This time next week, after Daylight Saving Time kicks in on Sunday, the sun will set at 7:21 p.m. By month’s end, it will set at 7:36 p.m. That extra afternoon sunshine, friends, opens our evening outdoor opportunities.

So, if you plan ahead (more about this below), you could leave work at 5 p.m. and have two hours of sun to play with. Depending upon your pace, that could be a 5- to 7-mile hike — a delightful midweek adventure! 

This celebration of after-work opportunity is boosted by our public playgrounds. Starting in March, most of North Carolina’s state parks are open until 8 p.m. Some are staying open even later: Eno River State Park in Durham, Hanging Rock State Park north of the Triad, and Carolina Beach State Park near Wilmington are all now open until 9 p.m. Most county and municipal parks continue to observe dawn to dusk hours, as do most greenways.

The key to taking advantage of this added afternoon daylight is planning. 

• Have your gear ready. When the 5 o’clock whistle blows, switch into your adventure gear. You can keep your gear simple: hiking shoes/boots, pants, wicking shirt, water. 
• Pick a spot to explore. Make it close by: the less time you spend in transit, the more time you’ll have to explore. And it might help you find some great venues you weren’t aware of. Try this: Go to Google maps, drop a pin on your location, then go out a mile or two. Blow up the image and look for blotches of green. You’ll likely find pocket parks you might not have known about, parks that likely have some sort of trail. Also look for dotted blue lines signifying trails.
• Don’t worry about repeating yourself. Say you find a spot nearby that has nice, if short, trail. Run with it, again and again. One of the great things about spring is that it unfolds so quickly you’ll likely find something new — a just-emerged spring wildflower, a tree in bloom — on it every day.
• Consider it training. If you’re gearing up to do some serious mountain hikes this summer, now is the time to start getting your hiking legs back. Two miles every evening through March is a great start. 
• Do it! Most importantly, don’t dawdle — take advantage of this extra daylight immediately. Start Monday. In fact, if you’re in the Triangle area, you can start with us. We’ll be hiking the Cox Mountain Trail at Eno River State Park Monday at 6 p.m. See below for details and to sign up.

Make the most of this gift of sunlight.

Happy trails,

Joe

Join us

To find out more about our Daylight Saving Hike at Eno River State Park and to sign up, go here.

The post DST: the gift of sunshine appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

We like to ward off the beginning of the work-week blues with a thought about life on the outside.

Today, I get to open an early Christmas present, a present that’s been sitting under the tree for three months.

Duke Forest.

In September, I relocated my office to Durham, to a location based in part on its nearness to our new home in Hillsborough, in part based on the reasonable lease. A third perk surfaced within a few days when I realized I was within a five-minute drive of Hollow Rock Nature Park, Sandy Creek Park, and Duke’s Al Buehler Cross-Country Trail, perfect lunchtime escapes. It was a few more days before I realized I was also within five minutes of at least a half dozen access points to Duke Forest, off NC 751 and Cornwallis Road. On my first visit, to Gate 11, I was met by an asterisk:

Closed to the Public 

Monday through Friday 

Sep 26 — Dec 16, 2016

For the Deer Herd

Reduction Program

Rats.

Now in its ninth season, Duke’s “Deer Management Program” was launched to thin the forest’s deer population and “to reduce the negative impacts of overabundant deer on the Forest.” Deer reduction opportunities are not available to the general public. Rather, hunting is conducted by two pre-selected groups. The program applies to three of Duke Forest’s six divisions: Durham, Korstian and Blackwood: the Durham Division is the one in my backyard.

Every evening since September, I’ve driven home past 15 access points off NC 751. From the road, each access looks pretty much the same: a gate consisting of linked iron bars painted white strung between green posts. Beyond, a gravel road disappears shortly, sometimes around a bend, sometimes over a rise. This peek from the road offers little clue to what lies beyond.

The maps for each division, available as a package from Duke for $8, provide minimal additional insight, mostly in the form of topo lines suggesting, for the most part, moderately rolling terrain. The maps also show that the main recreational access — both hiking and cycling are permitted — is via gravel roads, the primary purpose of which is to provide educators and students access to this teaching forest. As such, the utilitarian roads are typically point-to-point; there are no loops (unless you count hiking back to your car on NC 751 as completing a loop).

It’s this point, though, that makes Duke Forest so appealing. The forest is managed; rustic signs posted periodically tell the tale of these woods over the past 80 or 90 years. For instance:

Loblolly Pine

Planted 1931

Erosion Control, 1932

Thinned 1949, 53, 58

Clearcut 1988

Pine Release 1990

Pre-Commercial Thinning 1995

& 1996

How often are you privy to the story of the land you explore?

The utilitarian nature of these trails — their intent to get you from here to there — has a primitive appeal. Most of the trails we hike today were designed for our recreational enjoyment. They seek summits and panoramas, they aspire to water and falls, they employ switchbacks to ease our effort. When the trails at Duke Forest do so, they do so incidentally. These paths give you a better sense of what role trails played before we needed them for escape.

