Montague Miles

On Saturday, for one of the few times in recent memory, I took a ride on Montague Miles.

What's that, you say? You've never heard of Montague Miles? Alas, I suppose that's due to a signage failure by the otherwise reliable North Carolina Department of Transportation.

Montague Miles is the 38-mile stretch of Interstate 95 from Exit 107 in Kenley to Exit 145 in Gold Rock. It opened in 1979 and was promptly named for John Merle Montague, salutatorian of the Bertie High School Class of 1978. John's one of the finest fellows I've ever known, and it's always puzzled me that NCDOT still hasn't found time to put up the signs.

To help give John his due, I emailed him a few years back and asked for his thoughts on the stretch of highway that bears his name. Here was his reply, verbatim:

"I have been told by travelers that Montague Miles ranks as the most boring stretch of interstate between Maine and Miami…and that's saying a lot considering it outranks I-95 in South Carolina. Feel free to use that quote!! Really, I’d like to thank all the little people who made that breathtaking stretch of freeway possible. I am happy that it represented one of the final links of I-95 in North Carolina."

I don't get much of a chance to enjoy the stark pavement of Montague Miles anymore. As a hiker and outdoors guy, I'm more partial to scenic backroads, but my son and I found ourselves on that very highway on the way back from visiting family in North Carolina at Thanksgiving. Maybe next I'll find time to ride on other great NC highways, including the Cherry-Constable Freeway near Wilson. (Or is it the Constable-Cherry Freeway?)

As this is a hiking blog, one that helps promote hiking tours to Switzerland, I suppose I need to work in a hiking reference. (Before that, however, for you Montague Miles fans reading this blog for the first time, here's the shameless plug for the Website: http://myhikingvacations.com/). I'll make the connection by pointing out that North Carolina is where you'll find a village called Little Switzerland. I remember going there as a kid and seeing the sign that listed the population as the "square root of negative 1." Wonder if that sign is still there.

Happy Hiking. And, with all due respect to John, my fullest sympathies if you're having to spend a lot of time on Montague Miles during the busy holiday travel period ...