“We climbed through Linville Gorge yesterday and pulled out at Table Rock around 10 p.m.” reports MST Endurance Run expedition coordinator Chuck Millsaps. “It was a great hike. Been a few years since I was in there so The Chimneys were a bit daunting in the dark but we figured it out.”

The aforementioned The Chimneys is a prominent and popular climbing area on the east rim of Linville Gorge. The MST manages to squeeze through The Chimneys on shelf trail that, in spots, is sheer rock face on your immediate right (heading north, as Van Deren is doing), sheer drop to your immediate left. Attention getting in daylight, more so in the dark, especially after you’ve been on the trail since daybreak. The Chimneys are less than a half mile from Table Mountain, where the crew ended Day 6 — another wet one, Millsaps reports — last night.

After putting in this morning at Table Rock, Van Deren will head northeast toward the appropriately named Ripshin Ridge in the Wilson Creek area. Van Deren won’t find relief from the brutal, wet conditions that have accompanied her the last three days. Wilson Creek is the land of waterfalls and multiple creek crossings, most of the rock-hop variety. Not great news for a trekker whose feet are showing the soggy wear of up to 20-hour days on the trail.

“Very blistered feet on DVD so we are taking 10-mile increments and making decisions on ‘What next?” to keep her safe,” reports Millsaps.  “Will not make Beacon Heights tonight but will come thru there tomorrow most likely.”

Beacon Heights is the point at which the Mountains-to-Sea Trail climbs out of Wilson Creek and rejoins the Blue Ridge Parkway for its last 88 miles in the mountains. She’ll hike more technical (rocky, rooty) trail along the base of Grandfather Mountain for 8 miles, get brief relief for a couple miles beyond the Boone Fork parking area, then face her last technical stretch as the trail runs through the Price Lake area spending a fair amount of time in Bee Tree Creek.

After a wet crossing of Boone Creek, Van Deren should have smooth sailing for the remaining 70-or-so miles of MST in Appalachians.

Sunday, Day 4 of the MST Endurance Run, began on schedule for Diane Van Deren with a 3:45 a.m. wake up call. After getting off the trail the previous evening at 9:36 with Annette Bednosky, her trail guide for the weekend, she’d gotten her first good night’s sleep — 4 hours. She arrived where the Mountains-to-Sea Trail passes the Folk Arts Center in Asheville ready to rock a 43.8-mile day.

The mischievous Southern Appalachian Mountain gods had other plans.

On Thursday, Van Deren began her quest for a speed-record crossing of the 1,000(ish)-mile Mountains-to-Sea Trail, descending from the murky 4:30 a.m. dark of Clingman’s Dome en route to Jockey’s Ridge on the Atlantic, hopefully on May 30. By Sunday morning, she had covered 134.3 miles.

I tagged along with Van Deren and Bedonsky for the first five miles Sunday, a steady climb into the Craggy Mountains that began dry but evolved into a steady drizzle. No big deal to Van Deren, who once trekked 430 miles across Canada’s frozen tundra in the Yukon Arctic Ultra.

“The rain is meditative to me,” Van Deren said as she applied a fresh dose of moleskin at mile 5 Sunday morning. “It’s like music.”

That music was about to turn from Neil Diamond to Iron Maiden.

Welcome to My Nightmare

I peeled off at Craven Gap to perform my journalistic duty, with plans to reconnect early afternoon somewhere in the Mount Mitchell area. My journalistic duty took longer than expected, and by the time I was ready to reconnect, it was mid-afternoon. By then, the Craggy and Black mountains were enshrouded in thick (20-foot vis) clouds in a steady, drenching rain. As I drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway from NC 80 at 15 miles an hour, hunched over the steering wheel, a thought occurred: This is ridiculous. There’s a much faster and safer way to get to the top of Mitchell.

So I turned around, drove to the Black Mountain Campground and began the 5.6-mile, 3,600-foot climb to the highest point east of South Dakota’s Black Hills, 6,684-foot Mount Mitchell.

