Fall 2023
Trail work day volunteers at Robbins Branch on Saturday, September 16, 2023 - old friends making new friends, everyone learning from each other while keeping our trails ship shape for the future!
“When a community loses its memory, its members no longer know one another. How can they know one another if they have forgotten or have never learned one another’s stories? If they do not know one another’s stories, how can they know whether or not to trust one another? People who do not trust one another do not help each other, and moreover they fear one another. ”
Lately on my mind has been the idea that those of us who hike and choose to exercise our love of the outdoors on trails make this choice because (certainly among other reasons) we like a journey - we are seekers and we are, while not necessarily always socially outgoing, we are going out. It is our preference to proactively move through our environment towards something rather than to passively observe what moves by us. This proclivity for action and for reaching outward is never more apparent than at the Uwharrie Trailblazers trail work days. Work day volunteers with a wide variety of backgrounds and personalities join together for a common cause the second Saturday of each month. Over time through teamwork, conversations, teaching moments, and a myriad of other experiences shared on the trail, these people form a loose community - a community initially hinging exclusively around the participants’ love of trails but subsequently nourished by interaction, communication, and cooperation around common goals. Thus fortified, the members of this community develop deep a understanding of each other, which leads to mutual respect and affection. Similar results emerge from Uwharrie Trail thru hikes and hammock hangs and campouts.
Our hiking and trail communities are extremely important today. As instantaneous communication, worldwide social media, and an ever expanding virtual existence gains popularity and necessity in our lives, we as human beings actually have become more and more isolated. Old traditional communities such as neighborhoods, towns, and even regional cultures no longer bind us one to another. In today’s world if we are going to have real connections, real interactions, and meaningful “IRL” relationships, our communities of choice become the primary source of those essential elements that comprise a functioning society and fuel a healthy civilization.
In this issue of the newsletter are some stories illustrating the very best of our UTB community.
Kim AndersenFrom the Chair
Janet and David Craft enjoying a hike in Scotland!
by David Craft, Bus Driver and Cat Herder (aka UTB Chair)
We’re winding up another active year. Our trail bosses and volunteers have done a great job with trail maintenance.
If you haven’t, check out Caraway Creek Preserve, a project of Piedmont Land Conservancy in Greensboro. Many of our members helped with this project especially Jim Plant and Will Truslow. Caraway Creek Preserve is near Mt. Shepherd, site of our last annual meeting; it is truly a hiking treasure.
We’ll be planning our annual meeting, preceded by a hike, soon, for January 2024. If you have suggestions, let us know.
I’ll be passing the reins of leadership at this meeting to a new Chair, Steve Chase, and Vice Chair, Bruce Kolkebeck. I’m excited for the Club as we transition to new experienced leaders. Both are AT thruhikers!
Thanks also to Kim Andersen and Jim Plant for their capable unsung efforts. And to our trail bosses, Gifford del Grande, Joe White, Dave Gardener, Matt McArthur, and of course Bruce and Steve. Interested in trail work? We need a few folks to help with workdays.
It’s been a real pleasure being the herder of cats (my expression for running the club) unofficially since 2012 and officially since 2016.
It started simply in 2012 when Dave Gardener, followed by Joe White, and others were asked to build Trail Little Long Mountain by Crystal Cockman and the Land Trust. This, after years of scouting, finagling, and politicking to close the gap.
We are close, but years away. We’ll keep trying……that’s for sure.
See you on the trail and at Strieby Wood.
In Memoriam
Eric Kalin (1946-2023)
Eric Kalin (Eric Peter Kalinauskas) described himself as “a simple boy from Illinois, second of eleven kids, and a former marathon runner. I retired after over fifty years of full-time work and moved from Morristown, New Jersey, to Apex, NC, in 2018. After discovering the Uwharrie National Forest in 2020, I joined the Trailblazers. Learning the lingo and skills of hiking and maintaining trails has been great fun.”
