In the spring of 2001, I convinced my folks that I could figure out my career path if I took a spring semester off from college to hike the AT. After four and a half months of meditation, my dad asked me if I’d figured anything out. “I like to hike,” I said. Judging by his face to palm response, this was probably not the answer he was looking for.
If I wasn’t speaking from my brain, I was at least speaking from my heart. I liked to hike, and I hiked stronger than I thought I could. I wanted to hike more and I had a month before school resumed, so what to do? Referring to the recently published Hiking North Carolina’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail by Allen de Hart, this nearly 1000-mile-long home state trail beckoned to me. But was a month enough time?
The guidebook suggested it would take twice the amount of time I had to spare. Having yet run my first ultra marathon, I was still quite impressionable, so I trusted these generalized perceptions of space and time. I deemed the month-long MST thru-hike impossible and pursued a more attainable journey.
A decade later, as a teacher with summers off, I had a chance to revisit this impossible dream. For the last several years, I’d effectively been altering my personal perceptions of space and time through hasty long-distance treks. I decided to give the month-long MST thru-hike a go.
One slogan for the journey would be “smiles over miles.” In other words, I didn’t want the trek to become an unpleasant death march simply for the sake of setting some kind of record. I approached it in a more casual thru-hiking manner: starting self-supported, but open to the serendipitous support (“trail magic”) that blesses most open-minded travelers. I understood that this would make my hike hard to categorize from a record standpoint. Freely experiencing and sharing my journey was of higher priority to me.
As might be expected looking back on such a journey, I feel as though it passed by so quickly. I hesitate to say that it’s all a blur, because that is untrue. At least for the time being, I vividly remember most every moment. The problem is, there are too many moments! I’ve never endeavored to recapitulate an adventure of this magnitude. So for sake of my sanity, I’m revising the structure of my report to highlight only the important parts. Hopefully this may be of some interest to others.
First and foremost, there are many thanks to give: I thank my wife Lily and my parents for their unwavering support (against better judgment) of my foolish endeavors. I thank Carl Laniak and Adam Hill for maintaining the runthemst wikispace during my absence, which will help supplement what I now put down in writing.
I thank Scott Ward for his work putting together a highly functional manual for hiking the MST. His passion for the trail and endless hours of research clearly show in his publication.
I thank Scott Wolfe for reminding me of the wu wei, the natural action that makes physical undertakings such as a month-long MST thru-hike sustainable for us mere mortals. To do without doing necessitates a flow from within and without. Many miles of this journey were spent floating forward in a nearly effortless fashion.
I thank Adam (again) for relaying a technique once taught to Apache warriors that I feel is an important manifestation of the wu wei, which is to run much of the way without opening my mouth to breathe. I thought this worked well to keep me comfortably within my aerobic threshold of 5 mph or slower. I believe it also helped filter the air through my nose and reduce my body’s water loss.
I thank Carl (again) for moral support from day 1 and beyond. He obviously loves this kind of thing and encouraged me to continue to pursue my dream. He was welcome company through the Smokies where the distance from my goal was the greatest.
I thank Mohammed for coming out to keep me company on days 4 and 5. He too loves this kind of thing and brought his unique “Sultonic” energy, which helped me endure my first physical difficulty of bruised soles.
I thank Scott Williams for the hospitality, pizza and physical therapy advice on days 9 and 10. Speaking of serendipity, he graciously gave this grubby hermit crab a new pair of nearly identical shoes to switch into as my first pair disintegrated.
I thank the Alexanders for their logistical support helping my mom navigate a labyrinth of backcountry roads, which allowed dad and me the chance to successfully complete day 10 on an unexpectedly closed section of trail.
I thank the Wilmoths for their hospitality on day 11, welcoming me into the Piedmont and a new realm of the journey. Flowing through a more populated landscape, I now experienced the people as well as the places. Even as an introvert, I must admit that this was a lot of fun.
I thank Brandon Thrower for throwing down on some wonderful accommodations and bean burritos in Hanging Rock State Park at the end of a very long day 12. He also kept me company on the trail to start off day 13.
I thank the Petrees for their hospitality at the end of day 13. It was a tasty carrot (or should I say squash?) dangling in front of me all those days preceding my arrival to the midway point in time to celebrate my mom’s birthday in good fashion and in great company.
I thank Frank and Lee for the unexpected and totally appreciated hospitality at the end of day 14. Frank, I hope your son feels better. You all have a sweet and mellow farmhouse, which reflects your sweet and mellow nature.
I thank cousin Judy for putting us (including mom, dad, Lily and Uwharrie) up for the night at the end of day 15 outside of Chapel Hill. The delicious spread of a meal and time together won’t soon be forgotten.
