The weather people said a cold front was coming. They said the air would be drier. They said the daytime highs would drop into the mid-70s and that it cool off to 60 overnight. After weeks of soggy, sweaty days in the low 90s, it was easy to be skeptical. But when front finally hit it was easy to drop whatever and reunite with the outdoors.
Category Archives: Hiking
This weekend in North Carolina: Cool temps, hot times
The first significant cool front in a while descends over much of the state, leaving weekend highs in the 60s and 70s over much of the state. Here are three ways to take advantage of our weather windfall.
Coast
We’re avid proponents of starting the weekend early, especially when the destination is a place called Keg Island. Thus, we endorse Friday’s Sunset Kayaking Adventure at River Road Park in Wilmington. The trip begins at the park, on the Cape Fear River between Wilmington and Carolina Beach, and paddles on the river out to Keg Island for a picnic. Then it’s back to the put in as the sun sets.
Ultimate Hike: the journey begins Saturday at Umstead
Two weeks ago, I told you about the Ultimate Hike. I may have written a reminder as well. In either event, here’s another, this one to remind you that the 2013 Ultimate Hike season begins Saturday at 9 a.m. at Umstead State Park.
Ultimate Hike is the chief fundraiser for CureSearch for Children’s Cancer. CureSearch is a nonprofit that traces its roots to 1987. Though its name has changed over the years, its mission has not. The nonprofit funds research efforts to fight children’s cancer. If there’s a more noble effort to support, I’m pressed to think of it.
And if there’s a better way to support the cause — hiking to raise money for children’s cancer research — I’m hard-pressed to think of it, either. Tomorrow marks the start of a 12-week training program that will culminate with us hiking 28.3 miles on the Foothills Trail straddling North and South Carolina. The key component of the training program is a series of every-other-weekend hikes that will grow increasingly longer. Tomorrow at Umstead, will start with a short hike (of 2, 4.5 or 6 miles, hiker’s choice). We’ll be back on Aug. 24 with an 8-mile hike along the Eno River. Subsequent hikes will be at Raven Rock State Park, on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail through the Triangle, at Hanging Rock State Park and in the Uwharrie National Forest. We’ll also do a series of shorter mid-week hikes designed to get hikers used to hiking in the dark. (Why? Because to hike 28.3 miles in one day you have to hit the trail pretty early — 4:30 a.m., to be exact)
Want to find out more? Then come out tomorrow and test-drive the Ultimate Hike. We’ll gather at 9 a.m. at Picnic Shelter #2 at Umstead State Park’s Harrison Avenue entrance (off I-40). We’ll have bagels and coffee, we’ll talk hiking. Then, around 10, we’ll hit the trail.
And if you’re thinking, “I’m not really much of a hiker, this probably isn’t for me,” then cease that line of thinking. This hike and the 12-week training program is exactly for you: that’s what the training is all about. Again, come out and we’ll talk.
And remember: we won’t just be talking, we’ll be hiking.
This weekend: 0 to 6,684
We start at the coast (sea level) with a guided paddle trip at Hammocks Beach State Park and wind up in the high country — the highest country, in fact — with a program atop the highest point on the East Coast, 6,684-foot Mount Mitchell.
Coast
One of our favorite paddles is the marshland around Hammocks Beach State Park near Swansboro. It’s a vast, yet somewhat protected sea of sea and cordgrass, a marshy maze that frequently ends with turns down dead-end channels. Which is part of what makes paddling here fun.
Get Hiking with GetGoingNC and Great Outdoor Provision Co.
Since I started GetGoingNC in 2009, I’ve mostly told you about ways you can stay fit and healthy.
Today, I’m adding a twist. When it comes to hiking, instead of telling, I’m going to start showing. I’m going to make you a map, meet you at the trailhead and start going out in the woods with you.