Fall 2021
Autumn on Badin Lake. Photo by Joy Shuck.
This Fall 2021 newsletter finds us in an uncertain holding pattern - anxious to begin living life fully but apprehensive about the Covid variants and the possibilities of contracting and spreading them despite our best efforts and in the wake of multiple conflicting versions of what our best options should be and where we are all headed. Fortunately in this world of confusion one piece of information remains constant - being outdoors in fresh air continues to be recognized as just about the safest place we can be!
So plan to get outside as much as possible as the temperatures become more pleasant, and please let the Uwharrie Trailblazers know if you have questions about hiking in the Uwharrie National Forest. We are here to help you get the most out of your experience on the trails.
Kim AndersenFrom the Chair
David Craft, Bus Driver
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Sometimes a simple expression can say quite a bit.
I've been known to say on workdays, think like water. Why? Well, water is going to do what it wants to do to the trail. We can change its course and slow it down to protect our trail. Much of our trail work addresses run off. Most of our trails were never built but follow old road beds or the path of least resistance. Addressing erosion can require looking at a long section of trail and making adjustments in multiple areas. There is usually not one easy fix. Life can be like that as well. You can use this approach in your personal life. But remember first, to think like water, understand what it wants to do before working on the trail.
David Craft, front left, and a trail work crew thinking like water on a recent Saturday morning!
The 10th Uwharrie Trail Thru Hike
Crystal Cockman, Director of Conservation, Three Rivers Land Trust
“This event has become a reunion for friends, a memorial for hiking buddies, an annual wedding anniversary hike, a first backpacking experience for many, and even the setting for more than one romantic connection. ”
Photo by Kelly Heath.
This fall on October 14-17, Three Rivers Land Trust will host our 10th thru hike backpacking trip of the full 40-mile length of the Uwharrie Trail. I would say 10th annual, but it’s actually the 9th year we’ve had the hike, it just has become such a successful event that we had two hikes this year, one in spring and one in fall. Which brings us to 10 thru hikes total.
This event has become a reunion for friends, a memorial for hiking buddies, an annual wedding anniversary hike, a first backpacking experience for many, and even the setting for more than one romantic connection. The event has a real following, and a number of dedicated people hike it every time we host the event.
Photo by Crystal Cockman.
The Uwharrie Trail Thru Hike started as an intern assignment in 2013. Rebecca Schoonover’s project started out as an audio tour of the trail, documenting special natural areas, and cultural and historic places along the trail, including old graveyards, gold mines, campsites and more. This project was completed later as an Eagle Scout project by Christ Moncrief, with QR codes along the trail that you can use to hear short stories about these features. Rebecca turned her focus into putting together a video documenting the first thru hike of the Uwharrie Trail since the 1970s.
The only people to complete the entirety of the first trek were Rebecca, Crystal Cockman with Three Rivers Land Trust, and Don Childrey the author of the Uwharrie Lakes Region Trail Guide. Several other invited guests joined for various portions of that hike. Rebecca’s video as posted on YouTube, garnered a lot of attention and a lot of email and calls from people asking when we would be doing it again so they could join. And the Thru Hike was born.
Group of happy hikers enjoying a day on the trail during a past Uwharrie thru hike. Photo by Crystal Cockman.
The thru hike would not be possible without the support of the many trail angels, who make this more than just your average backpacking trip. The treats and smiling faces along the way provide a kind atmosphere and comradery that keeps hikers coming back year after year. Certainly, David Gardener and Karen Auman stand out as incredible trail angels, who participate the entire four days providing hikers with cold Gatorade at various stops along the trail, carrying gear for those who wouldn’t be able to complete the hike without that assistance, checking hikers in at camp and roadsides to make sure they arrive safely, helping clean up camp and haul off trash every morning, and doing anything else that needs to be done to make it a fun and safe event.
Other trail angels provide donuts, candy, sodas, beer, hotdogs, energy bars, and various other treats and treasures along the way, giving hikers that extra nudge to keep going and complete their mission of 40 miles. It is impossible to name them all, but many of the trail angels also come back year after year to provide these amenities. It’s been amazing how since even from the very first hike, people have come to us saying they cannot hike the 40 miles, but they still want to be a part of this great event by helping those who are hiking it. The event would not be the success it is without their participation and support.
Trail angel dishes out ice cream (!) at Jumping Off Rock camp on the second night of the thru hike. Photo by Crystal Cockman.
The thru hike started as a way to share with everyone the conservation successes that have occurred in order to even make hiking the full 40 miles possible - the stretch of trail over King Mountain and Little Long Mountain, the new Walkers Creek Trailhead, the Dassow Property in the Birkheads, and the Dark Mountain Property south of Jumping Off Rock. There are so many great projects that have resulted in this full 40-mile trail being protected and restored. The partnership of so many organizations allowed the gaps in the trail to be filled, all but the last one.
We are one property away from having this trail fully reconnected and doing away with the road walk. The importance of the conservation projects that were completed to make this possible are so much more tangible when you are actually walking the trail and seeing them. We hope we are able to continue this thru hike adventure for many years to come, so familiar faces and new hikers alike are able to continue to enjoy this wonderful recreational resource.
Two New Uwharrie Trailblazers Board Members!!!
Eric Kalin
In his own words:
A simple boy from Illinois, second of eleven kids, and a former marathon runner, I retired after over fifty years of full-time work and moved from Morristown, New Jersey, to Apex, NC, in 2018. After discovering the Uwharrie National Forest in 2020, I joined the Trailblazers. Learning the lingo and skills of hiking and maintaining trails has been great fun.
Steve “Chaco” Chase
A Rhode Islander transplanted to Pittsboro, NC, Steve has been doing trail work with the Uwharrie Trailblazers and other groups for quite a while. See “From Saunterer to Sawyer: The Path to Giving Back”
In his own words:
US Marine, 2X Appalachian Trail Thru Hiker, Wilderness First Aid/CPR & Certified Sawyer…still learning!
Eric and Steve have both already contributed greatly to the club as trail work crew members and both of them are outstanding athletes and phenomenally strong hikers. They also bring many leadership skills and a wealth of professional experience to the group. Welcome Eric and Steve to the Uwharrie Trailblazers Board!
Sunset from shelter at Little Long Mountain. Photo by Sharon Williamson Moran.
editorial policy
The contents of this newsletter are authored collaboratively by the Uwharrie Trailblazers steering committee unless otherwise attributed and are intended to illuminate, educate, and inspire all who enjoy the trails of the Uwharries. The newsletter is edited by Uwharrie Trailblazers club secretary Kim Andersen. We welcome suggestions and questions from all readers.
Please send feedback and questions via email to uwharrietrailblazers@gmail.com and visit us on Facebook!
