MST-34 (segment 12)

Roseboro to Suggs Mill Game Land (eastbound)

July 29. Longest hike to date, at 18.5 miles, with a shuttle by Trail Angel Alice in the afternoon back to my car.

Heading south out of Roseboro at 6 a.m.

See all the traffic? No?!?

THERE WAS NEVER ANY SIGNIFICANT TRAFFIC!

What a pleasure.

In spring, these marshy areas resound with a wonderful variety of bird-song, but now in mid-summer it’s mostly Carolina Wrens, Cardinals, Jays, and Crows.

When the sun comes up, I realize I FORGOT MY HAT!

Not good.

But I do have my solar umbrella, so that works!

Hydration break at Hall’s Grill. I carry between 3 and 4 liters with me, so I don’t have to rely on finding available spigots.

Good-bye to Sampson County! Most of today’s hike is in Cumberland.

This was such a peaceful hike!

The primary crop I passed by was tobacco.

I hadn’t seen these tobacco trailers before.

Look how kind the driver is, to swing out around me!

Tobacco drying barn–but the trailers were heading to a more modern facility.

I am always intrigued by abandoned houses and barns.
What happened to the family that invested in this property?

Hydration breaks are every 50 minutes.
I usually don’t sit down–I just find some shade, take off my pack, and drink.

I really appreciated the very un-busy roads, so I could think and pray and memorize some verses in Colossians.

Vanishing perspective on four miles of Gip Road

Sadly, it looks like the MST trail guide needs to delete the St. John Holiness Church by Faith from their route directions. But as this was a little over half-way, I rested on their porch for a few minutes for my hiking snack.

My next drink break was going to be here, at the entrance to the Bushy Lake Natural Area. But after I took this photo, suddenly there was a growl….and a big dog was standing right next to me!

So I kept on walking. He barked a couple of times, then headed into the woods.

Stray? Or defending his person who was camping in the woods?

Fortunately, this was my only dog encounter on the hike.

Final rest stop at 16 miles. I texted my shuttle-Angels to let them know I was an hour from the finish.

Good-bye, Cumberland County, hello Bladen.
Which I learned is BLAY-den, not BLAH-den. (I’ve been brushing up on my German for an upcoming trip, and it’s obviously affecting my pronunciation!)

That’s where Segment 13 begins! It will be a treat to be off-road for a bit.

This area closes in September for hunting, so I’ll try to get that next hike completed in August–but I have another adventure coming up soon, so it will be a couple of weeks before I’m back on the MST.

I’m very excited to have completed Segment 12!

Right before it started to rain!