GetGoing NC! » Hiking

This weekend hike into the past

JoeMiller — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:11:00 +0000

Wilson!

Hiking into the past: It’s all the rage in North Carolina this weekend ... .

Coast

Feeling competitive? Have three friends, at least one of whom is the opposite sex? And are all of you 16 or older? If you answered yes to all of the above, consider about heading down to Emerald Isle Saturday for the Emerald Isle Parks & Rec 4 x 4 Volleyball Tournament. Entry fee is $55, winner gets 70 percent of the pot ($231 if the maximum of six teams signs up), second place gets 30 percent. You must preregister by 5 p.m. Friday, by calling 252.354.6350.

Logistics: In addition to pre-registering (see above), you have to bring your own ball and officiate games you don’t play in. More info here.

Weather: The tournament is indoors. That said, it’s supposed to be 60 and sunny at the coast.

Piedmont

When you hike in the woods, odds are you're oblivious of the history around you. That you’re unaware of the daffodil that might signal an old homestead, or the wide trough that could be what remains of an old “highway.” This weekend, you have not one but two opportunities to hike into history.

This old roadbed up from Crabtree Creek near the old Company Mill goes past the old Camp Craggy at Umstead State Park.

Friday at 2 p.m. (we like to start the weekend early around here), join a ranger for a mostly off-trail hike to historic Camp Craggy in Raleigh’s Umstead State Park. Located upslope from Crabtree Creek near the old Company Mill, Craggy was a Boy Scout camp in the early 1900s. The hike, 2.5 miles round trip, begins at 2 p.m.

Logistics: The hike, which begins from the parking lot off Harrison Avenue and I-40, is free, but pre-registration is required, by calling 919.571.4170.

Weather: The good news: A high of 63 is forecast. The not-so-good: there’s an 80 percent chance of rain.

On Sunday, join the Eno River Association’s Joe Liles for a hike, Fanny’s Ford and the Road to Holden Mill. Subtle signs will tell the tale of this once commercially vibrant area that is now part of Eno River State Park.

Logistics: Meet at the picnic shelter at the end of Cole Mill Road at the Few’s Ford access area of the Eno River State Park, at 2 p.m. More info here.

Weather: Sunny with a high of 54.

Explore the human past of Stone Mountain, such as this chimney from an old homestead along the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, on a 336 hike.

Mountains

They’ll also be hiking into history Saturday in the Stone Mountain area, albeit for a more colorful past. The 336 Area Hiking Group sponsors the Moonshine Stills Hike, a 5- to 7-mile mostly off-trail exploration in/around Stone Mountain State Park. Stills, old homesteads, cemeteries “and what ever we can find,” are the objectives, according to hike leader Steve Martin. A rugged outing is in store, Martin cautions. “If you enjoy nice, marked trails please pick another hike.”

Logistics: The group will meet at 7:30 a.m. in Greensboro to carpool to the park. More info here.

Weather: High of 52, 20 percent chance of rain.

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Those are GGNC’s thoughts for an active weekend. Find out other ways you can get out this weekend by browsing our super calendar, a collection of events calendars from throughout the state, below.

Coast

CapeFearCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar for the Cape Fear/Wilmington/southern N.C. coast searchable by date and event name.

Coastal Guide
Comprehensive calendar including nature programs from a variety of costal conservation and research agencies that offer nature programs. Covers the entire coast.

Crystal Cost Tourism Authority
Comprehensive calendar focusing on the Crystal Coast. Good source for programs offered by N.C. Coastal Federation, Cape Lookout National Park, N.C. National Estuarine Research Reserve and other costal conservation and research agencies that offer nature programs.

NCCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar including programs for the Outer Banks and Crystal Coast.

North Carolina Coast Host
Comprehensive calendar for the entire coast that lets you search for events by day, by region, by county, by city or by event (based on key word).

This Week Magazine
Primary focus is the Crystal Coast (North Carolina’s coastal midsection).

Mountains

Asheville Citizen-Times
From the main page, click on “Outdoors,” then WNC Outdoors calendar.

Blue Ridge Outdoors
Searchable calendar lets you extend your reach to events throughout the mid-Atlantic and Southeast (or you can just limit it to North Carolina). Also lets you search a boatload of categories, ranging from Hiking, Mountain Biking and Climbing to Trail Running, Triathlon and Road Walking.

