I was helping to recruit correctional officers for a minimum security facility — “helping” may be stretching it. In fact, I was just making sure the laptops used to fill out applications remained charged; my colleagues with the Department of Adult Corrections were doing the actual hiring. We were two hours into a four-hour Saturday shift and traffic had slowed. It seemed like a good time to slip out.

It was 10:30 in the morning, not a cloud in the sky and a temperature in the upper 60s; certainly not a day to be cooped up in a prison. My intent was to simply splash some sun in my face and step back inside. Then I happened to notice that the road I’d driven in on shortly turned to gravel. I love a gravel road.

I’d walked maybe 100 yards when something to the right caught my eye, something I love even more than a gravel road: a narrow opening into the woods. What a find, a find that would shortly lead to a mystery. 

The short path led to a slightly wider one that was lined on both sides by Disc Golf tee boxes. I stopped at No. 14, with a sign reading: “Par 13 / 215 yards.” I looked around: the clearest path in any direction, in this jumbled hardwood forest, was maybe 15 yards — maybe. In the span of 20 yards I saw three more Par 3s, all in the 200-yard range, all surrounded by trees. 

Huh.

I kept walking, picking up my pace, not sure whether I’d stumbled onto a private course on private land. In a quarter mile the path led back to the gravel road, which had taken a sharp right turn. On the other side of the road was a sign with an arrow: “Senior Center.” I’m a senior, I thought. I forged ahead. 

The path widened to a good 20 feet and began to resemble more of a trail,  Sure enough, I soon came to another sign with another arrow, this one proclaiming: “Nature Trail.” I’d gone from a gravel road, to a narrow opening in the woods, to, baffling disc golf course to, somehow, an actual trail that may or may not lead to a Senior Center. All because I felt the need for some quick fresh air, all because I wasn’t afraid to, literally, go off the beaten path.

In part what made this adventure possible was that I didn’t deny my need for an adventure, no matter how small. A simple breath of fresh air, that was all I wanted. I also gave into some honest self-awareness: Did my coworkers need me? No. Would they even miss me or realize I’d been gone for a half hour? Probably not. 

I also didn’t ignore the fact that I was overdue for an adventure, even a 30-minute one. And because I love taking the path less traveled — or not traveled at all — I wasn’t bound by the need for an actual trailhead to jump in. Following a trail, especially a well-worn one, you inherit the energy of those who’ve come before you. Vibes that aren’t necessarily bad, but aren’t entirely yours, either. As soon as you step into a layer of leaves, into soft earth, you are creating your own way. It’s a way you’ll never tire of because you’ll probably never pass this way again. It’s a true form of adventure, available to the common person in the modern, discovered, world.

Best of all? There’s a good chance you can find it right out your own back door. Even the back door of your office. 

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PostHikeScript

That “trail” I stumbled upon? It was indeed a trail, the 1.5-mile Orchard Lake Trail in Yanceyville. Turns out I’d hiked it a couple years ago, picking it up from behind Yoder’s Market on County Home Road. On that occasion it was mid-August and the trail was swathed in spider webs. I quickly turned back. But if you find yourself in Yanceyville, and it’s not summer, a nice trail to check out. Learn more here.

The post A surprise breath of adventure appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

The first two episodes chronicle the 17-day, 400-mile trip, a mix of hiking and pack rafting in one of the most wild and remote spots around. The scenery and struggle are compelling. But it’s the third episode that’s especially worth watching (though you need to watch the first two episodes for the full impact).

In “What Went Wrong Hiking In Alaska — Gear, Food, Health” — Darwin and one of the other two participants review the trip, looking at what went wrong and what they might have been done to make the trip a little less, in their words, “Type 8 Fun.” (Officially, the unofficial scale only goes up to Type 3.) It’s a good exercise in scrutinizing a trip.Check it out starting here.

It also reminded me of an ill-fated trip from 2011, and my similar attempt to learn from my mistakes. Certainly not as epic as Darwin’s trip, certainly not as many interesting failures. More similar, though, to issues you may have experienced. That story from 2011 begins below … 

* * *

Back in the old days – meaning before I got a GPS – I knew I’d been on a good hike when I couldn’t wait to get home and perform a topopsy. That would be a postmortem in which I would get out a topo map and try to figure out why, instead of going from Point A to Point B, I’d wound up at Q. Nothing quite like that post-hike thrill of figuring out that you should have gone left at the junction just past the beech cove rather than right, which, it turns out, dumps you in the backyard of a rustic type with a fondness for easily-angered dogs and cinderblocked pickups bearing bumper stickers of a laissez-faire theme.

