The news for this weekend is the weather. Don’t make plans for Saturday morning, do make plans to enjoy the rest of the weekend, a cool, sun-filled winter-like weekend.

Saturday morning — the exact time depends upon where you live — a cold front moves in, the kind of cold front ushered in by gusty winds, thunderstorms, possibly tornadoes. Then, sun — and temperatures that will drop into the upper 30s by late afternoon. Temperatures will drop into the low 20s overnight Saturday, rising only into the mid-40s on Sunday. Thus, you might want to reconsider the 9 a.m. Volunteer Days Saturday at Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve and Carvers Creek State Park, but you should be OK for the …

• St. Patrick’s Day Party at 11 a.m. at Morrow Mountain State Park in Albemarle. “Enjoy some family-friendly activities and games to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and the First Day of Spring,” says the park website. Learn (a little) more here.
• Life of the Longleaf, Sunday, 2 p.m., Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, SouthernPines. Weymouth Woods celebrates NC State Parks Year of the Tree with a 1-mile hike celebrating it’s celebrated tree, the longleaf (also our state tree). Learn more here.
• Wildflower Hike Series: Willie Duke’s Bluff, Sunday, 2-5 p.m., Penny’s Bend Nature Preserve, Durham. The Eno River Association kicks off its 2022 spring Wildflower Hike Series with a hike along the Eno River at Penny’s Bend, where the hope is to find Dutchman’s breeches (pictured above), the rare eastern false rue anemone and numerous other wildflowers. We saw a nice display of Dutchman’s breeches the last weekend of March 2021 (in a spring that was warmer), so it may be early, but an awesome hike all the same. About 2 miles of hiking. Learn more and sign up here.

Finally, we’ll take a chance, weatherwise, on this one because it’s at a little-appreciated preserve tucked into the suburbs. Check the website to make sure it’s still a go.

• Get Wild About Wildflowers @ Swift Creek Bluffs Nature Preserve, Saturday, 9-11 a.m. Swift Creek Bluffs Nature Preserve, Cary. Swift Creek Bluffs is a narrow sliver of land along its namesake creek in Cary. Though small in size, it’s location nestled between Swift Creek and its wetlands, and a sizable bluff insulate it from Cary development. On this hike they’ll be searching for trout lilies, bloodroot, and spring beauties. Learn more and register here.

That’s a taste of what the weekend holdse. Don’t let the early day rains on Saturday discourage you. Once the front moves through it looks like a sunny weekend of cool fun, a weekend to GetOut! 

And enjoy.

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GetHiking! Spring Tuesday Evening hikes. A reminder that Sunday marks the beginning of Daylight Saving Time — and our GetHiking! Spring Tuesday Evening Hike Series — 10 weekly hikes, all on different trails around the Triangle, all about 3 miles. Learn more and sign up to join us here.