Summer’s too hot for hiking?
Poppycock!
It’s simply a matter of where to go, when to go and how to prepare. Our summer hikes include morning and evening hikes to beat the heat, and a Weekend Summer Escape series that includes three memorable weekends of hiking on high country sections of the statewide Mountains-to-Sea Trail.
The first hot weekend of the year is upon us, with temperatures climbing into the mid 90s. As far as weekend adventure goes, that can only mean one thing: water play. That influences our 5 Adventures for this Weekend.
This weekend, tolerate the heat by embracing water.
Usually it’s mid-June before we’re forced to address the issue of summer heat. Before, that is, we’re forced to issue our annual plea to stay on the trail during the summer months ahead.
In some parts of the U.S. — the Northeast, the Pacific Coast, the mountain states — hikers live for the summer and its warm days. Not here, where Summer is equated with still air, sticky clothes and sweat-stung eyes.
There’s a pretty good looking weekend ahead, with a little rain possible Saturday, warmer temperatures on Sunday. Both days look good for getting out.
Here are our 5 recommendations for the weekend.
Tanawha/Nuwati Wildflower Hike with a Park Ranger, Saturday, 2 p.m., Grandfather Mountain State Park, Banner Elk. This hike allots plenty of time (3 hours) to cover about 3 miles in search of spring wildflowers. You’ll want that time, too, to learn about the diverse terrain this hike covers along the southeastern flank of Grandfather Mountain. The hike begins at the Boone Fork Parking Area off the Blue Ridge Parkway (MP 299.9) and is limited to 15 hikers. Learn more here (including how to register).
Note: The following post originally ran May 7, 2010. It’s been updated, and the information on snake ID is as relevant today as it was 12 years ago.
Wednesday, I was hiking along the North Prong of Shining Rock Creek, a lively mountain stream that plunges 2,200 feet in just three miles through a narrow, overgrown canyon. I was in a reveric trance, lulled in part by the rugged vegetation here in the Shining Rock Wilderness, in part by the cloudless, 70-degree spring afternoon, when —
Whoa!
I like snakes, but their sudden appearance four feet away causes me to stop in my tracks and say, “Whoa!” Such impromptu meetups are common this time of year, as we humans hit the trail more and rising temperatures activate these cold-blooded critters. Being in the sun rejuvenates our spirit, it jumpstarts their system.
After catching my breath, I scoped out the critter, taking a couple of pictures, jotting some notes, searching my increasingly porous memory for clues about what kind of snake it might be. Not that my database was brimming to begin with.
When it comes to snakes and birds, I don’t expend a lot of my remaining gray storage memorizing types and species. Two reasons: One, there are thousands of species to begin with, and two, the same critter can look completely different depending on various factors:
