It’s happening, people! Starting this Sunday, that dwindling daylight will sharply ratchet back an hour. So, while you might be able to sneak in a quick hike after work this evening before the sun sets at 6:19 p.m., next week you’ll be hard pressed to hike before the 5:12 p.m. sunset.
Category Archives: Advice
Fall is near; Have you a plan?
Fall, the best time of year to be on the trail, is around the corner. Are you ready?
I don’t mean do you have your gear ready: Rather, do you have your plan of attack in place?
Not to put too much pressure on the fall hiking season, but there is a fair amount of pressure to make the most of the next three months. Sure, spring has its obvious pluses — wildflowers, warming temperatures, rebirth — and winter has its subtle charms. But face it, the combination of a retreat from sweltering temperatures, low humidity, crisp blue skies, and fall color make this the best season to hike in the Southeast.
Media: What we like (and a thing or two we don’t)
So many outdoor videos on YouTube, so little time to sort the entertaining from the “Hey-look-at-me!” Fortunately, that’s one of the services we provide — so suffer through the latter and direct you to the former.
We watch a video: if we like it and think you will, too, we write a short review. If we watch it and don’t like it, well, if it’s really egregious we might write about it to let you know what you’re not missing. Otherwise, we move on to the next. The good news: there’s enough decent stuff out there to keep us in business.
Tips for the Trail
We get out a lot. We’ve been getting out a lot for more than 30 years. During that time we’ve learned a thing or two. Nothing revolutionary, nothing that’s radically changed the sport. But maybe something you’ll find helpful, something you didn’t know that might help next time you’re on the trail. Something that will shorten your learning curve — though the learning never stops.
A summer hike recalls summer vacation
Note: The following is a tweaked re-run of a post that originally appeared in July 2022. With the current heat it’s even more relevant today than it was when it originally appeared.
Tuesday afternoon I was driving back from a meeting in Oxford when I made a detour in Stem. Specifically, to the Tar River Land Conservancy’s Ledge Creek Forest Conservation Area. It was 98 degrees, with a Heat Index of 105, no one’s idea of ideal hiking conditions. Yet once I got under the canopy, the heat became less of an issue.