Mountains To Sea Trail – Self Supported Fastest Known Time
September 30, 2023 – October 30, 2023
29 Days, 20 hours, 3 minutes
This is my 4th time attempting the Mountains to Sea Trail. I completed it in 2012 (the Allen DeHart Route of 961 miles), and in its current configuration of 1168.3 miles in 2021. I attempted to set the self supported FKT on it in 2022, but had to quit due to an injury around 400 miles in.
In 2022 I buried food in the ground across the state, from Cherokee, NC to the Croatan National Forest, the idea being that I would never have to carry more than one day of food at a time. This approach also saved me the time of having to leave the trail and shop for resupply. It worked well, so about a week before I began my 2023 hike, I buried just 18 food caches in the ground, this time, from the start of the trail all the way to Smithfield, NC and then relied on gas stations and restaurants for resupply after that, knowing I would pass several options each day as the trail passes through many small towns as it nears the coast. Only one food cache was found by an animal before I got there and I believe it as found by racoons; it was buried near a fairly populated area in the middle of the state. I only had to hike in rain for six hours total on the entire hike and I only had to set up my shelter overnight twice. I stayed in six motels and one Airbnb when I deemed it necessary due to location, weather, or safety. On three of those occasions, I took Uber rides to and from the motel.
The following is a very abridged account of my thru hike:
September 30, 2023 – Day 1 – 39.2 miles
Dropped off by dad at Clingman's Dome parking area. Waited for him to leave before I started, so there is no spectating. I announced my start time in a video at the peak of clingman's dome, but it is earlier by a few minutes than the screenshot I take of my gps location on the FarOut App, so I guess that's the only official start time I have documented, so we'll go with that. I began my hike at 5:23 am.
I started my hike with 1 day of food. Perfect weather. Chafing and foot pain started around mile 35. Made it to Mile High Campground, (mm 39.2) around 8:30 pm. I found the food cache I buried near the campsite I ended up sleeping at. No shelter, up against a storage building near the road for wind blockage.
October 1, 2023 – Day 2 – 33.3 miles
Started from Mile High Campground (mm 39.2) at 6:13 am with one day of food from food cache I dug up the previous night. Summited Water Rock Knob around 9:30 am (I am not counting the +2.2 mile round trip side trail in my total mileage but do want to note it). Retrieved my next day's food cache near Grassy Ridge Overlook (mm 63.7) with no issues.
Finished at random camp near “Frame Structure” (mm 72.5) at 8:59 pm.
October 2, 2023 – Day 3 – 35.4 miles
Started from random camp (mm 72.5) at 5:38 am. Finish at Pisgah Inn (mm 107.9) at 10:30 pm. Front desk closed at 10:00pm. Luckily, waved down employee who was locking up and they were able to get me into my room. One of my hardest days, body was in shock; shaking uncontrollably with feverish chills. Grateful to have a bed this night.
October 3, 2023 – Day 4 – 26 miles
Ate huge breakfast at Pisgah Inn. Hiker hunger hasn't set in so I couldn't finish it all. Got late start from Pisgah Inn (mm 107.9) at 10:47 am. Dug up this day's food cache near Buckspring Lodge, just a few miles down trail. Made it into Biltmore village after dark and stealth camped in the middle of the trail within the urban trail network there (mm 133.9) at 10:19 pm. Lots of coyote activity all around.
October 4, 2023 – Day 5 – 30.4 miles
Started at 5:17 am from stealth campsite (mm 133.9). Very slow pace today with what feels like tons of elevation gain. Retrieved today's food cache near Craven Gap with no issues. Tryed to make it to the last campsite before Mt. Mitchell, where I made it last year, but just can't. Pace slowed to 0.8 mph over Blackstock Knob (elevation 6308ft) after it was consumed in dense fog. Finished at “Lunch Clearing and Trail Junction” (mm 164.3) at 11:26 pm.