We lost Eric earlier this year after he fought a courageous battle with an unrelenting cancer.
Eric Kalin on crosscut saw in the Birkheads.
Remembering Eric Kalin
by Jim Plant
From July to September 2021, the Uwharrie Trailblazers built a trail shelter on private property adjacent to the Uwharrie National Forest. That shelter and property transferred to the Forest Service last year. Eric was responsible for the design and organizing the construction. It was remote. Material and equipment needed to be hauled about a mile through the forest to the site. We were fortunate to obtain permission from another landowner to cross his property but had to rehabilitate an old forest road in order to do that. With all the material, equipment and a generator on site, we needed to keep the project a secret.
Eric working on Crystal’s Place Shelter, which he designed
In preparation for a work day, Eric would send us links to You Tube videos on how to install a roof, gutter system or whatever it was that we were working on. He prepared a detailed shopping list of material, with links, for me (club treasurer). You could tell he had led projects in the past. Not like this but organizational skills are similar. Eric wanted running water on site, so he designed a gutter and rain barrel system, spigot and hose. We added a window complete with shutters. A granite countertop was installed under the awning for a cooking surface. A picnic table, bench and firepit rounds out the amenities. It’s a pretty cool shelter.
L-R: Eric Kalin, Dave Gardener, and Steve Chase building Crystal’s Place
It was hot and buggy. We had a yellow jacket nest on site. The generator was wonky. If you forgot something, you were there for the day and had to make do. It was brutally hot the day we painted the shelter. I had cramps in both hands by the end of the day. Once we finished painting, the shelter was done and we were so thrilled. It was a joy working with Eric.
Eric Kalin in the Uwharries. RIP and see you down the trail…
PRIVIES on the Uwharrie Trail!
Moldering privy in Nantahala - typical in style to what we anticipate building along the Uwharrie Trail
by Bruce Kolkebeck
Nantahala privy during construction - grating being installed
As the Uwharrie Trail gains in popularity the impact on the wilderness experience will also increase. One of those impacts is human waste. Hikers and campers can always use Leave No Trace principals by digging a cathole and burying human waste so that there is no smell, gross appearance nor fecal runoff to streams. Most hikers bury waste but many don’t know how or just don’t care. The Forest Service and our UTB Maintainers have noticed the increasing impact and discussions on how to deal with it have started.
A privy is the usual answer to high impact areas. Porta potty’s are OK for high impact camping areas close to roads but are expensive to maintain and are usually only used in fee areas like campgrounds. A pit toilet or outhouse like great grandpa used to use is stinky and also requires a new hole every few years.
As of late Appalachian Trail and other long-distance trails with high usage are using “moldering privies.” These are outhouses built a few feet off the ground with movable toilet seat areas. As the toilet is used waste falls into one of two pits of composted leaves. Users are asked to sprinkle leaves in the hole after use. After a period of time the toilet and seat are moved over and the waste filled area composts down so that it can be distributed in the woods. According to the maintainers of long sections of Appalachian Trail and the Mountain to Sea Trail here in NC most privies are being converted over to moldering toilets.
So what needs to be done first?
The USFS needs to do archeology and plant surveys on any location before the first shovel touches the ground. Once the site is approved, plans can be made as to which design should be used. Do we want a poop palace or just a dry place to go?
The first UT location identified for a privy is the Eagles Nest shelter at Little Long Mountain! Stay tuned for more information as plans develop!!!
Ciara wilder Massengale
“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
My name is Ciara Wilder Massingale and I am an ultra runner, Uwharrie National Forest and trail enthusiast, amateur nature photographer, Uwharrie Trailblazers member, beginner jiu-jitsu practitioner, and the founder of Wilder Uwharrie Trail Running in Asheboro, NC. Two years ago, however, this was not at all who I was. I hope by being vulnerable, transparent, and sharing my story that it inspires others to try trails and to challenge themselves!
At Caraway Creek Preserve, the day I completed the first ever 50k run there!
