Now, usually when anyone suggests going for a walk or hike, I’m like a dog who can hear his leash shake two floors away. That hasn’t been the case this summer, a summer underscored by record humidity. In the past week or so, though, with daytime temperatures sometimes not making it out of the 60s, I’ve been all about the passeggiata, and I will be for the next month and a half or so. And so should you.

In the past, I’ve bemoaned the fact that once September rolls around, you really start to notice the sun setting earlier and earlier. Consider the following sunset times for central North Carolina:

• Sept. 4: 7:42 p.m.
• Sept. 15: 7:27 p.m.
• Sept. 30: 7:05 p.m.
• Oct. 15: 6:44 p.m.

And finally, when we go off Daylight Savings Time:

• Nov. 2: 5:22 p.m.

The main reason I’ve bemoaned this rapid advance in the past is that there simply isn’t enough time to get in a decent hike after work, what with the time to get ready and drive to the nearest trailhead. 

There is, however, time to work in a passeggiata, which requires little preparation and starts out your front door. An added benefit, according to Melody Warnick, author of “This is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live” — it will enable you to better get to know your neighborhood and the people in it. Consider these suggestions from Warnick:

• Follow the “1-Mile Solution.” That is, walk everything — shopping, going out to eat, etc. — within a mile of where you live.
• Explore unfamiliar parts of your town without a GPS. Let yourself go and just roam.
• If possible, switch to a walking (or biking) commute.
• Draw a map of your neighborhood and see how many details you can fill in. Not many? See how many you can fill in by walking it regularly.

By walking evenings in your neighborhood you’ll be surprised at what you’ll find. 

‘Explore Your Neighboirhood’

In 2020, I wrote a guidebook called: “Explore Your Neighborhood: A Guide to Discovering the World Immediately Around You.” I wrote it during the pandemic, when we were subject to shelter-in-place guidelines, with the goal of helping readers identify places to explore out their front door. It covers everything from how to use Google Maps to identify potentially interesting places to explore nearby, to what you might see along the way (and what you should avoid), to staying safe, and more.

In short, the book will help you make the most of this two-month window of after-work exploring time that we have. 

Walking after eating has a number of health benefits. In addition to aiding with digestion, it can help regulate your blood sugar, lower your blood pressure, elevate your mood and, of course, burn calories. 

We’re especially motivated by the “elevate your mood” benefit. We all know how we’re affected by our weekend hike. So why not get that benefit throughout the week?

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Resources

“Explore Your Neighborhood,” by Joe Miller. This compact 53-page guide provides the direction and confidence to get you exploring your neighborhood on a gorgeous fall evening. Learn more here.

“This is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live,” Melody Warnick. After moving with her family to Blacksburg, VA, after living in various other locations, Warnick decided to forge a true connection with her new home. She writes about how she made that happen in these nomadic times. Learn more here.

The post Explore Your Neighborhood with a Passeggiata appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

May Day! May Day!

You could take that two ways. But let’s go with the fact that it is May Day, the first of May, which means that both March and April of 2020 are in the rearview mirror. Yay.

So what does it mean, it being May in the age of coronavirus?

In North Carolina it means that starting May 8, certain elements of parks can begin to reopen. Not playgrounds (that could happen at month’s end) and likely not restrooms, rec centers and visitor centers. But we’re hopeful that some of the N.C. State Parks that are closed may begin reopening trails. A phased reopening plan was scheduled to be announced this week; we’ve yet to hear from N.C. State Parks about that plan. In the meantime, as we mentioned in Thursday’s post, there are 11 State Parks that still have their trails open (12, if you live in Dare County). Check ‘em out here.

And, as you’ve learned if you’ve been following us for the past couple of months, we’ve become big advocates of exploring your own neighborhood. You can check out our coverage so far on how to discover your neighborhood along with a few suggested places to visit at our Explore Your Neighborhood: A Guide page here.

It looks like a great weekend to be out in the ‘hood, especially Sunday, when sunny skies and temperatures near 80 are expected to prevail. 

For those of you nostalgic for a trip to the mountains, to a place truly wild and remote, check out this video from our GetBackpacking! trip last summer to the Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness Area. Four days of adventure condensed to 3 minutes and 17 seconds. Calgon, take me away. 