October 5, 2023 – Day 6 – 28.3 miles
Started at 7:30 am from Lunch Clearing and Trail Junction (mm 164.3). Made it over Mt. Mitchell and missed a turn for Old Mt. Mitchell Trail on the descent. About a mile down trail I see where the Old Mt. Mitchell Trail connected back to the trail I was on, so I furiously hikeed up that connection to the turn I missed and re-hiked that portion of the trail (I am not counting the +2 miles for hiking down wrong trail for a mile and ½ of the 2 mile round trip of re-hiking section I missed, in my total mileage, but I do want to note it). Quick bathroom and sink laundry break at Black Mountain Campground. Retrieved my food cache near Black Mountain Trail Head with no issues. Perfect weather. I meet fellow Thru Hiker, Guy Scholar randomly on the top of a ridge I was considering camping at after dark. He thought I was a bear. Chatted for a minute, then I had to push on. I lost my hat on the descent because it was attached to my pack instead of on my head, so I hiked a quarter mile back looking for it and gave up when I still hadn't seen it. Finished at 10:07 pm at Random Campsite (mm 192.6).
October 6, 2023 – Day 7 – 28 miles
Started at 6:22 am from Random Campsite (mm 192.6). I was a little behind, mileage-wise, so I wouldn't get to my food cache for today until the end of the day. Luckily, hiker hunger still hadn't set in and I had a few food items from previous days that I could ration out and eat as I hiked. This worked to my advantage, because there was a lot of steep climbing over Dobson Knob, down off of The Pinnacle, and back up Short Off Mountain. I finished at Table Rock parking area (mm 220.6) at 11:53 pm and retrieved my food cache with no issues. It began misting and the wind was getting stronger and blowing a very light rain sideways, so I set up my tarp for the first time on the hike. Grateful that I did, because the tree I slept under was a huge old oak and it was dropping acorns all night. Huge acorns coming down super fast because of the crazy wind. I was afraid they would pierce the dyneema tarp. Even with a polycro ground cloth down, one of the acorns that I failed to clear from under me before bed ended up puncturing my air mattress. Between the loud pops of the acorns hitting my tarp and the deflated air mattress, I didn't sleep well.
October 7, 2023 – Day 8 – 33.6 miles
Starteded from Table Rock parking area (mm 220.6) at 6:10 am. Lots of water fords today but I only got my feet wet in two. These miles and the miles from the previous day are arguably the most beautiful sections of trail. I finish at the Linn Cove Visitor's Center (mm 254.2), which is closed down, at 9:35 pm. I had to explain to a man, who was sleeping in his car, why I was digging in the ground next to his vehicle. I showed him the food cache I retrieved and he is satisfied. It got down to 34 degrees. I had a quilt rated to 40 degrees. The spots I thought were safe to stealth camp were in very exposed windy spots. Between the cold and wind, I didn't sleep very well.
October 8, 2023 – Day 9 – 28.3 miles
Started at Linn Cove Visitor's Center (mm 254.2) at 5:55 am. Made pretty good time and tried to do a resupply at the Speedway gas station in Blowing Rock. I spent way too much time there because the bathroom couldn't be unlocked and an old man fell down in the parking lot and was bleeding, so a very young and stressed out employee had to call the owner to ask permission to use the special manager's key to open bathroom so that the old man could be helped to clean and bandage his wounds. The employee found the original key to bathroom in the trashcan in the bathroom, which is why they were unable to unlock the bathroom in the first place. Crazy stuff; really weird. At least I was able to charge my phone while all this went down, and I got to use the bathroom after all. Made it to Goshen Creek Backcountry Campsite (mm 282.5) at 6:06 pm. 34 degrees overnight again. I make a small fire right by my head; the only fire of the hike. I go to sleep knowing my pace is getting back up and the “hard parts” are mostly over.
October 9, 2023 – Day 10 – 42 miles
Started from Goshen Creek Backcountry Campsite (mm 282.5) at 5:40 am. Retrieved food cache near Jumping Off Rock parking area with no issues. Finish at Freeborne's Eatery and Lodge (mm 324.5) in Laurel Springs, NC around 9:30 pm.
October 10, 2023 – Day 11 – 44.1 miles
Started from Freeborne's Eatery and Lodge (mm 324.5) at 8:46 am. Finish in “The Enchanted White Pine Forest” (mm 368.6) around midnight and pull a very comfy stealth camp on the pine needled forest floor.. It was decorated for Halloween, with spooky ghosts and witches on the trees. Very scary.