The post Learning from What Went Wrong appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Trout lilies.

You may hear your first spring peepers as early as late January, and a daffodil or two may pop through the first week of February. The former is assuring, yet you still know that cold weather lies ahead (and this year, 14 inches of snow). They don’t even wait for Imbolc, for pete’s sake. The latter, the daffodils, carries with it an asterisk: it’s not a native plant; rather an ornamental that doesn’t abide by local rules of seasonality. Ah, but the trout lily: spring’s true first responder. Once the trout lily raises its lovely maroon-striped yellow petals to the sky, there’s no turning back.

For six years, I was fortunate to live in Hillsborough, where, early on I discovered the Poet’s Walk at Ayr Mont, a preserve that grew out of a former plantation. Today, while the focal point is the Federal style plantation house, the hidden gem is the mile-long Poet’s Walk, a natural surface path through maintained meadow and bottomland forest. 

This time of year, the half mile that borders the Eno River through floodplain hardwoods offers one of the best sites around to catch the first trout lilies of spring. Alas, since moving from Hillsborough four years ago, I’ve yet to find as reliable a source for my trout lilies as the Poet’s Walk. One year since I was lucky enough to stumble across some along the banks of the Cape Fear River near Dunn. Another, it wasn’t until May, in the Pisgah National Forest. Two years, I went without completely. That wasn’t going to happen this year.

I pulled into the half-full gravel lot around 11:30 on a Sunday morning and set out down the trail, which begins through a manicured meadow. A third of a mile in the trail entered forest and I was surprised by the sight of winter aconite at the base of an oak just off trail. An ornamental, but none the less, a “harbinger of spring,” as my PictureThis app informed me.

In another hundred yards, I slowed; here, the trail flattened and it was here that the spring wildflower show traditionally began. Sure enough, a half mile in I spotted my first yellow fronds. Five in all, all still bundled together. Sunlight had only recently penetrated this part of the forest floor; there was no reason to completely unfurl and gather spartan energy. 

I walked slowly and saw more trout lilies cautiously casting about. I also glimpsed a handful of spring beauties, usually the second wildflower to emerge along the Poet’s Walk. In a week or two, their delicate round petals would dominate the landscape.

I spent 45 minutes slowly walking back and forth along this stretch, hopeful that the prolonged sunlight would elicit a burst of yellow petals. They may have opened a bit, but it would be mid- to late-afternoon until they truly unfurled. And I had a house-load of spring chores to do. 

No matter. Spring, for me, was officially underway. 

* * *

Find spring

Looking to find signs of spring? A few thoughts.

“Wildflower Walks to Take in the Triangle,” Walter Magazine. Five popular destinations recommended by a guy we know. Find it here.

Eno River Association Spring Wildflower Hike Series. For as long as I can recall, the Eno River Association has been conducting guided walks along the Eno. The scheduled is based on years of observation: if the ERA thinks there’s going to be wildflower action at Penny’s Bend Nature Preserve on March 15, you can bet there’s going to be a show. Learn more here.

The post Trout lilies! Let Spring Begin appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Actually, it’s a bit late.

Here’s how my spring countdown unfolds, beginning with …

Imbolc, Feb. 1. This traditional Gaelic observance marks the mid-point of winter, halfway between the winter solstice (Dec. 21) and the spring equinox (March 20).

Daffodil. I can’t call this the first wildflower of the season because the daffodil is an ornamental, embraced by early settlers because as soon as its cheery yellow leaves popped through the ground, they knew spring was nigh. Note: when you see a daffodil in the wild there’s a good chance you’ll find signs of an old homestead nearby. Weather dependent, the daffodil generally makes its first appearance between the last week of January and the second week of February.

Spring peeper. To me, this chorus frog is typically the first legitimate — that is, natural — sign of spring. They spend the winter hunkered down near a vernal pool — a depression that typically only contains water during the winter rains. A good rain coupled with warming weather rouses the spring peeper. I’ve heard spring peepers as early as mid-January; this year, my first “hearing” was on Feb. 17.

