Once again, we find ourselves in need of hikes that aid in our escape, that help to calm the mind. They won’t necessarily solve our problems, but they will give us temporary escape. Sometimes, that’s all you can ask for.
Today’s five hikes are all at the coast, and best hiked during the cooler, less buggy, less snaky months of November through mid-March. You’ll find find a different sort of escape on these hikes, a certain calm that you’ll only find here, now. The seemingly constant breeze lets the trees, the grass, the plants tell their stories. Stories that began with a colorful birth in March, that celebrated the lazy days of summer, that grew melancholy come early fall and that ended, much like they began, in an explosion of color. The circle of life lived in just eight months. But what a story to be told at season’s end.read more
Wednesday morning I needed the calming powers of a long walk. Trouble was, I couldn’t think of a walk long enough to help. The 1,150-mile Mountains-to-Sea Trail? The 2,189-mile Appalachian Trail? The 6,800-mile American Discovery Trail? Compounding the problem: I had to get to work. I had maybe two hours at best to hike.read more
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.read more
Last weekend, we noticed a smattering of color in the Piedmont. By midweek, autumn was in full kaleidoscopic bloom, with a flush of reds (scarlet and red oaks), a flare of yellows (sycamores, poplars and ashes) and the occasional splash of brilliant orange, courtesy the sugar maple.read more
We’ve had two weeks of gorgeous fall weather, which makes a hiker think of just one thing: a hike in the mountains. Alas, that’s not as easy as it’s been in the past.
The mountains of Western North Carolina in particular continue the long road to recovery from Hurricane Helene. But progress is being made: more than 600 roads already have been reopened by N.C. Department of Transportation crews and contractors, including I-40 near Old Fort and in downtown Asheville; I-26 in Henderson and Polk counties; U.S. 221, U.S. 321 and U.S. 421 in the Boone area; and,U.S. 70 and U.S. 25 in Asheville. DOT reports, as of Tuesday, that nearly 600 roads remain closed, and in some areas traffic on roads that are open is restricted to recovery efforts. Also as of Tuesday, about 13,000 residents remained without power.read more
