View Full Version : Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine just released a feature article interviewing Scott Ward,
Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine just released a feature article interviewing Scott Ward, who has completed three of the 18 thru-hikes completed on the Mountains to Sea Trail, and recently published The Thru-Hiker’s Manual for the Mountains to Sea Trail of North Carolina.
"Spanning 962 miles across North Carolina, the Mountains to Sea Trail (MST) includes the highest mountains east of the Rockies down to the lowest points along the Outer Banks. It traverses three national parks, three national forests, two wilderness areas, and the highest sand dune on the East Coast. And unlike other long-distance treks, biking, beach-combing, and ferry-hopping between islands are part of the trail experience..."
Finish the story here: http://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/cur...a-trail-guide/ (http://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/current-issue/features/mountains-to-sea-trail-guide/)
Cookerhiker
06-13-2010, 12:18
Congrats Taba! Did you complete the Sheltowee?
Nicely done artical- good job Taba.:)
Congrats Taba! Did you complete the Sheltowee?
Thank you. I didn't know about the article until I saw it here on Whiteblaze.
I have 3-4 more days left on the Sheltowee Trace. I am just north of the Red River Gorge on US-460. I will try to have the Thru-hiker's Manual for the Sheltowee Trace completed and released by early August.
Taba
I will be finished with the Sheltowee Trace hike some time this week and will have "The Thru-Hiker's Manual for the Sheltowee Trace" published and released within the next month.
The Trace is a trail for hikers who want a challenge. It is a tough adventure through the gorges of Kentucky. Following along the rivers and cliffsides to many side exploration opportunites inside caves and to natural arches. There are many fords along the path which makes for good water throughout the journey and amazing waterfall views. The resupply towns are close enough to hitch-hike. Hitching can take a while on some roads but eventually you will get a ride.
A little update on my latest endeavor.
Taba
modiyooch
06-21-2010, 17:48
Thank you. I didn't know about the article until I saw it here on Whiteblaze.
TabaBlue Ridge misspelled your name, right? What about your award, was it correct?
Yeah they did misspell my name. It's a common mistake. Other than that I thought it was a great article capturing the story extremely well. The goal is and always has been to help the MST gain popularity. I have had several friends, who have their names in the Manual for offering camping locations, call me recently and tell me they have seen several hikers in the past few weeks. I just wonder how many thru-hiker's are out there this year.
Taba
P.S. They spelled my name correctly on the award.
modiyooch
06-21-2010, 21:09
Yeah they did misspell my name. It's a common mistake. Other than that I thought it was a great article capturing the story extremely well. The goal is and always has been to help the MST gain popularity. I have had several friends, who have their names in the Manual for offering camping locations, call me recently and tell me they have seen several hikers in the past few weeks. I just wonder how many thru-hiker's are out there this year.
Taba
P.S. They spelled my name correctly on the award.When my daughter started three weeks ago, there was a young man from Hickory already in Blowing Rock. His mother was desperately looking for maps. She picked up your book from Outdoor Supply. Danielle's last day is tomorrow. She will finish her hike from NC/TN line to 321 in Blowing Rock. I'm proud of her. We saw no one on the MST. We only saw people on the trail at Devil's Courthouse, Art Loab, Pinnacle, Tanawha and the popular pisgah trails (sat).
A lot of the MST only sees people on the weekends. That is how you know it's Saturday, when you start seeing clean hikers with smaller backpacks. I am so happy that Danielle has enjoyed her hike. It's good to know that my work out there has helped others enjoy their adventures out there.
modiyooch
06-22-2010, 08:29
A lot of the MST only sees people on the weekends. That is how you know it's Saturday, when you start seeing clean hikers with smaller backpacks. I am so happy that Danielle has enjoyed her hike. It's good to know that my work out there has helped others enjoy their adventures out there.not necessarily on the weekends either. We didn't even see anyone on Memorial Day and that was in the Smokies. you don't have to see clean hikers, you can smell them.
Thanks for your support!!
The Old Chief
06-22-2010, 10:18
I went by the Outfitter Store in West Jefferson the other day and they were out of your guidebook. Do they plan on getting more or should I get one from you?
I checked with Footsloggers in Boone and they have both the East and West Bound guides.
Cabin Fever
06-22-2010, 13:49
Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine just released a feature article interviewing Scott Ward, who has completed three of the 18 thru-hikes completed on the Mountains to Sea Trail, and recently published The Thru-Hiker’s Manual for the Mountains to Sea Trail of North Carolina.
"Spanning 962 miles across North Carolina, the Mountains to Sea Trail (MST) includes the highest mountains east of the Rockies down to the lowest points along the Outer Banks. It traverses three national parks, three national forests, two wilderness areas, and the highest sand dune on the East Coast. And unlike other long-distance treks, biking, beach-combing, and ferry-hopping between islands are part of the trail experience..."
Finish the story here: http://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/cur...a-trail-guide/
I commend you for your hiking accomplishments. It's also a help to the community to have your guides published. However, I don't see anyone else going around gloating about their personal feats and publicity so often. Just saying show some humility.
modiyooch
06-22-2010, 14:47
I commend you for your hiking accomplishments. It's also a help to the community to have your guides published. However, I don't see anyone else going around gloating about their personal feats and publicity so often. Just saying show some humility.
It's more of an awareness about the trail, than personal accomplishments. Heck, the mst is a state park but it's not on the state maps. Scot has been a great help and supporter.
I went by the Outfitter Store in West Jefferson the other day and they were out of your guidebook. Do they plan on getting more or should I get one from you?