My father was in the army (82nd Airborne/Desert Storm) and I was born on May 12, 1992 at Womack Army Hospital in Fort Bragg, NC. We lived in Fayetteville, NC, until 1993 and then moved to El Paso, Texas, and lived there until 1994 and my sister was born there. Then we moved and lived in a trailer park in Trinity, NC, on Loflin Hill Road until 1999, my parents separated in 1995 and divorced in 1996. My mother moved my sister and I to Asheboro, NC, into a small duplex apartment off of Mack Road, where we lived until 2001. She remarried and we moved and lived on High Pine Church Road until 2002. From 2002-2010 we lived on Lassiter Mill Road and during these years is where I spent playing and exploring the woods of our land near the Birkhead Mountains Wilderness. Our house was only 0.8 miles away from what is now the Robbins Branch Trailhead and my step grandparents house was just 0.3 miles away from it. Our house was only 1.9 miles away from the Thornburg Trailhead, and that is where I spent a lot of time as a teenager as well as Deep River Trail/Faith Rock in Franklinville, NC. I hope this helps explain how the Birkhead Mountains Wilderness area of the Uwharries was practically in my backyard, so to speak!
My stepfather at the time had previously worked for the NC Forest Service and I spent time learning from him outdoors about things such as doing controlled burns on our land, learning how to read the ground and not lose a trail or tracks, identifying trees, fauna, and wildlife, etc. My father also had a significant impact on my love and knowledge for the outdoors and always had my sister and I outside exploring in the woods, horseback riding on trails, taking us to the mountains, and teaching us how to do work outside and take care of horses and other animals on our small farm. He grew up in the mountains of Kentucky and I inherited my love of the mountains from him. I learned from a very early age the importance of hard work, determination, and persistence through struggles from my parents.
I attended Tabernacle Elementary School and then also Farmer Elementary School. My grandparents lived in the house next to Uwharrie Middle School, where I eventually attended. I remember playing and exploring in those woods there before the school was ever even built and I remember the road being dirt and gravel before it was ever paved. One of my aunts lived in Sophia, NC, only 2.6 miles from Camp Caraway and I spent a lot of time playing outside there. I was a school bus rider and was always the first to get on the bus and the last to get off. I spent a lot of time just staring out the window watching the woods and the Uwharries go by, from elementary through high school. The Northern Uwharries have a very special place in my heart and I have been connected to them since I was a young child.
Age 17, on the bridge over Deep River in Franklinville, NC
When I was 17, I chose my high school senior project topic as "The Benefits of Herbal Remedies Over Modern Medicines." Joe Moffitt, who was 85 years old at the time, agreed to be my mentor for this project and over the course of many months during my Fall semester in 2009, I drove to his house on Mack Road in Asheboro after attending Southwestern Randolph High school. For those that don't know, Mr. Moffitt is known as the "Father of the Uwharrie Trail." I encourage you to research him and learn more about him.
We would briefly handle the clerical side of things at his kitchen table such as his signatures on forms and then head outside. Mr. Moffitt and I would walk around his property and land while he told me in detail about stories of his past, all the while pointing out and gathering plants. He would explain what they were and what they could be used for. Mr. Moffitt genuinely was interested in teaching me and helping me with my senior project. He gave me a wooden cheese wheel box, as well as a copy of his books "An Afternoon Hike Into The Past" and "A Country Boy's Learning," all of which I still have today. My mom recently met his son Joey Moffitt by chance and he told her he remembers his dad helping me back then. My mom took a picture of Mr. Moffitt and I with a disposable camera outside together, but unfortunately it was either lost or misplaced over the years. I vividly remember it: I was wearing an orange, yellow, red, and pink tie dye t-shirt, my hair was long, wavy, and wild. He was wearing blue jean overalls and a hat, with both of us smiling big!
