This past weekend GetBackpacking! set an SKT — Slowest Known Time. In this case, the Slowest Known Time for a lunch break on a backpacking trip.
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Before we set out Saturday morning from our campsite at Yellow Mountain Gap on the Appalachian Trail, I outlined the morning plan. “We’ve got a long climb — 900 vertical feet in 1.7 miles — up to Little Hump Mountain. We’ll take a break there. Then head on to Hump Mountain for lunch.”
Here’s our annual note for when the temperature seems too cold to hike.
Saturday’s forecast calls for a high of 28 degrees at Hanging Rock State Park in Danbury. That will occur long after we’re off the trail . For the most part, we’ll be hiking in the low 20s. But it will be sunny, and a little sun can make up for a lot of cold.
I got into the business of leading hikes about a decade ago for one reason: Hiking did a lot for me, I thought it might do the same for others. Since I got the most mental benefit from a hike when I was alone, I assumed others would as well.
So rather than just leading hikes, I hoped to empower those with me to feel comfortable hiking on their own. Expose people to a variety of trails, on varying terrain, in a variety of conditions, both day and night, and it wouldn’t be long before I might see them just once or twice a year because otherwise they’d be exploring on their own. I even created a class, GetOriented! Finding Your Way in the Woods, to teach basic map and compass skills and how to read a topo map and the terrain. All the tools.
We like to ward off the beginning of the work-week blues with a thought about life on the outside.
Monday — never an easy time for the outdoors enthusiast. After a weekend of adventure, returning to the humdrum work-a-day world can make one melancholy. To help ease the transition, every Monday we feature a 90 Second Escape — essentially, a 90-second video or slide show of a place you’d probably rather be: a trail, a park, a greenway, a lake … anywhere as long as it’s not under a fluorescent bulb.
Today’s 90-Second Escape: First Light
You know it’s cooler first thing in the morning. You know that’s the time to have an adventure this time of year if you want to have an adventure. It all makes sense, except for one thing.
The getting up early part.
Today, we offer incentive to rise and explore with a glimpse into what the outdoor world looks like first thing. Then, so inspired, we invite you to join our GetHiking! Triangle group Wednesday morning at 7:30 for a 4.3-mile hike at Umstead State Park. Learn more about that hike and sign up here.
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