Trail News from the Mountains to the Sea December 2020
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MST Trail Guides Go Digital - Get a Sneak Peek
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As a special year-end treat, we’re giving you a sneak preview of our new, improved trail guides. We’re still putting on the final touches, but for a limited time, draft versions of Segments 8 (Rivers, Railroads & Lakes: Hanging Rock State Park to Greensboro’s Bryan Park) and 12 (Agricultural Heartland: Howell Woods Environmental Learning Center to Suggs Mill Pond Game Land) are available for free download here.
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Cover image from Segment 8.
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Sample page of hiking directions.
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We chose these two segments because they have changed dramatically since the current guides were published. The changes include the waterfall walk in Cascades Preserve (Segment 8 just outside Oak Ridge) and the new history trail at Bentonville Battlefield in Segment 12. Both of these hikes are featured in Great Day Hikes on North Carolina’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail, which you can pick up from our store or in most local outfitters and bookshops.
Some of the features of these guides include:
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A new, electronic-only format, which means quicker and easier updates when the trail route changes. (No more 28 pages of Updates!)
- A simpler design that’s easier to read on mobile devices.
- Easier navigation between document sections.
- New features to make the guides more useful for casual and day hikers.
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Here's a peek at several of the pages in the new guides.
As we make the transition to the new guides in early 2021, the current segment guides will no longer be available for PDF download; however, we will continue to sell the printed regional guides while supplies last. The new guides will be available for free as a member benefit to Friends members who give $50 or more on an annual basis, and for a reasonable price to non-members. (Members will also have unlimited access to any updated guides for the year.)
We’re really excited about the new trail guides, and we hope you will be too! Stay tuned for more details and, meanwhile, enjoy the two sample segments.
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A Big, Wonderful $50,000 Surprise
on Giving Tuesday
By Kate Dixon, Executive Director
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On December 1st, my phone rang. Millie Chalk, our board president, was on the line. “Happy Giving Tuesday!,” she said. I laughed – not thinking too much of it. But then she told me that the Duke Energy Foundation had decided to give Friends a surprise $50,000 grant for trail projects on the Outer Banks and in Carteret County.
There are a lot of great things we can do for the trail in both those places, and now we have the fun of talking with partners to figure out the best ways to spend the money. Our first calls have been to Jockey’s Ridge State Park and to the NC Coastal Federation.
For years, we’ve dreamed of iconic markers at the eastern and western termini of the trail. Perhaps this grant will make that possible at Jockey’s Ridge?
The Coastal Federation already has eight wonderful miles of trail at their 6,000-acre North River Wetlands Preserve but only one trailhead. An entrance at the northwestern end of the preserve would allow this extraordinary place to be incorporated into the MST route.
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Look to future newsletters for more about how we decide to spend the grant.
Although this grant came out of the blue, Duke Energy has made a tremendous impact on the MST since 2014 when their foundation gave $75,000 to help publish trail guides for the brand-new Coastal Crescent route. Since then they have donated almost $200,000 more to design new trail in the Coastal Plain and around Belew’s Lake north of Winston-Salem and Greensboro and to sponsor our annual Gathering of Friends.
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We also particularly appreciate that Duke introduced us to Millie Chalk, who joined Friends’ Board of Directors in 2018 and has served as President in this particularly challenging year. Millie is Duke’s Government and Community Relations Manager for eleven counties in the Coastal Plain. She has done so much to raise awareness of the trail in her region and to interest Duke in our work. She is warm, friendly, wise and hard-working, and our staff and board members love working with her. She has met the challenge of chairing board meetings by Zoom with aplomb and humor, and with her leadership we have somehow grown and thrived despite the pandemic. On January 2021, she will pass the gavel (in our case the golden Pulaski) to Carl deAndrade with great thanks from all.
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The MST has been a busy place this year, as experienced hikers and first-timers have looked for safe places to be outdoors. As we wrap up this year, here's a few more stories from the trail:
Cedric Kopa of Goldsboro finished his cross state trek in November. He paddled the Neuse and cycled most of the road sections. As a native North Carolinian, he found that this time helped him reconnect with the state and more importantly, himself. Congrats, Cedric!
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Cedric on Ocracoke Island.
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Friends' Betsy Brown and Kate Dixon, and former Board President Jerry Barker met with Cedric this past weekend to learn more about his hike. Cedric is eager to give back, especially by helping introduce the trail to more people of color.
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Another life-long North Carolinian, Katie Rankin, shared that her family, including two little boys, 3 and 5, decided to complete the MST before the youngest finishes high school. They can hike about 4-6 miles in half a day without having to carry the 3-year-old, and recently biked the entire Neuse River Greenway portion of the MST over 2 days.
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Hiking, biking and exploring on the MST!
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Order very, very soon to avoid disappointment
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We've been advised that postal delays are already happening this very busy and unusual holiday season. If you're planning to shop in our store, and would like your purchase to arrive before the 25th, don't wait another moment. Gift ideas include our new long-sleeved shirt.
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If you plan to shop on Amazon, we invite you to log in through AmazonSmile and choose Friends as your charity. Simply shop at smile.amazon.com/ch/52-2204330 and Amazon will donate half a percent back to us at no cost to you.
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Great Day Hikes Virtual Event Tomorrow
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Other Ways to Support the MST
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TWO: Buy an MST license plate. For $30 per year, you can show the world your love of the trail and help financially too. $20 of your annual fee will come back to Friends of MST to build, protect, and promote the trail. Order your plate directly from NC DMV.
THREE: If your employer hosts a workplace-giving campaign, look for Friends of MST as a giving option. We are a member of EarthShare NC which promotes workplace giving for conservation and environmental groups. We are a giving option in the North Carolina state employee campaign and in many local government and corporate campaigns too. Friends code numbers are: State employee campaign -- 1102; United Way of the Triangle - 60001159.
FOUR: Link your AmazonSmile account. Simply shop at smile.amazon.com/ch/52-2204330 and Amazon will donate half a percent back to us at no cost to you.
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Looking forward to seeing you on the MST again. Until then, stay safe and make the most of this special season.
Betsy Brown
Outreach Manager, Friends of the MST
919-518-1713
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Become a Member and
SAVE 10%
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Members save 10% on Friends merchandise available at our online store.
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Volunteers are the heart of Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.
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We need people with a wide variety of skills and interests to build and care for this beautiful trail.
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3509 Haworth Drive, Suite 210, Raleigh, NC 27609
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