Mount Mitchell Trail is in considerably better shape than the first time I hiked it in the mid-1990s. At the time, it took the National Forest Service trail philosophy that essentially denies the existence of switchbacks. It followed path-of-least-resistance drainages, for the most part, resulting in a rocky, steep climb that was typically wet, often flowing. The trail came to resemble more of a trail when it became part of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

Despite the MST upgrades, it remains a steep, rocky, rooty, wet trail. Saturday afternoon, in a steady rain, it was as bad as it gets in warm weather. (Warm? Make that non-freezing; it was a wet 44 degrees.) The closer I got to the summit, the more I realized this would be a dicey descent, especially in the dark.

When I reached the top of Mitchell at 6 p.m. the place was deserted. No cars in the lot, the concession stand bolted shut. The wind was blowing, the rain was picking up. The mountain-top thermometer read 42 degrees. I found a sheltered spot and called expedition leader Chuck Millsaps with the Great Outdoor Provision Co.

I learned that the weather was even worse on the Craggy Mountain end. Van Deren and Bednosky had been pulled off the trail an hour earlier at Walker Knob, about 10 miles from the summit. The plan was to get Van Deren rested, let her feet heal, then resume at 5 a.m. the next morning.

I looked at my watch: It was 6:16. Sunset was in a little over two hours; darkness would come sooner in a cloudy forest. I skedaddled down the mountain and made it to my tent as Sunday faded to black.

Feets Don’t Fail Me Now

I mention my roll here mainly because of the accompanying photo (see below). I only spent 31 miles on the trail this weekend, both with Van Deren and trying to track her down. Yet those 31 miles of wet, rocky, rooty Appalachian Mountain trail trashed my trail runners (look closely and you’ll see the seam at my big toe is busted open, on both shoes) and my feet. When I finished those 31 miles and went to take my shoes off, I thought my feet were just wet. They were bloody as well. And those dark toenails aren’t the result of Goth toenail polish; they’re a sign that we’ll be parting ways by week’s end. That’s the damage done by just a fifth of the miles Van Deren has logged.

Van Deren is an elite athlete with the mental and physical wherewithal to cruise into Jockey’s Ridge on May 30 — or earlier. Provided the cantankerous Southern Appalachian Mountain gods let her emerge from their 300-mile reign with her feet in tact.

I talked with expedition leader Millsaps early this morning. Van Deren and trail guide Doug Blackford made it to the Woodlawn Work Center off US 221 yesterday afternoon at 5:30. That was the good news. The bad news: the rain continues and today’s route through the Linville Gorge includes a rock-hop crossing of the Linville River just below the gorge. The rain-swollen river is running high according to the USGS, very high, at 600 cubic feet per second.

“A crossing is unadvisable,” Millsaps said.

Van Deren has made clear from the start that her MST Endurance Run isn’t a race, it’s an expedition.

The Southern App Mountain gods are seeing to that.

——
Joe Miller writes about fitness and adventure in North Carolina, primarily through his Web site, GetGoingNC.com. He’s the author of three books, including “100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina” (2007, Mountaineers) and “Backpacking North Carolina” (2011, UNC Press). He’s currently working on another book, “Adventure Carolinas,” due out in Fall 2013 from UNC Press. And, he’s a trail runner.

Join us for food, music and awesome raffle drawing!

The Raffle

Help us support the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail by purchasing Raffle Ticket!

Tickets are being sold in each of our shops OR you can buy them online at the FMST website.