In 2010 when I turned 18, I moved out for college and attended East Carolina University and then Guilford Technical Community College. After college, I worked as a medical receptionist for many years at a doctors office and also a pediatric office and then as a detention officer at the Randolph County Jail until my maternity leave and the birth of my daughter. Pregnancy was extremely difficult for me and I gained a significant amount of weight during this time. I had my daughter in December 2019 and went back to work at the jail from my maternity leave for about four hours and decided to quit to stay home and raise her. When my daughter was six months old I began trying to lose weight by a healthier diet and walking.
My husband Daniel, me, and our daughter Luna at Faith Rock in Franklinville, NC
After losing 75 lbs (100 lbs total down now) I decided to try running at first for weight loss to help lose the remaining extra pregnancy weight from having my daughter Luna. Little did I know that running, especially trail running, would soon become something so much more to me and transform my life completely. I ended up not being able to even run 3/10 of a mile straight the first time I tried on August 2, 2021. I didn't even have a pair of trail running shoes so I wore a pair of old and heavy hiking boots.
I had no intention of ever becoming an ultra runner; I didn’t even know this sport existed. In fact, I have asthma which becomes worse with exercise so I have to use an inhaler before any exertion and I am not naturally athletic. In fourth grade, I played on an elementary school basketball team but when I tried out for basketball, soccer, and volleyball in middle school and high school I never made any of the teams. I was bullied at school and on the school bus from elementary school through high school. Kids would make fun of me and call me a freak, call me weird, a nerd, call me derogatory names, you name it. I had anxiety attacks and emotional outbursts regularly at school which drew a lot of negative attention from my classmates. They would tease me for being different than they were and call me crazy and a cry baby when I cried. But they had no idea what I had been through or experienced outside of school hours.
Without going into details for the privacy of those involved and my family, I had a really traumatic childhood at school and at home and also within my romantic relationships throughout my teenage years and my 20s. I endured mental, physical, verbal, and sexual abuse beginning as a young child. I also witnessed other family members being verbally and physically abused. As a result of all of this trauma, I put up a wall and developed a hatred and mistrust of people from an early age. I turned deeper to books, art, music, animals, and nature to escape from reality. I would spend hours outside or in the woods as a way to escape from it all. This routine continued into my teens and when I was old enough to finally drive, I went to explore local trails to hike and be alone in nature. Sometimes I would just sit and breathe, read, listen to music, draw, write, or simply listen to the sounds of the woods around me.
At age 29 (I am 31 now), starting running was extremely hard for me. I really struggled and felt like I couldn't do it. My entire life I had based my self worth on others words or opinions of me. I grew to hate myself and thoughts of self doubt, self harm, and even suicide had become my new normal. But my drive and determination to improve my post partum body once and for all overruled self doubts about my abilities. Enough was enough. Something had to change. Something is better than nothing I thought, slow progress is still progress. I stumbled upon a documentary on YouTube about the HURT 100 (a 100 mile trail race in Hawaii) and one of the men stated that eventually if you ran 20 miles every Saturday that in time it wouldn't be hard anymore and you would get used to it, it would become routine. I realized then I wanted to be able to do that and to feel that strong.
