During the uneventful drive from the Greyhound station, Mark filled me in on some local facts and general Outer Banks background. He is a really nice guy as might be surmised from his offer to take a stranger to a trailhead over an hour away. He found us an excellent little diner for breakfast too. Biscuits and gravy with hashbrowns to sustain me on the first leg of my trip.

Jockey Ridge is the highest sand dune on the east coast. It varies between 80 and 100 feet in elevation and is just south of Kitty Hawk where the Wright brothers took their first flight. The hike to the top of the dune was a short one. The steady breeze made it chilly when standing still. Before too long Mark had to leave. I wandered around a bit and ended up back in the parking lot where lo and behold I saw a sign for the MST leading away.

The paved path ran through the trees along the entrance road. Soon I was at an intersection with the main road through town. I followed the guidebook's directions for a few blocks and popped out on the beach. I mostly stayed on the beach the rest of the day. A long beach hike isn't something I have done before so it was quite the novelty. I also talked to a few people along the way. The first was an oldtimer wearing a USCG shirt. He wanted to know how far I was going. "To Clingman's Dome" I replied. "Where's that?" I answered, "In the Smoky Mountains." He gave me a big grin and thumbs up before jogging away. Another guy knew of the MST. In fact he wanted to hike the Outer Banks portion but confided that his wife wants to come too but that she would always be stopping topick up shells. "I've got to be able to do more than a mile per day" is how he summed up his thoughts on that. Then his shivering wife arrived clutching two sandy fistfuls of shells to her chest.

At the end of the day I made it to near the Bodie Island lighthouse. I stealth camped in some pine trees not far off an access road. It go dark and cold real fast. So jumped into my sleeping bag right away after eating some tuna. Day 1 complete.