If your competitive urges are coloring your outdoor urges, head to the coast. But if you’ve got an urge for more color, you can find it in the Piedmont and even in the mountains.
Coast
You love to run, you love to bike — alas, you’re a sinker. No triathlon for you. But you can participate in a duathlon, which taps into your two loves. And you can tap into one Saturday in Wrightsville Beach.
On trail or off, it’s a good weekend to take a hike in North Carolina.
Coast
One of our favorite hikes in North Carolina is the Neusiok Trail in the Croatan National Forest. Just not at certain times.
Like when the temperature is much above 60.
The Neusiok runs for 20 miles, from the Pine Cliff Picnic Area on the south bank of the Neuse River not long before the Neuse gives it up to to the Pamlico Sound, to the Newport River. Near Pine Cliff, the trail more resembles the Piedmont — even the mountains in spots. But once it crosses NC 306 headed east, it’s coastal forest all the way, passing through cypress swamps, bottom land forests and pocosins. Warm weather tends to arouse some of the regional denizens — some with little wings, some with no legs — that can make hiking an enjoyment challenge.
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 or slide show 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.
Some quick notes for the weekend:
Saturday, will be cool (50s) and rainy in the Piedmont. If you’ve got stuff you need to get done (yardwork excluded), this would be the day to get it done because —
Sunday will be dry, sunny and cool (50s) in the Piedmont. Sunday could also be your last chance to catch good fall color in the region. Wondering where to go?
Yup, that’s right: winter arrives big time in North Carolina’s mountains this weekend, with heavy snow forecast for higher elevations. More important, cold overnight temperatures should support prolonged snowmaking, signaling the start of the Southeast ski season.