Folk Art Center to bridge and Bull Mountain Road, Mountains to Sea Trail

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
3/17/2025	3.7 miles	1 hour 51 minutes	269'	3.7	85.9 miles

Parking: 

• Folk Art Center

Map:

• Gai GPS

Directions:

• Hike south to the bridge. Hike north back to the Folk Art Center. Continue hiking north to Bull Mountain Road. Hike south back to the Folk Art Center

Well, now there are official signs saying the MST between Bull Mountain Road and Haw Creek Overlook is closed. So, we are now hiking further south on the MST. Lots of people on the trail, and the trail is in pretty good condition, other than a blowdown. In this section, you pass by house with a field with two horses in it. A sign says you can feed them carrots and apples. They also encourage you to take a photo of the horses and post it on the horses' Instagram page!

We decided not to continue across the bridge...I'm sure it's fine but it just doesn't look great.

Our turnaround point, near Bull Mountain Road. Kind of a big climb over.

Trail Maintenance, Garenflo Gap to Bluff Mountain

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
3/12/2025	1.2 miles	5 hours 25 minutes	120'	1.1	82.2 miles

Parking: 

• Garenflo Gap

Map:

• Gai GPS

Directions:

• n/a

The road to our trailhead keeps looking worse and worse. Given what is happening with FEMA and the USFS, my guess is that the USFS won't get any $ to fix it. The ruts are 12"-18" deep. So, we park at the end of the paved road and walk up the gravel road. We haven't been out to work on our section since December, when I started having hip pain. We are way overdue. Glen took a saw and hiked to the summit and sawed 9+ down trees on the way down. He worked for 9 hours. Since I can't hike that far, I worked near the trailhead, clearing branches from the upper side of the trail, lopping, and trimming overhead branches. I worked 5 1/2 hours and only worked on 0.3 miles of the trail. And my hip hurt. I don't feel very effective, but it's better than nothing, I guess. I quit early and went back to the car. I hung out for 3 1/2 hours waiting for Glen to finish. I should have brought dinner! Next time! We stopped at a grocery store on the way home, because we didn't leave the trailhead until 8pm, and we were thirsty and hungry. 

We saw a handful of thru hikers, some section hikers, and surprise - a couple of day hikers. Krumm had a blast retrieving sticks and was polite when meeting 2 of the thru hikers. 

This is the road to the trailhead

Down tree that needs a chainsaw

Second down tree that needs a chainsaw

Bull Mountain Road to Haw Creek Overlook, Mountains to Sea Trail

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
3/10/2025	4 miles	2 hours 10 minutes	473'	2.0	81 miles

Parking: 

• Bull Mountain Road

Map:

• Gai GPS

Directions:

• Take the spur trail to the MST. Turn left on the MST and hike to Haw Creek Overlook. Return the same way.

The parking area was crowded but the trail was not. We met a jogger who said he encountered a stubborn bear on the trail. So, I guess bears are active again. This section of the MST is notorious for bear issues. Luckily, we didn't encounter any. 

Dupont Loop - Wilkie Trail, Micajah Trail, and Rock Quarry Road

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
3/2/2025	3.8 miles	2 hours 2 minutes	355'	2.0	77 miles

Parking: 

• Corn Mill Shoals Parking Area, Dupont

Map:

• Pisgah Map Co, Dupont

Directions:

• From the parking area, turn right onto Cascade Lake Road. Walk a short way and then turn right onto the Wilkie Trail. At the Y intersection, turn left onto the Micajah Trail. At the next intersection, turn left onto Buck Ridge Road (Gai shows a trail to the park boundary, Pisgah Map Co doesn't show this) and follow a mostly unused section of trail to the park boundary. Turn around and continue back up the trail. When you return to the trail junction, keep straight on Buck Ridge Road. At the 4-way intersection, turn right onto Rock Quarry Road. At a T intersection, turn left onto an unmarked trail (not shown on Gai nor the Dupont maps). This leads to cliffs and a quarry. Walk to the end and turn around. When you get back to the T intersection, keep left on Rock Quarry Road. Follow this to Cascade Lake Road. Turn around. Turn left at the next intersection onto Micajah Trail. Turn left again at the next intersection onto Micajah Trail. Hike to the road and turn left onto the road to return to your parking area.

We have never hiked to the west of Corn Mill Shoals Parking area, so today we explored this section. Luckily, we didn't encounter any trail closures. Parts of it (large flat rocks) reminded us of Harriman, and part of it (cliff faces) reminded us of the Gunks. We both enjoyed this hike, and I'm sure its prettier when the leaves come out. We saw a handful of mountain bikers. Not much water, but it did have a tiny stream for Krumm.

A good place for a roll.

Park boundary

Cliffs along the unmarked trail.

Dixie Reindeer Lichen

Bull Mountain Road to Haw Creek Overlook, Mountains to Sea Trail

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
2/28/2025	4 miles	2 hours	528'	?	73.2 miles

Parking: 

• Bull Mountain Road

Map:

• Gai GPS app

Directions:

• Take the spur trail to the MST. Turn left on the MST and hike to Haw Creek Overlook. Return the same way.

A local hike to get some exercise. Took some time to observe textures on the trail.

A short walk on the parkway to get around a blowdown. 
No cars, because the parkway is closed.