This weekend, pamper yourself by losing yourself in adventure.

The post GetOut! It’s another weekend! appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Below are quick descriptions of our coverage, with links to learn more.

“Explore Your Neighborhood: A Guide to Discovering the World Immediately Around You.” We’ve written a 53-page guide, available in both paperback and as an ebook, that outlines what you need to know to enjoy exploring your own neighborhood, including:

• What provisions you’ll need (you probably already have them)
• How to scout your neighborhood (starting with Google Maps)
• What to look for (in the woods, in the ditches, in your neighbor’s yard
• The best times to look (and best maintain your Social Distance)
• Health benefits of walking and being outside
• Outdoor videos to check out between neighborhood forays

Consider your stay-at-home time as something akin to how you viewed Saturday as a kid: all week your time, your comings and goings, your very thoughts, were controlled by The Man (or, more likely, The Woman). But come Saturday, the world was yours to be discovered. Think of this as your Saturday, and “Explore Your Neighborhood” your guide to making the most of it. April 9, 2020

Learn more about the paperback and buy it here, the ebook here.

Hiking in the Rain (But Not Under a Tornado Warning). One of the keys to having the trail to yourself: hike when no one else is. Like in the rain. Try it, you might like it. Read it here. April 13, 2020

GetOut! Explore Your Neighborhood this Weekend. More tips on how to find adventure in your own backyard. Read it here. April 10, 2020

GetOut! (But Pick the Right Time to Go). Timing is everything in these days of social distancing. Tips on when to hike to avoid fellow hikers. Read it here. April 3, 2020

Social Distancing on the Water. We’re mostly about hiking. But when the trails get crowded, it’s time to look for alternatives, and we discovered a good one in paddling. Read it here. March 30, 2020

GetOut! And Explore Your Neighborhood. My neighborhood? you ask. What could possibly be there? I asked the same question when I moved to Hillsborough. The answer was surprising. Read it here. March 27, 2020

Explore the Wilds of Your Own Backyard. More tips on how to discover what’s in your own backyard. Read it here. March 25, 2020

Local video adventures

To help you get a feel for what might be in your neighborhood, we’ve been shooting short videos of our adventures in our neighborhood.

Explore Your Neighborhood: Kings Highway Park. Just 18 acres and barely a mile of trail. But a world of escape in dense woods along the Eno River. 1.5 miles from home. Check it out here. April 27, 2020

Explore Your Neighborhood: Confluence Natural Area. This 200-acre preserve with 3 miles of trail sits at the confluence of east and west forks of the Eno River. 6.8 miles from home. Check it out here. April 22, 2020

Explore Your Neighborhood: Seven Mile Creek Natural Area. Located on a gravel road that’s off a gravel road that’s off a little-used country road, solitude is all but assured here. 1.5 miles from home. Check it out here. April 20, 2020

GetOut! And Find Your Backyard Adventure. A quick primer on finding adventure in your neighborhood. Includes video of an unlikely summit bid up 620-foot Couch Mountain. Check it out here. April 17, 2020

The post Explore Your Neighborhood: A Guide appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

It’s the journey, not the destination, Ralph Waldo Emerson is often quoted as saying. That’s especially true when you Explore Your Neighborhood.

Typically on outdoor outings the journey to reach the trailhead isn’t so special: an interstate highway, a self-serve gas station, fast food. You’ve seen one burrito supreme, you’ve seen ‘em all. 

But with a neighborhood adventure, you can pass a warehouse, walk through an old mill village, hike down railroad tracks, travel an old dirt road that dates back hundreds of years to a time before English was spoken in these parts. I know, because that’s that’s what I did this morning on my way from home to Kings Highway Park, a nature preserve on the west edge of town that’s about as small as they come. But even though it has just 18 acres and only a mile of trail, it offers escape disproportionate to its stats. 

For starters, that ancient highway I took to get there? It turns into part of the trail network; for hundreds of years The Old Trading Path served as the main route from what is now Washington, D.C., to what is now Atlanta, Ga. There’s a stretch of trail that’s a stone’s throw from both the rail line and a frequently traveled country two-lane that’s insulated from both by a thick Piedmont forest. And there’s the Lake Trail, which actually follows the Eno River; the trail gets its name from the fact the river is dammed just downstream, creating a half-mile or so stretch of still water. 