The Mountain Times
From the main page, click on “Calendars,” then Main Events.

Todd’s Calendar

Piedmont

Charlotte

Charlotte Observer events calendar
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including Nature, Recreation, Recreation & Wellness, Running

Charlotte Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triad

GoTriad.com
Comprehensive calendar includes a Sports & Recreation category.

Piedmont Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triangle

Triangle.com
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including: Birding, Boating, Cycling, Nature, Rec & Wellness, Recreation, Running, Swimming, Tennis, Yoga.

Carolina Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Statewide

Office of Environmental Education
One calendar for the numerous Environmental Education Centers statewide.

North Carolina State Parks
Lets you search for programs at the state’s parks, recreation areas and natural areas by location, by month, by topic. To reach the calendar from the home page, click on “Education,” then “Fun & Free Programs at Parks.”

National Forests in North Carolina
From the home page, click on Carolina Connections for news updates on the state’s four national forests as well as hints on recreational opportunities and a detailed rundown of recreation areas and the amenities at each.

* * *

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Predator! (Or pussy cat?)

JoeMiller — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:37:45 +0000

Alan stopped dead in his tracks. I nearly ran into him.
“What is that?” he whispered.
His headlamp was fixed 30 feet up the trail and maybe 10 feet to the right. There, two bright green eyes starred from the brush.
We were on the Falls Lake section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail on a seven-mile night hike, and I thought of the two things it could reasonably be: a fox or a bobcat. The eyes were the critter’s most easily identifiable feature, but we could also make out a rough outline of its head.
“It’s ears seem a little small for a fox,” I whispered back.
“Could it be a bobcat?” Alan asked. Suddenly, we both sounded like Marlin Perkins.
A month earlier, in the middle of the day, I’d inadvertently treed a bobcat on the Bartram Trail in western North Carolina. It had behaved the same way: holding its ground and holding eye contact even as we eased closer.
“Take two steps,” I said, nudging Alan up the trail. Now I was like Marlin Perkins using Jim Fowler as a protective shield. Alan, apparently unfamiliar with the Wild Kingdom dynamic, took two steps forward. The eyes held their ground.
“Take two more steps,” I whispered. Alan hesitated, then took two more steps. The eyes remained fixed.
We were nearly perpendicular to the critter. I flashed the critter from a side angle and my headlamp caught it in a revealing side profile.
“It’s a cat,” I said.
“A house cat,” Alan clarified. Indeed, it was a handsome, healthy Tabby. “What’s a house cat doing way out here?”
“Probably came from up there,” I said, turning and pointing up the slope where, not 30 yards away, sat a spacious, well-lit home, one of many that dot the trail along the 26-mile stretch between NC 50 and the Falls Lake dam.
We stared at the cat for a few more moments, it stared back. Finally, in silence, we moved on.
Such is life in the Wild Kingdom of the Triangle.
* * *
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Options considered for coastal Mountains-to-Sea Trail

JoeMiller — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:53:19 +0000

The Croatan's wet nature requires lots of pricey bridging and boardwalk, such as this stretch on the Weetock Trail.