February 10. Pitchers and catchers report. When I was in second grade at Bellview Elementary school I spent an entire music class staring out the window at a ball diamond painted in grays and browns; would I ever again see the lush green outfield that had disappeared in October? The only thing that kept me going was a small blurb I’d read that morning in the Denver Post: “Pitchers and Catchers report today.” This year, pitchers and catchers, the first baseball players to start training for the upcoming season, reported on Feb. 10.

February 20. First spring training games of the season. Nothing says spring more than listening to a Rockies game from Salt River Fields in Arizona on the app.

Trout lilies, spring beauties.  Like pitchers and catchers, these are typically the first wildflowers we see report for spring in the Piedmont. Their appearance depends entirely on sunlight and warmth: I’ve seen both as early as Jan. 27, I’ve seen them as late as, well, as now (still waiting). Blame the lingering winter weather — but this weekend, with sun and temperatures in the 60s forecast, keep an eye peeled for both, especially in floodplains dominated by hardwoods.

March 8. Daylight Saving Time begins. Not coming home in the dark really makes it feel like spring.

March 20. The spring equinox, when there’s as much daylight as dark, marks the official start of spring.

Let the countdown begin!

The post From Imbolc to Equinox appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Tomorrow morning the forecast calls for a temperature in the upper teens, rising to maybe 40. But it will be sunny, and a little sun can make up for a lot of cold.

North Carolina has, on average, 28 clear days every winter; only seven states see more cloudless days, according to data compiled from two climate agencies. Virginia averages 25 clear days. In short, you could live in much worse places to avoid feeling SAD

SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder, is a type of depression that can set in when the days are short and the sun sets early in the day. Once this mood-altering disorder takes hold, according to the Mayo Clinic, it can be hard to shake; it’s best to fight it off before it has a chance to make itself at home, leaving you hibernating in a stupor of despair.

One way to combat SAD, says the Mayo Clinic, is to go outside and move—the more regularly, the better. Even when it’s cold, a brisk walk in outdoor light can help. Another way to lift your mood is to be with other people; socializing with a dose of laughter helps you connect with others, an opportunity in short supply these days. Hiking regularly also can reduce levels of stress, which can contribute to SAD symptoms. According to psychiatry.org, 5 percent of Americans experience SAD, with the most severe bouts occurring in January and February.

Frankly, all of us could stand to reduce our stress levels. So even if SAD doesn’t get you down, brisk movement and being with others is a great way to keep stress at bay by releasing endorphins and elevating mood.

So while the benefits of being out in the sun are beneficial year round, they are even more so in the short days of winter. But because of the cold, you sometimes need a little extra motivation to drag yourself outside and make it happen. And the best motivation? you ask. 

Hike with a group. 

It’s one time when peer pressure is a good thing. You wake up, you see it’s 28 degrees, you pull the covers back over your head and reach blindly for the snooze button. But then you remember the group waiting for you at the trailhead. You remember that Sue was supposed to hear about that promotion this week, that Jack was on the verge of adopting a shelter dog, that last week when Elliot failed to show he was the topic of discussion. You also remember that, once you’re 5 minutes down the trail and starting to warm up, you really love hiking this time of year. 

The obvious current caveat about hiking in a group: while being outdoors is still considered safe, you want to make doubly sure the group you’re hiking with is safe. With any group you join, be it a hiking-related Meetup or a group from work, find out what their policy is and see if it’s one you’re comfortable with.

It may take a hike or two to find the group that’s right for you. That’s fine. Because once you do find a group that works, you’ll find yourself spending a lot more time on the trail at a time of year when it will do you the most good.

* * *

Speaking of groups … 

As of Monday, GetHiking! has nearly 25,000 members in its six hiking groups in Virginia and North Carolina. At least one, Charlottesville, has multiple hikes every week. And if your local group doesn’t have a hike scheduled, lead one yourself! Here are links to our six groups:

• GetHiking! Charlotte
• GetHiking! Charlottesville
• GetExploring! Greenville
• GetHiking! Triad
• GetHiking! Triangle

The post Don’t let the cold make you SAD appeared first on GetGoing NC!.