Jennifer Pharr Davis will make a stop in Asheville on August 29 to tell you a thing or two about hiking, including stories from the first two weeks of her journey across the state on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

Jen started out on August 15 in a soupy fog atop Clingmans Dome with her 4-year-old daughter Charley, 10-month-old son Gus, and supportive spouse, Brew. The next day, she took a dip into icy Deep Creek and found it rid her of some lingering work worries and whatnot, leaving her free to hike in the moment. (You can keep up with her journey on a daily basis by visiting the MST Facebook page.) 

Asheville is the first of four stops Jen will make during her three-month crossing of the state on the MST. If you can't see her at Highland Brewing in Asheville, register to attend one of the other events: Winston-Salem on September 21, Raleigh on October 10, and Wilmington on Oct. 26.  You'll get to hear Jen speak and Brew play a song or two, and there will be time for questions. She'll have books on hand for purchase and signing. And of course, there will be snacks!

Part of Jen's mission in thru-hiking the MST is to raise funds for the upkeep and continued development of this statewide trail. To this end, admission is a gift to Friends of MST, with a suggested minimum of  $1 0  per person to help cover costs of th e  event. 

Seating is limited, so sign up soon!

What a week we've had in our quest to make sure every inch of the MST gets hiked on September 9, MST in a Day. 

Last week, you may recall, we had hikers signed up for 233 of 300 legs of the trail, leaving 77 legs to fill.* We've since had hikers sign up for another 14 previously naked legs, so we now have just 53 legs to fill. A special shout-out to Segment 18 leader Catherine Peele for her recruiting prowess in  signing up at least one hiker for each leg of the easternmost Segment of the MST, and to National Park Service Ranger Scott Dowd, who will hike Segment 18 legs 1-5, and to Dave Hallac, Superintendent of the NPS Outer Banks Group, for signing up to hike Leg 6 of Segment 18.

If you've signed up for a leg, great! Thanks so much! If you haven't and you want to hike a leg that hasn't been claimed, you can find a list of the remaining unclaimed legs here. Then, visit  the  MST in a Day page  on our website, and click on the segment you're interested in.  Click on "Sign Up Now" and you'll be whisked to  the Meetup page for that Segment and leg. Or "legs," because, as Ranger Dowd demonstrates, you can sign up for more than one.

*The 1,175-mile MST is divided into 20 segments, which have been subdivided into a total of 300 legs, typically ranging from 3 to 5 miles in length.

You MST in a Day hikers ask a lot of questions. A lot of good questions! Questions such as:

Who is leading this hike?

Answer: You are!  These are not guided or organized hikes but if you feel insecure, find a hiking partner. In the "join the conversation" section of the Meetup page where you signed up, ask if anyone is interested in hiking as a group. 

To be guaranteed of having your spiffy commemorative MST in a Day T-shirt in time for September 9, the day of the hike, our supplier needs your order by Friday, August 25 (that's this Friday).

To place your order, go to our MST in a Day page, here.

There would be no Mountains-to-Sea Trail, no reason to celebrate a 40th anniversary, without the generous support of our many sponsors, including  BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, Great Outdoor Provision Co., REI, Duke Energy, Farm to Feet, First Citizens Bank, Mast General Store, Rostan Family Foundation, New Morning Gallery, AntiGravity Gear, Prestage Farms and Wyrick Robbins.