My idea of a good time when I can’t be outdoors?
Sitting around a big conference table with the head of the state’s largest trail system and a newly minted map.
Wednesday, Kate Dixon, executive director of the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail attended a meeting in New Bern about the path the MST would take from New Bern to the Outer Banks. Thursday, she took a few minutes to update me the latest developments on the statewide trail, a 1,000-mile work in progress that will one day run from atop Clingman’s Dome on the Tennessee border across the Tar Heel state to Jockey’s Ridge at the lip of the Atlantic.
A little over half of the trail is done. There’s a 300-mile continuous stretch in the mountains, mostly along the Blue Ridge Parkway, and another good chunk through the Triangle. East of Clayton, though, there’s a long dry spell before you reach the MST’s exciting conclusion along the coast. It was that dry spell that Dixon wanted to talk about.
Specifically, the meeting a day earlier had been about routing the MST through the coastal Croatan National Forest, from New Bern east to the Outer Banks.
“The problem with the Croatan,” she said, “is that it’s wet.”
Indeed. You can’t go far in the 160,000-acre national forest before you run into a wet area known as a pocosin, or upland swamp. Dixon traced her index finger across a number of old roadbeds that seemed to penetrate the forest. Alas, her finger would stop in a pocosin or simply disappear into the mass of coastal jungle growth. Another option, which the FMST isn’t crazy about, is piggybacking on a US 70 bypass around Havelock. Not a lot of esthetic reward in hiking alongside a divided four-lane highway.
Dixon threw a curve ball, though, when she pointed out a sparsely used rail line that runs between the Cherry Point Marine facility near Havelock to Camp LeJeune in Jacksonville, a path roughly perpendicular to a trail coming down the Neuse River. A trail paralleling the Neuse has long been considered the route the MST would take through the coastal plain. The rail line came nowhere close to the Neuse.
“How would that work?” I asked.
“We’re thinking about three types of routes to the coast,” Dixon said.
One would be a paddle route, down the Neuse, to New Bern. Another would be a bike route, following the Neuse as close as possible on less-traveled country roads and passing through the Neuse communities of Goldsboro, Kinston and New Bern. The hiking trail would follow a southerly route, parting ways with the Neuse at Smithfield.
Running a hiking trail along the coastal Neuse is proving problematic on several fronts, Dixon said. In spots, especially in the Let’Lones area below Smithfield, the land is perpetually wet. That’s a problem because the public corridor along the Neuse is only 50 feet wide and much of the surrounding land is privately owned,much of it by folks who have been slow to warm to a public trail running across their property.
So instead, the FMST is looking at dropping the hiking trail south of Smithfield to Bentonville and on to the Bladen Lakes area east of Fayetteville. There, it would make its way east to Jacksonville and pick up the aforementioned rail line, where they might be able to strike an access arrangement. The trail would then tap into the Croatan’s Neusiok Trail and head east to the Outer Banks. Another advantage to the southerly route: there’s more public land to run the trail through.
“It’s just something we’ve started looking at,” says Dixon.

Options for the MST

View Mountains-to-Sea Trail / coastal options in a larger map

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This weekend: Save a turtle, celebrate a squirrel (or eat one)

JoeMiller — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:01:27 +0000

Aw!

We’re going with an animal theme this week. Turtles at the coast, bears and other hearty survivors in the mountains ... and would you believe we’re celebrating the squirrel in the Piedmont?

Coast

Ever been walking along the coast and come across an area marked off with yellow tape? Holy crustacean killing! you think. Actually, the area has probably been roped off to protect a sea turtle nest. Sea turtles are revered at the coast and you can find out why this Saturday and Sunday when the rangers at Fort Fisher State Recreation Area talk turtle at Turtle Talk. Some of the critter’s mysteries will be unveiled and you can find out more about the conservation effort behind that yellow tape.

Logistics: The program is both days, at 2:30 p.m., in the park’s Exhibit Room. No fee, find out more about Fort Fisher here, more about sea turtles here.

Weekend forecast: Highs in the mid-60s, 30-40 percent chance of rain. True, the program is indoors, but afterward you'll want to take a hike on the intriguing Hermit Trail.

Bears love music with their dinner.

Piedmont

I will refrain from mentioning the number of their kind that I have inadvertently hit on my bike (7) and move right to the fact that Saturday is National Squirrel Appreciation Day. Yes, a day to celebrate what Charlotte’s Reedy Creek Nature Center refers to as “adorable mammals,” what we refer to as neurotic nut-hiding nitwits. And celebrate sciurus obnoxious they will at Reedy Creek, from 2-3 p.m. Saturday. “We'll feed them, read about them, and celebrate all that is squirrelly about those squirrels!” exclaims an excited park. If that sounds like a good excuse to get out and explore the woods, the particulars follow.

The particulars: Saturday, Jan. 21, 2-3 p.m. at the Reedy Creek Nature Center. It’s free, but registration is requested, by calling 704.432.6460. More about the event here.

Saturday forecast: High of 59, 30 percent chance of rain.

Reckon there's a squirrel in that pic-a-nic basket?

Mountains

Do you know how a bear might celebrate National Squirrel Appreciation Day? By having one for dinner (that’s “for,” not “over for”). Harsh! you think? Actually, that’s survival. So what else to animals do to survive, especially to survive a harsh winter like the ones often suffered in the animal kingdom at Mount Jefferson State Natural Area? Find out Saturday at 2 p.m. on an Animal Adaptations Hike atop Mount Jefferson.

