There’s a nice cross-section of events going on this Labor Day weekend, from a 5K in Wilmington to a paddle in Charlotte to hiking in the high country.
Coast
September kicks off the fall running season in North Carolina, and they’ll be kicking it off in Wilmington with the March of Dimes 5K Run for Healthier Babies. GGNC is particularly fond of this race because in addition to the 5K ($30 race day) and Family 1-Mile Run/Walk ($10), they also have the Sleep Walk/Sleep In category — don’t show at all, contribute $25 to a good cause and you still get a nifty race T-shirt. Zs rule!read more
Traditionally in hiking circles (my hiking circle, at least), Labor Day marks the end of summer and the start of the fall hiking season. It may technically still be summer (fall doesn’t officially arrive until 5:05 a.m. on September 23) and the temperatures may not typically drop noticeably (though they will this week) but in our minds, it’s fall. School is in, football has started — lace up the Vasques and let’s go.read more
Finding Sharon McCarthy's car in a parking lot is pretty easy.
Yesterday, Sharon McCarthy stopped to look at the white dot on the tree trunk, the last of thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of such white dots she had seen over the past 22 months.
Well?
Robert Williams and I waited. Sharon, a k a Smoky Scout, was yards away from becoming the sixth person this year and only the 25th total to complete the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. She was staring down her last blaze, and the two of us, her escorts for her final day, were expecting a profound statement. Maybe not “One-small-step …” profound, but something worthy of completing a nearly 1,000-mile journey.read more
Monday — never an easy time for the outdoors enthusiast, especially come summer. After a weekend of adventure, returning to the humdrum work-a-day world can make one melancholy. To help ease this trying transition, we’re running a new feature every Monday, at least during the summer, called 90 Second Escape. Essentially, it’s a 90-second video of a place you’d probably rather be: a trail, a park, a greenway, a lake … anywhere as long as it’s in the sun. Or in today’s case, at least outside.read more
Fly like an eagle, run like an alligator’s nipping at your heels, go somewhere where you might need a — be still my heart — jacket! It’s all on North Carolina’s busy agenda this weekend.
Coast
Flying like a bird: it should be on your life’s to-do list, and since it’s there, why not knock it off this weekend? Kitty Hawk Kites has taught more than 300,000 people to hang glide off the dunes at Jockey’s Ridge State Park, and as far as we know they’ve all landed (though we know of at least one — ahem — who didn’t necessarily land on his feet). It’s surprisingly easy and even more fun than the birds make it look. An hour of classroom instruction, then two on the dunes soaring up to 100 yards and getting as high as 15 feet (it doesn’t sound high until you’re up there). The laws of aerodynamics dictate that you must weigh no less than 75 pounds, no more than 225. $99read more
