesting people in the Mountains-to-Sea Trail world. Here’s a run-down:
Tom Earnhardt, writer and host of UNC-TV’s Exploring NC, will the keynote speaker. Earnhardt just produced Highway to the Future, a gorgeous, informative program about the MST and where it is headed. Hearing him is worth the trip alone!
State Parks Director Mike Murphy will give an update on the MST master plan, 2016 State Parks Centennial and other issues. 2016 will be a busy year with the State parks and National Park centennials and – oh yes – the presidential election.
Howard Lee, who first publicly proposed the MST in 1977 and now on the board of Friends of the MST, will be there.
Of course, you’ll meet hikers, MST maintainers and dreamers.
Kate Dixon, Executive Director of Friends of the MST, has a special shout-out to CMC.
Jockey’s Ridge, end of the MST
“It’s a chance for devoted CMC maintainers to meet their counterparts from all over the state and to learn how what they have been building and maintaining is becoming part of a grand network all over North Carolina.”
Where’s Elon University? It’s between Winston-Salem and Durham, less than three hours from Pack Square in Asheville, just off I-40 E/I-85 N, exit 140. You can get in your car at 6:30 am and be here in plenty of time for your second cup of coffee.
If you’re interested in arriving on Friday, Friends of the MST has planned an afternoon guided hike on the MST, a casual networking dinner and discounts at a host hotel for staying overnight prior to the Annual Meeting. Surely you’re curious what the trail looks like once it leaves the mountains.
So get together with hiking buddies. Organize a car pool with your trail crew and come east. It will be fun – and in February – a lot warmer than the mountains.
Tomorrow I’m going on a
The 
Tom Earnhardt, writer and host of 
MST Completers