Logistics: Program is Saturday at 2 p.m. Free, no registration required. For more info, go here.

Saturday forecast: High in the mid-40s, 50 percent chance of rain.

* * *

Coast

CapeFearCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar for the Cape Fear/Wilmington/southern N.C. coast searchable by date and event name.

Coastal Guide
Comprehensive calendar including nature programs from a variety of costal conservation and research agencies that offer nature programs. Covers the entire coast.

NCCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar including programs for the Outer Banks and Crystal Coast.

North Carolina Coast Host
Comprehensive calendar for the entire coast that lets you search for events by day, by region, by county, by city or by event (based on key word).

This Week Magazine
Primary focus is the Crystal Coast (North Carolina’s coastal midsection).

Mountains

Asheville Citizen-Times
From the main page, click on “Outdoors,” then WNC Outdoors calendar.

The Mountain Times
From the main page, click on “Calendars,” then Main Events.

Todd’s Calendar

Piedmont

Charlotte

Charlotte Observer events calendar
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including Nature, Recreation, Recreation & Wellness, Running

Charlotte Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triad

GoTriad.com
Comprehensive calendar includes a Sports & Recreation category.

Piedmont Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triangle

Triangle.com
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including: Birding, Boating, Cycling, Nature, Rec & Wellness, Recreation, Running, Swimming, Tennis, Yoga.

Carolina Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Statewide

Office of Environmental Education
One calendar for the numerous Environmental Education Centers statewide.

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The family that plays together stays in shape together

JoeMiller — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:34:09 +0000

A family 5K can be enchanting for the kids.

The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, sponsored by the American Heart Association and William J. Clinton Foundation and dedicated to battling childhood obesity, has issued eight ways families can get fit together. We list those eight ways below and go one step further, suggesting specific ways you can make this happen NOW! Meaning this week now.

Take a walk. Stroll together after a family meal or walk around the mall when it's cold or raining. Just walking in your neighborhood is great exercise; as we mentioned yesterday, living in North Carolina means your neighborhood may be a little more interesting than you think. And if your kids think walking is boring, bring along some props to liven things up. When our kids were smaller, we’d often set out for a neighborhood “walk” with skateboards, rollerblades, a Ripstik and a Trikke, swapping toys along the way.
Choose an outing. Spend a weekend afternoon going to a pool, skating rink or basketball court. Right now, with winterlike temperatures, a good bet in this part of the country is a visit to your local North Carolina State Park. At Crowders Mountain near Charlotte, for instance, you can scramble about at The Boulders access area. In Wilmington there’s Carolina Beach, where there’s a unique collection of carnivorous plants. The Triangle has miles of hiking at Eno River and Umstead, while the Triad has great views from atop Pilot Mountain and Hanging Rock.
Take breaks. Try to fit in 10 to 15 minutes of rigorous physical activity several times a day. At our house, we call it, “Hey kids, let’s go play in the street!” time. We live at the end of a cul de sac, the perfect arena for kickball and Whiffleball and, more often, a combination of the two.
Team up. Have the family sign up for a group run, walk or car wash. You don’t have to run a 5K, you just need to finish it. And even if you don’t think you can walk 3.1 miles, odds are that once you get caught up in the pomp, pagentry and comradery of a typical 5K, the miles will pass before you know it. Upcoming 5Ks around the state (we’ll give you a couple weeks of training to get ready): 4th Annual Sweetheart 5K and 1-Mile Family Fun Run, Rocky Mount, Feb. 4; 32nd Annual Run for the Roses, Raleigh, Feb. 11, Frostbike 5K, 10K and 1-Mile Family Fun Run, Hendersonville, Feb. 19, St. Leo’s School 5K, Winston-Salem, March 17, Winter Classic 8K and Kids Run, Charlotte, January 28.
Limit TV. Select which shows kids will watch ahead of time and limit screen time to just those programs. A good first step: No screens in your kids’ rooms.
Join a club. Buy a family membership to a town recreation center, YMCA or health club. Better yet, join a family-fitness-oriented Meetup group. And if you can’t find one in your area, start one. Start the process here.
Learn something new. Have family members take a lesson in an activity, such as martial arts, fencing or gymnastics. Opportunities abound at your local parks and rec department. In Raleigh, for instance, you can learn the above as well as how to scale a mountain or right a flipped kayak, among a myriad of other things. Track down your local parks and rec department here.
Chores count. Working together around the house or in the yard is another way families can stay active. Yes, kids, it’s true: Working around the house can be good for you. And parents, you can use this as an alternative if the kids balk at taking a hike or a Whiffleball break.