Within two months of starting trail running, I had worked up to my first solo half marathon (13.1 miles) at my local trails in the Uwharrie National Forest. I found the Uwharrie Trailblazers group on Facebook and joined it. On Saturday, November 13, 2021, I was out running the trails in the Birkheads and completing my second ever half marathon distance attempt. It also happened to be a UTB workday. It was a gorgeous and chilly Fall morning and I remember running by Steve Chase and other UTB members carrying all of their gear. As I passed by the group he said to me with a gleam in his eye, "It's a beautiful day for a trail run!" and I agreed! By seven months I completed my first full marathon (26.2 miles) at the Northern Trails Marathon in Greensboro, NC. By nine months I completed my first ultra distance of 50k (31.1 miles) on the trails in the Birkhead Mountains Wilderness. By ten months I had completed my first solo 40 mile distance. But I didn't stop there…
Steve Chase and me at the start of the Uwharrie Mountain Run 40 Miler at the Jumping Off Rock Trailhead
On August 31, 2022 I announced on Facebook that I was starting a local trail running group and also shared this to the UTB Facebook group in early September 2022. I set up a Wilder Uwharrie Trail Running group booth at ASHEtoberfest to get the word out to everyone in downtown Asheboro. In September 2022 I also met Jim Plant by chance at the footbridge over Talbott's Branch at the Tot Hill Trailhead. My then two year old daughter was "rearranging the rocks" (sorry Jim!) and he recognized me from my recent post in the UTB Facebook group and we introduced ourselves and chatted briefly. He and his hiking partners went on ahead to the trailhead. My daughter and I followed along shortly after and when I reached the trailhead my car wouldn't start. Thankfully Jim had not left quite yet and he tried starting my car too with no success. Without hesitation he offered to drive my daughter and me home. During the car ride he gave me his UTB business card and talked to me about the Uwharrie Trailblazers and encouraged me to give it a try.
The very next month on October 8, 2022, I completed my trail run at the Tot Hill Trailhead knowing this is where the UTB would meet to begin their work day that morning. I stood back and listened to the pre-workday briefing and to get a feel for what this group was all about. Don Childrey, author of "Uwharrie Lakes Region Trail Guide," also happened to be there and I didn't introduce myself so I messaged him the very next day doing so! He told me about the upcoming Uwharrie Thu Hike Dinner at the Walkers Creek Trailhead and so my family and I went. As someone who struggles with social anxiety, Don made me feel very welcomed and not so out of place as a new face there! I attended my first UTB trail work day the next month in November 2022.
Uwharrie Trailblazers work day at the Robbins Branch Trailhead. I am 11th from the left. Also pictured here L-R: Gifford DelGrande, Merritt Maness, Mary Jo Pugh, Steve Chase, ?, ?, Ali Tucker, Stanley Siceloff, ?, ?, Ciara Wilder Massengale, ?, Jim Plant, Don Childrey, ?, Marcus West, Krista Andersen Edwards-West, ?, Kathryn Waple, ?, ?.
Thanks especially to Don Childrey, Jim Plant, Steve Chase, David Craft, and many other wonderful members, I knew without a doubt I wanted to be a part of the amazing Uwharrie community and the Uwharrie Trailblazers. Their kindness, generosity, support, encouragement, and dedication to the trails was incredibly inspiring and reassuring to me as a new face in the Uwharrie community. I also attended the UTB annual meeting in January 2023 and this helped further solidify my decision to be a UTB member.
Here I am two years later since I began my trail and ultra running journey, and I've run a total of 12 ultra distances in less than two years and counting, not to mention many marathon distances and several 20-24 mile training runs also. I have run a total of eight 50k distances so far and counting, my next is the Pilot Mountain to Hanging Rock 50k official race this year in September. I have since completed two additional 40 mile distances since my first solo 40 miler. One of those 40 milers was an official race, the Uwharrie Mountain Run in February 2023. The other was on April 1, 2023, when I ran the entire 40 mile Uwharrie Trail in a single day and under 12 hrs. Shanan Hogan and his daughter from the Uwharrie Woods and Water group picked me up at 3:30 AM that morning to shuttle me so I could complete this run! I have submitted my run of the Uwharrie Trail through the Fastest Known Time (FKT) website to be reviewed. I was told I may be the first female to have done this, it'd be awesome if so! People who participate in the Uwharrie Thru hike, organized by Three Rivers Land Trust, take four days to hike the Uwharrie Trail to put it into perspective.
Adam Shirley, Brandy Hite, me, and my daughter Luna at the Tot Hill Trailhead on April 1, 2023 - the day I ran the entire Uwharrie Trail!
