"Happiness is in the small details." Quote and photo submitted by Haw River-area volunteer Margaret Lanier, who was reminded of this often by her mother. Photo taken along the Townsend Trail portion of the MST in Greensboro. “Keep

"...On you will go, though the weather be foul. On you will go, though your enemies prowl. On you will go, though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and

My name is Shay Martin Lovette and I am an Americana singer-songwriter from Boone, N.C. I am also an avid backpacker and a friend of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. This Thursday, April 23rd at 7 PM EST, I have the

“I’m going back into the woods To listen to the ancient trees Branches long and withered, wise Reaching up to thread my dreams. My faith I’ll place unto them Barks rich with hard-won battle scars Leaves whispering with

These are tough times for all of us. As I sit in my house self-isolating and itching to get back out on the trail, I’ve been thinking back on how I got involved with the MST and how

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts." - Rachel Carson, Silent Spring. / Photo by Danny Bernstein of Sharon McCarthy on the MST along the

Dear MST Family: MST friend Jeff Gresko captured this photo of a wind-blown ovenbird warbler near the Mills River Overlook on the MST last May. This little bird reminded me of a famous Emily Dickinson poem: “Hope” is

"On the mountain, moments occur at which something moves between me and it. Place and a mind may interpenetrate till the nature of both is altered. I cannot tell what this movement is except by recounting it...the power

I am wrestling with this newness and unanswerable questions -- just as you are, I'm sure. I can't travel far, but I do take an afternoon walk, a time for my brain to simmer down and my eyes

Last Thursday I wrote to you with guidelines for the MST during the COVID-19 outbreak. One of those guidelines was “The MST is open!” Today much of the MST is still open, but there are parts of it