Category Archives: Hiking

New River Trail: 57 miles of bike trail less than 3 hours away

The physical therapist hesitated, then issued his edict. “Maybe. If it’s a short hike. And if the trail doesn’t have a lot of rocks.” He hesitated again, “I dunno … .”

“What a bike ride?” I asked.

It was Marcy’s first meeting with a PT to deal with a nagging case of planter fasciitis. She’d been hobbled off and on by the annoying muscle irritation; her most recent flair-up courtesy of a walk-to-run program. We were at Cary Orthopaedic’s Performance Therapy unit — because past experience revealed they were just as interested as we were in getting us moving again as soon as possible. PT Kevin Raymond was on board with that, he just wanted to make sure Marcy didn’t go out too fast. read more

Fall hikes without the fall crowds

OK, with fall peaking around us, you aren’t the only one thinking about taking a hike. People who in their entire lives have never thought about taking a hike are likely looking at the forecast — sunny and cool — and thinking, “Hmm, I should think about taking a hike.” And that means the usual suspects — the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Great Smoky Mountains, Shining Rock — will be crawling with occasional hikers. read more

Hike to the Fair (it’s still a good idea)

It’s North Carolina State Fair time again, a fact I was reminded of this morning when I drove down Hillsborough Street this morning and saw a guy hawking parking spaces for $10. $10! Do you know how many Krispy Kreme hamburgers you could buy for $10? Then I was reminded of a post from last year encouraging people to save a sawbuck and their waistline at the same time by hiking to the State Fair. I’ve updated that post slightly and rerun it below. read more

Weekend plans? Get mtb religion, howl, hike

Get religion at a Fat Tire Festival, howl at the coast. It’s all happening this weekend.

Piedmont

Saturday, we salute the Fat Tire. If you’re already familiar with the Church of the Fat Tire, we need only say that Saturday is something of our high holy day here in the Triangle. If you’re not already among the faithful, the 5th Annual TORC Fat Tire Festival is a great way to explore a different branch of exercise ecclesiology: mountain biking. read more

Fall along the Eno

Dogs are distracted by squirrels, cats by mice, men in midlife crisis by red sports cars they can barely fit into. Me? A cloudless sky and 70-degree temperatures.

For most of this past week, I managed to avoid the temptation to leap from my desk and run out into the woods chasing after fall. After the changing colors, the curious quiet, the long shadows knifing across the forest floor. But by Thursday afternoon my discipline was shot. I looked out the window, saw another leaf fall and grabbed my day pack and was off. Off to my favorite place to greet fall in the Triangle: the Eno River. read more