thoughts.bjsintay.com

As an avid hiker, I enjoy escaping the busy town atmosphere every now and again for some time with nature.  The closest place for me to do this in the NC triad area is at Pilot Mountain State Park just north of Winston-Salem, NC.  The park offers easy hiking for families, horseback riding, climbing, canoeing, fishing, and camping.  On the weekends it is teaming with people from all different walks of life including many bicyclers climbing the mountain on a long, stiff incline up about 1,400 feet from the base of the mountain.

Recently, I took Roxie, my active Miniature Pinscher, on a hike at Pilot Mountain.  I packed a lunch from Jersey Mike’s and set off for some altitude.  At the parking area (2,400+ ft) I could see in nearly all directions since the winter had stripped the leaves from the trees.  There was an overabundance of people - everywhere.  I found myself a bit closed in on the Overlook (0.1 miles, easy) trail, so I set off down the Sassafras Trail (0.5 miles, moderate) since it looked like no one was going that direction.  This small loop offered a bit more solitude and excellent views of Pilot Mountain from a couple rocky outcrops.  It was at one of these outcrops that I jumped the fence (yes, the trail has fences on it) and hiked a couple hundred feet out of sight.  Lunch was served here with an unobstructed view of Pilot, Sauratown, and Hanging Rock Mountains.

After lunch I hiked on the crowded Jomeokee Trail (0.8 miles, moderate) around Pilot Mountain.  Hoping for more solitude, I darted on to the Ledge Spring Trail (2.0 miles, strenuous) from there only to find it jam packed with other hikers and countless climbers every hundred yards or so.  Climbers were scattered all over the trail forcing hikers to bypass in the nearby brush.  Once I arrived at the start of the Mountain Trail (2.5 miles, strenuous) I jumped out of the crowd and headed down the mountain.  At about 1,600 feet on the altimeter I stepped off of the trail path and over a ridge to secure a secluded spot from the crowds all over the park trails, especially the shorter ones.  There I was able to lay out on my tarp and relax with a good book (see my review on A Walk in the Woods).

I recommend the trails at Pilot Mountain State Park for all types of people, especially those not concerned with the big crowds or lack of a secluded nature experience.  There are opportunities for more serious hikers on the longer trails such as the Grindstone, Mountain, Grassy Ridge, and Corridor Trails.  I will most likely stick to these trails in the future.

I’ve been searching for interesting reading material on the Appalachian Trail and ran across National Geographic’s Mountain Adventure published decades ago.  Ebay delivered this book to me for under $10.00, so I figured I would give it a shot.  The book is authored by Ron Fisher.  Fisher has a calm, soothing tone.  He rarely interjects humor and instead uses vivid imagery to pull the reader along.

Fisher covers much of the trail on foot, however, he does not thru-hike the trail.  This book is merely a documentation of what the trail is and means to the areas it passes through.  I felt like I gained an appreciation for much of the trail’s qualities versus the whole hiking experience itself.  Most other books on the AT focus on the hiking experience.

My lasting impression of this book can be summed up as pleasantly descriptive of the trail’s general feel in each state.  I would not call this book a definitive text on the subject, but its breadth may appeal to a wide audience interesting in learning about the trail for the first time without having to hear long, twisted tails about what one has to go through to thru-hike it.

Sean was nice enough to lend me an extra copy of Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods since he knows I am an avid Appalachian Trail (AT) hiker.  Many people cite Bryson’s book as the reason they become interested in hiking the trail, yet many in the AT community reject it for a variety of reasons, the biggest being that Bryson doesn’t actually thru-hike the trail.  The definition of a thru-hike is to physically walk past every white blaze (trail marker) of the AT in one season.  Bryson falls short of this and pretty much gives up his thru-hike at Clingman’s Dome in NC.  He ends up hiking many sections of the trail, much by day-hike from his car.

The greatest part about this book is often lost on many hikers.  Simply put, it’s a fun read about the Appalachian Trail.  Bryson’s sense of humor keeps the book interesting, even if he is a bit derogatory toward local residents of various places near the trail.  He’s extremely critical of the US Forest Service and also the Army Corps of Engineers, pretty much calling them idiots.  While some of his points are valid, he does push the envelope a bit.  Maybe it’s just to get people’s attention.   His book is well researched and includes many facts about the history of the trail and its various controversies over the years.

If you’re able to roll with a few harsh comments, an unusually slow/unsuccessful hiker, and the fact that Bryson doesn’t actually hike all of the miles then I recommend this book.  If not, head on over to http://www.skwc.com/exile/Hail-nf.html to read Then the Hail Came by George Staffanos.  I highly recommend this trail book/journal filled with extreme detail and tons of humor.