Music at the Shops

GREENVILLE
5pm Lightnin’ Wells (Blues)

RALEIGH
1pm Old Habits (Bluegrass Trio)
5p Little Windows (Appalachian, Irish, and Traditional Country songs and tunes)
Mark Weems – vocals, guitar, fiddle, banjo
Julee Weems – vocals, bodhran, flute
Joe Ayers – banjo, guitar

GREENSBORO
5p The Bluegrass Blend (Bluegrass)
Kent Dowell – banjo
Garry Poole – guitar
Mike Casstering – mando
Robert Spry – acoustic bass

CHAPEL HILL
5p Clay Buckner from the Red Clay Ramblers & John Worthington from the Shelby’s ( Amercana, Old-Time, Swing)
Clay – fiddle
John – guitar

WILMINGTON
5p Stable Hands (Americana Folk)
Hank Weddington – Vocals and guitar
Frank Bruno – Vocals and guitar,(Bruce Springstein’s cousin, has performed with Bruce)

WINSTON-SALEM
5p Wyndy Trail Travelers (Bluegrass)
Bryan Thomas Bogenberger- Mandolin/Vocals
Tyson Morrow – Lead guitar/Backing Vocals
Court Wynter – Upright Bass
Kendall Huntley – Banjo

A large building loomed out of the dark woods to our right.

“Is that the Folk Arts Center?” Annette Bednosky asked slightly perplexed. It was — the very same Folk Arts Center we’d set off from 15 minutes earlier, at 5:01 this morning.

“Well,” said Diane Van Deren, “we just did a 14-minute warmup lap.”

To Van Deren, it was a “so-what” moment. When you’re spending up to 20 hours a day for 21 days hiking a thousand miles, what’s 15 minutes?

This morning was the start of Day 4 of Van Deren’s attempt to break the speed record for trekking the entire Mountains-to-Sea Trail, from Clingman’s Dome on the Tennessee border to Jockey’s Ridge on the coast. Her MST Endurance Run is sponsored by The North Face (Van Deren is one of the outdoor gear company’s elite athletes) and the Great Outdoor Provision Co. The goal: raise awareness — and $40,000 — for the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, a work-in-progress trail spanning North Carolina.

Since starting her quest before dawn on Thursday, Van Deren has covered about 145 miles. This morning wasn’t her first wrong turn. “We walked around for about an hour on Clingman’s Dome trying to figure out where the trail went,” Van Deren says of Thursday morning’s fogged-in 4:30 a.m. start. “Finally we just picked a trail and went.”
Fortunately, it was the right trail.

Rockies, meet Southern Appalachians

In her first three days Van Deren, who has lived in Colorado nearly all of her 52 years, has tried to get a handle on hiking the rugged Southern Appalachians.

“On the first day it wasn’t that I didn’t want to go faster, we just couldn’t because of the trail,” which she described as better suited for rock climbing in spots. After her 4:30 a.m. start, she and her trail guide for the day, Dennis Norris, pulled into their campsite for the night near Balsam Gap South at 2 a.m. Were it not for their support team’s chance encounter with a couple of locals, the two likely would have continued on until dawn, making for a 74-mile, 25-hour start.

On a map, the MST appears to snuggle up to the Blue Ridge Parkway near the gap. In reality, it’s a little over a mile. When GOPC support team members Chuck Millsaps and Joel Fleming got to the gap a little past midnight, they had no clue how to get down to the trail in the dark. As they were tromping around, a pickup pulled up.

“This voice said, ‘Are you boys lost?’” Fleming recalls. The two were … concerned.

The pair turned out to be a local couple, Wayne and Karla. They’d grown up in the area; in fact, Karla’s family had gone hiking in this very area. “Come on,” she said. “I’ll find the trail for you.” She did, then, worried that the pair might miss the Mountains-to-Sea connection in the pitch black, hiked down with them.

Sleep? Who needs sleep?

Van Deren is notorious for not needing much sleep — four to five hours a night tops, even on a long expedition. After she and Norris arrived at camp, ate and got settled into their tents — about 2:30 a.m. — Van Deren couldn’t sleep. She thought she heard rustling in Dennis’s tent next door.

“‘Dennis!’ I whispered. ‘Are you awake?’ Van Deren said. “I figured if he couldn’t sleep, either, we might as well get back on the trail.” There was no answer.

