9 Long Hikes to Help Restore Your Spirit

Wednesday morning I needed the calming powers of a long walk. Trouble was, I couldn’t think of a walk long enough to help. The 1,150-mile Mountains-to-Sea Trail? The 2,189-mile Appalachian Trail? The 6,800-mile American Discovery Trail? Compounding the problem: I had to get to work. I had maybe two hours at best to hike. read more

The latest on visiting WNC

We’ve had two weeks of gorgeous fall weather, which makes a hiker think of just one thing: a hike in the mountains. Alas, that’s not as easy as it’s been in the past.

The mountains of Western North Carolina in particular continue the long road to recovery from Hurricane Helene. But progress is being made: more than 600 roads already have been reopened by N.C. Department of Transportation crews and contractors, including I-40 near Old Fort and in downtown Asheville; I-26 in Henderson and Polk counties; U.S. 221, U.S. 321 and U.S. 421 in the Boone area; and,  U.S. 70 and U.S. 25 in Asheville. DOT reports, as of Tuesday, that nearly 600 roads remain closed, and in some areas traffic on roads that are open is restricted to recovery efforts. Also as of Tuesday, about 13,000 residents remained without power. read more

How (and when) to help rebuild our mountain trails

Brent Laurenz, executive director of the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, pretty much summed up the situation in Western North Carolina in an email sent to the Friends group earlier this week:

“In the coming weeks and months, we will be surveying the trail and assessing damage, but trail restoration is a very low priority in light of the ongoing humanitarian crisis facing western North Carolina … it is likely that sections of the trail will remain closed for a significant length of time.” read more

Explore the outdoors, discover yourself.