Scrub the toilet vs. playing kickball? We’re guessing you won’t have a problem.

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90 Second Escape: Neighborhood Wilderness

JoeMiller — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:00:21 +0000

It was after 4 on Saturday afternoon and I realized I hadn’t had an adventure. With little more than an hour of sunlight to play with, I didn’t have time to drive anywhere. Fortunately, I live in North Carolina and I did have time to walk to the end of our block. Even in the state’s urban centers — Charlotte, the Triad, the Triangle, where I live — untamed greenspace is never far away. Got a creek that drains your neighborhood? Then there’s a good chance you’ve a bottomland forest to explore. In my case, I’m just a stone’s throw from the headwaters of Walnut Creek, which heads south through my neighborhood, takes a left at Lake Johnson, then heads east through Southeast Raleigh before giving it up to the Neuse River.

C’mon. I’ll show you.

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Blue Ridge Parkway: Closed to traffic, open to adventure

JoeMiller — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:03:21 +0000

My favorite time to be on the Blue Ridge Parkway?

When it’s closed.

As of Thursday, 81.8 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina are closed because of wintery weather conditions. (With few exceptions, the entire 469.1-mile parkway isn’t plowed during the winter. When it snows or the road ices over, the road stays closed until the snow or ice melts.) When those sections are closed to automotive traffic they become some of North Carolina’s best outdoor playgrounds.

A section that’s particularly fun, and that’s often closed and that’s currently closed: the stretch from Mount Pisgah west — to the parkway’s end at Milepost 469.1, at US 421 in the Great Smokies. An especially good, long day trip in that stretch (a shuttle is required; find the route here), is the 18-mile run, mostly along the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, from US 276 west to NC 215.

Start from the US 276 end and you’ll need to walk west on the Parkway for a mile and a quarter to pick up the MST. The next six miles or so is a bit of a rollercoaster, with surprisingly steep climbs above the Parkway. The terrain mellows around mile 6, which is also where you’ll take a diversion from the MST and head north to Ivestor Gap, gateway to the Shining Rock Wilderness. It’s another two miles to Shining Rock if you’re doing well timewise; otherwise, pick up the Ivestor Gap Trail back south to the Black Balsam parking area and rejoin the MST heading west to NC 215.

There may be more highlights-per-mile on this trail than you’ll find anywhere in the state. The torturous climbs early on provide stellar views, you’ll find some gorgeous waterfalls just below Graveyard Fields, Ivestor Gap has a wide-open alpine beauty that’s hard to find east of the Rockies, there’s a rare passage through a black balsam forest and some impressive rock outcrops.

Build extra time into your hike schedule for photos. It’s a trip that will make you glad you’re hiking in the digital age.

* * *

Resources
For more on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, including descriptions through this stretch, visit the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Good trail maps for this region: “Trails Illustrated: Pisgah Ranger District” (National Geographic), http://www.natgeomaps.com/ti_780.html and “Shining Rock & Middle Prong Wilderness” (USDA Forest Service). http://www.nationalforeststore.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=NFS&Product_Code=NC-10&Category_Code=NC If there's 8 inches or more of snow on the ground, you might consider ditching your hiking boots for cross-country skis.

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This weekend: a Dismal hike, a really cool ride and … lost!

JoeMiller — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:23:53 +0000

The start of last year's RRRCPBMC.

A glorious experience in a Dismal place, riding with the polar bears, avoiding getting lost (but what to do if you do). Just another diverse weekend of outdoor adventure in North Carolina.

Coast

“Remember that resolution you made to get outside and exercise more this year?,” asks Dismal Swamp State Park. (Hey, if companies are people and are entitled to a voice, certainly a great natural area is as well.) “There's no time like the present to start!” And this chatty park would like you to start with its Resolution Hike this Saturday. Meet at the Visitor Center at 10 a.m., then explore what POTUS No. 1 and avid surveyor George Washington called “a glorious paradise.” The Great Dismal has a fascinating natural and human history (check out Bland Simpson’s highly entertaining “The Great Dismal: A Carolinian’s Swamp Memoir”) that can’t be captured in two miles, but it’s a start.

