mackey mtn. memorial run

Mackey Mountain is a monarch of McDowell County. But despite its powerful presence, it is seldom climbed. Because the mountain is relatively isolated in these parts of Pisgah, the most feasible route is about 10 miles roundtrip. This trail is notoriously rugged and overgrown. All this adds to the intrigue.

A 1997 Sierra Club map of the area (which I’ve yet to return to its rightful owner) shows a network of trails around Mackey. For the most part, these trails don’t exist anymore. After camping with Lily, Uwharrie and my dad at Curtis Creek on Friday night, I convinced my dad to join me for a 15-mile tour de Mackey.

The clockwise loop, with start/finish at Curtis Creek promised to be Barkley-esque. For at least half the way, we’d be bushwhacking. We took a wrong turn early on, but soon found our way down the Narrows and over the broad shoulders of Mackey. With the peak bagged, the challenge had just begun…

During our descent off Mackey, we missed the best opportunity to pass though an obscure gap west out of Deep Cove. We endured a laurel hell for two miles as we tripped, slid and cursed our way into the Laurel Fork basin. At this point, I noticed that my shins were starting to resemble pepperoni pizza.

Overjoyed to be able to run once more up Mackey Creek, we made our way up and over to Hickory Branch, the last climb of the day. We finished in 6.5 hours (just over 2 mph). There was quite a lot of climbing, but more than anything, it was the bushwhacking that slowed us down. Just the kind of preparation I need to be doing for Veterans Day.