October 11, 2023 – Day 12 – 36 miles
Started from stealth camp in The Enchanted White Pine Forest (mm 368.6) at 6:22 am. Make it to Elkin a few miles later and resupply at the Sheetz gas station. Retrieve my new pair of shoes that I had buried in the ground in the Elkin Municipal Park with no issues. The new shoes feel amazing. Leaving Elkin begins the first of many long road walks. So many of the road walks are so very dangerous. I'm glad I have new thicker cushioned shoes. I finish at Ararat Campground (mm 404.6) at 8:02 pm. They let hikers camp on a donation basis but I couldn't find the box to put money in. I plan on going back and donating after the hike.
October 12, 2023 – Day 13 – 43.2 miles
I hadn't set up my tarp, so a light rain woke me up early and I got started from Ararat Campground (mm 404.6) at 4:46 am. I was planning to summit both Pilot Mountain and Moore's Wall at Hanging Rock State Park today. Halfway through the day I went to retrieve my food cache and find that it had been discovered by animals. There were no food items left, but I do find the backup battery and hand sanitizer that I had in the cache. I cleaned up all of the ripped and chewed up food wrappers and bags that the animals left behind and stored the fresh battery inside my backpack. Then I plugged my older almost depleted backup battery into my GPS unit to give it the last of the juice. Unfortunately, once that older battery was completely dead, the GPS unit sensed that it was no longer getting charged, and even though the GPS unit itself had power, it did an auto shut off feature and I did not hear it shut down. Because of this, there is a chunk of today's mileage that was not tracked. The GPS unit powered down somewhere between where the food cache was buried (mm 421.35) and Moore's Wall in Hanging Rock State Park (mm 440.6), where I realized the unit had powered off and I powered it back on and began tracking again. I did happen to snap a selfie of myself at “The R.M. Collins Memorial Saddle” (mm 431.9) which is in the middle of the section I was unable to track. The time elapsed between that morning's track and the track I started on top of Moore's Wall is in line with my pace this day, which proves I did not move any faster (skipping ahead or getting assistance) than normal during the section I was unable to track. I finished this day at the Danbury General Store (mm 447.8), at 9:53 pm. The owner of the store allowed me to sleep in an empty bus in the parking lot.
October 13, 2023 – Day 14 – 31.7 miles
Started at Danbury General Store (mm 447.8) at 8:19 am. This day was filled with lots of country road walks. I found a box of kittens dumped on the side of a stretch of gravel road and made the mistake of petting one and then had three little fuzzballs follow me for half a mile. When I made it to paved roads and two lane highways, I was scared they would get hit by a vehicle speeding by, so I directed the three of them to a trash dumpster near a golf course I was walking by, hoping that they would get distracted by some food smells and not follow me on to more heavily trafficked roads. This worked on two of them, but the orange one, the one I had interacted with, continued to follow me for probably a full mile. This kittens were so new and so tiny, only just able to mew. One mile to this sweet and curious cat must've felt like ten. It was exhausted and running in short spurts now, just barely keeping up. We passed a house with a woman on the porch sweeping and she yelled that I had a kitty cat following me. I told her that I knew this and asked if she could help me get it away from the road because I was afraid it would get hit by a car. She replied that that was “just nature”, so I kept walking. To my surprise and relief, 10 minutes later a car pulled up beside me and inside was the same woman, with her elderly mother in the passenger seat. The woman told me that she had to take her momma to a doctor's appointment and that they would take the kitten, who I had already named “Bootsie” to the animal shelter, which was near their doctor's office. Phew!
I ended the day at the Oak Ridge Town Park (mm 479.5) around 8:30 pm and had enough time to walk to the local Mexican restaurant, grab dinner, and do a quick resupply for the next day's food at a Walgreens across the street. Rain was called for over night, so I set up my tarp for the second and final time on this hike.
October 14, 2023 – Day 15 – 45.7 miles
Started from Oak Ridge Town Park (mm479.5) at 8:20 am. It was raining lightly, so I donned my poncho and got to the local Post Office just after they opened at 9 am. Picked up a resupply of gear I had shipped myself, including a sleeping bag liner I wanted after those 34 degree nights, some rubber kitchen gloves as well as light weight merino gloves (the cold and chance of rain had me rethinking my decision not to bring any hand protection), and a running hat to replace the one I lost over a week earlier, since I knew that I had many more exposed sunny road walks coming up. I walked another half mile and grabbed breakfast at McDonald's to try and wait out the rain and gorge on fast food. It was still raining when I packed up and left; not too hard, but hard enough to have to wear the poncho. I only had to walk in the rain for about 3 hours total; it let up around 11am. I pushed hard to get to the Guilford County Prison Farm and finish at a stealth camp on a bench beside the pond next to the trail (mm 525.2) at 1:12 am.