On May 6, 2023, I ran 81 miles straight (I was attempting 100 miles but stopped due to severely blistered feet) on the circular 0.10 mile dirt trail in my backyard in Asheboro, Randolph County. The exact place where my running journey began on August 2, 2021. My family calls it "The Track." It was 810 loops around that dirt trail and it took me 24 hours of running alone, non stop through the night and no sleep. It was a true "backyard ultra." My grandma passed away just this April at the age of 81, so I ran those miles in her memory.
On June 11 this year, I ran an ultra distance of 31.1 miles/50k at the newly opened Caraway Creek Preserve in Asheboro, NC. This preserve was just opened to the public this year on May 18. I ran the preserve ten times in a single day. Piedmont Land Conservancy, who owns and manages the preserve, says I was the first to do this (!) and shared about my run to their Facebook.
Two days prior to that 50k at Caraway Creek Preserve, I got the entire map of the Uwharrie Trail (UT) and the Uwharrie River tattooed on the front of my forearm to celebrate my goal of completing the entire UT in a single day back in April. Then two weeks later after that 50k, I ran another 50k on the dirt trail behind my house in memory of my grandfather that passed away in June. I have also lost three of my pet cats during these past two years. The loss of both of my grandparents just two months apart from one another and also the loss of my cats during this short time is still incredibly difficult for me to share and be vulnerable about.
In 2022 I created Wilder Uwharrie Trail Running. There were no local trail running groups close to Asheboro so I made one. I really just love the trails so much and they have transformed my life so greatly that I just want to share that with everyone. It makes me so happy when folks thank me for organizing hikes and group runs and when they tell me how much fun they had!
Wilder Uwharrie Trail Running group at the Thornburg Trailhead
We had our first group trail run November 19, 2022. Originally it was just going to be a trail running group but now it has turned into so much more. My three year old daughter and I also organize free nature walks called "Wild Walks With Littles" twice each month. We invite all families to join us along a one mile nature walk for kids along the Birkhead Mountain Trail in Asheboro at the Tot Hill Trailhead. We provide binoculars and youth size blaze orange vests to borrow during the walks for the kids. At the end of each walk we provide playtime with a bubble machine and nature stickers for the children! My daughter and I have so much fun on the trails with the other families that join us! The kids play and explore and it's so refreshing to watch them experience being in nature and learning! I also organize group hikes for adults through our group on local trails!
Wilder Uwharrie's "Wild Walks With Littles" at the Tot Hill Trailhead
Also, I have been invited onto Fox 8 WGHP (a local news station in High Point, NC) and completed two live interviews this year with them. The first interview was promoting a "Community Walk" I was organizing to celebrate the Year of the Trail at the local trails at the NC Zoo and the second interview was helping me to promote my free "Kids Hiking Stick Decorating Event!" Both of these interviews can be found on our Wilder Uwharrie Trail Running social media accounts (Instagram and Facebook - see links below). I was recently informed that a local newspaper wants to do a story on me and the Great Trails State Coalition shared a story on me in August.
I handmade 76 hiking sticks for the "Kids Hiking Stick Decorating Event." David Craft, UTB Chair, generously donated the poplar sticks to me and has been nothing but encouraging as I embark on my "Wilder Uwharrie" journey. I had 48 spots available for this event and all were reserved! I spent hours each day over the course of several months working on them: peeling the bark, sanding, wood burning our logo, clear coating etc. I plan to do this event annually for as long as I can for the children in my community! My goal is to provide fun and free events to the community that encourages folks to get outdoors and on the trails in a welcoming group setting.
David Craft and Ciara along the Purgatory Trail at the "Community Walk" at the NC Zoo
Me and the 76 hiking sticks I handmade!
Next year in October 2024 I will be running the Uwharrie 100 official race in Troy, NC. 100 miles is my next big ultra running goal. When I look back to my life before August 2, 2021 it's mind-blowing to think about where I am now! I have accomplished so much and I never imagined I would be who and where I am today. Trails and ultra running have helped me to feel like I am truly living and not just killing time. Trails make me feel alive!
