Smithfield’s Neuse Riverwalk | Ep. 9 | 25 / 40 Hike Challenge on NC's Mountains to Sea Trail

Hike 25. Smithfield's Neuse Riverwalk: Smithfield Recreation and Aquatics Center to Bob Wallace Jaycee Kiddie Park
I am taking the 40 hike challenge, hiking all 40 trails in the “Great Day Hikes on North Carolina’s Mountains to Sea Trail” book from Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail!
I am hiking the trails in no particular order. My goal WAS to complete them all in 2021, releasing a new episode every week. Somewhere along the way, I decided that experiencing the trails and surrounding areas was more important than finishing all 40 as soon as possible. When I started the challenge, all 40 hikes had to be completed between March 23, 2020 and March 31, 2023. Good news! Friends of the MST have removed the deadline for the challenge, so if you want to try it yourself, you've got time! :)
If you have any questions about the trails please feel free to ask in the comment section. I’d love to hear about your experiences on these trails as well.
The book "Great Day Hikes on North Carolina's Mountains to Sea Trail" is available here:
stores.portmer...
#hike40mst #40hikechallenge

[@JulieGayheart]

Wow! I had a lot of mud but not that flooding! A+++++ for sticking with it!

[@pleasantfiction]

I had planned to walk around downtown a bit and go to some of the museums, but I was done after all that! 😅

[@jamesblake7338]

Lol! Cool though

[@littleBIGGRiggs]

At least you had the place to yourself. You saved me a trip!

[@pleasantfiction]

I don’t know how frequently it floods like that, but ugh yeah that was rough! I do have a less liked hike in the challenge now, though. 😉

[@StarrDaniel]

Great video

[@pleasantfiction]

Thank you!

[@CarolinaMusicScene]

What a mess.. Lol.. We kayaked Smithfield to Goldsboro this past weekend and the Neuse was flooded all 55.5 miles.

[@pleasantfiction]

Nice! Where’d you put in at in Smithfield? Looked like plenty of options to me 😆

[@CarolinaMusicScene]

@@pleasantfiction end of Front Street. The beginning of MST 11A Paddle portion. .. Still have 120 miles of river yet to do. It's a process 🤪

[@pleasantfiction]

How far do you go in a day, typically? Is this an overnighter? I have been looking at kayaks with some storage area - mine is a cheap sit-in with only room to strap things on top.

[@CarolinaMusicScene]

@@pleasantfiction I have Wilderness Systems Pungo 120 Kayak and it has ample storage and great tracking and a great seat. We were able to get 27 miles on average a day in on the Neuse. This 170 mile trip would take you 7 days. And you would have to stealth camp or possibly research sites along the river I don't know about yet.

[@jamesblake7338]

Wondering what’s in that water?

[@pleasantfiction]

I thought the pinkish / reddish color on the surface might be azolla water fern, but when I got up close it looked like blooms from a tree. Red maple, I guess.

[@ATravelingAddictSolo]

Great to see your video. New sub here. I document my hikes as well. Come by and visit. I've been here before as soon as I saw the children's sculptures I knew exactly where you were! Come by and visit! Did you walk across that bridge to get there from the MTS (off the road?). I walked it with my dog and really had to hold him close to the wall across that bridge because it was so narrow. It was not fun crossing the bridge. I am walking the MTS from Jockey's Ridge to the mountains.

[@pleasantfiction]

Since I’m just doing the “day hikes” in the book from Friends of the MST, I’m driving to the trailheads and usually doing out-and-back hikes when time permits. That bridge sounds like it would be uh... exhilarating! I had to walk some narrow ones up near Falls Lake on my segment 10 section hike. Looking forward to some of the mountain and coastal hikes - I am based in central NC and slowly branching out from there. I check out your channel! Good to connect. Have fun!

[@ATravelingAddictSolo]

@@pleasantfiction I've been doing them as day hikes too. I've knocked out a bunch of 'road' hikes from Smithfield to where you were. I'm just doing what I can when I'm in that area. I've knocked out an area here and there. It would be nice to map it all together to see what I have left to complete. thanks for coming by and checking me out! Happy trails on the MST!

[@pleasantfiction]

Oh I think we have reviewed a lot of the same trails on Alltrails. :) Just watched your Three Top Mountain video from last week. Your audio and video are great! And that road looked kinda scary.