Our beaches are retired mountains. During the last ice age, the mountains of North Carolina were believed to have rivaled the Andes. As the world warmed, they were scoured down to current size and their rocks became our sand. Many of the dark sand grains along our beaches are rutile (titanium dioxide) and were mined for many years in Ponte Vedra and near Regency Square. Skittles candy and many toothpastes contain it as a whitening agent. Once a year, my mountain bike and I make a pilgrimage to the birthplace of the minerals that make up our beach sand. The Tsali Recreation Area of the Nantahala National Forest, west of Bryson City, N.C., is home to a world famous biking trail system. Four...
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