October 15, 2023 – Day 16 – 44.8 miles
Started from bench I slept on (mm 525.2) at 6:35 am and immediately retrieved my food cache for that day from the parking area nearby, where I had buried it three weeks prior. It rained on me for another 3 hours this morning, but never hard enough to don the poncho; my windbreaker sufficed. I had no more rain for the remainder of the hike. 6 hours of rain hiking total; unreal.
Fairly uneventful day except for terrifying road walks with tiny shitty dangerous blister inducing shoulders. I ended at a stealth camp just off trail near the Eno River State Park, close to the quarry (mm 570) at 11:25 pm.
October 16, 2023 – Day 17 – 43.1 miles
Started from stealth camp (mm 570) at 6:53 am and retrieved the food cache near Cole Mill Road bridge overpass a few miles later with no issues. Retrieved the food cache for following day near Lick Creek Trail Head that evening with no issues. Made it to a stealth camp beside trail (mm 613.1) at 12:33 am.
October 17, 2023 – Day 18 – 40.1 miles
Started from Stealth camp (mm 613.1) at 7:14 am. Starting to develop shin splints pretty bad. I finish at the Trailhead Lane connection to the Neuse River Greenway (mm 653.2), within the State Capitol of Raleigh around 11:30 pm. I had planned to illegally stealth on the Greenway but in the moment, I did not feel safe doing so, so I walked to a Sheetz gas station up the street, got food, and took an Uber ride to a motel down the street.
October 18, 2023 – Day 19 – 41.1 miles
Got an Uber ride back to the Sheetz gas station, got breakfast, started hiking from the Trailhead Lane connection (mm 653.2) at 10:04 am. A few miles later I retrieved my food cache for that day, with no issues. Uneventful day. Made it to Smithfield Community Park (mm 694.3) at 11:57 pm. My food cache for the next day was buried here and I had planned to stealth camp in the park, but I did not feel comfortable doing so that night; not only was there evidence of someone else camping where I had planned to, but I was concerned that I would possibly be seen (the park is very nice and next to a school, so I felt the probability that they had a decent security set up was high) and police would be called and I might be forced to leave the trail or, worst case scenario, be detained for a length of time and not be able to continue hiking in a timely fashion. So, I decided to get an Uber ride to a motel down the road.
October 19, 2023 – Day 20 – 35.9 miles
Got Uber ride back to Smithfield Community Park (mm 694.3) and started hiking at 9:20 am. My food cache for the day was buried next to hole seven of the Smithfield Community Park Disc Golf Course. I retrieved the cache with no issues; this was my last food cache.
The next stretch was almost all road walking with no legal places to camp. There are several Fire Departments along the way that have offered their yards for caming and/or facilities inside to anyone hiking the trail. Because I was unsure of how such a feature would count, as far as support, I did not contact any of the Fire Stations before hand. Since the instructions on the Farout App say that you are to contact the Fire Chiefs before coming to any of the fire stations, and I thought the reaching out might constitute premeditated support, I did not contact or stay at any of the stations. That night I stealth camped close to Vann Crossroads Fire Department (mm 730. 2) at 10:46 pm.
October 20, 2023 – Day 21 – 49.8 miles
Started hiking from near Vann Crossroads Fire Department (mm 730.2) at 5:46 am. There was an official reroute I had to follow because of bridge construction. It shortened the total mileage of the hike by 3.5 miles. I passed the Beaver Dam Fire Department, not having contacted them, and knocked on the door. Two firemen were on duty, neither of which I recognized and neither of which recognized me. I asked if I could get some water from the spigot (clean or even dirty treatable water is essentially non-existent for this stretch of trail) and use their bathroom (also a challenge to find places to relieve one's self out here). Thanked them and left. I passed the final fire station, Turnbull Fire Department and decided not to stealth there, since I had chosen not to reach out to the Fire Chief and ask permission to camp, for fear of it counting at support. I pushed on in to Suggs Mill Pond Game Land and camped at the Hunter's Camping area near the south entrance (mm 780) at 10:47 pm.
