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: Going Up the wall
Triangle Rock Club raises the roof in Morrisville
Saturday you’ll be able to get high in Morrisville.
Really high.
Saturday is the grand reveal for the Triangle Rock Club’s Morrisville expansion, an additional 17,000 square feet of climbing surface, some of which reaches as high as 55 feet. That’s more than twice as high as the walls in the existing gym, which opened in 2007. The original gym, which will focus on youth programs and classes, has 9,000 square feet of climbing space.
Last September, TRC opened a gym in North Raleigh with 13,000 square feet of climbing space. Combined the two gyms offer 39,000 square feet of indoor climbing.
“We’re excited about people getting to see the gym,” Managing Partner Joel Graybeal (Andrew Kratz and Luis Jauregui round out the management troika) said on a preview tour this morning.
The expanded gym reflects how far the TRC has expanded the concept of indoor climbing in the Triangle. Before entering the market seven years ago, indoor climbing here was done in converted warehouses with holds bolted into plywood. Amenities? Bathrooms.
This weekend: Cool fun on the water, on the mountain
There are two ways to play it cool in the summer heat: stay on (or in) the water or seek higher, cooler, climes. Our suggestions for weekend fun take both approaches.
Coast
Standup paddleboarding: you’ve been thinking about it, but for whatever reason you’ve yet to give it a try. I don’t know where to rent a board, I don’t have anyone to teach me how, I don’t know the good places to go.
90 Second Escape: Paddling Goose Creek State Park
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.
This weekend: Venture fourth
This July 4, celebrate our independence in the freedom of the great outdoors.
Note: Most coastal state parks are planning to close Thursday and Friday in anticipation of Hurricane Arthur. Their reopening is dependent upon Arthur’s wrath. Check the North Carolina State Parks website before heading to any park that may be affected by the storm.

