MST-51, segment 14

Moores Creek Battlefield to Kelly General Store, westbound

November 9, 2024. I was so pleased to finally make contact with an incredible Trail Angel, Matthew, who drove over AN HOUR to give me a shuttle for this 18.1 mile hike. I now have only one more hike left to complete Segment 14.

I spoke with the proprietor at the Kelly General Store, who reassured me that it was okay to leave my car parked there all day.

It was a 7:20am start from the battlefield gate (which was open, by the way). I had already hiked the little loop here, so I immediately headed west on NC 210.

Although the morning began with cooler temperatures, I ditched the sweatshirt after the first hour.

Roadside memorials are always so poignant. I couldn’t find any details online about this terrible accident.

There were only two turns all day. After 3 miles on NC 210 there was a 7 mile stretch on Canetuck, then 8 miles on Sykestown/Natmore Road. Traffic was very light, so there was an abundance of time for meditation and devotional reading.

I startled a flock of Wood Ducks while crossing Lyon Creek–my best birds of the day.

There were FOURTEEN loose dogs on this property along Canetuck Road, and most of them approached the road to bark at me, although only one came up on the pavement. Sheesh!

Further down Canetuck a single dog came out very aggressively–snarling and barking, she kept trying to come up behind me. I never turn my back on these nasty beasts, so I alternated walking backwards while occasionally stepping toward the dog to get her to back off. Progress was very slow, but fortunately, the owner came out and placed himself between me and the dog while I quickly hiked onward. Despite his vigorous yelling and arm-waving he never gained control and was reduced to running up and down the road trying to keep his “pet” from getting at me.

At nine miles I took my “halfway, sit-down break” on the shady porch of Canetuck Missionary Baptist Church. They allow hikers to get water from their spigot, but I had all I needed with me.

A little further, there were shaded benches at the Canetuck Community Center, a former Rosenwald School, built to promote African-American education in the rural south in the early 1920s.

At 12.5 miles I took my “sit-down, shoes off break.” My feet were HOT. As in, really sore and unhappy. For some inexplicable reason I had grabbed my OLD boots instead of my new boots with the comfortable inserts. (I ended up developing a big blister on the bottom of one foot, and I’ll have to stop hiking for a while until it heals. The soles of my feet are like leather at this point, so it takes a LOT to get a blister!)

Once I crossed into Bladen County there was suddenly a lot more agriculture.

Final rest stop, with three miles to go. The last time I was hiking in Segment 14 it was mid-AUGUST when the temperature was brutal. Today it was warm, but with a nice breeze. Even so, having a shady spot for a rest stop was lovely.

The Kelly General Store is just around the corner from this museum, but I was so eager to get out of those terrible boots that I forgot to take a final photo.

And somewhere along the way, I lost my ROSE! So, no more “Ramblin’ Rose-Mary.”

I’m back to “Just Mary.”