90 Second Escape: Spring into Winter

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 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. read more

Survey: Gals will crater first

Queendom did not survey land squirrels.

As we near the traditional witching hour for New Years resolutions — the third week of the year, when our resolve traditionally begins to dissolve, here come fightin’ words in the form of a survey from “a pioneer in online personality tests.” OK, that description, of Queendom.com, may not inspire the confidence of a Gallup or 538 poll, but the findings are interesting nonetheless. To wit …
Of 230 men and women surveyed regarding their will to lose and get healthy, men gave themselves a score of 65 out of 100, women a 61. Of course, this sounds like a self assessment, in which case the result isn’t surprising. read more

This weekend: Get out and enjoy the springlike weather

Lake Waccamaw in winter.

With high temperatures expected to soar into the mid-70s in parts of North Carolina this weekend, you have no excuse for not getting into the wild, be it learning to reconnoiter at the coast, scoping birds in the Piedmont or hiking the Blue Ridge escarpment. read more

90 Second Escape: Winter’s Insightful Hiking Companion

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 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. read more

This weekend: Bird, Curl, Hike

Birding at Pea Island. Photo: outerbanks.org

A new year brings new opportunities to be active: go birding with seasoned birders on the Outer Banks or learn the sport of curling. Or, stick to the tried-and-true with a good ol’ winter mountain hike, courtesy the Carolina Mountain Club.

Coast

We adopt a three-day weekend for the purposes of this week’s recommendations in order to alert you to the weekly bird walks held every Friday at the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. Pea Island is  home to about 400 species of birds, and now is a good time to catch a good mix of year-round residents and migrants down for the winter from Canada and other points north. read more

Explore the outdoors, discover yourself.