Does it feel like Spring came early this year?! Meteorologists start Spring on the 1st of March, to make it easy and consistent for record-keeping. Astronomers start Spring at the Vernal Equinox, around the 20th of March when the sun’s apparent path across the sky crosses to the north side of the equator. The Great Trails State Coalition is keeping things simple by making “Spring Into Action!” the Year Of The Trail theme for the entire month of March.
The goal of this theme is to encourage more people to get outside and try a trail. The improving weather this time of year should help, especially this year. The multitude of flowering plants that make the world a little more colorful in the spring is a nice reward too!
Like it or not, we do often need a little encouragement to help us spring into action. Anticipating an enjoyable walk or bike ride with a friend or two can be the motivation we need.
I met Jill Andersen through email a number of years ago. She often asks me questions about trails for a group of ladies that she hikes with. This group is special because, well, these ladies have seen a lot of springs! Since Jill’s group seems to have found a way to keep a spring in their step, I asked her to tell me more about it.
A while back, Jill and her friend Barbara Vargochik were taking a Zumba class at the YMCA in Charlotte when another lady, Lynn, asked them to join her for a hike. Not surprisingly, scheduling that hike wasn’t so easy. Lynn’s hiking group usually met on Saturdays, but Jill and Barabara wanted to spend the weekend with their husbands. They finally decided to go on a Thursday.
Jill and Barbara had done some hiking before, but nothing on a regular basis. This hike turned out to be a lot of fun. The three ladies enjoyed the fresh air, the scenery, and each other’s company. They had such a good time, they went hiking again the next Thursday.
The three ladies weren’t an official club or an organization like Lynn’s other hiking group. But they asked themselves, why can’t we organize our own hikes? They didn’t have a reason not to, so they just started going for a hike every Thursday. Over time, they invited other ladies, who loved the outings too. Those ladies invited others.
Somewhere along the way, the group of ladies began calling themselves the Haphazard Hikers. The name may have come from their inexperience at the beginning and the seemingly disorganized way they got things done. The name may also have been related to a tendency to head off in the wrong direction sometimes. But Jill assures me they still have a 100% success rate – they have never failed to make it back out of the woods!
Whatever its source was, the name stuck, and the group stuck with the Thursday hike schedule. That first hike was about 15 years ago and they are still going strong!
The group has grown to 27 members. The ladies live throughout the Charlotte region and hikes are usually within a 2-hour drive of Charlotte. They alternate locations around different sides of the region to even out travel times for those who live on the opposite side.
The average age of the Haphazard Hikers is around 70 (calculated without getting too nosy or making anyone fess up to a well-kept secret!). The youngest is about 59 and the oldest is about 80. Some of the ladies decided they were ready to “age out” and started another group called the Sole Sisters. They like shorter, easier hikes and like stopping more often to smell the roses!
Not all of the ladies make every hike. Jill jokingly tells me that on any given Thursday, someone is recovering from a broken hip, someone has to escort a spouse to a colonoscopy, or someone has a doctor’s appointment. Those seem like typical schedule conflicts for ladies of their … um … experience level. Even so, they usually have 15-20 hikers participate every week.
After 800 or more hikes, the Haphazard Hikers have hiked many trails more than once. They revisit some trails every year based on the best time to see blooms. Mid-March is Buffalo Creek Preserve in Mt. Pleasant, NC, to see the trout lilies and Sweet Betsy trilliums. In mid-May, they go to Redlair Nature Preserve in Gastonia to see the bigleaf magnolia blooms. At the end of May, they usually go to Landsford Canal State Park to hike and see the spider lilies. In mid-July, they hike the Flat Top Carriage Trail at Moses Cone to see all the wildflowers along the trail. Another of their favorite hikes is at Rocky Face Park in Hiddenite.
Jill says they love all sections of the Uwharrie Trail and have hiked many of the other trails in the Uwharrie National Forest. Some of their favorite trails near Charlotte are at Anne Springs Close Greenway in Ft. Mill, SC. They also visit many of the Carolina Thread Trails which are great for summer hikes since they’re usually shorter in length and easier.
