I used to love hiking in summer heat. The past couple years, though, not so much. Coming into this summer I got me to wondering why.
As we’ve settled in to summer’s steady drumbeat of 90/90 — temperature/humidity — days, I’ve been trying to sort out what I don’t like about summer hiking, as well as what keeps me on the trail. The latter first.
I’ve been using trekking poles religiously for 20 years. Trouble is, I should have been using them for at least 30 years. Oh well. In any event, I’m a big advocate, as is the state’s most renowned hiker, Jennifer Pharr Davis of Asheville. Today, we rerun a post that first appeared July 11, 2017, on why she uses poles, and why you should, too.
We run this post when it gets hot, really hot. Like, as hot as it’s been lately. It’s part of our program to get you safely through the summer hiking season.
Now, with summer’s heat having set in, is a good time to talk about your drinking problem.
I used to love hiking in summer heat. The past couple years, though, not so much. Coming into this summer I got me to wondering why.
With the recent spate of record-breaking temperatures, I decided to hit the trail and see if I could pinpoint my growing problem with summer.
When Hurricane Helene hit Western North Carolina last September, we were awed by the destruction. How would places such as Lansing and Chimney Rock and Marshall, to name a few, get back to a semblance of normal?
Normal may still be a ways off in some cases, but the recovery has been remarkably swift. From what I’d seen of Hot Springs, a town that I’ve been leading hiking trips to for years, I was certain it could be years before we would return to hike on the Appalachian Trail, which runs through downtown.
