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.
Looks like a hit, dry weekend over much of the state, with temperatures suitable for doing a raft of activities.
Rafting, for instance, which I would be doing if I were in Charlotte, where the mercury is supposed to hit 97 Sunday. Sounds like a good reason to visit the National Whitewater Center. Other thoughts (in addition to yesterday’s suggestions):
If you’re looking to escape the weather this weekend, consider this: the forecasts for our three events in the mountains (Swannanoa), the Piedmont (Orange County) and at the coast (Wrightsville Beach) are this: High of 88, 20 to 30 percent chance of precipitation. Likely, it will be hot and a bit muggy wherever you go. Fortunately, we’ve found three events cool in both concept and execution.
Friday, I told you about an opportunity to make this fall truly epic by taking the Ultimate Hike.
Yes, it sounds like the title of a bad reality TV show (oxymoron?) about five people who go on a hike — and only one comes back. In reality — real reality — it’s an opportunity to test yourself and help a bunch of kids in the process. Ultimate Hike is a fundraiser run by CureSearch for Children’s Cancer. CureSearch promises to put you through a 12-week training program, at the end of which you’re able to hike 28.3 miles in one day. In return, you raise $2,500 to help the fight against childhood cancer. Pretty good deal.
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.