Through March in the Piedmont we’d seen only scant evidence of spring: first-responder wildflowers including trout lilies (which can appear as early as late February), bluets and a sorrel or two. Spring was kept in the deep freeze in March, was good news if you were otherwise occupied during the month and couldn’t get out.
Mostly sunny with highs in the upper 70s — that’s the statewide forecast for this weekend.
Our forecast? You’ll be out making the most of it.
Coast
You’ve got some paddling experience under your belt, on lakes, maybe a local river or two with a minimal current. You like the idea of paddling bigger water — the sounds and inlets — and while you’re confident in your skills, you’d still feel more comfortable in a group, with folks who’ve been there before and know what they’re doing.
It’s shaping up to be good weekend for getting out in North Carolina. Saturday might be a little wet, but warm; Sunday cool and mostly sunny. Plan to take advantage.
Coast
Hooch wants to get out more, you need to get out more: what better opportunity for mutt and master to bond and fulfill a mutual want/need than Saturday’s paws4people Run Walk on the UNC Wilmington campus. If you two have stayed active over the winter, you may be interested in the 10K race. If you haven’t but crave a challenge, consider the 5K. And if the two of you are on the couch looking at each other thinking, “We really should do this; it would be good for us,” but neither of you are making a move to register, there’s always the 1-mile fun run/walk.
At our weekly GetHiking! Triangle hike a couple weeks back, I was approached at the trailhead by a woman who introduced herself as being from Virginia Beach, Va. She, her daughter and a friend were in town asked if they might tag along with our group.
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.