Tag Archives: Cary

The Ultimate in a hike

Looking for a challenge in 2015? How about hiking 28.3 miles? In one day. 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. The Ultimate Hike 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. The 2015 Ultimate Hike season is about to get underway. This year’s hike, on the last 28.3 miles of the 77-mile Foothills Trail straddling North and South Carolina, is May 16. You don’t, however, just show up on May 16 and expect to hike 28.3 miles (at least most of us don’t). As part of the program, there’s a 12-week training program. The key component of the training program is a series of every-other-weekend hikes that will grow increasingly longer. Start with a getting-to-know-you short hike of 2 or 3 miles and build from there. Most hikes are local, but there’s also an elevation training hike at Hanging Rock State Park and and endurance hike of 20 miles in the Uwharrie National Forest. There’ll also be one or two 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 make plans to attend one or UH’s informational sessions next week, in Cary and Durham:

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. If you’re curious about what hiking 28.3 miles in a day is like, here are some scenes from the first Ultimate Hike on the Foothills Trail, in 2011. read more

Update: The Triangle’s evolving bicycle-pedestrian Scene

Tata

Progress never comes fast enough.
That was evident at this morning’s Fourth Annual Triangle Bike and Pedestrian Workshop, where local transportation planners got together to talk about progress made in 2013 and share what’s on the drawing board for this year and beyond. Nothing like getting a look under the tree a year or more in advance. read more

Leon willing, here’s where you can cross-country ski

Touring the bike & bridle trail at Umstead State Park in Raleigh.

It’s days like today that I pat myself on the back for a decision made 13 years ago.

I’d just finished a gorgeous day on the groomed trails at the White Grass ski touring center in West Virginia and was returning my rental equipment.
“How was it?” asked the ski rental guy.
“Incredible!” I oozed. “I can’t wait to go again.”
“You know,” he said, “Our rental skis are for sale.” At a price, it turned out, that was more than I could afford but too good to refuse. I’ve used them a dozen times since; I’m hoping to make it a baker’s dozen tomorrow.
As Winter Storm Leon (sheesh) makes its way up the coast, the prospects are good for cross-country conditions, from the Triangle into the coastal plain. As of this morning, parts of the Triangle were expected to get up to six inches of snow — with points east forecast to get 10 inches or more.
On the right kind of trail, six inches is all it takes to make or decent cross-country conditions. Where might one find the right kind of trail?
Glad you asked. read more

Clear a path for National Trails Day this Saturday

Volunteers build a bridge on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

Saturday is National Trails Day, a day set aside for us to appreciate the more than 200,000 miles of trail in the U.S. Officially, National Trails Day dates back to 1991, when  the American Hiking Society deemed that one day a year be set aside to honor our trails; the first NTD, however, didn’t occur until June 5, 1993. read more

Give yourself a White Christmas

Tuesday’s forecast calls for a high of 58 under partly cloudy skies. Which wouldn’t be bad for early winter IF TUESDAY WEREN’T CHRISTMAS!
Sorry. Feeling a little flush.
Which is why we’re offering up a little escape today to colder times, to times of snow and winter fun and winter camping and skiing and sledding and building a snowman and getting bonked in the noggen with an ice ball — well, maybe not the latter. Still, who couldn’t use a little winter right about now?
So here it is. Grab a hot toddy and enjoy. read more