Tag: fastpacking

Backpacking Doughton Park: Moose tracks and rain

September 17, 2023By y2kemo

grassy trail with blue skies — Coming up the MST towards the Blue Ridge Parkway

Getting away for a weekend can sometimes be a challenge. Thankfully, there are a handful of places I can quickly access including Doughton Park; the largest recreation area the National Park Service manages on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Located just west of Stone Mountain between Wilkes and Alleghancy Counties in North Carolina, Doughton Park consists of incredible views, wide open meadows, and some really challenging inclines. Additionally, part of the iconic 1,175 mile Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST) passes through the park and passing by some breathtaking vistas. Having been to Doughton Park before, given the campsite at Basin Cove and the challenging trails, I opted to return to the area for a weekend solo trip.

Backpacking Mountains-to-Sea Trail: Stone Mountain to Doughton Lollipop

July 8, 2021By y2kemo

Summer is an interesting time to head into the backcountry. Finicky water sources, exhausting heat, pop-up thunderstorms, thirsty ticks, and relentlessly buzzing gnats, skeeters, and flies. But, even with all of its complications, summer is also an awesome time to get outdoors. To that end, my buddy, Coop, and I put together a list of options before agreeing on a section of the iconic Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST).

Stretching 1,175 miles from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks, the MST includes some of the best of what North Carolina has to offer: mountain vistas, grassy meadows, coastal swamps, dense forests, and miles of shoreline. Currently, the MST is a mix of road and trail, but the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation intends to develop the MST into a 1,400 mile continuous, off-road trail.

With so much to offer, Coop further refined our chosen location and put together a lollipop route from Stone Mountain State Park to Doughton Park and back again.

My Pandemic Run Streak: 10K a day for a year

April 18, 2021By y2kemo

In March 2020, COVID-19 and my state’s resulting stay-at-home order made life a bit challenging. First, we were told to wash hands for 20 seconds. Next, we were told to stay six feet from one another. Then, everyone had to wear a mask. By mid-March, schools went online, businesses closed or switched to remote work, and eventually we were all told to just stay home.

While the world shut down around us, my 9YO son and I took off down the roads and sidewalks; he’d ride his bike and I’d pound the pavement. For the first few weeks we went out 4-5 miles nearly every day. Then, in April 2020, I read about a Garmin 30-day, 10K challenge and thought, “Why not?” I mean, including the previous 3 weeks and a 40-miler in February, I had run a total of 257 miles since the start of the new year. Why not bang out 240+ miles in a month?

And so, on April 19, 2020, my 10K run streak began.

Fastpacking Wild Oak Trail: Trail Running + Backpacking = Awesome!

September 12, 20206 commentsBy y2kemo

runner on trail in woods with high grass — Coop descends Hankey Mountain.

When COVID-19 shut things down and my work switched to remote, I challenged myself to run a 10K a day. Months later, my buddy, Coop, suggested we hit the trails. I asked if we could fastpack (trail running + backpacking) so I could keep my streak alive, and he agreed wholeheartedly; even suggested Wild Oak Trail, a location we had visited previously back in November 2019.

Designated as a National Recreation Trail in 1979, the Wild Oak National Recreation Trail (TWOT) is a 27-mile loop offering 7,000′ of elevation gain within the George Washington National Forest just west of Staunton, Virginia. It’s a hot spot for mountain bikers, backpackers, and ultrarunners, and the perfect place for our first foray into fastpacking.

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