I thank John Goodie for wonderful accommodations at the end of day 17. John, whether you know it or not, your enthusiasm for ultra running is infectious and it definitely helped put the wind back into my sails.
I thank grandma, grandpa, my sister, Scott Brockmeier, Liz Bauer, Brad Smythe, Greg Paige, Denise Davis, Mike Dobies, the Foxworths and others for their kind messages of encouragement that I received somewhere between mountains and sea. They helped me to remember others far away still with me in spirit.
I thank my wife Lily and my parents (again) for their unwavering support. In the final days of the journey, they stepped up in a major way to help me realize the dream of completing the MST. At one point they asked me whether their presence in the final stages would in some way diminish my experience. I responded that it is indeed a welcome blessing to get to spend such memorable moments together.
During my time on the trail, several people asked me why I was running the MST. It seemed my first instinctual answer “I like to hike” or “I like to run” somehow didn’t quite cut it. So I spent several miles pondering my response a bit further and this is what I came up with:
I wish to inspire people of all ages to break free of the self-destructive habit of driving everywhere and get out and use their original God-given vessels, their bodies, for transportation. There are a million excuses, and some of them are fairly legitimate, for remaining encapsulated inside a car. But the benefits of walking, running and biking are undeniable.
In the months leading up to back-to-back-to-back 260+ mile weeks on the MST, I probably only averaged around 40 miles per week of actual training. I supplemented this with what Lily and I consider active living by design. Instead of driving to the grocery store, library, or school, we’d walk, run, or bike. In this way, amid a rather busy schedule, I was able to achieve an adequate level of fitness for the MST. As an added benefit, we saved a little gas money and cut back on pollution.
Without a doubt, we’ve gotten ourselves tangled up in a car-bound culture. Very few roads are built in NC with pedestrians and bicyclists in mind. Although a fitter society would certainly be an economic boon, policy makers aren’t likely to change this scenario without pressure from a critical mass of citizens that actually walk the talk.
Only a handful of folks will ever be seriously interested in pulling off what some may consider a stunt of walking all the way across NC. And that’s okay. If the majority of North Carolinians could be inspired to walk, run, or bike part of the way (whether it’s to the store, to work, to church, etc.) I believe we’d all benefit greatly.
For those crazy fools who venture to go the whole way across the state, I think they’d have to agree with me that it’s an invigorating experience to witness the beauty of the people, places and the promise of what could be. North Carolina is truly a gem.
Journey summary:
Date | Start Location | Finish Location | Distance |
6/1/11 | Clingmans Dome | Mile High CG | 38 miles |
6/2/11 | Mile High CG | Near end of section 4 | 39 miles |
6/3/11 | Near end of section 4 | Somewhere in section 7 | 37 miles |
6/4/11 | Somewhere in section 7 | Somewhere in section 8 | 38 miles |
6/5/11 | Somewhere in section 8 | Near start of section 10 | 38 miles |
6/6/11 | Near start of section 10 | US-221/Marion, NC | 12 miles |
6/7/11 | US-221/Marion, NC | Steels Creek | 33 miles |
6/8/11 | Steels Creek | Somewhere in section 13 | 35 miles |
6/9/11 | Somewhere in section 13 | US-421/Deep Gap, NC | 40 miles |
6/10/11 | US-421/Deep Gap, NC | Near Devils Garden Overlook | 40 miles |
6/11/11 | Near Devils Garden Overlook | Near start of section 20 | 37 miles |
6/12/11 | Near start of section 20 | Near start of section 22 | 49 miles |
6/13/11 | Near start of section 22 | Near end of section 23 | 34 miles |
6/14/11 | Near end of section 23 | Section 25: Huffine Mill Rd. | 40 miles |
6/15/11 | Section 25: Huffine Mill Rd. | Section 25: NC-57 | 37 miles |
6/16/11 | Section 25: NC-57 | Shinleaf CG | 38 miles |
6/17/11 | Shinleaf CG | Harris Crossroads | 41 miles |
6/18/11 | Harris Crossroads | US-301 | 41 miles |
6/19/11 | US-301 | NC-55 | 45 miles |
6/20/11 | NC-55 | New Bern, NC | 41 miles |
6/21/11 | New Bern, NC | Section 36: Croatan NF | 42 miles |
6/22/11 | Section 36: Croatan NF | Section 37: Smyrna, NC | 35 miles |
6/23/11 | Section 37: Smyrna, NC | Section 38: Hatteras, NC | 41 miles |
6/24/11 | Section 38: Hatteras, NC | Section 38: Pea Island NWR | 42 miles |
6/25/11 | Section 38: Pea Island NWR | Jockey’s Ridge | 22 miles |
Journey slideshow:
