Brent Laurenz, executive director of the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, pretty much summed up the situation in Western North Carolina in an email sent to the Friends group earlier this week:
“In the coming weeks and months, we will be surveying the trail and assessing damage, but trail restoration is a very low priority in light of the ongoing humanitarian crisis facing western North Carolina … it is likely that sections of the trail will remain closed for a significant length of time.”
Wondering where you might be able to hike in the mountains this weekend?
Nowhere. At least not in North Carolina and southwestern Virginia. For one, you’d be hard-pressed to find a trail that’s passable. More on that in a sec.
The main reason you shouldn’t hike in the mountains this weekend: You’ll only be in the way.
Of the many moments of revelation at the first annual Great Trails State Conference earlier this month in Winston-Salem, one came from Beth Heile during the closing ceremonies. Beth, pictured above (photo by Friends of Valdese Rec),is one of those folks who seems to be at least three people; among other things she’s a driver behind so many trail projects near her Burke County home and throughout the state. For our purposes we’ll simply refer to her as the founder and president of the Friends of the Valdese Rec, which supports a variety of trail projects in the community just east of Morganton.
Forrest Pulley took his turn to speak, rising and giving his affiliation as the Allegheny Sparta Trails Association. He announced that his county had no trails of its own, but “We want to change that. We need your help.”
It was a sentiment echoed numerous times by participants in the opening session of the first Great Trails State Conference last week in Winston-Salem: We need trails.
Fall-like weather got you in a fall hiking mood? Perhaps a full day on the trail? Or, better yet, a full day on two trails?
You have that option this Saturday when the N.C. Dept. of Natural and Cultural Resources’ Hometown Strong initiative leads two hikes totaling 9 miles on two State Trails. The trails in question: the Fonta Flora State Trail west of Morganton and the Wilderness Gateway State Trail just south of Morganton. Let’s take those hikes in order.
