GetGoing NC! » Paddling

90 Second Escape: A summer sweat in the doldrums of winter

JoeMiller — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:21:47 +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: Summer in January.
Last week, after four straight days of gloomy winter overcast we celebrated with a 90-Second Escape to blue skies past. Today, along a similar vein, we escape the seasonal chill of winter’s dog days and revisit the heat of summer.
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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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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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Goals: Taking stock at midpoint

JoeMiller — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:12:38 +0000

Looking rather relaxed for someone who has just over four months to achieve eight of 10 goals.

While most of you are staring down Day 3 of your 2012 New Year’s resolutions, I find myself with less than five months to go on my annual birthday resolutions. Make that “first” annual birthday resolutions: When I turned 55 last May 11 I got to Googling and discovered that 55 is a somewhat pivital year for a male. Among other things, our muscles and organs begin to atrophy; we shrink, on average, 0.4 inches a year; we dehydrate more easily; our joints stiffen ... . Suffice it to say that on May 11 of last year I didn’t feel I could wait seven months to set some goals, so I set 10 immediately. All with a theme of 55.

Here’s a status report:

Run 11 5Ks (11 x 5 = 55). So far, I’ve run three, all last summer. The good news is that 5Ks are a dime a dozen — or more accurately, at least one a weekend, so the opportunities are there. Plus, I’ve ramped up my running of late (prompted by a more immediate and daunting goal, the Uwharrie Mountain Run on Feb. 4) and feel ready to get back into a 5K rythym. I should fess up, though, that on New Year’s Day I blew off a prime 5K opportunity: the Run in the New Year Run, which was, literally, three blocks from my house. But it started at midnight and my wife laid odds, based on my New Year's Eve track record, that I wouldn’t make it past 10 (I didn’t). Still, I’m optimistic
Climb “The Mummy” at Linville Gorge, a 5.5-rated rock climb. This remains unchecked as well, though again, hope springs eternal. I’ve hooked up with the Triangle Rock Club’s Climbing Meetup, been climbing with them at the TRC and know that when it gets warmer, the group’s leadership (comprised of climbing instructors for the Boy Scouts) will be leadings us outdoors. Asterisk: The leadership being leaders and deciding things like where to go, I may have to substitute another climb of equal or greater difficulty.
Do a 55-mile backpacking trip. Bit of a conundrum here. Two weeks ago, Chris David and I did a 50-mile backpack trip on the North Carolina Bartram Trail and the Appalachian Trail. Chris, who’s been backpacking since the 1960s, said it was the hardest trip he’s done. Hence, the conundrum: Does the level of difficulty compensate for coming up five miles short? I’m inclined to say yes, especially if I can’t pull off a planned 60-mile backpack trip on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail along Falls Lake.
Do a 55-mile canoe trip. Again, unchecked but confidence reigns. I’m in the midst of writing a book on adventure sports in the Carolinas, with paddling as a primary focus. The trip may take place in a kayak rather than a canoe, but the fun factor alone should assure that this happens.
Do 55 continuous push-ups. As I wrote last May: “I’ve been especially slack over the years on strength training; with my muscles atrophying staying strong becomes even more important.” Turns out, I've discovered, the “atrophying muscles” claim isn’t speculation. I’ve been doing pushups regularly, three to five times a week, in sets of three or four. On the last set, I do as many as I can pump out. In October, I got up to 38 on that last set and plateaued. I’ve recommitted on this one and hope to cross it from the list by the end of February.
55: Total of my waist size (30) and BMI (25). Now, three days after the Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year’s bacchanal, is not the time to be taking measure of one's waist and BMI. Again, check back the end of February.
Resting heart rate of 55. Just measured it: 48. (Confession: It was already 54 when I set the goal.)
55-mile mountain bike race. That book I mentioned that I’m writing? Mountain biking is another focus area. I’m looking to accomplish this goal at the Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventure Race in May. The race takes place in the Davidson River area near Brevard and ranges from 45 to 70 miles depending upon your orientation skills. That should assure I get in at least 55 miles.
55 miles on my mountain bike on my birthday. This didn’t happen, I noted at the time, because I had to pick up the kids from school. So when I do it between now and this coming May 11, I’ll add an asterisk. Oh, and at least half of the total — 28 miles — needs to be on singletrack.
Umstead 100 endurance run. First timers such as myself are restricted to just ("just"?) 50 miles in the Umstead 100 endurance run, which is March 31. Alas, I missed the registration deadline and the race is full. In search of an alternative. Suggestions welcome.

