If you haven’t seen it yet, there’s a graph from the Texas Medical Association circulating on social media that rates various activities from 1 to 10 based on their COVID-19 risk. Most risky (four are tied at 9): going to a bar, attending a religious service with 500+ worshippers, going to a sports stadium and going to a big music concert. Least risky: opening your mail (1).
Monday, Monday: A week of early and late hikes
After paying weekly visits to Seven Mile Creek Natural Area west of Hillsborough for eight months, last week I finally had the chance to share this find with other hikers. They were equally impressed.
It was the first of our weekly GetHiking Sunrise, Sunset Summer Beat the Heat Hikes, and it lived up to the hype. Thunderstorms that had been threatening to flare throughout the afternoon vanished by hike time (7 p.m.) and we were treated to the late day light that’s special to the season. As the light faded, over rocky Seven Mile Creek and the surrounding low hills, we could feel it taking the temperature with it. We weren’t exactly chilled by hike’s end — the temperature was 89 less than an hour before the hike — but between the sheltering canopy above and a 7-degree drop by hikes end, we were no longer melting into our boots. You can see a video of that hike last Wednesday on Friday’s post.
GetOut! Your Friday Nudge for Weekend Adventure
Ah, Fourth of July Weekend! The fireworks displays, the Festival for the Eno, the cookout gatherings … .
OK, so maybe we can’t celebrate our nation’s independence the way we usually do. But we can certainly celebrate our independence by getting out and exploring. And this year in particular by doing so in the true American spirit of being a maverick, a lone wolf. Someone who likes to get out and take an adventure of their own. Alone. Or at least six feet from anyone else.
GetHiking! Southeast Podcast
Our GetHiking! Southeast Podcast appears every Tuesday, focusing on the news, the trails, the people and the stories of the Southeastern United States. Our goal: to inspire and to inform, regarding the vast outdoor adventures available throughout the Southeast.
Trail status: Check ahead (you may be pleasantly surprised)
I was contemplating a backpack trip in the Black Mountains, and step 1, in general but especially in these pandemic times, was to make sure the route I was considering was open.
It’s not.
I was marginally surprised, only because so many of the trails that had been closed in the Pisgah National Forest in April have since reopened. But not, according to the U.S. Forest Service, the Black Mountain Crest Trail from Cattail Peak north to the trail’s northern terminus, at Bolens Creek. The specific reason for the closure wasn’t given, simply for “public health and safety.”