Finding The MST Trail in the Outer Banks, The Space Between Comfort and the Thrill of Change

Just west of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse near the town of Frisco on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, sits a national park campground nestled among the dunes.  I picked this spot for a 24-hour escape from the everyday.  Highway 12 led me down a narrow ribbon of sand running between the Pamlico Sound on one side with white swans calmly floating on the flat reflective surface and the shifting sand dunes and wild fury of the Atlantic on the other; threading the needle between calm and calamity, safety and the unknown.  

To me the Outer Banks retains an aspect of the untamed wilderness where we are constantly reminded of the power of nature over the plans of men - 130 miles of remote barrier islands connected to the mainland by only three widely-spaced bridges as a means of escape when the weather turns. 

Don’t be fooled by the images of sedate Charleston, SC masquerading as The Outer Banks in the popular Netflix show by the same name.  The geography is not the only thing misrepresented in the show. A streaming series would be hard-pressed to depict the feelings of isolation and remoteness you can’t help but experience on these beaches. The sand sweeping across and making impassable the one major highway connecting the outer banks to civilization during every major storm is one obvious reason for the atmosphere here.  The viral videos of houses collapsing into the surf due to storm surge and natural beach erosion is another. 

The Frisco Campground, operated by the National Park Service, in the off-season further adds to the feeling of an escape from civilization. The campsites are tucked in among the live oaks and sable palms, protected from the strong offshore winds by a row of tall dunes studded with sea oats.  I was only one of a handful of intrepid campers in the middle of November.  

On a walk around the campground loop at sunrise the next morning, a metal signpost caught my eye. It turned out to be a trail sign for the MST.  For those who aren’t familiar, the MST is the Mountains to Sea Trail - an ambitious project aimed at creating a recreational trail system running the entire 1200 miles from the North Carolina mountains to the sea, thus the name.  

I had run my first long distance endurance run back in 2015 (50K or around 31.7 miles) on the MST from Pilot Mountain SP to Hanging Rock SP in the central Peidmont section of North Carolina.  Back then the trail was somewhat hard to follow and not well marked, sometimes running down a driveway and through someone’s yard past a farmhouse or two. I assumed this particular segment of the trail had to be near the very end consider the sea was only steps away.  Actually the terminus is at Jockey’s Ridge State Park another 60 miles north in Nags Head. I had no idea the trail was here. Of course I needed to check it out.   

After winding around between sand dunes, the pine-straw littered trail straightened out in a shaded tunnel created by arching Loblolly and Live Oak trees forty feet tall.  I was surprised to find this secret pocket of maritime forest secreted between the sound and the ocean behind a campground.  It was silent here aside from the muffled sound of the waves washing on the shore off to my left, blocked from sight by 20 foot high natural sand dunes hidden amongst the trees. 

This was a sheltered place where time stood still, a space between the quiet stagnation of comfort and the stirring adrenaline laced thrill of the potential for abrupt change and sudden upheaval of the mighty ocean - the tides of change.  

This "space between" is where I hope to live my life - threading the fine line, veering off occasionally for a stretch of comfort or a shot of thrill.  I’m not meant to live fully on one side or the other. The Outer Banks were a nice reminder of the exquisite and seemingly precarious balance of life.  





If you enjoyed this post, consider purchasing my books, Solo Car Camping Across America, An Adventure in Courage, Solitude, and Questionable Bathrooms in America’s Most Beautiful Places, available on Amazon Books.  235 pages with full color images. Itinerary, packing list, helpful tips, and do’s and don’ts included.  Free shipping for Amazon Prime members.  Kindle edition also available. 
 

  

Approaching the Blank Canvas, Real Talk on Fear, Inspiration and Not Giving Up in Art and Life. It’s full of true tales and tips from my 20+ years of making art for a living. It’s available on Amazon Books and you can also find the link to it and my other books on my DesignsbyArianne website.