Gale-force winds, heavy rain, heavy rain mixed with snow, snow, swollen mountain streams, hiking barefoot for a quarter mile, wild boars. Sunshine.
Crazy day on the trail. My weather-challenged week of backpacking continues.
Walk, but why?
In my New-Year’s-On-Thanksgiving post, I touted the benefit of walking. But I didn’t address the benefits of walking. If you like to see evidence before making a committment, here’s some recommended reading on the benefits of walking.
The weather dance continues
Had great weather today hiking a 13.2-mile loop up Deep Creek in the Smokies, but by the time I got back to the car, a gauze of white clouds was forming, tipping off the next storm system moving into the region. Rain is expected to begin in the middle of the night and last into Thursday morning. That’s rain in Bryson City, elevation 1,752 feet. It occurred to me, with temperatures forecast in the upper 30s rising only to 50 down here, that atop 6,600-foot-plus Clingman’s Dome the situation could be significantly different. So I decided to put off that trip until the drier, so says the forecast, end of the week.
Knowing when to fold ’em
The key to continuing to enjoy an activity? Don’t intentionally put yourself in a position to dislike the activity.
I left Cary early this morning for a week of backpacking in the Smokies. In the throes of trying to wrap up a book on backcountry exploring in North Carolina, the trip was both pleasure and work – work under a rapidly approaching deadline. I was doubly motivated to hit the trail.
Healthy holidays? Take a class
So you like the idea of starting a fitness program during the holidays rather than waiting until the holidays are over and the damage done, but you need something with structure? Starting a walking program, as we’ve discussed, is good, but if you need something to hold your feet to the fire (or treadmill, as the case may be), then you may be surprised by the number of fitness classes offered by your local parks and rec that run between Thanksgiving and the new year. Most of the classes are offered two or three times a week, in the evenings. And because they’re through your local parks and rec., they aren’t expensive.