It is not unusual for the Haphazard Hikers, or any hikers for that matter, to encounter challenges like fallen trees, high water in creeks, or a cold blustery day. Sometimes they hike 7 or 8 miles. Sometimes they only make it a few miles before turning around. But those obstacles don’t seem to dampen their spirits or enthusiasm for hiking. They help each other get over or around the obstacles and enjoy the company and time spent together. They get out to see new places. They enjoy some fresh air and often share a meal.
Several years ago, after hiking the Badin Lake Trail for the first time, the group stopped at the Eldorado Outpost for lunch. Jill had talked to Chris Cagle several times in her search for information. She let him know they were planning to stop by for lunch.
When they arrived, the ladies were surprised to see a “Welcome Hikers!” sign up for them. There was even a personalized menu for the group. Chris and his mother and grandmother all sat down and chatted with the group while they ate by the fire. Jill said they were treated like long-lost relatives and made to feel so special!
The group used to have a number of favorite restaurants for post-hike lunches, like Five Corners and Off the Square in Albemarle. But with their group having grown and restrictions due to the Covid pandemic in recent years, they have mostly switched to picnic lunches. They all bring a camp chair and form a big circle.
Jill likes the picnic lunches better because everyone can be part of the same conversation instead of being divided among different tables. Apparently, the group likes outdoor dining too because they’ve held their annual luncheon at a picnic shelter for the last few years, with decorations and a firepit for s’mores!
They not only have fun but they also give back to their community. Every holiday season, the group takes up a collection and donates to different non-profits, including the Carolina Thread Trail, Catawba Riverkeeper, Carolina Waterfowl Rescue, Wings of Eagles Ranch, Ronald McDonald House, HOPE in Lancaster, and other charities. It is also not unusual for the group to pick up and haul away a few bags worth of trash left behind by less thoughtful trail visitors.
Jill and Barbara are still the primary hike organizers in the group, though I would bet things are not as haphazard as they were in the beginning. Jill is likely leveraging all the skills she picked up as an executive secretary, full-time mom, office administrator, and Brownie and Cub Scout leader in the past. She has even volunteered at an outdoor learning center, leading kindergartners on trail hikes. Jill also mentioned something about herding cats, but I’m not sure if that was actual job experience or just what leading hikes can seem like sometimes.
The Haphazard Hikers try to visit new trails when possible. The French writer Voltaire once wrote, “If we do not find anything very pleasant, at least we shall find something new.” That sentiment perfectly explains the desire to find and hike new trails.
That’s how Jill found me. She was searching for new trails to hike. She came across my website for the Uwharrie Lakes Region Trail Guide and reached out via email to see if the information in the book was still current. That was back in 2009.
Since then, Jill has sent me many questions about trails and hikes they want to do. Jill is one of the first people to ask me questions whenever she sees mention of a possible new hiking location!
The Haphazard Hikers sound like a lot of fun! Unfortunately, their ranks are closed for the moment. They aren’t extending invitations to others to join because it gets too difficult to manage a larger group as they travel around and hike.
But you can still invite a friend or two out for a walk or a hike. Or you can sign up for an organized hike like the ones the Discover Uwharrie Welcome Center schedules. Start with a short easy hike if you’re more comfortable with that. If you find it fun, as you probably will, do it again. The more you do, the better you’ll get at it. But it won’t happen if you don’t take that first step.
If you would like suggestions for hikes around the Uwharries, the Uwharrie Lakes Region Trail Guide is a good resource (shameless plug for my book). Some of the Haphazard Hikers’ favorite hikes in the Uwharries can be found in this article: https://donchildrey.com/6-favorite-day-hikes-uwharries/. You can even pick up a free brochure at the Discover Uwharrie Welcome Center listing some of my favorite hikes. There are plenty of other trail resources available online.
Who knows, you may soon find yourself with your own group of hiking friends, with their own trail stories to tell. Eventually, a few haphazard misadventures are bound to happen, and one of those may be the inspiration for your own unique group name!
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Learn more about the 2023 NC Year of the Trail at greatrailsnc.com
Don Childrey is the author of Uwharrie Lakes Region Trail Guide and an avid user of trails of all types.
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This article was originally published in the Montgomery Herald newspaper on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in the A Step Beyond column.
