Has anyone mailed a resupply to Mt Mitchell or Craggy gardens?

Huge thank you to Josh “PBS” Smith for his work in getting the IOS version of his MST guide out for all our use.

I downloaded it today (while on trail) after remembering it went live the other day. Tested it on a small section by Wells Knob. Works great and I look forward to both trip planning and navigation help from here on out.

tl;dr: The MST Guide is going free! iPhone beta version will release on April 10th!

For /r/MountainstoSeaTrail:

I wanted to post this here first because I’m quite proud of this community and it’s enthusiasm for the MST. I started this sub because I wanted to create a place for redditors to share knowledge about exploring the trail. As some of you may know, I also created The MST Guide, a guide and app to help hikers plan their trips and know their location. My personal policy has been to not promote the app on here because there are/were in-app purchases and that could be seen as a conflict of interest. However, because the Guide will be free going forward, I am much more comfortable in posting this here.

From very early on, I knew the best way to help hikers explore the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST) was to create an app that showed them where they were in relation to the trail and points of interest along the way. More importantly, making this resource free would be a boon to a trail that NEEDS growth if it is to become a nationally-recognized long distance hiking trail. However, nothing is free in life and I knew there would be costs involved in developing this guide. I had a tough decision to make early on: should I charge hikers to use this guide, or should I make it completely free and eat the costs? I settled on a hybrid of these two options. I decided to make the app free to download and use to see your location on the MST, but I would charge a modest fee of $3 to access the waypoints and side-trails for each segment (or $36 for all 18). This seemed like a fair price to cover various developer fees and data usage, and perhaps even make a bit extra on the side to be used for other projects. I wasn't going to get into this just to make money, but it quickly became apparent that money was requisite to making apps. The MST Guide was released for Android on May 20th, 2020 in the midst of the “shutdown”. After a few updates, the race was on to build the app for iPhone users. Development didn't start on the iOS app until August, and developing it was quite a different experience than its Android counterpart. Finally, we began testing it on March 1st and are planning on releasing the beta version on April 10th, 2021 (4/10/21).

As of the iPhone release on 4/10/21, The MST Guide will be completely free for everyone to use on both iOS and Android devices. I'm not entirely sure how we are going to pay for this, but I know that this is the right thing to do. Perhaps we will add more paid features in the future to pay the bills. Maybe we can devote some ad space to local, trail-related businesses. Maybe we can get enough in donations to keep it going. All I want is people to get out and explore North Carolina. For free.

To our generous Android supporters, I completely understand if you feel miffed and am offering full refunds to anyone who wants it. Your early support not only helped to pay for the app, but also showed that there were people out there that believed in my project. There were times when I would be having a bad week and wanted to quit, but I would happen to look at financials and see that several people had unlocked some or all of the segments. This validation has really kept me going through the hard times. If anyone would like their refund, please contact me at [support@pockettrails.app](mailto:support@pockettrails.app) with your account email and your order ID and I will issue the full refund through Google. If you would like to consider your purchase a donation, I will be glad to add the purchase amount (before tax) as a credit that you can use to unlock any future in-app features. App testers, who were promised full access to the guides, will also receive this credit. Again, THANK YOU so much for your early support!

Download links can/will be found here: https://pockettrails.app/projects.html

Happy Trails,

Josh “PBS” Smith

I know the part through Shining Rock requires a bear canister but I cannot figure out how many MST miles that would cover. I'd prefer to not have to buy a bear canister if I can bypass that entire area in a day.

Does anyone know for sure how many miles bear canisters are required through that segment?

Hello all -

I have started a new trail shuttle service for the Western North Carolina region. I currently have booking openings for the Art Loeb Trail and Mountains-to-Sea Trail Segments 1-3. Feel free to reach out if you would like a quote for a different trail!

I love the Western NC trails and I am excited to meet other hikers through this service.

WNC Trail Shuttle

See you out there!

Jacob

I’d like to print a poster size segment 10 map so I can mark off sections I’ve hiked with my kids. Any advice on how to execute this? Kids are aged 4 and 5 so really need something on paper so we can physically mark off where we’ve been to make it more real to them. I tried blowing up the segment 10 google map on mountainstoseatrail.org but the quality isn’t there to print poster sized. Trying to cover all of segment 10 this year which is not a huge deal unless you’re doing it with little legs that struggle to tick off more than 3-4 miles at a time. I saw an older post about caltopo but wasn’t clear if I went this route I’d be able to print. Help please!

With spare vacation this year, I was scheming on doing 70-100 miles on section 3 or 4 only to realize the shuttle listed on the guide is closed for covid. I'm looking at other options, but was stoked on doing a big chunk of distance on something that's new to me and not the AT. Got several tentative compadres that were looking to do a shorter segment through Linville Gorge, but can't make it for a long stretch to do rides.

All that to ask, is anybody doing shuttles/know how to get rides these days? Primarily interested in section 4, but anywhere in the mountains would be cool. Any other long hike recommendations are appreciated!

I am wanting to hike the MST after I graduate college in May. I am an avid hiker, but never something like this. To those who have competed, how long did it take you? What kind of gear should I bring? General tips?

Hey all! I’m looking at doing a quick overnight trip on segment 5 this weekend. From what I’m seeing online, it seems like there aren’t many (or any) legal camping spots along the areas around Boone. I plan on hammock camping and was wondering what yalls take was on just stealth camping a few hundred feet off the trail and away from roads. Do y’all have any advice or experience with this? Thanks y’all!

Anyone have any good ideas for shuttles on Section 5 this weekend? We're thinking of doing the 43K MST birthday hike, but the shuttle services listed online appear closed due to COVID.

Riding sharing services in the area don't look viable. Rental agencies in Boone are closed after noon on Saturday. The total distance make self shuttle by bike pretty unappealing. My only other idea is driving two cars to the mountains.

I've got a pesky little 8.4 mile section between 181 and Table Rock that will connect up a couple hundred miles of trail that I've done so far. I am planning to do it next Sunday, 9/20, rain or shine. While I can do a yoyo that day, I would rather not since I won't have a day of rest before work.

I'm a pretty agreeable hiking partner averaging 2-3 mph and I'll probably bring my dog, but that's negotiable.

If interested, let me know and we can work out the details. Should be a nice section of trail including Table Rock and possibly a side trip up to Hawksbill.