We’re ready for spring, so we can get outside even more often. We bet you’re ready, too. 

What say we get together and do a little exploring? Here are some of the adventures we have planned for spring.

Winter Wild Off-Trail Adventures

This series of off-trail adventures started in winter but it’s trickling over into spring — in part, because weather caused a postponement or two. It’s also because we’ve had such a blast on these hikes — a portion of which are on official trail, most of which aren’t — that we decided to extend the program through March. Still to come:

• Raven Rock State Park, Lillington. Saturday, March 2, 10 a.m. Objective: The North Side of the River. 8 miles
• Birkhead Mountain Wilderness/Uwharrie National Forest, Asheboro. Saturday, March 16, 10 a.m. 7-9 miles
• Falls Lake / Butner Game Lands, Saturday, March 30, 10 a.m. 6-8 miles

Tuesday Night Hikes

This is another winter program that we’re continuing through March because it’s been such fun. Basically, we don headlamps and hike about 3 miles in the dark on Triangle-area trails. Still to come:

• Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Falls Lake, Section M, 45 minutes out/45 back (about 4 miles). Raleigh. February 26. 
• Brumley North Nature Preserve, 3 miles. Hillsborough, March 5 
• Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, 3 miles. Chapel Hill, March 12 
• Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area, 2.5 miles, March 19

GetOriented! Finding Your Way in the Woods

We spend the first 30 minutes in this 3-hour class going over basic map and compass skills, then head down the trail — and off — to test your ability to navigate by map, compass and terrain. Dates:

• Morrow Mountain State Park, Albemarle, Saturday, March 9, 10 a.m.
• Morrow Mountain State Park, Albemarle Saturday, March 9, 2 p.m.,
• Haw River State Park, Greensboro, Tuesday, March 19, 5 p.m.

Intro to Hiking

Not a hiker, but want to be? Or maybe you have a friend who wants to get into hiking? We started GetHiking! in the fall of 2013 with the goal of being a place where newcomers could learn the ins and outs of hiking at their own pace, without fear of getting dropped. Nearly six years later, that’s still a driving force behind what we do, and it’s the main goal of our spring Intro to Hiking program. 

Every Sunday at noon, from March 10 to April 28, we’ll hike a different trail in the Triangle region. We start easy, with a 2.8-mile hike at Umstead State Park, then we progress to a final hike of 4.2 miles on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Falls Lake. In between, we hike at nature preserves, at Duke Forest, at county parks and at state natural areas and recreation areas. You’ll get to know the best places to hike in the area.

Hiking for Hikers

These hikes are geared toward more experienced hikers, hikers who may be a little rusty from over the winter, hikers who are looking to build strength and speed for a big summer adventure, and hikers who are looking to expand from 3- to 4-mile hikes to maybe twice that distance. Every week, we’ll hit a local trail for a hike of 5 to 8 miles. These are more informal outings: we provide the basics for the hike, we guarantee a sweep, and we take you to different locations to expand your hiking horizons. In part, this is a build-up for the longer weekend mountain hikes we’ll be doing this summer.

You can find these hikes in your local GetHiking! Meetup group.

It’s getting warmer, the days are getting longer, the world is set to bloom. Join us on the trail this spring!

Happy trails,

Joe

Next week: Backpacking

Join us!

For more information about the adventures listed above, click on the appropriate link below:

• Winter Wild: Raven Rock State Park, go here.
• Winter Wild: Birkhead Mountain Wilderness, go here.
• GetOriented! Finding Your Way in the Woods (Morrow Mountain State Park), go here for the morning session, here for the afternoon.
• GetOriented! Finding Your Way in the Woods (Haw River State Park), go here.
• Tuesday Night Hikes: For details on the remaining Tuesday Night Hikes, email joe@getgoingnc.com
• Intro to Hiking, go here.