“It’s not who you were, but who you are. It’s not what you did, but what you do.” Jay Hinze

The Wednesday Striders hikes are at a faster pace and with less frequent stops than the Friday Rollers hikes.  Hikes range from 5 to 8 miles in length.  Please contact one of the hike leaders before hiking with this group. 

COVID 19 Policy: All Wednesday Striders will be required to be fully vaccinated including their booster shots. 

Start time:   Winter, Spring Fall; 9:00 AM.  Summer;  8:30 AM.  Please arrive 10 minutes early for a prompt departure.

Assembly Areas:  We have three different assembly areas depending upon the location of the hike.  These are Catheys Creek, Pisgah Ranger Station/Visitor Center and the Cedar Mountain Community Center.    

Updates:  Updates will be issued every Tuesday morning before the Wednesday hike.  To receive updates by email, enter your email address in the “+Follow” link at the bottom right corner of any webpage.

Note: Please do not reply to the Update emails.  Instead reply to the hike leader.

Wednesday Striders Hike Leaders:
Vince Castello–vincecas32@gmail.com
Vic Zona–victor.zona@sbcglobal.net

 Wednesday Striders Spring Quarter 2024 Schedule

 We will continue the 9:00 am start time for the Spring Quarter.

April 3 Daniel Ridge Adventure with Three Falls
7 mi, 1700’cl, R9, $1.50
Meet at the Ranger Station
Starting at the Daniel Ridge parking area we hike clockwise up the Daniel Ridge loop trail until the junction with the Farlow Gap trail. We then take Farlow Gap for a short distance to a user trail that takes us up to Twin Boulder Falls. From there we make our way back to the Daniel Ridge loop to Lanning Ridge Road to the Upper Tom Springs Falls and continue on Lanning Ridge Road to Tom Springs Falls and back to our cars.

April 10 John Rock
6 mi, 1280’cl, R7, $1.00
Meet at the Ranger Station
Starting at the Fish Hatchery, we hike counterclockwise on the Cat Gap Loop, the Bypass and the John Rock trails. After lunch at the overlook we return to our cars via the Cat Gap Loop trail where we should see some new wild flowers starting to blossom.

April 17 Looking Glass Rock
6 mi, 1900’cl, R8, $1.00
Meet at the Ranger Station
We hike to the end of the Looking Glass Rock trail (with an elevation gain of about 1600 ft) and back. We stop at the helipad overlook for lunch.

April 24 Connestee Falls Ramble
6.5 mi, 1700’cl, R8, $1.00
Meet at Cedar Mountain
Marianne Hutchison will be leading this lollipop hike through various parts of Connestee Falls. This will be a shuttle hike. The trails are well maintained as we hike through the woods, then upstream along Carson Creek to Connestee Falls. We’ll continue along a creek setting where we will have lunch and then view Batson Falls before returning to the stick of this lollipop hike.

May 1 Turkey Pen – Sharpy – Wagon Road Gap
7 mi, 1350’cl, R8, $1.50
Meet at Walmart
From the Turkey Pen parking lot we hike the Turkey Pen trail over Sharpy Mountain to the Wagon Gap trail. We then hike the Wagon Gap trail and the South Mills River trail to our cars. If we’re lucky, the Lady Slippers will be blooming.

May 8 Pilot Mountain
5 mi, 1900’cl, R8, $1.50
Meet at the Ranger Station
We hike the Art Loeb trail from Gloucester Gap to the summit of Pilot Mountain. We continue North on the Art Loeb trail and walk FS229 back to our cars. Hopefully the Pink Shell Azaleas will be in bloom along the way.

May 15 Summey Cove Courthouse Falls
8 mi, 1000’cl, R9, $3.00
Meet at Catheys Creek Road
After dropping a shuttle at the Summey Cove trailhead on NC215 we hike the Summey Cove trail to Courthouse Falls. After stopping to admire the falls, we continue up FR140 to the Upper Falls on Courthouse Creek. Then we hike FR140 to our shuttle on NC215

May 22 Slate Rock
5 mi, 1100’cl, R6, $3.00
Meet at the Ranger Station
From Yellow Gap Road we hike the Slate Rock Creek trail, cross the creek and hike to Slate Rock for lunch. We descend to our shuttle at the Pilot Cove trailhead.

May 29 23 Feature Hike—East Loop
6 mi, 1000’cl, R7, $4.00
Meet at the Ranger Station
From the MST crossing on FS816, we walk the road to the Sam Knob trailhead. We hike the Sam Knob trail to the Flat Laurel Creek trail up to the Little Sam trail and MST. After enjoying several overlooks we make our way back to our cars on FS816.

June 5 Thompson River Falls
5 mi, 800’cl, R5, $3.00
Meet at Catheys Creek Road
Starting at the Brewer Road trailhead on NC281 we visit three waterfalls (High, Unmentionable and Simon falls) on the Thompson River. This hike requires 4 river crossings. Please wear old hiking shoes and wicking socks. We won’t be changing shoes and socks at each crossing.

June 12 Panthertown Waterfalls
7 mi, 800’cl, R6, $6.00
Meet at Catheys Creek Road
From the Salt Rock trailhead in Panthertown we hike the Panthertown valley to Schoolhouse Falls. Then we hike up Little Green to Tranquility Point, and then on to Granny Burrell Falls, Frolichtown Falls and Wilderness Falls before we return to our cars.

June 19 Fly Poison Hike
5 mi, 675’cl, R4, $6.00
Meet at the Ranger Station
From Bear Pen Gap on the Blue Ridge Parkway we hike the Mountain-to-Sea trail to the Rough Butt Bald overlook where our shuttle awaits. We will enjoy the Fly Poison blooms along the way.

June 26 Pink Beds to Upper Black Mtn and Club Gap
7 mi, 1100’cl, R8, $3.00
Meet at the Ranger Station
From the Pink Beds parking area we take the Pink Beds southern loop to Barnett Branch to Soapstone Ridge and then to Upper Black Mountain trail. Then we start back down to Club Gap and eventually back to the Pink Beds.