WEEK 3

Week 3

Phew! So much has happened in the last week! I have finished Segment 5, taking me out of the mountains and into the Piedmont, and I have also finished Segments 6 and 7. 

Let me give you a glimpse of what these segments entail then I will go into detail of my week, a week, that is starting to blur together with the previous weeks! I am so glad that for this journey I have kept up with a nightly journal to recap what each day has brought out here and look forward to sharing it with you all. 

So, Segment 5, according to the guidebook: it is 90.3 miles (8.3 of those are on the road) with easy to moderate terrain with only a few strenuous sections. Cool things to look forward to include: the Linn Cove viaduct, a 1243 foot concrete engineering marvel that carries the BRP around the base of Grandfather mountain; views of Grandfather mountain, Table Rock, Hawksbill, and Pisgah National Forest; Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, where the MST uses the park's former carriage trails and passes the Flat Top Manor, which now serves as the parkway's craft center; views of Mt. Jefferson; Doughton Park; and, Brinegar Cabin, built around 1885. 

Segment 6 is 67 miles and leads into the Piedmont. Within this segment you pass through Stone Mountain State Park and Wells Knob. There is an easy section of hiking along the Elkin and Alleghany "rails - to - trails" section on the way into Elkin. You then enter into historic Rockford that was founded in 1790. Next, you pass through Pilot Mountain which rises abruptly from the rolling hills, resembling the mesas out West. 

Segment 7 is 36 miles long (27.7 miles are on trail) and the terrain is rated as moderate to strenuous. In this section you will see iconic views of Pilot Mountain through the trail, several waterfalls along the Sauratown trail, close encounters with working farms along the Sauratown trail, and 360 degree views from the fire tower atop of Moore's Knob. 

If youve been adding everything up, I am currently on day 26 and mile 465. So far my longest day has been 26.1 miles and my shortest 14.6. Currently my average is 17.6 miles (and that includes taking a zero day, and being lost in the forest for 24 hours)! Once this post is finished, Zack will have arrived in town and we will be spending the day doing absolutely nothing except relaxing and I cannot wait. At the moment, my body is craving some downtime (and some pizza). This week I said I was going to take it easy and was hoping to hike around 15-18 mile days, but 3 days this week I walked over 24 miles. I was anxious to finish up segment 7 and am fortunate enough that my body made it! 

Now as far as what happened over the past 7 days . . . 

Last week when I got to Linville, to restock on groceries, I was disappointed to find that I would have to hitch another 4 miles for a grocery store. At the time, I thought going into Linville was a waste of time, however, I met two wonderful couples at the Tartan Restaurant that had me smiling for days gone by. 

 

In addition to being low on food, I was concerned of where I would be sleeping for the next week. Certain sections of the MST travel through private property where camping is prohibited and finding stealth sites are hard to come by. 

Fortunately, some folks designate themselves as Trail Angels. These are folks that offer a hand to us hikers, all for free. It could be as simple as letting us fill our water bottles from their water spigot outside to providing us with homemade meals, a bed, shower, and laundry. Any and all forms of trail angels and trail magic are truly a blessing and make the trail even more magical :)

This past week my experience on the trail has been enhanced by the amount of trail angels and trail magic I have come across. 

Before leaving Linville, I got in touch with Michelle, a trail angel in Blowing Rock. She offered to pick me up from the trail, take me grocery shopping, and provided me a place to stay. My first longest day, 24 miles, was to her place. 

Before even meeting her in person, I was stoked to hang out with her. She had such a upbeat spirit on the phone and she had made me a "Moxie stop here" sign at the trailhead. I felt so welcome. 

Besides providing me an Epsom salt bath, laundry, dinner, homemade lemonade, a homemade hamburger helper dinner, and a trip to the grocery store. Michelle drove me around Blowing Rock, showed me the infamous rock, and drove me around Boone. It was nice to see where I was and to be around the people of the area. 

A few sentences will never describe how welcome I felt and feel with trail angels and how grateful I am to have them in my lives and for helping me out. This is really just an intro and honestly, this is what this week consisted of. 

