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October 22, 2007
Trekking across N.C., one weekend at a time
On Friday I found an article in the Charlotte Observer about two friends who are section hiking the Mountains to Sea Trail. I thought some of you might enjoy reading about this great trail. Enjoy!
Trekking across N.C., one weekend at a time
Pals have started hiking the Mountains to the Sea Trail
By KIRSTEN VALLE
Reprinted by Permission
After three weekends and 85 miles in the wilderness, Frank Potter and Jim Walters have some tales to tell.
They've slept atop boulders, nursed sore muscles and trudged through the dark by the light of a mining helmet. Then there was "the angel in the pickup truck" who helped them out of a jam -- more about that later.
Potter is 65 and Walters is 62, and they are hiking the Mountains to the Sea Trail, a rugged route that stretches more than 930 miles across the state.
"Most people say, `You're doing what? And why?' " Potter said. "I say, `I don't know. But we've gone beyond that stopping point. We can't stop now.' "
The men, who live in south Charlotte, have both hiked before; Potter as an Eagle Scout, Walters with his daughter when she was growing up.
Walters, who is retired from Bank of America and now runs an online golf merchandise business, decided to hike this trail after reading "A Walk in the Woods," by Bill Bryson, about "two old guys hiking the Appalachian Trail," he said.
Potter, a longtime general manager at Brodt Music Co., agreed to come along a few months ago.
The pair raided their attics and their children's homes for supplies. Walters prepared by walking on his treadmill with his backpack.
The men decided to hike on the weekends only, and they set a timeline: "I've got to do this in two years, because I'm getting old," Potter said.
The Mountains to the Sea Trail, created in 1973, runs from Clingman's Dome near the N.C.-Tennessee border to Jockey's Ridge State Park.
The route gained popularity in the 1990s after a guide book was published, said Jeff Brewer, president of Friends of the Mountains to the Sea Trail.
Still, just 12 people have finished it since 1997, he said.
"It's pretty strenuous," Brewer said. "It's definitely not a cakewalk."
Potter and Walters set off one Saturday in early July for Clingman's Dome, driving two cars and parking them at the beginning and end of the section of trail they planned to hike. They quickly learned that the hike wouldn't be easy.
"I thought the first half-mile was going to kill us," Walters said.
The next day, the two were so sore they could barely lift their legs.
"If someone came up and got me, I'd quit," Walters thought at one point. "Then I realized that the only way I'm going to get out of here is to hike."
The pair emerged from the woods late that afternoon and embarked on their second hike later that month.
Potter and Walters were in high spirits until their third trip.
The men started on a Saturday in August on a narrow trail, moving at a rate of less than a mile an hour.
They ran low on water. And then it got dark. For about 1 1/2 hours, Walters lighted the way with a miner's helmet.
Potter and Walters finally reached their campsite and fell asleep -- only to wake up a few hours later to find their tent sliding off the rock where they'd pitched it.
It got worse. The next day, after hiking six hours through the Nantahala National Forest, the pair realized they hadn't seen a trail marker in awhile. They were lost.
Potter and Walters eventually came to a gravel road. An old man in a pickup pulled up, and they offered him $20 to take them back the way they came.
The man agreed to drive them for $30. The ride took 1 1/2 hours. Potter and Walters gave their new friend $40 and nicknamed him the "angel in the pickup truck."
"We would have still been lost if it wasn't for him," Walters said.
Later this month, the pair will try again, picking up where they left off for a 32-mile hike. Walters has invested in a GPS and mapping software, he said.
There have been a few complaints along the way, including some half-joking gripes about dull conversations and each other's snoring.
But the trail will get easier as the men trek east, and friends and family along the way have offered to help and even hike with them.
"Our friends are going to throw us a party if we get halfway through," Walters said.
He and Potter know it's about more than that, though.
"Just to take on a challenge of something that's physically hard, mentally hard and a lot of planning," Walters said. "Just to say you've done it."
And anyway, they've started, they say. There's no stopping now.
Mountains to the Sea Trail
• Started in 1973 under the N.C. Trails System Act.
• Stretches 934.5 miles across the state, from Clingman's Dome in Great Smokey Mountains National Park to Jockey's Ridge State Park, winds through 37 counties on footpaths, roads and state bike routes.
• Still under construction. Friends of the Mountains to the Sea Trail plans to build a complete foot trail across the state. The group has built 485 miles and has about 450 to go.
• More details: www.ncmst.org.
• Details about Frank Potter and Jim Walters' trip: www.trailjournals.com/pottwalt
Hiking in the News | By Jeffrey Hunter | 10:20 AM