On the trail the next day, she mentioned the incident to Norris. “I guess you weren’t awake,” she said.

“Oh, I was awake,” Norris replied. “But I figured if you knew I was awake you’d want to get up and get back on the trail.”

A day on the trail

The Trail Guides’ main purpose is to help Van Deren navigate the often tricky MST. Brain surgery ended the epileptic seizures that had plagued her for 10 years, but resulted in collateral damage. She has trouble with time (“I’ll put dinner in the oven,” she says, “then forget about it until the next morning”). Her organizational skills are shot. And, most pertinent to the MST Endurance Run, she can’t read a map.

But the guides also provide welcome companionship. “I train in solitude, and most of my events I do alone,” she said before the run. “So I’m really looking forward to the company.”

In Bednosky, she has the company of a fellow elite ultra runner. The 45-year-old Jefferson resident is a member of the Montrail/Mountain Hardwear Racing Team and the USA Track & Field Distance Team. Their easy discussion throughout the day ranges from common acquaintances in the distance running world to cooking to sports bras.

Describing how she ate on a recent self-supported ultra event, Bedonosky says, “I had my bra jammed with everything but breasts.”

Van Deren, who, a little while earlier had discussed how she consults with The North Face on product design, adds, “The North Face Wanted to name a bra after me. Look at me: Why would they name a bra after me?”

Keep on trucking

In addition to not sleeping, Van Deren is also known for her relentlessly upbeat attitude.

Fleming recalls trying to get himself psyched up for Van Deren’s first rest stop on Day 1.

“I was thinking, I need to be a cheerleader. I need to lift their spirits,” he says. “Then Diane comes bounding in, waving her poles yelling, ‘We’re here! We’re here!”

“She’s easily the most positive person I’ve ever met,” says Fleming.

“She’s awesome,” adds Amy Hamm, the third member of GOPC’s support team. “She’s killing it.”

Van Deren was killing it early Sunday morning, her attitude buoyant even after Bednosky estimated that the day’s especially challenging 43.8-mile leg, from the Folk Arts Center to NC 80 at the Blue Ridge Parkway including a long climb up 6,684-foot Mount Mitchell, which would be delayed until Monday morning due to weather. Buoyant even after stopping to swaddle her blistered soles in duck tape. Buoyant even as a light drizzle evolved into a steady rain, which the forecast predicted would evolve further, into afternoon thunderstorms.

“I’m having fun,” she said at a brief rest stop five miles in. Then, turning to Bednosky, she said, “Let’s go, coach!”

——
Joe Miller writes about fitness and adventure in North Carolina, primarily through his Web site, GetGoingNC.com. He’s the author of three books, including “100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina” (2007, Mountaineers) and “Backpacking North Carolina” (2011, UNC Press). He’s currently working on another book, “Adventure Carolinas,” due out in Fall 2013 from UNC Press. And, he’s a trail runner.

It held a lot! The first day included 60+ miles that included the new section of the Mountains-To-Sea Trail, likely the first time this section has been traveled in one single outing. A brief rest came that evening as she climbed to the where the trail meets the Blue Ridge Parkway was an amazing adventure with over 65 miles covered as Diane Van Deren climbed the MST just below Richland Balsam, the Blue Ridge Parkway’s highest elevation. Getting to that first night’s campsite was just a bonus to the adventure.

Knowing that Diane and guide runner Dennis Norris had been on the trail for over 22 hours we wanted to set up camp as close as possible to the trail. Yet accessing the MST from the BRP in this area is tricky, especially at midnight when you have not slept in 48 hours. (and that is just the conditions of the support team!) So while we were walking the Parkway in the effort to access the spur trail a truck stops to offer assistance. This was the only vehicle that had passed during the 45 minute period we had been scouting the area. The window rolled down slowly and the driver asked “Can we be of help?” Little did they know how a family connection from years ago would support the Mountains-To-Sea Trail today!

