Julie Gayheart (trail name “Jester”), of Charlotte, will feature N.C. Trail Days in this week’s episode of her popular podcast, Jester Section Hiker. Gayheart, who is a teacher, has recently become devoted to the Mountains-to-Sea Trail and spent the pandemic featuring day hikes along the MST in her podcast.
ELKIN — Hiker and podcaster Julie Gayheart lives in Charlotte, but she is quick to describe herself as living exactly one hour from Elkin.
“There is no town that cares for their trails like Elkin that I’ve seen,” said Gayheart.
She would know. She’s hiked nearly every major trail in the region, and some further afield such as the Wonderland Trail, which encircles Mt. Rainier in Washington state. Oh, and she’s nearly done section hiking the Appalachian Trail — for the second time.
For those planning to attend the N.C. Trail Days festival the first weekend in June in Elkin, Gayheart might well sidle up to them with a microphone. Her popular podcast, Jester Section Hiker, garners 1,000 downloads a week and she’ll be out and about during the festival recording material for one of her weekly editions.
This past year, her podcast was devoted to chronicling each of the 40 hikes featured in the book “Great Day Hikes on North Carolina’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail,” written by the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail and edited by Jim Grode.
A devoted hiker since 2006, Gayheart developed a special bond with the MST. And she also was moved by the Elkin area. Just seeing a trail sign sets the tone for the hiking experience here, she said.
“Those signs are very unique. You know when you see one of those signs — you know it’s an (Elkin Valley Trails Association) sign,” said Gayheart, recalling her hike through the MST section closest to Elkin and crossing a newly built bridge next to Byrd’s Branch Campground. “When I walked over that bridge, I really felt something, like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
She told herself: “This is too special for me not to try to get involved in some kind of way.”
Gayheart often donates to trail groups to contribute toward trail maintenance and the like. So after being so moved on the MST, she joined the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail organization. To her surprise, she received a phone call.
She had an hour-long conversation with a board member.
“Who calls you when you donate money? Nobody,” she said. “They don’t call you and thank you personally.”
From the very beginning of her relationship with it, the trail that spans North Carolina seemed to be reaching out to Gayheart.
It began during the pandemic. Gayheart, who holds a Master of Business Administration, is the department chair of career and technical education at Hopewell High School in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District, where she has worked since 2006. Her teaching career — with its summers off — gave rise to her section hiking passion. The podcast was founded in 2019 as Gayheart found many resources devoted to thru-hikers (who complete trails from beginning to end without pause), and she sought to offer something for section hikers like herself, who chip away piece by piece until completion.
Seeking content for her podcast during the pandemic was challenging sometimes.
“What started happening is, just like everything else, the Appalachian Trail and all the big trails were saying, ‘Please don’t come to the trail, stay off the trail, we’re shutting down shelters, we’re shutting down privies,’” she said.
And then Gayheart got an email newsletter from the Friends of the MST.
“The headline was ‘A Trail for Times Like These,’” she recalled. “They were welcoming people to the trail … I’ve never hiked in the Piedmont. I’ve never done road walks before [trail sections that use roadways], and I’ve certainly never until now hiked on the beach.”
Gayheart decided to approach the MST through completing the day hikes featured in the book, and in the accepting spirit of the MST organization, the writers joyfully agreed to be interviewed for the podcast series.
And throughout the hikes, the interviews, the podcasts, Gayheart said she found herself changing.
“Another thing that happened to me during these last six months is it really has given me a sense of ‘I really want to be involved in this community. I really want to give back. I want to get the word out about the Mountains-to-Sea Trail,’” she said. “I really want to do what I can to help this trail system progress.”
Gayheart is volunteering to lead a guided hike during this year’s Trail Days, and the next episode of her podcast is devoted to the festival.
She said Elkin stands out among trail towns because “the town purposely wants it in their town to draw hikers and draw business. When you can feel that, it makes a difference.”
Lisa Michals may be reached at 336-448-4968 or follow her on Twitter @lisamichals3.