About the only thing weather types know for sure about the coming weekend is that Sunday will be a wintry mess. Just how that mess will present itself is unclear: snow, sleet, rain, freezing rain, ice, freezing icy rain, all of the above? Don’t know. But something wintry this way comes.
Better cold than SAD
Saturday’s GetHiking! Winter Wild hike at the R. Wayne Bailey-Caswell Game Lands near Yancyville was cold, really cold. But the brilliant blue sky more than made up for the 28-degree temperature. If I had a nickel for every time someone on the hike said, “What a beautiful day!”, I’d have a dollar thirty-five. A little sun can make up for a lot of cold.
GetOut! Game for a ‘Wild’ adventure?
Game lands? Aren’t those for hunting and fishing?
They are. But they’re also for all kinds of exploring, including hiking. And that’s from someone who would like to see more folks hiking the state’s game lands: Brian McRae, Division Chief for Land and Water Access for the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
GetBackpacking! Winter 2022
Take the winter off from backpacking?
Not hardly.
Not when you live in part of the country where you can experience a rare coastal forest escape, hike on the country’s most iconic trail, and explore a high country oasis all while enjoying the cold embrace of the season, minus the threat. Sure, it can get cold and there can be snow. But not to the extent you need extreme weather gear to survive. Rather, winter here offers a stark beauty that can be enjoyed in solitude. And if you really don’t like the “cold,” but can tolerate cool, winter backpacking at the coast offers an experience you can’t have any other time of year.
GetOut! Kick off 2022 with a First Day Hike
Seemingly overnight, North Carolina State Parks has gone from having just 19 hikes on January 1 (Saturday) to now having 27! All but a handful are branded as First Day Hikes, the designation given New Year’s Day hikes at State Parks across the country.