Before our GetBackpacking! trip last weekend on the 22-mile Neusiok Trail, we had a little hygiene talk: Share a little less on this hike, I advised. Handle your own water, resist the urge to sample a fellow hiker’s Cherry Cocoa Nib dehydrated breakfast. But I also said we would be spending the weekend in one of the safest places around: the wide-open spaces of the outdoors: few people, lots of room to breath in peace. Our typically worry-free playground seemed even more so in these uncertain times.
Lead a hike! A hike leader shares why she does
Temperatures are warming, skies are clearing, wildflowers are blooming and more people are getting the itch to hike. All of which means it’s time for our annual Spring Hike Leader Recruitment Drive. Not everyone is interested or inclined to lead a hike, but if you’ve ever given the notion a thought, there’s a good likelihood a hike leader lurks within. Today, one of our hike leaders — one I personally raised through our farm system — shares what led her to be a hike leader and what she enjoys about it. Kate Rice is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has been leading hikes with us for two years. And, nepotism be danged, she’s also my stepdaughter.
GetOut! Your Friday Nudge for Weekend Adventure
Here’s what’s up the first full weekend in March, a weekend that, in the wee hours of Sunday, see’s the clock spring forward. Remember that when you tuck in Saturday night.
First Saturday Walk at Horton Grove Nature Preserve, Saturday, 10 a.m., Horton Grove Nature Preserve, Bahama. Horton Grove is one of the few area hikes we keep on our calendar year-round. It’s ample canopy offers cooler hiking below in summer, fall color here can be hue-tastic, its open forest floor offers lingering views in winter and on the cusp of spring you’ll think the season was invented here. Saturday’s First Saturday hike by the managing Triangle Land Conservancy should offer a particularly insightful look at the season. For more information and to sign up, go here.
NYC: One Rewarding Adventure
We just got back from a week-long trip and it was killer. We covered 73 miles on foot, averaging 10.4 miles per day. According to my Fitbit, we climbed 369 floors, or about 53 floors a day (for perspective, that’s just a few floors shy of the Bank of America Center in Charlotte). As outdoor adventures go, it was physically challenging: that New York City can really wear you out.
GetOut! Your Friday Nudge for Weekend Adventure
A couple years back I was in need of a destination for our annual winter GetBackpacking! trip to the coast. Typically, the trip is on the 21-mile Neusiok Trail in the Croatan National Forest near Havelock. Unfortunately, the Neusiok was closed, still feeling the wrath of Hurricane Florence’s visit the previous fall. People love backpacking at the coast in winter, and I needed an alternative. Scanning a map, I locked onto Merchants Millpond State Park.