One of the easiest ways to acquire the Manual is to use the paypal account on my website. This would insure that you get it without wasting gas going to stores that are sold out. I will be calling all of the businesses that carry the Manual to resupply them. I have been busy with the Sheltowee Trace. This trail has taken much of my time and have not been as focused on the MST as I should have been. Thank you for searching it out and letting me know that they are sold out. I will call them tomorrow.
I don't mind reading about Taba's accomplishments, if I did then I guess I wouldn't click on this thread.
Wonder if Great Eastern Trail is on the radar for a unifying guide. Information integration is probably the main impediment to thru-hiking or long sectioning the GET.
There is a lot of controversy about my promoting the MST, The Manual and my accomplishments here on Whiteblaze. Allow me a minute to clear this up. I consider myself a professional hiker who has taken upon a challenge to increase the popularity of my sport. The only difference between myself and other professional athletes is that I am not winning gold medals because I don't compete against anyone but myself. This kind of competition does not usually get a lot of publicity from outside sources. In order for me to help these lesser known trails succeed in the thru-hiking community, I have to talk about it. When a new article in a magazine comes out I like to share it with my friends and others who might draw an interest to hiking that might not have if they hadn't seen something about the adventure. Who else will promote the trail better than the person who has hiked it 3 times and put huge efforts into helping it become more hiker friendly.
Yes, I promote myself as much as I can. I have no boss that will do it for me and bosses usually don't do that anyway. In order for me to continue to succeed in the career I have chosen for myself, I must promote myself. Since my hikes on the MST, it is now fastly becoming one of the most popular trails on the eastern coast. The MST has been a vision of the FMST for nearly 30 years. I took 2 years out of my life to help it gain the popularity it has been searching for.
Why should I not promote my sport? Why do you have any problem with it?
About the Great Eastern Trail, I have been in contact with the president of that organization and he would very much like for me to hike it and write a manual for it. I may just do that. As of right now I have no plans for 2011. I have ideas. Now it is just the process of narrowing them down to the one I feel is most important.
By the way I want to thank everybody for the continued support. If it weren't for you I would more than likely be doing something different instead of trying to help the thru-hiking culture.
Tipi Walter
06-22-2010, 19:59
However, I don't see anyone else going around gloating about their personal feats and publicity so often. Just saying show some humility.
Obviously you've never poured over my endless self-serving trail journals.
Cabin Fever
06-23-2010, 08:41
Obviously you've never poured over my endless self-serving trail journals.
Tipi - I have some. Especially since I am about to move closer to your neck of the woods (Chattanooga).
Taba - The jury is still out for me on walking the fine line between making a sport more popular and overcrowding the trails. I am all for hiking trails and getting people outside more. However, I see a difference between... (fictitious examples)
"Mountains to Sea Trail closes another gap and is closer to being a fully off road"
and
"Taba yoyo'ed the MST"
My only marketing experience has been with the Tennessee AT plate and it was never about me or anyone else involved. It was always about the Trail itself.
Tennessee Viking
06-23-2010, 10:27
Yeah they did misspell my name. It's a common mistake. Other than that I thought it was a great article capturing the story extremely well. The goal is and always has been to help the MST gain popularity. I have had several friends, who have their names in the Manual for offering camping locations, call me recently and tell me they have seen several hikers in the past few weeks. I just wonder how many thru-hiker's are out there this year.
Taba
P.S. They spelled my name correctly on the award.My fiance has seen a couple in the last few weeks in Dobson.
Anyone who does PR/marketing/advertising for a living will probably tell you that the best way to promote something is to build interest in a particularly compelling personality who is an integral part of the product, service, special interest, etc. being "sold."
IMHO that's all Taba is doing. It would probably sit better with some people if he didn't have to do it himself, but since no one else has stepped up to promote the multiple thru-hike "angle" (which does give lots of publicity to the MST) then isn't it better that he do it rather than it not be done at all? That would be a wasted opportunity to educate a lot of folks about the MST.
Cabin Fever, the MST will never be overcrowded or completely off the road. That is not in the FMST's plan for their trail. There will always be some road walk through the small town across the state. There have only been 16 people to hike the entire trail since 1980. The reason I promote the Yo-Yo is because I wanted to prove to everybody that this trail can be thru-hiked. What better way to do that than to walk it twice in a single year?
You want to talk about over-crowded trails just look at the Appalachian Trail. You want solitude, don't hike that one. If you want a great social experience in the woods, than the AT is the trail for you. If you want to explore everything a state has to offer, then hike the MST.
I just finished hiking the Sheltowee Trace in Kentucky and will take the next month writing the Manual for it. I should have the book ready for print by the beginning of August. It will look much like the MST Manual with quick-reference column to let you know where all your resources are whether on trail or in town.
Taba
Blue Jay
07-04-2010, 07:10
However, I don't see anyone else going around gloating about their personal feats and publicity so often.
I doubt you ever will. We have our own Lady GaGa of the hiking world.:banana
Blue Jay
07-04-2010, 07:16
Why should I not promote my sport? Why do you have any problem with it?
Please promote all you want. I not only do not have a problem with it, yours are The most hysterical posts on this site. I love them. I especially love when you use your name instead of using me, like you're two different people. Great stuff.
Blue Jay
07-04-2010, 07:23
You want to talk about over-crowded trails just look at the Appalachian Trail.
The fact is the vast majority of the AT, other than hot spots like Clingmans or Washington, is deserted most of the time other than about 2 weeks each year. Please promote yourself and don't spread old rumors.:sun
The fact is the vast majority of the AT, other than hot spots like Clingmans or Washington, is deserted most of the time other than about 2 weeks each year. Please promote yourself and don't spread old rumors.:sun
Got it. Thanks for the support Blue Jay.