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.
Today’s 90-Second Escape: Linville Gorge
When the weather gets this hot, our thoughts invariably turn in one direction: up.
Up, that is, in terms of altitude. On a sunny, summer’s day, every 1,000 feet of elevation gain reduces the temperature by about 5.4 degrees F (throw in clouds, maybe a little rain, and the difference is closer to 3.3 degrees). So on that sunny, summer’s day, if the temperature in Raleigh (elevation roughly 300 feet) is 95, it could be in the mid-60s atop Mount Mitchell (elevation 6,684 feet). So naturally, our thoughts turn to higher climes when the mercury climbs.
Thus, to help cool your thoughts as we confront a week of oppressive heat, we take a 90 Second retreat to the East Rim of the Linville Gorge. And because cool water is another component of beating the summer heat, we take you down into the gorge, where backpackers take differing approaches to fording the Linville River.
Enjoy the escape.
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