Two weeks ago, I could take the suspense no longer. On a Sunday, when it was legal to explore, I pulled over at Gate 11 off 751 for a peek under the wrapping paper. With map in hand — a good idea for any hike, especially good at Duke Forest, since most roads aren’t marked — I headed up a moderate gravel incline toward Couch Mtn. (640 ft). I walked through mostly young hardwood and pine forest, past one spur to the left, past a second. Where the trail forked, the map told me to go left. Within a couple minutes, I was atop Couch Mountain and a cul de sac turnaround. I surveyed the gently rounded peak for signs of why the path ended here — an old homestead? a forest monitoring device? —  but was stumped.

It was getting dark, time to head back. But it had only taken me 15 minutes to reach Couch Mountain, making me realize I could return some day soon over lunch and look for more clues.

Maybe even today.

***

For more information on Duke Forest, go here.

The post A present opened early appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Today’s 90-Second Escape: Blackout on Radio Island

In the middle of a crowded summer along the coast, we discover a tourist blackout on Radio Island near Beaufort.

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The post 90 Second Escape: Blackout on Radio Island appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

I want to, I just don’t have time.
Too often we put off a good time because we don’t have a good grasp of time. Between work, the yard, that jar of pennies that needs marshaling into sleeves … . Who has the time?
We’re not suggesting you’d rather spend an afternoon arranging metal portraits of Abe Lincoln, but isn’t that something you could do in the evening during some binge TV?
Truth is, you likely have the time — you just need some direction regarding how to best use it. You need someone who’s likewise strapped and has refused to say no to adventure.
You need Quick Escapes.
Quick Escapes is a new, occasional GetGoingNC feature that helps you find time in your busy schedule for adventure by streamlining the process. We propose an adventure you don’t think you have time for, then show you that you do.

This week’s Quick Escape: The 90-minute Self-Shuttle River Trip

Challenge River paddles are great. Unfortunately, we’re of a mindset that we a shuttle buddy to do them. That can involve numerous emails, texts and phone calls to figure out schedules and logistics, not to mention the possibility the whole thing could be scuttled by Shuttle Buddy remembering at the last minute a conflicting spousal obligation. In fact, while certain moving water should not be paddled solo, there are plenty of safe, slow-moving waterways in the Triangle and to the east that can be paddled by your lonesome.

Solution To varying degrees, many of these rivers lend themselves to a self-supported shuttle. Find a stretch of water you’re interested in paddling, pull up Google Maps, drop pins at both the put-in and take-out, then check out the recommended shuttle route. Google will show you the best routes by car, by foot, by bike, and give you distances as well as estimated travel times. Note: Google is sometimes unclear on the notion of what constitutes a “safe” route for biking or walking; be sure to double check the recommended route: if GM suggests you bike on a stretch of interstate highway, for instance, you might consider plan B.

Quick Escape’s recommended solution: Neuse River One of the best candidates for the self-shuttle is the Neuse River through Raleigh. The Neuse runs about 28 miles through town, from the base of Falls Lake Dam to the Johnston County line. For several years, the City of Raleigh has maintained five canoe accesses along the river; in the past year, the city has opened all but about a half-mile of the Neuse River Greenway Trail, a paved greenway that parallels the river for that entire 28 miles (and continues another five miles to Clayton). The greenway makes an excellent shuttle route, either by foot (running or walking) or by bike.

Access points Here are the distances and locations of the city’s five Neuse River access points. Plan your shuttle accordingly.

0.0 miles         Falls Dam
10.5         Buffaloe Road
14.0         Milburnie Dam
16.0         Anderson Point
17.5         Poole Road

Today’s trip In the interest of time (we are trying to squeeze in a Quick Escape, remember) we opted for the two-mile Milburnie to Anderson Point trip. Here’s how that trip unfolded, on the clock.

0:00 — Arrive at put-in. Unload boat, paddle, pfd and water bottle. Store under pedestrian bridge. Lock your boat to the bridge with a bicycle cable lock. The worry is less about someone stealing your boat; unless they happen to be prowling with a roof rack and tie-down straps, that’s unlikely. Rather, you don’t want a prankster casting off your craft absent the captain (you).
0:05 — Leave put-in to set up shuttle.
0:13 — Arrive at Anderson Point take-out. Get pack containing: car keys, wallet, cell phone, snack. Recommended: use a trail pack made for running, either around the waist or a low-profile backpack type.
0:30 — Arrive back at put-in. In my case, I elected to run, covering the 2.1 miles of greenway in a little over 17 minutes. Google estimates the walking time at 42 minutes, the cycling time at 11 minutes. In contrast, the less-direct 4.2-mile car shuttle is estimated to take 7 minutes.
0:33 — Launch.
1:16 — Take out. Total paddle time: 42 minutes, 54 seconds. I did minimal paddling, relying mostly on the 2+ mph current. A relaxed pace that allowed for plenty of ogling and picture taking.
1:32 — Boat racked, car loaded; ready to leave.

Elapsed time 1 hour, 32 minutes

Obviously, this does not include the time it takes to plan the trip, pack, travel to the put-in, drive home from the take-out and unpack — which could easily take another hour and a half. Do these trips often enough, get in the mindset of planning your trips and efficiently executing them, and you’ll economize that part of your trip as well.

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Got an idea for a Quick Escape, or one you’d like us to figure out? Drop us a line at joe@getgoingnc.com.

The post Quick Escapes: Your Guide to Timeless Adventure appeared first on GetGoing NC!.