Lessons are forever learned on the trail
“Well, I learned something new on this trip,” Cat said as she watched Brandon hoist his backpack to his bent knee before pausing to swing it onto his back.
“That’s the thing about backpacking,” I said. “Every trip, you learn new things.”
GetOut! Your Nudge for Weekend Adventure
Why a video from last fall? Two reasons.
- We got rained out last weekend: no “Scenes from the Weekend Past” to share.
- It’s going to feel like fall this weekend! When you wake up, the temperature will likely be in the 50s; on Saturday, at least, it won’t get out of the mid-70s. A return to fall the weekend before summer official starts — can’t beat that!
Let’s see what fall-appropriate things are going on this weekend:
Mountain Nature Hike, Saturday, 5 p.m., Mount Jefferson Nature Hike, West Jefferson. You might need a fleece for this late afternoon mountain hike, in which a ranger will talk about Mount Jefferson’s unusual flora. The hike is 1.2 miles and starts from the picnic area. “Sturdy shoe” highly recommended. (This late-day hike pairs well on a cool June day with a mid-afternoon hike at nearby Elk Knob State Park, just down the road in Todd. The 2-mile Summit Trail weaves through a lush mountain forest and offers stellar views, including Mount Jefferson, from the 5,520-foot summit.) Learn more about the Mount Jefferson Nature Hike here.
Lacking an outdoor skill? Tell us what you need
On a hike several years ago on the Bartram Trail in western North Carolina, I did a quick hiker count and realized one was missing. Despite having handed out customized maps of the hike, despite having gone over the trail could be tricky to follow, and despite our best efforts to herd, one hiker had indeed disappeared from the flock. And I had a pretty good idea where she’d gone wrong. A half mile earlier the Bartram and Appalachian Trail, which had buddied up for a mile, split, the Bartram sticking to the ridge, the AT following a draw down Wayah Mountain. I backtracked and headed down the AT, eventually running down the errant hiker two miles down the trail.