Am I fast or even good at running? Oh absolutely not. I'm terrible at it actually. I'm slow and a back of the pack runner. But I don't care, I love it! I run for me, because it makes me a better person, mentally and physically. A mile is a mile and it makes me happy and that's what matters. Our bodies and minds are so incredible and it amazes me how much we can endure. I've realized we are all messed up in our own ways and we all experience suffering, grief, loss, hardships, and trauma. A lot of us are walking around carrying with us so much overwhelming and suffocating pain that others will never know about.
I know firsthand how trails can improve your life physically and mentally. Not only have trails helped me to become healthier and stronger physically, but they have also drastically improved my mental strength and helped to bring me out of the dark so to speak. It's hard for people to talk about but life can be hard sometimes and unfortunately we all experience fear, suffering, grief, depression, feelings of guilt or self doubt, or endure traumatic life experiences. For a lot of people, feeling like you aren't good enough or feeling like you are "too much" is a daily struggle. This time we are living in, especially with technology and social media, it's easy to feel confused or lost or not know who you truly are. Being on trails is an excellent way to unplug, find yourself, and listen to your inner voice.
Trails have helped me deal with this because in nature you can be as you are and it teaches you a lot of life lessons if you just slow down and really pay attention. Since starting Wilder Uwharrie Trail Running, I have met so many new and genuinely kind people and I've found that hiking or running with them has formed so many wonderful friendships and connections! We all are so different but we all share the same love of trails and the outdoors. When I'm on the trails and out in nature I feel like I can be myself. There's just something about being out in the woods and immersed in nature that has a way of bringing out the authenticity of who we really are. The trees don't tell us who we should or should not be, they just let us be. I hope to encourage others to be themselves and to find their voice.
"Community Walk" group photo at the Purgatory Trailhead
Additionally, trails have helped me to express myself creatively. In December 2021 I created Wilder Uwharrie Photography, a place where I share my nature photos I take while out hiking and running trails. Also, this has opened up opportunities for me such as I was invited to give a presentation in November to the Alamance Photography Club in Burlington, NC. Also, I have been able to do photography sessions for friends and family and it's so much fun taking them to different trail locations! I love being able to help them document important milestones in their lives with photography sessions like engagements, maternity, birthday, family, etc. My favorite thing to take pictures of is the Uwharrie National Forest! I truly have so much fun doing it and it makes me so happy! I am just so in awe and in love with how beautiful and magical trails and the forests are! I want to share it with everyone in hopes it will help to inspire others to try trails and to be in nature.
I am just an ordinary person. I am not a fast runner and can always be found at the back of the pack in every race. The only difference is I finally decided to start chasing what made ME feel happy no matter what anyone else thought. I kept doing things to challenge myself and I didn't quit when things were hard. "Don't be afraid to fail. Be afraid not to try." This mantra helped me so much during long distance trail run attempts when my brain was filled with thoughts of failure or like I wasn't good enough. The difference between me and anyone else is simply that I decided to try! When I failed, I grew wiser from it and tried again. I was consistent in showing up for myself even when I didn't feel like it. That is when real growth occurs, when you push yourself out of your comfort zones and just keep trying! Not everyone is going to understand, it's your journey, not theirs.
The forest and the trails call to me and I listen. Especially the Uwharries. I know it sounds crazy. But I have found my calling, my passion, and my purpose with trails and ultra running. They bring me a level of joy, happiness, fulfillment, and spiritual connection with the world around me that I just can't not share with everyone, hence Wilder Uwharrie Trail Running!
Uwharrie 100 training run in Troy, NC at the Woodrun Trailhead
"Experience a "wilder" Uwharrie and meet new friends! Hit the trails, feel a sense of community, and have fun!" That is our group's motto and I truly hope that folks who attend our group's hikes or trail runs leave feeling happy, welcomed, and like they've found a place they belong! I feel whole and I no longer feel lost thanks to trails. I want so badly for others to experience this too! To feel complete, to feel alive. Life is too short not to truly and fully live it. I hope to ignite a spark in folks to follow their passions and show them that they can accomplish anything they set their hearts and minds to. With perseverance and persistence they too can go farther than they ever imagined they could, just as I have. Through trail and ultra running, being in nature, meeting like minded and positive people, I finally found myself and my voice and my way after close to 30 years of feeling lost. Trail and ultra running has helped me to feel alive again. It has saved my life. It has saved my mind. It has saved my body and my soul.