October 21, 2023 – Day 22 – 40 miles
Started from Suggs Mill Pond Hunter's Camping Area (mm 780) at 7:01 am. I am missing about 2.1 miles of track from the start of this morning. I think I just had hiker brain; turned on the device when I was packing up and just forgot to hit the Track button. My Spidey Sense tingled about two miles down the road and something told be to check the Garmin. Sure enough, it wasn't tracking. I screenshotted my position where I realized I wasn't tracking and you can see that the time that passed between my start position screenshot and the position I was when I realized I wasn't tracking, are 51 minutes apart, which is on par with my average pace around this area: a little over 20 minute miles. I immediately started tracking from that point. Shin splints are excruciating now. I keep reminding myself that Jennifer Phar Davis walked backwards down mountains through her shin splints so I just keep popping Ibuprofen and tried to push through the pain. Saw a young black bear dart across the road about 50 feet in front of me today. The last cache I buried for myself was another pair of shoes, which I retrieved near the Turnbull Creek Experimental State Forest with no issues. I hoped the fresh cushion in the new kicks would help alleviate the shin splints. I also picked up a topical anti-inflammatory cream from Dollar General that provided some relief. I ended at a stealth camp near entrance 3 to the Whitehall Plantation Game Land (mm 820) at 11:15 pm. Right before drifting off, I thought I heard a commotion off in the distance, but thought I might also be dreaming it...besides, what could I, a helpless hiker do to help? I had no weapon and I was weak and tired. Those were my last thoughts before passing out.
October 22, 2023 – Day 23 – 34.9 miles
Started from stealth camp in Whitehall Plantation Game Land (mm 820) at 7:32 am. Less than a half mile down the road I discovered three dead black bears, that appeared to have been hit by a vehicle. A large mother bear and one baby were on the side of the road and a second baby was still in the middle of the yellow line, having been dragged; a bloody trail illustrating as much. I'm pretty sure the impact and the aftermath; the passengers of the vehicle screaming and dealing with the situation, were what I had heard while falling asleep a few hundred yards away. I slept with my food every night on this hike. Who knows if those three bears would have found me and my food, if they had made it across the road. I thought about this all day. I tried to push in to Burgaw, NC but only made it to the AB Food mart (mm 854.9) that night at 10:09 pm. The grill in the gas station was closed, but I hung around to eat some snacks and charge my phone and figure out where I was going to sleep. Not long had passed before the owner of the store brought out a a big delicious burger from the back. Without even asking me what I was doing out walking so late or anything, he just gave me the burger he had made special for me without asking. I must have looked hungry. He then asked me where I was planning sleeping that night. When I told him I didn't know yet, he offered me a spot in an abandoned commercial building that he owned and was in the process of fixing up; just a cinder block shack really, with no doors to lock and a plywood roof, not yet shingled, but it did have power, so I could charge my phone. I jumped at the offer and walked a short distance back from where I came to find the building I had already passed, on the side of the highway. Slept very well.
October 23, 2023 – Day 24 – 44.6 miles
Walked up to the AB Food Mart (mm 854.9) and grabbed breakfast at the grill. Started hiking at 7:34 am. Made it to Burgaw quickly. Stopped at McDonald's to eat and then Walmart to resupply for the day. I knew there were a lot of fully sun exposed game lands coming up and then, of course, more road walks and the dreaded beach walks, so I picked up an umbrella as well. Between the time it took to eat and resupply and my pace being slowed from the pain in my leg, I didn't make it to the western entrance of Holly Shelter Game Lands until sunset, which turned out to be really helpful, since hiking the game lands in the dark would have me avoid the heat and the sun I remembered woefully from my previous hike. I remember thinking that I should do the entire hike at night sometime, since the conditions were so much more pleasant. I made it to the eastern end of Holly Shelter Game Land (mm 899.5) at 11:45 pm. The camping area is reserved for Hunters with permits, but I had planned to camp here anyway. However, as I was hiking up to the area, I could hear some loud yelling and music. Once I started looking for a place to sleep I noticed a pull-behind camper set up and realized that it was the source of the noise. I am all for partying and enjoying your nights in the outdoors, so I had nothing against these folks; I just knew that between these neighbors and the low 30 degree temperatures my weather app was calling for over night, I wasn't going to get good sleep. So, I packed up the few things I had began to unpack and continued out to the parking area, where I got an Uber ride up the highway to a motel.