Let's see, according to the 55 for 55 Goals Tote Board that makes me two for 10 with just over four months to go. Wish me luck with my goals, and best of luck with yours in 2012!

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Holiday escapes: Go paddling

JoeMiller — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:00:36 +0000

Starting today and running through the end of the year, we’re suspending our normal programming to help those of you with kids on winter break find stuff to do. Every day through year’s end we’ll throw out an idea to get you and your young ones out of the house and, most importantly, have the little ones exhausted upon your return. Consider it GetGoingNC.com’s gift to you.

Plan for today: Go paddling

Go paddling? In the winter? I don’t even have a boat. And further —

Tut tut! Before you continue your italicized protestations, hear us out. First, technically, it’s still fall; winter doesn’t start until shortly after midnight Thursday. And you don’t need your own boat. While most municipal, county and state park rentals are seasonal, several remain open year-round, operating under the 100-degree rule: If the combined air and water temperature is 100 degrees or more, you can take out a canoe or kayak. (If it’s less than 100 degrees, you probably don’t want to be on the water anyway. Raleigh’s Lake Johnson is one such 100-degree lake; if it’s, say, 60 degrees and the water temperature is 40, for $5 you can rent a canoe or kayak for an hour and paddle this 150-acre lake. $5 a boat — pretty cheap sanity-saving entertainment.

Now that the idea doesn’t seem so far-fetchedwhere can you rent a canoe or kayak this time of year? Check with your local boat-renting park or outfitter; our handy “35 Places to Rent a Canoe/Kayak in North Carolina” guide can help with that process.

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Coming up: Holiday Escapes

JoeMiller — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:40:04 +0000

Starting next week, a lot of you will be getting to spend more quality family time together. Parents often take time off from work over the holidays — either by choice or by employer mandate — the kids enter that glorious time known as winter break. Together, it adds up to more time to do ______ together.

Starting Monday and running through the end of the year, we’ll help you fill in that blank. We’ve come up with 10 days worth of active options guaranteed to both bond the clan and tucker them out. Here’s a sneak preview of what’s coming next week:

Monday: Go paddling
Tuesday: Hit your neighborhood park
Wednesday: Climb the walls
Thursday: Take a (guided) hike
Friday: Go for an (educated) walk

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A run, a paddle, a hike — this weekend, whatever it takes to survive the holidays

JoeMiller — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 11:00:08 +0000

Philadelphia's The Running of the Santas

Since it's never too early to start making weekend plans, we give you our weekend planner a day early.

Coast

Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock —

Scratch that — been spending too much time on all-Christmas-all-the-time radio. Make that Jingle Bell Run, as in the third annual 5K sponsored by the Wrightsville Beach Museum of History this Saturday in Wrightsville Beach. Speed is good, holiday costumes are better in this race that takes in historic WB cottages, “beautiful winter marshes,” and popular Wrightsville Beach hot spots. Registration is from 7:30-8:45 a.m., the race commences at 9 a.m. $30 for adults, $20 for runners 12 and younger.

Piedmont

Lately, I’ve been touting the virtues of winter paddling. Saturday, you can tap a little of this virtuousness at Lake Crabtree County Park in Morrisville on a ranger-led Winter Canoe Hike. Learn about park history, local wildlife, the fact that even if your boat does flip this is a really shallow lake ... . All gear is provided, but it is almost winter so make sure you have appropriate clothing.

$5 per adult, $10 per boat (you can squeeze three in). Pre-registration required: 919.460.2723

Mountains

The Hickory Nut Gorge area near Lake Lure is one of the more happening spots in North Carolina in terms of growing opportunities for public lands. Chimney Rock, the long-time privately held tourist attraction, recently became part of the State Parks system, and more additions are in the offing. That’s thanks in part to the work of groups such as the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, which is working to protect this unique area.

So, you may be wondering, what makes it unique? Learn for yourself on Saturday at 9 a.m. when the CMLC leads an off-trail hike to Pool Creek Falls at World’s Edge in the gorge. The hike is only 2.25 miles, but it is off trail, there are some challenging stream crossings as well as downed trees. Experienced hikers only. It’s a CMLC Members-only hike, but considering the future of hiking in Hickory Nut Gorge depends on groups such as the Carolina Mountain Lands Conservancy, that shouldn’t be a problem, right? Find out about memberships here, more about the hike here.

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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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A world of adventure out your front door

JoeMiller — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:34:52 +0000

The gentleman in the meticulously trimmed salt-and-pepper beard and Tilley Duck Hat paddling the $3,000 fiberglass kayak sounded surprised when I replied that, no, I hadn’t seen any osprey or bald eagles. Hadn’t seen or wouldn’t recognize? he seemed to imply.

“I did see a boatload of great blue herons,” I offered. He seemed unimpressed and continued paddling to the upper reaches of Bush Creek. Understandable, I guess. I’d actually seen more than a boatload of the gawky birds — 13 — over three hours on the water. While great blue herons are remarkably common, I’m still in awe every time I watch one rise pterodactyl-like from water’s edge, give an annoyed honk and laboriously fly on ahead, only to be re-disturbed re-annoyed in another 15 minutes.

Granted, an osprey or bald eagle would have been great, and not all that uncommon on Jordan Lake, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impoundment south of the Triangle. The lake’s shallow waters and abundant pines make it an attractive habitat for the bald eagle, especially in the more remote fingers of the lake fed by tributaries such as Bush Creek. Such a sighting would have been icing on a cake that had already more than sated my adventure appetite for the day.

Throughout the preceding workweek, I had been dreaming of a paddle adventure. Those dreams generally led me east, well east of I-95 and closer to the coast, where an abundance of small creeks, lazy rivers, swamps and sheltered estuaries offer some of the best flatwater escapes around. As the end of the week grew near, those dreams turned to desolation as I realized work wouldn’t allow for a daylong escape. I could steal a few hours on Saturday, maybe, but certainly not enough for a full-throttle adventure.

A melancholy set in that got me to thinking about my last true adventure. As I dismissed candidate after candidate for not being “adventurous” enough, I found myself trying to define just what, exactly, constitutes adventure. It has to be somewhere new, but, as writer Douglas Coupland contends, is adventure without risk Disneyland? Maybe, I reckoned, as long as that risk isn’t of life, limb or moderate-to-extreme discomfort. Does adventure have to involved the unknown? The unknown, yes; it’s an adventure the first time, an outing the next. But an adventure could include the familiar: paddling a swamp new to me could be an adventure even if the swamp was full of familiar cypress and tupelo, and certainly alligators. Probably the toughest qualifier: whether a true adventure had to occur in some exotic, far-off local. A half-day’s drive, minimum.

I should mentioned that I was having this internal conversation in the front yard while raking leaves. I should mention, too, that a mild but frustrating breeze was undoing most of my work. I paused to watch a gust move a phalanx of white oak leaves back to the front. In doing so, I happened to glance out to the cul de sac. And there lay the answer to my question: There, at the end of the cul de sac not 30 feet away was where my last true adventure had begun. We had just moved into the house and lost a tennis ball to the storm drain during a game of whiffle-tennis-ball. We followed the storm drain a short distance to a small creek, followed the creek into a tangled 50-yard-wide wilderness separating two neighborhoods, followed the creek farther to where it deposited into the headwaters of Walnut Creek, itself anchoring a football-field-wide wilderness between our neighborhood and I-40. Our three kids and I spent four hours exploring this wild oasis, walking downed tree trunks over creeks, building dams, stalking squirrels and finding “artifacts” (a pair of laptop computers).

Now that was an adventure, I thought to myself. And it had begun out of my own front yard.

I put up my rake, went inside and got out a navigational map for Jordan Lake (GMCO’s Pro Series Map of Jordan Lake). I looked at put-ins within a half-hour drive (I still had work to do, but I figured I could spare a half day: an hour total in the car, three in the boat. I decided on the Farrington Point Wildlife Resources Commission boat ramp off Farrington Road, popular with motorboats, but also offering quick access to an intimate drainage called Bush Creek. Within half an hour, the Old Town Loon 100 was strapped to the top of Civic and we were heading west on U.S. 64.

What intrigued me about Bush Creek was that the map suggested clear paddling north for about a mile and a half. There, the creek took a hard left and headed west, and while the passage remained wide — judging from the map — it was filled with symbols indicative of “marsh or swamp.” According to the map, Bush Creek’s main channel hugged the south bank; I tried that option first but quickly encountered an impenetrable wall of reeds. I retreated, paddled the north bank and made a little more progress upstream before being stymied by a grove of willows. I was almost able to squeeze through two trunks but a submerged log six inches from the surface nixed that option. I could have gotten out and pulled the boat over the log, but periodic soundings showed the water a good three feet deep. I contemplated the whole risk thing and decided this fell into the “moderate-to-extreme discomfort“ category. Maybe another, warmer, day.