After leaving blowing Rock, I had made plans to camp out in Teresa and Bob's backyard. They have been trail angels for many many years. Teresa is a huge hiker and hiking fan. Even with family in town, they took me out for Mexican dinner, made me homemade lemonade, and fixed up some delicious muffins to go. 

Hanging out with them and hearing their story reminded me to always be thankful for what you have and to appreciate all of the little things in life. I did spend more time with Teresa and I admire all of her self sustainable skills. 

Once I left their home, I was headed to Stone Mountain State park. I was impressed to make it 17 miles before 4pm and to actually stop for the day and not push out the miles. I really had no choice, the next section was all road.

The following day I started my road trekking journey. It started off fantastic. I decided to play some music as though I were in a car. I mean, I was on a road and all! I made really good time and stopped in at the local "grocery" store around 11 with 10 miles already under my belt. Here I ordered a whole pizza and bought a cookie the size of my face! I only ate a few slices of pizza, but packed the rest for an afternoon snack.

I continued on toward Sarah Byrd's campground. I was unsure if I'd be staying here or trekking on to Elkin to sleep at Crater Park. During this time, I had been in touch with Joe, a trail ambassador for Section 6. He had offered to get me in touch with a trail angel if I needed; however, I was being very stubborn and insisted that a night in a bed 2x in one week was just too luxurious and that camping would be sufficient. 

Upon my arrival at the Byrd campground, I sat down and pulled out my pizza. My poor pizza. I thought it would be a smart idea to stack my pizza with paper towels in between the slices. . . Not a good idea... The grease had absorbed and well my pizza was a napkin pizza. 100% inedible, even for thru hiker standards. 

At that time, I was lucky that Sarah was helping out a family at the campground. Although she is available to help out and get you a campsite 24/7, the campground office is only consistently open on the weekends. I hung around for 30 minutes or so, chugging my lemonade, and enjoying the ice cream that Sarah gave me. First, I tried their top flavor, sea salt caramel, then I went for extreme moose tracks (chocolate ice cream moose tracks) of which I decided on. 

Arriving so early, I decided to head on to Elkin. There were a couple miles of trail then 4 miles of road; I knew I'd make it by dark. So I was heading for Crater Park. 

As I walked thru the pine Forest, I could help but smile and at times laugh at the figurines the trail crew had implemented along the way. Sarah had told me that I'd find creatures in the trees and little gnome homes. At the time, I didn't really know what she meant, but as I trekked onward. I found out. . . And it was the cutest thing ever. (see photos). 

I then continued my journey on the road. At one point I veered onto a gravel path and then into a "rail to trail" type road. Here I ran into many day walkers and cyclists. I was finally back in civilization. It kind of felt like being at a city park back home. 

This entire span of time, I had been on the phone with mom, holding my phone, because I was too lazy to get my headphones out. Finally, I stopped for a minute, grabbed my headphones, and got my bearings when Joe and Tommy came up to me with greetings. 

I felt like a superstar! I told my mom goodbye and talked to the two trail supporters. Joe then walked with me to the recreational center and guided me around town until I made it to Main Street. He also took me to Crater Park, where I would be sleeping. 

During my short time with him, I learned just how much of a passion he has for the trail and it being completed. I also discovered that Elkin was a small town where almost everyone knew everyone. Joe had introduced me to several different folks and told them about my journey.

Once I got to Crater Park, I was ready for bed; however, I wasn't so sure about my sleeping arrangements. I was sleeping in some trees at the back of the lot and near a bridge. The floor was sandy and my tent was already soaked from the night before. Weary of this all, I asked Joe that if the trail angels were still available I would be totally cool with staying with them. 

A few minutes later, Joe called to tell me that Suzanne and Bob would be picking me up in about 10 minutes! Phew! Good! I'll be able to sleep tonight I thought. I was also very interested in staying with them because they had hosted the two warrior hikers from last year and their son is a combat wounded veteran.  

