Tag Archives: Adventure Carolinas

Hey, aspiring hikers! ‘Let’s GetHiking!’

On Monday evening, our GetHiking! Triangle group celebrated the start of Daylight Saving Time with an after-work hike at Eno River State Park. We had some new people on the hike, and it was clear that they were a bit tentative. 

But, a mile down the trail, I noticed the steady buzz of happy hiker chatter. Our more experienced hikers had adopted the newcomers and were making them feel at home. When we finished our four miles and returned to the trailhead, it was near dark and the temperature was rapidly dropping, yet no one was in a hurry to leave. The conversation continued another 10 minutes or so until we had trouble seeing one another. I knew the newcomers would be back. read more

Weekend Plans: Special Fabulous Weather Edition

Last weekend, we had a taste of the hot, muggy weekends that will rule for most of the next three months. This weekend, however, a reprieve: temperatures won’t get above 70 in the mountains, while low to mid 70s under sunny skies will be the rule in the Piedmont, slightly warmer temps at the coast. In short, a good weekend to get out and do just about anything.

We offered some thoughts yesterday, in our weekly Weekend Plans segment: we’re back today with additional thoughts and direction.

Hiking

We start with hiking because once the hot weather sticks, one of the last things we’re inclined to do is hike. Copious sweating and being encased in spider webs aren’t on the American Hiking Society’s list of reasons to hike.

We won’t tell you where to hike, but we will tell you where to go to figure out where to hike. Four suggestions:

  • Mountains-to-Sea Trail. It’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail Month, so hiking a stretch of the 550 miles of completed MST seems a natural. You’ll find about 50 miles down in the coast and coastal plain, nearly 200 miles in the Piedmont and a little more than 300 in the mountains. You can find helpful descriptions of where to take a hike on the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail website.
  • GetHiking! Our three GetHiking! groups — in Charlotte, the Triad and the Triangle — all have hikes planned for Sunday, all on the MST: Charlotte on an eight-mile stretch along the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Triad will be doing 6.5 miles along the Watershed Lakes in Greensboro, the Triangle as a 15-miler planed along Falls Lake. If you’d like to explore the MST but would also like some company, click on the appropriate link and join us.
  • Great Outdoor Provision Co. Over the past two years, the Great Outdoor Provision Co., with assistance from GetGoingNC, has been developing an online trail guide. So far, we’ve got 55 trails in North Carolina and 15 in Virginia. All the information you need to assess, plan and execute a hike. Start your search here.
  • Carolina Mountain Club. This venerable (formed in 1923) hiking club offers at least three hikes a week and has an extensive database of hikes in the Appalachians. A great resource.

Paddling

First, a warning: all that rain means the local rivers are running high, local lake levels are up. Unless you’re an accomplished paddler, you might want to steer clear of rivers in particular this weekend. Your best bet: Get a copy of Paul Ferguson’s “Paddling Eastern North Carolina,” find the river you’re interested in paddling, check Paul’s recommendation for maximum runnable river level, then check the latest

USGS streamflow numbers read more

Let’s talk Adventure, Carolinas

Looking for a new adventure?
Let me answer that for you: Yes, you are.
I know this because you visit this site for one of two reasons: Either you’re already into adventure and are always looking for more, or the idea of adventure intrigues you, you just haven’t found the right fit.
My goal here at GetGoingNC is to help you find that fit. That’s also the goal of my new book, “Adventure Carolinas.
Billed as “Your Go-To Guide for Multi-Sport Outdoor Recreation,” the book focuses on six key adventure sports and touches on 10 more.
The six keys: mountain biking, flatwater paddling, whitewater paddling, rock climbing, scuba diving and backcountry exploration.
The 10 more: downhill skiing and snowboarding, cross-country skiing, tubing, kiteboarding, hang gliding, ziplining, standup paddleboarding, windsurfing, geocaching and caving.
Sure, I’d like to you buy the book. But first, I’d prefer that you learn more about it, ask a few questions. And for that reason, I have a number of appearances set up statewide over the next month. Check out the list below, mark your calendar.
Let’s talk about your next adventure.

Appearances

Tuesday, May 13, 7:30 p.m.: Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh
Thursday, May 15, 7 p.m.: Barnes & Noble, Cary
Saturday, May 17, 11:30 a.m.: Country Bookshop, Southern Pines
Sunday, May 18, 2 p.m.: Barnes & Noble, Burlington
Friday, May 30, 7 p.m.: Scuppernong Books, Greensboro
Saturday, May 31, 2 p.m.: Park Road Books, Charlotte
Sunday, June 1, 1 p.m.: City Lights, Sylva

If you have a bookstore, an outdoors shop, an outdoors club, a civic group, a business wellness program — whatever — and would like to have a talk about adventure, drop me a line at joe@getgoingnc.com.