Spring comes, so come the hikers, the seasonal hikers. The, dare we say it, the “fair weather” hikers?
Sure we dare, because they’re probably the first to admit that unless there’s not a cloud in the sky, unless the temperatures not 66 degrees (plus or minus 4 degrees), and unless there’s some pretty flower blooming or some tree putting on a color show, they’ll be doing things indoors, thank you.
We have a most springlike weekend — both days! — on tap. Temperatures throughout much of our land will be in the mid-60s under mostly cloudy skies. That leaves so many options.
Before we get to organized options, if you’re looking to hike on your own this weekend, remember that this gorgeous weather brings out hordes of occasional hikers, and that finding a slice of solitude might be more challenging than usual. It doesn’t have to be that way, however, as we noted in Wednesday’s blog, “It’s Spring! Here’s how to avoid crowded trails.” Find it here.
It’s always been a goal to hike the trails less traveled. It’s a goal we’ve embraced with extra gusto over the past two years.
Quick recap: hiking was pretty popular prior to March 2020, it became the go-to source of not only outdoor recreation, but recreation of any kind after March 2020, it being deemed the only safe form of recreation in the face of a global pandemic. While hiking no longer bears that mantel, scads of folks who discovered the joy of hiking over the past two years aren’t going away. And the beginning of spring is when you really begin to notice the increased number of hikers on the the trail.
All right, folks, time for another round of weekend weather roulette when we spin the weather wheel and see which day will be more conducive to spending time outdoors. And the winner is … Sunday!
Saturday doesn’t look half bad, with mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the 50s. However, the wind is expected to kick up in the afternoon, with a steady blow of 15-20 mph winds out of the southwest, with gusts up to 35! That’s especially problematic if you worry about dead wood showering down upon you from the canopy.
A late spring day, temperature in the mid-50s under a cloudless sky, hiking down Yellowstone Prong east of Graveyard Fields along the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was during that soft-focus, three-day flash that marks the transition from winter to spring, when the natural world is enveloped in pastel greens and yellows and pinks and oranges, the colors, I’ve heard, that the tress will revert to in fall. There was the slightest of breezes, just enough to make the budding trees whisper.