Hiking to Kings Highway Park and back took me about twice as long as the hike itself. The journey was a modern-day Huck Finn challenge, the destination a worthy reward. It’s the type of adventure I think Ralph Waldo Emerson had in mind.

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Kings Highway Park

Hillsborough, N.C.

Address: 1001 Ben Johnston Road, Hillsborough

Trail: 1 mile

Size: 18 acres

Hours: dawn to dusk, daily. 

Facilities: None. 

Learn more about Kings Highway Park here.

Explore Your Neighborhood

“Explore Your Neighborhood”

For more on exploring your neighborhood during these shelter-in-place times, check out our new “Explore Your Neighborhood: A Guide to Discovering the World Immediately Around You,” available in both ebook and paperback. Includes guidance on everything from how to scout your neighborhood for hidden gems to how to execute your neighborhood treks.

And don’t forget to join us weekday mornings at 7:30 for Morning Walk with Joe, about 10 minutes of Joe’s half-hour morning ramble. You’ll find it on our GetGoingNC Facebook page.

The post Explore Your ‘Hood: Kings Highway Park appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

From its origins in the late 1960s, the Eno River Association, known then as the Association for the Preservation of the Eno River Valley, has been saving land along the Eno River in Orange and Durham counties. In that time, they’ve preserved more than 4,000 acres along the Eno and its tributaries. Much of that land has gone into creating Eno River State Park, some into Little River Regional Park. The Confluence Natural Area, which opened a couple years ago, is the only land the ERA has purchased that it operates as its own.

A little under 3 miles of trail explores this 200-acre sanctuary at the confluence of the east and west forks of the Eno. It’s remarkable for the mix of vast, open meadows, tight passage through lush bottomland forest, and open beech bluffs. Perhaps most remarkable is something that takes a minute to notice. Hiking clockwise — the recommended direction right now to help you social distance from other hikers — on the Two Forks Trail as it drops down to the Eno’s east fork, you notice something’s … different. At first, you can’t put your finger on it: the lush woods are indeed lush, a dense sea of green from forest floor to the canopy. But look a little harder and you see it’s a more varied green, especially nearer the ground. Rather than a constant carpet of weedy grasses or bamboo-like brush, there’s a varied mix, of mayapple and native ferns, of dogwoods and redbuds, of beech and oaks. The exotic plant invasion so evident throughout much of the rest of the region, from the endless runs of Japanese stilt grass to the tree-climbing kudzu, is absent. The landscape is more in synch with what it was before the European invasion. It’s a hike back in time.

The Confluence Natural Area is a jewel, one that until a few weeks back was on display only on weekends. But when the coronavirus began shrinking our supply of trails, the Eno River Association decided to open the preserve seven days a week. Yet another gift from the grass roots group that’s been giving us the gift of nature for more than a half century.

* * * 

Confluence Natural Area

Orange County

Address: 4214 Highland Farm Road, Hillsborough

Trail: 2.75 miles (Two Forks Trail, 2.25 miles, Shepherd Mill Trail 0.5 miles)

Size: 20 acres

Hours: dawn to dusk, daily. 

Facilities: Restroom, pavilion (both currently closed as a result of COVID-19)

Learn more about the Confluence Natural Area here.

Eno River Association

Learn more about the Eno River Association and its mission, as well as how you can support it, by visiting their web page, here.

Explore Your Neighborhood

For more on exploring your neighborhood during these shelter-in-place times, check out our new “Explore Your Neighborhood: A Guide to Discovering the World Immediately Around You,” available in both ebook and paperback. Includes guidance on everything from how to scout your neighborhood for hidden gems to how to execute your neighborhood treks.

And don’t forget to join us weekday mornings at 7:30 for Morning Walk with Joe, about 10 minutes of Joe’s half-hour morning ramble. You’ll find it on our GetGoingNC Facebook page.

The post Explore Your ‘Hood: Confluence Natural Area appeared first on GetGoing NC!.