Karla and Wayne not only knew of the trail they informed us that we were about 1 mile off and escorted us to the trail head. Wait. It gets better! Karla’s Uncle, Earl Ammons, use to deer hunt this area years ago and would take her on hikes. She and Wayne had just hiked out to the Devil’s Courthouse and they were up for another midnight hike. They had heard of Diane and were inspired by her story and wanted to help.

The couple guided us down through the woods and showed us where the MST horseshoes around a bald creating a situation where we could miss Diane if we chose the wrong path. This short clip below tells the story. Thanks Karla and Wayne!

Proceeds from Van Deren’s appearance, part of The North Face’s Never Stop Exploring Speaker Series, were benefitting the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Van Deren hadn’t heard of the MST, so Dixon obliged with an elevator speech. Because she figured Van Deren might be interested, she mentioned that a runner, Matt Kirk, had just completed the entire trail in record time.

“How long did it take?” Millsaps recalls Van Deren asking.

“Twenty-four days,” Dixon replied.

Millsaps could see the wheels turning. “I wonder if it could be done in less time than that … ,” Millsaps recalled Van Deren saying.

By the end of the evening the groundwork was laid for the MST Endurance Run.

Starting today from atop Clingman’s Dome, Van Deren will head east on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in the hopes of reaching Jockey’s Ridge State Park sometime on May 30. If she can cover the roughly 930-mile trail in those 21 days it would eclipse Kirk’s record, set last year, of 24 days, 3 hours and 50 minutes.

Just one caveat to Van Deren’s race against the clock.

“It’s not a race,” Van Deren says. “It’s an expedition. If it’s raining and slippery, I don’t want to risk turning a foot. I just want to be in the moment. I don’t want to be pushing it through the Smokies. I want to enjoy the views.”

It may seem a curious approach for a professional athlete who’s had the urge to compete as long as she can remember. In the third grade she pretended to be a boy so she could play in a boy’s-only baseball league, she won high school state championships in golf and tennis in Colorado, and she left high school early for the pro tennis tour during its Billy Jean-Martina-Chrissy-Tracey hey day. She doesn’t deny her competitive drive. It’s just that in the 1990s her life profoundly changed, giving her a new perspective.

After leaving pro tennis, she began having what she calls “de ja vu moments. … They were these funny sensations that I thought everyone had.”

Eventually, the “funny sensations” evolved into full-blown seizures — not unlike one she’d had years earlier, when she was 16 months old. The seizures continued, drugs didn’t help. Finally, a new physician identified the problem: Van Deren had epilepsy. He was able to pinpoint the “focus” of the seizures in her brain; that portion of her brain was removed. The seizures stopped, but there was fallout: Her organizational skills suffered, she had trouble with time and she can’t read a map to save her. Her brain became … jumbled.

But she quickly discovered something that offered clarity: running. And the longer she ran, the better she felt. In 2002, she started running long distances competitively.

Her race/expedition schedule provides her with lots of clarity. She’s gotten plenty of relief over the years from the Hardrock 100, which, with a total of 33,000 feet of climbing, is arguably the hardest 100-mile run around. She’s done it seven times (she’s registered for an eighth, a month after she runs across North Carolina.) Also good for the mind, the Yukon Arctic Ultra 300-mile race, which she won in 2008. She found so much relief in that race that she did the 430-mile version the following year, coming in fourth.

“It’s like candy to a child,” Van Deren says of running’s impact on her brain injury. “You hear your feet, your rhythm, your breathing, but not the noise of society,” she says. “It’s healing. It’s very comforting to me.”

Some have described her ability to zone out and run punishing distances without appearing punished as her “super human power.”

“If I do have a super human power, it’s gratefulness,” she said last week as she wrapped up training at her home south of Denver. “I have my life back after having seizures for 10 years. To go through what I’ve gone through and not have to think, ‘What if … ‘ anymore … . I’m grateful every time I get to the finish line.”

