Witches Brew

By JC Winchester

Dylan was anticipating a long first semester of grad school and wanting his body as relaxed as possible, he took to one of North Carolina's newest trails. Heading west he entered the forested mountains, making faster time than he'd anticipated. So when a strange formation of clouds caught his eye, Dylan had little issue taking a side trip to explore, his path taken to cross with a mysterious woman camped out by herself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: JC Winchester
• Release date: Oct 9, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311699046

JC Winchester

JC Winchester grew up reading just about anything he could get his hands on, from cereal boxes to the Hardy Boys. He loves most forms of fiction, particularly fantasy and military sci-fi, with some of his favorite authors including John Ringo, Robert Jordan, and Tom Clancy. After several years in the Navy he enrolled in a community college and eventually to a university in the mountains. There he settled down, savoring a life not filled with the noises of the city but instead the sounds of bellowing cattle. When not writing he can usually be found taking care of the horses on his place, riding, hiking, fishing, or the never ending task of splitting firewood.

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Witches Brew

By: J.C. Winchester

Copyright: 2014 J.C. Winchester

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Cover Photograph by Luis Louro.

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Dylan looked at the rising mountains ahead, currently covered in the slight fog of a passing cold front. He’d started this trip several days ago, intent on hiking the longest connected strip of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Starting just northwest of Winston-Salem, he had headed west towards the Appalachian Mountains and into the Nantahala National Forest. It was his last hurrah before returning to North Carolina State University for his first year of graduate school and the likelihood of being buried under studies and teaching requirements. Rumor had it that Dr. Silver liked to keep her grad students working hard, but her reputation had also helped each them easily land jobs after graduation. With that in mind he had kept a quick pace, wanting to be sure to arrive with plenty of time so as to not make a poor first impression.

The trail was just starting to take him into the Piedmont region, presenting him a change from flatter land to rolling hills with occasional glimpses of the mountains ahead. It was the view of the mountains that made him love traveling from east to west along the trail. One day he had the goal of hiking the entire Appalachian Trail and had even toyed with the idea of doing it as a reward when he finished grad school. For now though he was more than content in being one of the early users of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. This trip he’d planned to take ten nights, having to figure out safe places to camp along the way due to the lack of shelters.

Dylan was an experienced section hiker of the Appalachian Trail and while it was still his favorite trail, he was certainly in agreement with the vision of the people who had started this trail. Granted, he knew that laying out the path of a trail and making the negotiations with landowners and various governments to include the Eastern Band was time consuming. That didn’t even include the time it would take to actually finish laying out the trail itself. Still, he hoped one day that the trail would finally be complete and until then he would support it by using it and posting photos of his adventures along the trail.

Time passed him quickly on the trail as he climbed up into the Appalachian Mountains. Each night he tried to make as minimal an impact as he could, mindful that damaging the landscape could bring issues for those trying to finish the trail. To help with that he’d purchased a hammock tent, or at least that was a good enough excuse to splurge on the new toy.

Making his way deeper into the Nantahala Forest, Dylan began to see the crowds of day and weekend hikers thin out, beckoned back by Monday work demands. As much as he liked seeing people using and enjoying the trails it was quite nice to feel more alone and in tune with his surroundings. It also meant that he could make better time along the trail, without having to pause to allow people to pass or wait for the chance to pass others in tight areas.