A good looking weekend is on tap across North Carolina. Our thoughts on how to make the most of it include a trip to the coast, where some of the best hang gliders around will be circling Jockey’s Ridge; an excursion into the Piedmont, where they’ll be celebrating another milestone for the Mountains-to-Sea Trail; and a visit to the high country where they’re doing what you do when the spring…
Sunday, Day 4 of the MST Endurance Run, began on schedule for Diane Van Deren with a 3:45 a.m. wake up call. After getting off the trail the previous evening at 9:36 with Annette Bednosky, her trail guide for the weekend, she’d gotten her first good night’s sleep — 4 hours. She arrived where the Mountains-to-Sea Trail passes the Folk Arts Center in Asheville ready to rock a 43.8-mile day….
A large building loomed out of the dark woods to our right. “Is that the Folk Arts Center?” Annette Bednosky asked slightly perplexed. It was — the very same Folk Arts Center we’d set off from 15 minutes earlier, at 5:01 this morning. “Well,” said Diane Van Deren, “we just did a 14-minute warmup lap.” To Van Deren, it was a “so-what” moment. When you’re spending up to 20 hours…
Today, Thursday, May 10, marks the start of elite ultra runner Diane Van Deren’s effort to run across North Carolina, a roughly 1,000-mile journey that will take her along the work-in-progress Mountains-to-Sea Trail from Clingman’s Dome on the Tennessee border to Jockey’s Ridge at the lip of the Atlantic. Her objective: to finish in 21 days, beating the current speed record of 24 days, 3 hours and 50 minutes set…
I’ve been spending a lot of time along the Blue Ridge Parkway of late, exploring the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. I’d be spending even more time if the Parkway facilities, specifically the campgrounds, were open. Which they soon will be. The National Park Service has announced 2012 opening dates for their seasonal facilities along the Parkway. I’m finding them useful for trip planning, figured you might, too. Here are some key locations…
31.5. It was a mileage marker by the side of the greenway. Having spent last week hiking the Mountains-to-Sea Trail along the Blue Ridge Parkway, I was accustomed to seeing mileage markers in the form of the parkway’s knee-high stone obelisks that tick off every mile. And I have seen them before on greenways, but never with such a high number. Rarely, in fact, in double digits. The 31.5-mile marker…
I thought we had lost the trail but in fact we were smack dab on course. The Haw River Trail was intended, it turns out to meander through the Glencoe neighborhood of restored mill homes. Yet another attraction of this 70-mile work-in-progress that runs from Haw River State Park above Greensboro to its namesake river’s exciting conclusion — especially after a good rain — in Jordan Lake. In addition to…
If a picture is worth a thousand words, I’m doing you a huge favor by sparring you 15,000 words in exchange for 15 pictures, all from my journeys this week on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Enjoy, and have a slideshow-worthy weekend. * * * Like us on Facebook and get health, fitness and outdoors news throughout the day. GetGoingNC.comPromote Your Page Too
When I wrote “Backpacking North Carolina” and “100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina,” I focused on loop trips and hikes whenever possible. The reason? Simple: Shuttles are a pain. For the traditional shuttle you need two cars; you can’t do a point-to-point solo. If there are just two of you, you both have to drive. That’s not only a waste of gas, it eliminates catch-up time on the drive (not…
Hiking into the past: It’s all the rage in North Carolina this weekend … . Coast Feeling competitive? Have three friends, at least one of whom is the opposite sex? And are all of you 16 or older? If you answered yes to all of the above, consider about heading down to Emerald Isle Saturday for the Emerald Isle Parks & Rec 4 x 4 Volleyball Tournament. Entry fee is…