To get to the finish line at Jockey’s Ridge on May 30 Van Deren has been taking long runs out the front door of her family’s home along Colorado’s Front Range. Their house — she’s married with three kids — abuts the Pike National Forest, where a variety of trails snake into the foothills. For extra credit she’ll head south toward Colorado Springs and run up 14,110-foot Pikes Peak.

She’s run races with loads of elevation change (the Hardrock 100). She’s run in horrendous conditions (the Yukon Arctic Ultra). And she’s run races with scary names (the 78-mile Canadian Death Race). Still, the MST Endurance Run is more than twice as far as she’s ever gone in a single event. How has she adapted her training for this particular challenge?

“I try to simulate what I’ll be doing for the event,” Van Deren says of her training. “For the Yukon, I’d go out at midnight with a 45-pound sled with 60 pounds of sand in it.”

For this month’s run she focused on doing back-to-back long runs. “I tried to train on tired legs,” she says. “I’d do 25 miles one day, then 20 the next, mostly running on rolly singletrack trail.”

Unlike most of her events which have aid stations and support, for the MST Endurance Run she’ll be on her own while she’s on the trail. (She will have a support team from Great Outdoor Provision Co. with her when she’s off the trail, and because her brain surgery left her unable to use a map, she’ll have trail guides running with her every day). Thus, she needs to carry everything she’ll need for the day — water, food, rain gear.

“I practiced carrying 12 to 15 pounds,” she says.

Hhaving the Rockies at her disposal has helped her prepare for speedy passage through the Smokies.

But again, it’s not a race.

“It’s a long event,” she explains. “It’s called an expedition because a lot happens along the way. Whatever happens, you have to work with that. You have to be willing to be flexible and move with those things rather than let them interfere.

“At the finish, I’ll know I’ve given it 100 percent, that I did my best. Whatever the outcome is, we’ll see. That’s how I go about approaching things. That’s what works for me.”

* * *

Follow Diane

Follow Diane Van Deren’s progress in the MST Endurance Run at MSTEnduranceRun.com on on Twitter, at www.Twitter.com/MSTEnduranceRun.

Read more about Diane Van Deren’s journey through epilepsy here.

——
Joe Miller writes about fitness and adventure in North Carolina, primarily through his Web site, GetGoingNC.com. He’s the author of three books, including “100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina” (2007, Mountaineers) and “Backpacking North Carolina” (2011, UNC Press). He’s currently working on another book, “Adventure Carolinas,” due out in Fall 2013 from UNC Press. And, he’s a trail runner.

Who is building the trail?
The Mountains-to-Sea Trail represents a creative partnership involving local communities and trail groups, land trusts, federal and state land agencies, private landowners, the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation, and Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

The trail is an official part of the state parks system, but segments of it are managed by different agencies and local governments. Local communities help connect the trail through links to greenways and urban trails. Land trusts help acquire land. Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail provides volunteers, support and serves as a clearinghouse for information.
How many miles of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail are finished?

The trail is open for hiking across the state. About 500 miles of dedicated trail — roughly half the planned length— has been completed to date. A series of connectors on bicycle routes and back roads knit together finished sections to span the state.



Do I need a permit to walk the Mountains-to-Sea Trail?

A backcountry permit is required for camping in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Backcountry permits are free and available at offices in the park. Permits are not required for hikers elsewhere on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.



How is the trail marked?
The blaze designating the Mountains-to-Sea Trail is a white dot, about three inches in diameter.
How long does it take to thru-hike the trail?

Hiking time varies depending on the speed and fitness of the hiker. A fair estimate for planning a hike is to allow two to three months to walk the trail. The sections currently located on state highway bicycle routes can be covered more quickly on bicycles.

People who plan to hike the entire trail are encouraged to contact Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, so we can provide information and help as needed and recognize your accomplishment when you finish.



What’s the best time of year to hike the trail?
Spring and fall months in North Carolina offer the best combination of cooler weather, scenic beauty and fewer biting insects.



How can I find the trail?