I am so glad I stayed with them. We had leftover pizza, I showered, and we stayed up until after midnight sharing stories about the trail. I told Suzanne before I went to bed, "I think this is the latest I've been up since new year's...if I was even up this late then!" 

The next morning she took me to the local breakfast spot, Grille 268, where Joe also met us. I had a tasty breakfast of biscuits and gravy with a side of egg. The folks in there were super friendly and also interested in my hike, asking lots of questions :)

Before heading out of Elkin, I was introduced to the news reporter who jotted down some information about me, and I stopped by the local store to grab a snack to go. 

I left Elkin with a smile on my face. I felt so loved and so supported. I felt famous. The folks from this town were absolutely amazing. The stories I've shared on here really do not represent the kind words, gratitude, encouragement, and overall hospitality they provided me.

I was now headed in to Yadkin river adventures, a 17 miles road walk to my next camping spot. Fortunately, Paul, the owner of Rockford General Store, allowed me to camp out, otherwise, I have no idea where I'd be sleeping that night. The walk today was brutal. It was hot, there was no shade, the roads were busy, and there was no where to get water or to take a break. I was glad to make it to my destination. Paul and I chatted for a while about the area and getting the trail completed. He showed me around the general store and let me take some candy to go. I grabbed a handful of brownie bites and a strawberry soda. It was delicious! 

The next morning, I headed out early. I had 25.2 miles to make it to the Pilot Mountain campground. Most of this route was on the road, but once I got into state park lands, I hit trail again. Here, again, it was the trail angel that got me through. 

It was a rough day. I was exhausted when I got into camp. I found the campground host, David, who said, "you look tired!". I responded, "I've walked 25.2 miles today!". He was so kind. He let me put my things on his golf cart, he drove me to my campsite, gave me a tent pad for the evening, and provided me with a towel and soap so I could shower. I had planned to go spend a bit of time with him and his wife, but by the time I showered and ate they had went to bed which I did just shortly after. 

The following morning, I set out on another 25 mile day. Today, I was less motivated. My body was tired and I was becoming aggrevated at the distance between legal campsites. I debated for a while on if I was going to push through and make it to the campground or if I was going to stealth camp 4 or so miles away and hike the rest the following morning. I weighed this back and forth in my mind until 5pm that day and decided I'd be happier tomorrow if I finished it out today. For tomorrow, Zack was coming to town and I really wanted a relaxing day. 

Between pilot mountain campground and hanging rock campground I was "on trail" the entire time. "On trail" is in paranthesis because there were road sections and almost, if not all, of it went through private property. There were pretty sections here. It was cool to turn around and see pilot mountain and then when I got my first glimpse of hanging rock! I did end up "summiting the peak" right around sunset. There was a lot of haze but it was beautiful none the less. The last mile, maintained so well, was rough. I was exhausted. So exhausted, but I wouldn't have to hike tomorrow! Woo hoo!

I walked into the campground, got to the campground hosts pad, and sat on a rock and ate my dinner while I waited for her return. I was too tired to go looking around and figured I should use my time wisely; food was a good option!

Susan is a pretty cool woman. A retired school counselor, she volunteers in the summer as a campground host, and in the winter explores out West living off the land in her RV. 

The wind Friday night was unreal! I thought a tornado was coming through it was so rough. I was exhausted, slightly sore, and so anxious to see Zack, it was hard for me to sleep. I woke up bright and early around 6a.m. I used this time to lie down (as much as I could handle) and to blog, figure out how many donations have been received, and to just get organized before the weekend. 

As I was heading out to shower, Susan brought the park ranger Lora over. She's pretty cool too. She thru hiked the MST, the 26th person to finish, and 4 years before that she thru-hiked the AT. She was full of energy and you could hear the love of the outdoors she had in every word she said. 

I sat and talked to them for a good thirty minutes. I then walked over to the visitor center where I was meeting my sweet honey boo Zachary! It had been 24 days! 

...and that's why you are now just getting a post. I'll do better to keep up over the next few weeks! My photos have been uploaded, I hope you enjoy them!