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mon10AM - 6PM
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sat10AM - 7PM
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When you pause and let your mind wander, where does it go? Maybe it goes to a time far away to a family trip to the lake. Perhaps it moseys off to summer days spent at your grandparents’ house. Possibly it drifts back to an amusement park visit with brothers, sisters, and the whole family. Wherever it goes, it always seems to be a summer place. Evidently, warm weather makes warm memories. ...read more
Inspiration | Mast Family Favorites
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When was the last time you wrestled a pickle jar? Truly engaged in “person versus pickle” combat with one? Sure, we’ve all been there… ...read more
At Home | Mast Family Favorites
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Did you know the State of North Carolina’s official folk dance is clogging? Yep, the North Carolina General Assembly adopted clogging as the state’s folk dance and shagging as the state’s official popular dance in an act executed on July 20, 2005. That’s recent history, but the roots of clogging extend to the country’s colonial period and even before. Photo courtesy of Joe Shannon's Mountain Home Music and Lonnie Webster. ...read more
Local Flavor | Travel
Asheville | Annex - Valle Crucis | Boone | Hendersonville | Knoxville | Roanoke | Original - Valle Crucis | Waynesville
... Our favorite foods! Food is universal because everybody’s got ta eat! And the last two months of the year are filled with more than their fair share of family meals, work gatherings, special outings to favorite restaurants, tins filled with homemade cookies and fudge, and the anticipation of food traditions handed down from generation to generation ...read more
At Home | Recipes
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Even before we bought the Mast General Store, we were taken by the beauty of Valle Crucis. We’ve heard people describe the drive out Broadstone Road as traveling through a time portal. In the 1970s, fields in the river bottoms would be filled with tobacco, cabbage, or high with hay to feed cattle that were grazing in the summer pasture. ...read more
Local Flavor | Mast Family Favorites
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The lucky few who have seen the Earth from a different perspective – astronauts - all echo the same viewpoint upon their return. Yuri Gagarin, a Russian cosmonaut and the first human to go to space, commented, “Orbiting Earth in the spaceship, I saw how beautiful our planet is. People, let us preserve and increase this beauty, not destroy it.”
Behind the Scenes | Inspiration
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It is often a challenge to find just the right gift for everyone on your list, particularly if you are trying to find something for the outdoor enthusiast. Just a few questions that can be asked in casual conversation can help steer you to a thoughtful and useful gift that will serve him or her for years to come.
First, before we get into the questions, we'll share a word of caution. Many of the items that people will use on the trail are highly personal – packs need to be fitted to the person's frame; boots come in so many different options that it is difficult to get the proper fit without having your gift recipient there to allow our trained boot fitters to find the right shoe; even something as innocent as a pocket knife is quite an individual choice for how it fits in the hand, how it will be used, how much it weighs, etc. Don't despair; there are plenty of items to fill their packs to hit the trail.
Use questions like "How was your Hike Yesterday" to begin gathering information to select the thoughtful outdoor gift.
Now for those questions… An easy one to lead off with is "How was your hike yesterday? Where did you go?" From their answer you can learn if they are a hiker who likes to see the sights and look for birds, or if they are up for more adventure. For those who take things at a little more leisurely pace and enjoy a less technical trail, such as the trail at Bass Lake or Price Lake, a pair of binoculars or a guide to local birds will be a good bet. If your hiker spent time on the Crest Trails at Grandfather Mountain, they enjoy a challenge. Some suggestions for this hiker might be a stuff sack, which will make it easier for them to put their stuff away in their pack and to find it again later, a rain cover, or a lightweight cooking stove.
“Where did you camp?” is another question that can help you choose a gift. If their answer is "On the ‘A’ Loop at Price Lake," then you know that they are a car camper. You may consider a heavier cookware set that will serve them for a number of years. If their answer is "up on Carver's Gap” (along the Appalachian Trail), you might consider a lightweight flashlight for camp use, in order to save the power in their headlamp.
To get a bit more specific, here are six items that anyone who enjoys the outdoors will appreciate.
The Mini Filter with 16-ounce Pouch by Sawyer – Water is always a concern when you are in the backcountry or in some foreign countries. The Mini Filter from Sawyer is a lightweight, yet powerful answer. It can filter up to 100,000 gallons of water from any fresh water source and removes bacteria like giardia and e. coli.
Synthetic Fabric Cleaner by McNett – Outdoor enthusiasts have a lot of money tied up in their gear. The Synthetic Fabric Cleaner will help keep jackets, fleeces, and soft shells in tip-top condition and will help prepare them when they need to be treated with new DWR.
Groove Fresh-Filtered Water Bottle by Camelbak – Everybody needs to drink more water! This bottle will keep 375 plastic disposable bottles out of the waste stream. Just fill it with tap water and out comes filtered water. Great for removing chlorine found in many municipal water systems.
Buckshot Speaker by Outdoor Tech – For tunes on the go, you can't go wrong with the Buckshot Speaker. Connect to it via Bluetooth and get up to 16 hours of music from one battery charge. Great, full sound.
FireStone 2-Stage Knife Sharpener – This easy-to-use knife sharpener will keep a sharp edge on your favorite knife.
Disc Golf Set by Innova – Not all time on the trail has to be hiking from one place to another. Find an open bald and set up your own disc golf course. This set contains a driver, mid-range, and putter.
Some other gift ideas for the hiker include some dreaming material, like a map and or guide to the Grand Canyon or the Appalachian Trail. Audubon Field Guides are wonderful reference books with information and terrific photos. You may also want to consider a Mast Store Gift Card, which comes with free advice when your favorite hiker brings it to the store.