This Friends’ website has general descriptions of trail sections with mileage and information about available guidebooks.
Is shuttle service available for hikers?

Local outfitters and camping supply stores are often knowledgeable about shuttle services in their geographic areas.



What will I see along the route?

The Mountains-to-Sea Trail is as diverse as the state it showcases. Depending on the section of the trail, you may see mountain vistas, rolling Piedmont farms, picture postcard colonial towns, weathered tobacco barns, old textile villages, country churches, rushing mountain streams, coastal swamps, hardwood and pine forests, lighthouses, sand dunes and miles of seashore. There is so much to see — a little bit of most everything that makes North Carolina special including friendly people.



How many people have completed the trail?

The trail has been completed 31 times by 28 people . New hikers attempt it every year. If fact, the MST Endurance Run is Diane Van Deren’s attempt at the time record for completing the MST. She’ll runthe nearly 1,000 miles in just 21 days!

How was the route chosen?

Trail planners began by making use of existing trails on public lands and connected them to key natural features across North Carolina. By doing this, they developed a generalized trail corridor. After the Mountains-to-Sea Trail was adopted as part of the state parks system, parks planners worked with local communities and FMST to develop specific plans for particular areas.
When will the Mountains-to-Sea Trail be completed?

Just as the highway to the future is always under construction, the Mountains-to-Sea Trail remains a work in progress. With the help of more volunteers, the pace of progress has picked up in recent years. More than 24 miles were completed in 2009. Land along some sections of the trail corridor remains privately owned, and acquisition or easements will be needed to extend the trail. The eventual goal is a dedicated 1,000-mile footpath. But much like long-distance hikers, trail volunteers enjoy the progress on the journey toward the ultimate goal.

How can I get involved?

Good question! You can help in a variety of ways:

* You can Donate Now as we seek to raise $40,000 this Spring in an effort to build, prtect, and promote that Mountains-to-Sea Trail!

*You can volunteer to build trail and help in a variety of other ways.
* You can become a member by giving a tax-deductible donation to Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. The non-profit Friends group promotes the trail, coordinates trail building activities and serves as a clearinghouse for information.
* You can sign up for our e-mail newsletter so we can keep you informed of progress and opportunities to get involved.

Angie Houck

Going to the mountains is going home. – John Muir

Growing up just outside of Boone, NC, the great outdoors served as my playground. This wonderland was a virtual outdoor sanctuary where countless hours were spent frolicking and trekking in the woods.
Over the years, many of the hikes with family and friends spanned the trails from Linville to Deep Gap which now make up a portion of the Mountains to Sea trail.

In my youth, going to Price Park for a weekend camping trip and hiking the Boone Fork Trail was a joyous routine. In my more rebellious days of high school, the occasional day of hookie was well-spent hiking at Linville Gorge or Table Rock. All of these trails bring back vivid memories. These days, as a mother, I have the fortune of not only sharing those memories, but sharing the trail with my daughter allowing her to forge her own memories of exploration along the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

Now, living in Asheville, the Mountains-to-Sea Trail is once again my home trail. As much a part of Asheville as the Biltmore Estate without being flashy or commercialized, the trails easy accessibility for morning trail runs can set the frame of the perfect day. Moreover, for the moments that life demands a reprieve from reality, there’s something to be said for the silent serenity the trail offers as a reward for those willing to simply take time and hike through the woods for a moment of peace and reflection.

The proximity to Asheville makes the Mountains-to-Sea a top choice for local runners who prefer the trail to pavement, or folks who simply desire a quick hike after work.

Offering expanses of technical and rolling terrain without the necessity of crossing gritty fire roads, the Mountains to Sea trail is ideal for my training sessions. During a long run last weekend on the trail I commented to my running buddy how quiet the trail was that morning and how beautiful it was with all the purple irises and the may-apples with their pretty single white flowers in full bloom. This is why I love the Mountains to Sea, you can be caught up in the craziness of work and traffic one minute and then the next you are immersed in a woodland paradise of beauty and peacefulness.

