Beacon Heights
By Emma Castleberry
Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST) is a nonprofit with a mission of bringing together people and communities to build, improve and advocate for the 1175-mile footpath that stretches across North Carolina from Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks. The group will host The Gathering of Friends, a four-day event at Lake Junaluska, from April 7—10. “The Gathering is a great way to learn about the Mountains-to-Sea Trail and meet people who appreciate it, hike it and build it,” says Betsy Brown, outreach manager for Friends of the MST. “It’s also a great way to experience a trail community, by exploring the trails, history, culture around the MST in Haywood County and surrounding areas, plus meeting the folks who call this area home.”
This Gathering marks the 45th anniversary of when the MST was first proposed by Howard Lee, then the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and Community Development, during a National Trails Symposium at Lake Junaluska in 1977. “At that meeting, he put forth a proposal that his staff and others in the trail community had dreamt up, creating a trail from the mountains to the sea,” says Brown. “When he did so, people stood and cheered.” Portions of this year’s Gathering will be held in the very space in Shackford Hall where the trail was first proposed 45 years earlier.
Foggy day on the trail
Only 725 miles of the trail are currently developed off-road, but there are temporary routes on backroads and bike paths that allow hikers to complete the adventure until the remaining trail is built. “More than just a walk in the woods, the trail traces the diversity that is North Carolina,” says Brown. “Experience ancient mountains and small Piedmont farms, coastal swamps and colonial towns, changing textile villages and barrier islands. It’s fun to think about the connection that a simple footpath has across our entire state: while someone is hiking the highest peaks east of the Mississippi and highest sand dunes on the east coast, someone else is walking through longleaf pine savanna or the gentle hills throughout the Piedmont.”
On the first day of The Gathering, Thursday, there will be trail building workshops and hikes led by the Carolina Mountain Club. On Friday, attendees can participate in hikes; history and cultural excursions up into the Smokies, along the Parkway and into the Qualla Boundary; yoga; a reception with dinner and drinks; and a roundtable discussion and panel with key stakeholders. Saturday will include updates from the trail, speeches and a celebration of volunteers and trail completers. “That Saturday afternoon we’ll take a group walk around Lake Junaluska then head into town for a night of music and fun in Waynesville and at Folkmoot,” says Brown. “Sunday we’ll hold more hikes and then send everyone on their way home.”
Registration for The Gathering closes on April 1. “There is a spirit about the trail and people coming together to make it a reality that keeps the movement going,” says Marcia Bromberg, board president for Friends of the MST. “The more people discover and learn about the MST, the more they want to be part of that movement.”
Visit MountainstoSeaTrail.org to learn more.