Dismal Swamp Canal.

Logistics: Again, meet at the Visitor Center at 10 a.m., it’s free and there’s no RSVP required. For more info, call the park at 252.771.6593 or visit its Web site (where you can also find driving directions).

Saturday forecast: Clear and cold with a daytime high of 43.

Piedmont

Cyclists looking to have a Big Year generally can’t wait to get that first metric century under their insulated kits. It seems like such a good idea when you sign up — then the temperature turns out to be in the 30s, it’s windy and it snows. That’s what happened at last year’s Polar Bear Metric Century sponsored by the Rock River Road Club in Davidson. Fortunately, this years RRRCPBMC promises to be warmer, dryer and less windy (see forecast below). The ride departs Davidson and takes country roads north and east. If you're content with just getting a half metric in, there’s a 50K version as well. The ride benefits the Ada Jenkins Center in Davidson.

Logistics: $25 race day to ride, race day registration begins at 8:30 a.m. Rest stops and SAG support. Learn more at the club’s Web site.

Saturday forecast: Sunny with highs in the mid-40s and winds 5-10 mph.

Mountains

I got woefully ... misplaced on this "trail" to London Bald a year ago.

Here’s a scary feeling (or so, ahem, I’ve been told): You’re hiking in the woods, you get sidetracked onto a faux trail and suddenly — you’re lost. What now? You’ll know if you attend this Sunday’s Wilderness Survival program at Lake James State Park near Nebo. “Park Ranger Clay Veasey ... will discuss survival kits, finding shelter, fire-building and much more,” says this also-talkative park.

Logistics: Meets from 10-11 a.m. Sunday at the park’s Catawba River Area Office. It’s free, no RSVP required. More info on the park and program by calling 828.584.7728 or visiting the park’s Web site.

Saturday forecast: True, the program is inside. But afterwards you’ll want to practice your newfound skills with a hike. Thus: A high of 45 is predicted under partly cloudy skies.

* * *

Coast

CapeFearCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar for the Cape Fear/Wilmington/southern N.C. coast searchable by date and event name.

Coastal Guide
Comprehensive calendar including nature programs from a variety of costal conservation and research agencies that offer nature programs. Covers the entire coast.

NCCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar including programs for the Outer Banks and Crystal Coast.

North Carolina Coast Host
Comprehensive calendar for the entire coast that lets you search for events by day, by region, by county, by city or by event (based on key word).

This Week Magazine
Primary focus is the Crystal Coast (North Carolina’s coastal midsection).

Mountains

Asheville Citizen-Times
From the main page, click on “Outdoors,” then WNC Outdoors calendar.

The Mountain Times
From the main page, click on “Calendars,” then Main Events.

Todd’s Calendar

Piedmont

Charlotte

Charlotte Observer events calendar
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including Nature, Recreation, Recreation & Wellness, Running

Charlotte Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triad

GoTriad.com
Comprehensive calendar includes a Sports & Recreation category.

Piedmont Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triangle

Triangle.com
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including: Birding, Boating, Cycling, Nature, Rec & Wellness, Recreation, Running, Swimming, Tennis, Yoga.

Carolina Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Statewide

Office of Environmental Education
One calendar for the numerous Environmental Education Centers statewide.

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Dear Diary: I am a cow

JoeMiller — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:16:18 +0000

"Gosh, according to my journal it's been three weeks since I've done a decent fartlek workout. Better hop to it."

I was thinking I’d just had a bad day on the wall. Then I opened my climbing journal to record my workout and discovered that my last workout, a week earlier, had been “a bad day.” Likewise, the workout before that, during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, had been “somewhat aimless.” Aimless and anti-productive, I discovered upon further review: Had it really been nearly two months since I’d done a 5.9 climb? My journal said it had.

Thanks to my journal, I was able to fully appreciate just how much of a wimp I’d become.

In today’s The News & Observer and Charlotte Observer I have a story on how to get started exercising (an expanded version of that piece will run here tomorrow, with links). I cover a lot of ground — from the importance of mixing up your workouts to working out with a buddy — but one thing I neglected to mention was the importance of keeping a workout journal.