October 24, 2023 – Day 25 – 40 miles
After several trips to the complimentary breakfast buffet at the Holiday Inn, I got an Uber ride back to the Lodge Rd./US 17 intersection at the east entrance to the Holly Shelter Game Land (mm 899.5) and began hiking at 9:26 am. Did Surf City, Ocean City, and North Topsail beaches and made it through Snead's Ferry just in time to hit Stones Creek Game Land right after sunset. Did the Highway 17 road walk, which actually has a decent shoulder to walk on, at night, which was still terrifying. Tried to push to Jacksonville, but the highway road walk had fried me and by 10:52 pm I had only made it to Jake's Variety Store (mm 939.5). So, I called an Uber to take me the rest of the way into Jacksonville, to the Red Roof Inn, which was surrounded by fast food options for breakfast and resupply the next day.
October 25, 2023 – Day 26 – 45.3 miles
Got breakfast at McDonald's next to the Red Roof Inn, got an Uber ride back to Jake's Variety Store (mm 939.5) and started hiking at 7:47 am. Made it back to the Red Roof Inn, which is almost directly on trail by lunch time so I got McDonald's for lunch again. Pushed hard to make it to Peletier, NC after dark. Made it to the NC 58/Bucks Corner Rd Intersection (mm 984.8) at 10:25 pm and continued hiking another quarter mile off trail to the Days Inn, where I got a room for the night.
October 26, 2023 – Day 27 – 42.2 miles
Grabbed at quick breakfast from the Continental spread in the lobby of the Days Inn the next morning. Walked back up the road to NC 58/Bucks Corner Rd Intersection (mm 984.8) and started hiking at 8:30 am. Both quaint and horrible roads walks all day with some hunting land thrown in. Made it to Havelock, NC and was disappointed to find that the Smithfield's BBQ restaurant I remembered being right on trail was closed, so I stopped to eat at a pizza place instead. I resupplied for the day at the Dollar General and made it to Croatan National Forest just right at sunset. I navigated the beach shore section fairly easily in the dark. I was beautiful. I pushed on to make it to Dogwood Shelter (mm 1027) at 12:18 am, where I found “Lucky 7” a Thru-Biker that I had run into near Topsail Beach a few days earlier, already set up in the shelter. I didn't want to spook him, so I whispered his name once I noticed his bike. I knew my setting up would wake him anyway, so I thought it would be less startling to quietly let him know that someone else had arrived. He was pretty nice for having been woken up after midnight and we chatted a little while I laid out my stuff. We both fell asleep shortly after.
October 27, 2023 – Day 28 – 59.2 miles
I packed up and left Dogwood Shelter (mm 1027) at 6:56 am, without waking “Lucky 7”, I think. I pushed super hard to make it to Cedar Island Ferry Terminal in “one day”, to make sure I caught the first Ferry the next morning; otherwise, I would be delayed several hours waiting for the next one to come, which would prevent me from making it to the Hatteras Ferry, at the north end of Ocracoke Island to catch the ferry I wanted there, all of which would essentially cut my potential mileage in half. I think pushing through the night actually may have made the road walk along this two lane highway safer, since there was barely any traffic so late. I made it to the Cedar Island Ferry Terminal (mm 1086.2) at 4:05 am and slept for a couple of hours behind a random building.
October 28, 2023 – Day 29 – 27.5 miles
Woke up around 6 am to the sound of tourists queuing up to catch the 7 am ferry. While waiting on the porch of the visitor center, up rode “Lucky 7” who had slept at the Cedar Island Campground, just across the parking lot, overnight. He couldn't believe I had caught up to him again! Once we boarded the ferry, I passed out and slept for most of the two hour trip. The Ferry departed at 7:23 am and I started a separate track recording for the ride. The ferry landed on the south end of Ocracoke Island and I started hiking from the ferry landing (mm 1086.2) at 9:48 am. Apparently, it was dress like a Pirate Day on the island and I walked through a surreal scene of leather booted buccaneer wanna-be's until I reached the public beach access that lead me to the shore, where I turned due north and began trudging through the sand. I made it to north end of the island to the Ocracoke Ferry Terminal (mm 1100.6) at 3:24 pm and started a separate track recording for this ferry ride and slept for most of it too. The ferry landed at the south end of Hatteras Island (mm 1100.6) and I started hiking at 4:39 pm. I made it just passed the Hatteras Lighthouse to the Cottage Ave Public Beach Access (mm 1113.7) at 10:08 pm. I used my Airbnb Super Host Bonus to get a discounted rate on a room in a multi-unit Airbnb a block away.