I beached the boat and explored a floodplain forest on foot for about a half hour. I ate lunch (PBJ) and began the slow paddle back, a paddle peppered with long passages of no paddling as I soaked up the surprisingly warm, for 60 degrees, sun, the listless high cirrus clouds in a brilliant blue sky, and the lake in general as it powered down for the winter. I got out the map and took note of Jordan Lake’s various creek-fed fingers, fingers such as Bush Creek that offered the prospect for future adventures, adventures that could be squeezed in to a half-day window, that offered a reasonable degree of risk, and that married the familiar with the unknown. All spread out over nearly 48,000 acres.

It’ll be a while, I thought, before I have to worry again about where my next adventure is coming from.

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This weekend: Penetrate a preserve, paddle & picnic on a lake, hike the AT

JoeMiller — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 10:15:15 +0000

This weekend’s offerings are proof that adventure in North Carolina knows no seasons.

Coast

Every once in a while, the Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge opens its roads allowing the public in to better explore this 8,219-acre refuge in Currituck County. To explore its low-lying freshwater and brackish marshes, it’s upland and lowland eastern pine hardwood forests. And this time of year, to be treated to a variety of migrating waterfowl (including snow geese and Canada geese) in addition to year-round residents such as the bald eagle and osprey.

That once-in-a-while is this weekend at Mackay Island, when the roads will be open from 7 a.m. to sunset. Learn more about the preserve here.

Eggs Benedict, anyone?

Piedmont

Saturday, I spent three hours in my kayak on Jordan Lake. The only thing that could make this better, I thought, would be if someone magically appeared and served breakfast. OK, I didn’t really think that, at least until I saw the post for this Saturday’s Kayak Breakfast on Belews Lake, sponsored by the Piedmont Environmental Center in High Point. Here’s the deal: Shove off at 7:30 a.m., pull over to the shore at some point for breakfast, then paddle some more, until noon. All the while learning about the natural world engulfing Lake Belews.

$50, $40 if you’re a member of the Piedmont Environmental Center. Details here.

Mountains

Three years ago, while I was reporting “Backpacking North Carolina,” I got to explore some incredible wild areas in the state. Today, I

View south from atop Standing Indian Mountain.

can thumb through the book and remember a surprising amount about all 43 trips. Some, though, stand out more than others. One of those is the Standing Indian area southwest of Franklin, where the Appalachian Trail traces an oxbow ridgeline; coupled with the handful of trails that climb out of the Standing Indian Campground you have a number of loop options, unusual on the AT, which generally trends in a straight line southwest to northeast from Springer Mountain, Ga., to Katahdin, Maine. One of those loops is the objective of a group hike by the Nantahala Hiking Club this Saturday.

From the campground, the group will hike up the Kimsey Creek Trail to Deep Gap, where it Ts into the AT. From there, they’ll hike north to 5,498-foot Standing Indian Mountain, then head back to the trailhead on the Lower Ridge Trail. Twelve miles of great hiking, that you can be a part of by reserving a spot with hike leader Don Neil, at 828.586.5723.

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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.

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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90 Second Escape: Paddling Bush Creek at Jordan Lake

JoeMiller — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:21:36 +0000

Today’s 90-Second Escape: Paddling Bush Creek at Jordan Lake.

I didn’t have time Saturday for an all-day adventure — there were leaves to rake before the big municipal sucking machine paid was to pay a visit in the coming week. But I did have time to sneak away for three or four hours. Could I find a true adventure in such a small window?

Of course.

Adventure is all around, I discovered within a week of moving into our house in Historic (1970s) Cary nearly four years ago. At the end of the cul-de-sac was a small creek that fed into Walnut Creek, which divided a lush floodplain forest maybe 75 yards wide, blotting out I-40 to the northeast and our development to the southwest. This unlikely wild spot was good for two hours of adventure, minimum.

Saturday, I sought out an equally unlikely wild spot: Jordan Lake. To the casual lake user, Jordan Lake is a playground for speedboats. A wilderness adventure? Here? Study a map of this U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water containment project and you’ll see that off its main component are various fingers that taper into marshes and creeks, areas just waiting to be explored. I put my rake in the tool shed, put the Old Town Loon 100 on the roof rack and was off to explore one of those fingers: Bush Creek.

Spend 90 seconds with me now to explore Bush Creek. Come back later in the week and I’ll tell you more about the adventure.

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