“A journal will give you a great base/foundation for the goals you want to strive for on your fitness quest,” according to Elite Conditioning of Vista, Calif. “Writing down what exercises you’re going to do for the day or week will give you a solid game plan to follow. You can always adjust your workout journal when you see fit, but just having something written down will help you greatly.”
Adds Nick SantaBarbara of The Training Standard, “One of the most important, if not the most important, reason for a journal is the knowledge of whether or not you are over training or under training.”

A workout journal goes one better than a log. Typically, a log is a concise statistical account of your workout: how far you ran, how much weight you lifted, how many reps you did. For instance, on Sunday I ran at Umstead State Park; my log entry for the workout might read: “Umstead B&B, 7.1m, 1:00:53, 8:28.” Translated: I ran at Umstead State Park on the bike & bridle trail, I ran 7.1 miles in 1 hour and 53 seconds for a per-mile pace of 8:28. My journal entry would likely include the same information, but it would also include observations about the run, such as, “Took nearly a half mile to fall into pace,” “Got a sidestitch 30 minutes in but straightened posture and worked through it,” and “8:28!? What a cow!” That additional information reminds me that I’m not a fast starter, that I’m prone to pesky sidestitches but know how to work through them, and that I’m lousy with analogies because a motivated cow can move pretty darn fast.

Statistics in themselves are helpful. They help mark progress (or not) and they remind me of what I still need to do, especially if I’m training for a specific event. For instance, if I’m seven weeks in to a 12-week training program for a half marathon, the above entry might remind me that I need to up my next long distance day by at least a mile, preferably two. And if I’m aiming to run the aforementioned half marathon in an hour and forty-five minutes or less, the pace might tell me I need to up my track workouts to bring that pace closer to 8 minutes. All good information.

But it’s the observations that, for me, make the difference. Reviewing my climbing journal, I see not just that the difficulty of the routes I’ve been climbing has plateaued (basic log information), I pick up on a recent negative vibe. In the fall, I was bubbly over doing the seemingly impossible and upping my game week after week. Lately, the tone of my journal is that of a a listless slacker who gets spooked easily, worries more about falling and has, increasingly, been climbing alone. My journal leads me to two conclusions:

Make more of an effort to climb with my Meetup group. The comradery encourages a friendly, supportive competition that makes me push myself. Also, if I fall my belay partner will catch me a lot faster than the autobelay, which has an alarming delay before it seems to realize, “Oh, dude is falling. Better catch him.” The autobelay is also reluctant to praise a good effort.

I need to take a class. And it just so happens my neighborhood gym, the Triangle Rock Club, offers a class called “Fight Gravity” that’s “Recommended for the 5.8-5.9 climber who is stuck at a plateau ... .”

My journal hasn’t magically solved my problem, but it’s helped show me what I need to do to make going to the gym fun again. Thanks, journal.

Google around and you can find workout-specific journals with space to let you record stats and an area for workout reflections. They tend to be a little pricey. You can also buy a blank journal and create your own format, or you can do an online journal (yes, there are apps for that). It’s a matter of what works best for you.

Workout. Then write.

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90 Second Escape: Everybody Loves Umstead

JoeMiller — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:39:41 +0000

Monday — never an easy time for the outdoors enthusiast. After a weekend of adventure, returning to the humdrum work-a-day world can make one melancholy. To help ease the transition, every Monday we feature a 90 Second Escape — essentially, a 90-second video of a place you’d probably rather be: a trail, a park, a greenway, a lake … anywhere as long as it’s not under a fluorescent bulb.
Today’s 90-Second Escape: Everybody Loves Umstead
Not only was parking lot full — which I had never seen before — but the road leading into Umstead State Park from I-40 was sidewalled with cars. “I’ve never seen it this full,” observed avid hiker Liz King, hiking the Company Mill Trail.
Impressive, but not surprising. It was a Saturday afternoon, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the mercury was zeroing in on 70. A good hiking day anyday, but especialy in January, when you never know when your next shorts-and-T-shirt day will come. And Umstead, located in the heart of the Triangle, is one of North Carolina’s most popular state parks.
So what’s it like when you need practically need a ranger to direct traffic over foot bridges? If you weren’t one of the hundreds at Umstead on Saturday, spend 90 seconds and take a look.

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