Back in the day — in this case, the day being nearly a half century ago — when I was seeking a new adventure, first thing I’d do was head downtown to the Eastern Mountain Sports store in my hometown of Denver and start rifling through the chest of drawers holding Colorado’s topo maps.
Category Archives: Hiking
GetOut! The sun returns
Yes, the sun is returning from its extended vacation. And just in time for the weekend!
Good news, yes. But keep in mind that it’s been raining for quite a while and that the ground was already saturated before that. So while the air may be dry, it will take the ground a while to catch up.
Before State Parks were open to all
When I moved to the Raleigh area at the beginning of 1992, I spent a lot of time at Umstead State Park. It was a 10-minute drive, you could hike and mountain bike, and, lucky me, I happened to live on what I considered to be the most interesting side of the park, the Reedy Creek side, off I-40. Access to the mountain bike/equestrian trails was easier, you could pick up two long trails from the parking lot, even the physical facilities — the picnic shelters, the restrooms — seemed more inviting.
Game Lands a game changer for escaping the masses
I’ve been a fan of hiking and exploring North Carolina’s game lands for years. I’m even more of a fan after interviewing Brian McRae, Division Chief for Land and Water Access for the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission for today’s GetHiking! Southeast podcast.
GetOut! Celebrate Imbolc with a search for spring
Do you know what Tuesday (February 2, so you don’t run off searching for a calendar) was?
Imbolc, the pagan observance that celebrates the midpoint of winter and thus, the beginning of the official watch for spring.
We celebrated by hiking along the Eno in search of early signs of the season. To us, that generally means sighting the first spring wildflower — the spring beauty or trout lily — maybe hearing the first spring peeper. With temperatures content to not rise out of the 40s for much of January, it was a search, we were sure, was in vain.