Arthur C. Clarke once said, “the limits of possible can only be defined by going beyond them into the impossible.” When we heard that Diane Van Deren was thru-running the trail we were thrilled. As a woman who has dealt with many challenges in her life, yet never yielded to those challenges, Diane Van Deren’s goal of setting the speed record on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail is nothing short of inspiring. As Diane runs through the Asheville area my coworkers and I hope to have the opportunity to run with her and support her on her journey.

———–

Angie Houck is a Senior Account Lead & Sponsorship Director with Darby Communications in Asheville, NC. Angie broke into the outdoor industry at the Great Outdoor Provision Company in Raleigh, NC and Black Dome Mountain Sports in Asheville, NC. Angie is the Darby Comm go-to for athlete, team sponsorship and event marketing initiatives. She is not afraid to jump right into any project and relishes in new challenges, especially firing off press releases to inform and excite readers. When she’s out of the office Angie loves to hike, run, garden, and spend time with her family.

Scot Ward

The Mountains-to-Sea Trail … A thousand miles of pure adventure that is full of beauty in all the regions of North Carolina. To thru-hike the Mountains-to-Sea Trail is to spend 2-3 months on a 1,000 mile journey that will challenge you to go over the highest mountains on the east coast, through the rolling hills of the piedmont, the flat farmlands, the swamps and even nearly 100 miles of beach on the Atlantic Ocean. It’s more than a wilderness adventure it’s an opportunity to explore the entire state.

The small towns all along the trail have their own unique cultures and people. This is what drew me to hike the MST and write the Thru-Hiker’s Manual. After hiking the Appalachian Trail I started looking for ways to return something to the hiking community. I have followed several hiking guides for long distance trails, and while some of them were good, others were lacking information. I started to think about writing a guidebook and then I heard about the MST. Realizing that this trail was still rather new I thought I could help the trail grow in popularity with the hiking community by writing the guidebook for it. The first time I hiked the MST it was extremely difficult mentally because I went out there with no guidebooks, no maps, compass or gps and very limited directions. I got lost a lot. But I did this to make sure that I saw everything and that I wrote down everything I saw.

I figured that if I write the Manual good enough it would make maps unnecessary. If all of the resources were listed in quick reference form there would be no concerns about where to get water or where to end your day. When that stress isn’t there hikers can enjoy their experience even more. It’s tough enough to complete a thru-hike, so if I can help make it easier there will be more success with people attempting and achieving thru-hikes of the MST.

I have hiked the MST 4 ½ times to document the trail and update the Manual. While on these journeys I stop and talk with the locals, the store owners, and the churches trying to promote the experience and gain some community involvement. My goal is to see everybody involved with the trail and the long-distance aspect of it. Some store owners, private residents and a lot of churches have gotten involved by inviting hikers to use their property for a place to camp and get water. I would like to say thank you to all those who are helping to make the MST the best trail to thru-hike. My dream is to see at least 100 people finishing thru-hikes of the MST each year and to attend festivals that the towns will hold for these hikers as they pass through. It truly is an adventure that everybody can be a part of.

*To Matt Kirk, congratulations on a successful speed record. You set the bar pretty high for the rest of us.

*To Allen De Hart, Thank you for your continued dedication to the MST and your words of wisdom. Without Allen this dream could not become reality.

*And to Diane, This is an amazing story and challenging goal that you have set before yourself. I hope that every day is fun, filled with good adventures and good people. Good luck on the record attempt.
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Scot Ward is the author of The Thru-Hiker’s Manual for the Mountains-to-Sea Trail of North Carolina (East and West-bound). We relied heavily on the detail of his book to map Diane’s route. Scot is a “life-long adventure seeker & a modern day American pioneer.” Scot’s MST Manual provides every resource available to hikers who either thru-hike or day-hike and in the woods or in town. The manual is available through his website at www.thru-hiker.us.