Wednesday, May 21, 2014

It's my Lucky Day


Not just because I chanced upon this roadside good-luck charm, but because I trekked some wonderful roads across rural north-central North Carolina and made it to the east-end trailhead of the nearly 20 miles of Greensboro Lakes trails.

I'll do those off-road trails tomorrow - stay tuned.  But today, a hazy sun greeted me over rural NE Guilford County, the fifteenth county that the hiker of the new MST Cape Fear Arch route passes through traveling westbound.


There is a controversy stirring there.  On one side of it are a group of conservationists and rural farm interests spearheaded by the Teague Family of Reedy Fork Organic Farm (right on the MST route, seen in the distance in the photo below) and developers who smell a government dole in the form of Project Haystack.  If this 'mega-site' high-tech industrial park is approved, it will mean huge government hand-outs, beginning with Guilford County's 900 acre Prison Farm, the purchase of a bunch of adjacent land, and major upgrades to infrastructure, all in the hopes of attracting up to 6.5 billion dollars of business and employing thousands.  It would mean mega-growth for this now peaceful, rural part of the state.  I guess I like it the way it is, but there's nothing as constant as change.  Some day, in some form, I'll bet the area is developed.


Other sights of interest today included this 'wall' of Japanese Honeysuckle--an invasive species with some appeal--the unusual mixed 'gold and silver' flowers have delightfully strong sweet fragrance that fills the air this time of year.


And I passed this roadside thorny planting in the quiet little town of Ossipee, which was just incorporated in 2002.


As I said the day ended at the trailhead, complete with white circular blaze and official Mountains-to-Sea Trail sign.


I can't wait to plunge into the woods again, especially since the forecast is for the temperature to hit 90F tomorrow.

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Here's a map of today's 18.7 mile hike:



MST Day 54 - NE Guilford County at EveryTrail
EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking in North Carolina


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