While this is only just the surface of my story and background, I hope it provides a better understanding as to why I am so passionate about what I do. I've learned that like life and like trails, ultra distance runs are full of lows and highs. If you just hold on a little longer and have a little bit of hope, things do get better eventually and you can make it through. No matter how many ultra distances I complete, the unknown is still terrifying to me. I start most of my runs hours before the sun rises and I still get scared running in the dark. If you were to ask my friends and family to describe me they would probably say I am fearless, strong, a warrior, a little bit crazy, and brave. While these things do describe me to an extent, people probably wouldn't think I get scared or want to quit just like everyone else. The majority of them, until reading this story, would never even know how every single day is a struggle for me even now. I suffer from anxiety, depression, OCD, ADHD, and also PTSD from my life experiences. I am sure this story will shatter others' perceptions of me who know me. Some may read it and judge me or have negative things to say or view me in a different way but that's OK. I think my entire life and everything I've experienced since a young child up until now has prepared and shaped me for this wild, beautiful, and unexpected chapter of my life. Ultrarunning is 90% mental and your ability to push through the pain, discomfort, and suffering. My entire life has taught me how to suffer so I think that's how I was able to move up in distance so quickly, I already knew what to do without even realizing it.
My future goals with Wilder Uwharrie Trail Running is to continue with doing our group hikes and group runs, our nature walks for children, and to do more things together as a group on the trails - things such as joining UTB trail work days together, signing up for trail races together, visiting new trails, etc. I really just want to continue growing our new community and encouraging folks to try trails. I want to help give folks confidence and knowledge so that they are more likely to go out and enjoy nature either on their own or with their friends or family outside of our events. Personal goals I have is to become more involved in UTB trail work days, to participate in more Uwharrie 100 training runs, and to continue striving to make a difference and impact in my community through Wilder Uwharrie Trail Running. I have experienced the worst of humanity throughout my life and also experienced what I feel like is the best of humanity through trails and ultra running. The ultrarunning community, the Uwharrie 100 Trail Run community, the Uwharrie and Uwharrie Trailblazers community, and I'm also learning the jiu-jitsu community, are filled with people who are selfless, strong, inspirational, encouraging, and genuinely want to help you learn, succeed, and grow. My goal is to create such a community and judgment free environment with Wilder Uwharrie Trail Running to encourage even more people to try trails, challenge themselves, and try something new. Our group is a place where folks of all ages, all paces, and all experience levels can join, because trails truly are for everyone! I encourage you to visit our website and to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to learn more about us! We also have a Facebook group that folks can join too! Thank you so much for reading my story and I hope our paths cross on the trails! Onward!!
Wilder Uwharrie Trail Running website: https://www.wilderuwharrietrailrunning.com/
Wilder Uwharrie Trail Running Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/546933080516861/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWB
Instagram: @wilderuwharrietrailrunning
We’re winding down this epic 2023 Year of the Trail! Do you have a trail story from this year that you’d like to share in the next issue? If so, please contact Kim Andersen, UTB Newsletter editor, and pitch your idea!!! No story is too big or too small; we want to hear from you!
editorial policy
The contents of this newsletter are authored collaboratively by the Uwharrie Trailblazers steering committee unless otherwise attributed and are intended to illuminate, educate, and inspire all who enjoy the trails of the Uwharries. The newsletter is edited by Uwharrie Trailblazers club secretary Kim Andersen. We welcome suggestions and questions from all readers.
Please send feedback and questions via email to uwharrietrailblazers@gmail.com and visit us on Facebook!