October 29, 2023 – Day 29&30 – 54.6 miles
Left the Airbnb and got hiking from the Cottage Ave Public Beach Access (mm 1113.7) at 7:17 am. I knew that if I pushed all day and into the night, I could finish the hike in less than 30 days, which was a very lofty goal that I did not think was realistic at the beginning of the hike, but I realized was actually still attainable as I did calculations over the previous days. This long last day was essentially all beach walk, with a short trip across the highway to breeze through the Mosquito Preserve, er, I mean Pea Island National Wildlife refuge, which I finished around sunset. Next was the 3 mile long Marc Basnight Bridge; not as long as the 7 mile bridge I walked across in the the Florida Keys on my Eastern Continental Trail hike, but way more scary because I did it at night. Though, again, probably less dangerous because there was less traffic.
Of the many hallucinations I experienced hiking at night with a worn out and sleep deprived mind and body, the ones I had on this night were the most intense. I was falling asleep while walking, slapping myself in the face, and popping caffeine pills for the last 10 miles.
(October 30, 2023)
Once I made it off of the beach I was excited enough about finishing that I no longer felt tired (also round 600mg of caffeine in me). I quickly traversed the last mile or so of road walks leading into Jockey's Ridge State Park. I followed the trail to the dunes and struggled to get the GPS signal on my phone to accurately show my position in relation to the “highest point on the highest dune” (mm 1168.3) which was pretty close to where the Farout App told me it was. I knew there was a new monument for the Eastern Terminus, but it must not have been anywhere close to the highest point because I couldn't find it anywhere in the dark. So I snapped a picture of my wristwatch at 1:27:19 am, but I guess that photo could've been taken anywhere, so we'll have to go with the screenshot of my final position at 1:26 am. Made a finish video in the dark on top of the dune and came back the following morning to find the Eastern Terminus Monument, which was down closer to the Visitor's Center, and get some pretty finish pictures and a daylight finish video.
*END*
*THOUGHTS*
I know that I left plenty of time on the table between motel stays, Uber rides, restaurant meals, and late starts, so I'm sure someone more focused on constantly moving forward will be able to beat my Self Supported record if they want to. The strenuous conditions in the mountains are something I think most endurance athletes will find familiar and easy enough to endure. The punishing sun exposure paired with the seriously dangerous and seemingly endless road walks out east will provide the biggest challenge to anyone who attempts this trail, at any speed.
I can't recommend the Mountains to Sea Trail to anyone as a Thru Hike. That's not just me trying to protect my record; I genuinely believe that it is only a matter of time before a hiker or biker gets seriously injured or loses their life attempting this trail. I think it is irresponsible for the MST organization to promote this trail as a thru hike when, from section 6 on, it is just a bunch of day hikes connected together by dangerously busy roads with dangerously small shoulders to walk on. Alternatives to the road walks need to be figured out before people are encouraged to attempt to complete it as a thru hike.
It seems like a lot of historic spots and tiny towns may have been included along this route so that they might be able to access funding granted to trail towns to upgrade infrastructure and promote the township. This is purely just my guess as to why the trail now follows such a frustratingly inefficient route, traveling north and south at times, instead of east (or west), but I can't come up with a better reason. I'm fine with side trails if they lead to water, resources, bathrooms, or even a nice view, but the majority of the trail east of Raleigh now seems to just connect the dots between insignificant land marks and towns, with little concern for hiker safety.
We, as thru hikers, will take what we can get, I guess. We'll just keep trudging along with what we are lucky enough to have offered for us to traverse. I suppose all hikes are “hike at your own risk”, but The Mountains to Sea Trail has so much potential to be great, that it's terribly sad for it to end on such a sour note of mind numbing and physically dangerous pavement pounding and sun baked beach miles...
...maybe I'll do it West Bound next time.
P.S. It looks like, even though it had been deleted from my garmin map share, a track from my 2021 MST Thru hike was included in the GPX file. I'm not familiar with GPX or how to read them, but I did notice the date 4.20.21, the start date of my 2021 hike, which I also tracked, in the text when I was looking over it. It looks to be a singular instance and it is in the first section of GPX text. Doesn't effect anything about this year's hike.