The emailroom here at GGNC gets inundated with enewsletters, and frankly, most are enews in ename only: most are eblabla. The staff is instructed to throw most in the circular efile.
The January 2010 enewsletter from the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail is an exception, chock full of news on several fronts. We’ll get to those fronts in a moment, but for the benefit of those of you not familiar with the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, a quick introduction is in order. The MST is a work-in-progress trail that will one day span the state, running from Clingman’s Dome on the Tennessee border to Jockey’s Ridge State Park, where North Carolina gives it up to the Atlantic. The trail is estimated to run about 1,000 miles when done. About half of it is finished, volunteer work crews are adding more monthly, which is enewsnugget No. 1 from this months Friends newsletter:
Enewsnugget No. 1 — Another mile of MST has opened along the Haw River in Alamance County, a seemingly historic segment linking the old mill communities of Glencoe and Carolina Mill. Late last year the FMST also secured easements on two tracts of adjoining public lands that will enable the non-profit to soon extended this stretch to 3.5 miles, the longest continuous stretch of MST on the Haw. 3.5 miles out + 3.5 miles back = 7 miles — in our book, that’s a trail worth getting in the car and driving an hour or two for. More info: megansquire@gmail.com.
Enewsnugget No. 2 — The FMST has also gotten permission to build uptrail in neighboring Guilford County between Greensboro’s watershed lakes and Haw River State Park. If you have thoughts on how you’d like to see that stretch of trail take shape, there’s a public meeting Feb. 16 from 7-8:30 p.m. at Northern High School, 7101 Spencer Dixon Road in Greensboro. More info, contact Alex Ashton of Guilford County at: rashton@co.guilford.nc.us.
Enewsnugget No. 3 — There’s a new hiking guide available for the mountains portion of the MST: “Trail Profiles and Maps from the Great Smoky Mountains to Mount Mitchell and Beyond,” by Walt Weber, $14.95. For a copy, contact the Carolina Mountain Club http://www.carolinamtnclub.org/. (And don’t forget there’s an official guide to the entire trail, which includes suggested temporary routes until the entire trail is done: “Hiking North Carolina’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail,” by Allen de Hart, UNC Press.)
Enewsnugget No. 4 — Finally, of particular interest to moi, is the first annual FMST Mountains-to-Sea Trail 12-mile Challenge on April 10. This 12-mile trail runs begins at the N.C. State Parks & Recreation Yorkshire workcenter at the end of Bayleaf Church Road and follows good singletrack tread down to Falls Dam. Some especially scenic stretches to help you forget you’re running 12 miles. Race starts at 8 a.m., registration closes April 8 at 11:59 p.m. Cost is $35, $33 if you’re part of the FMST Tribe. T-shirt/water bottle/running socks status is unclear. The run is part of the Falls Lake Festival, which we have minimal information on as well (it’s April 10, it’s at Falls Dam, it’s sponsored by FMST.) Register by going here. I’m going through my change jar now to scrape together the registration fee.
OK, quit reading over our shoulder, get your own FMST enewsletter by going here.
Photo: The occasional chatty brook will keep you company on the MST 12-mile Challenge at Falls Lake on April 10.