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. 

* * *

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!.

But in the last couple of years I’ve discovered a flaw in that way of thinking. For me and for many others, about the only time we have to think about goals is during that slow period between Christmas and New Year’s. A lot of businesses close that week, and even those that stay open, well, who’s actually working (apologies to you financial types whose fiscal year coincides with the calendar year)? It’s the one time many of us have to actually think. 

And plan.

For me, that planning process starts with reviewing the year past and the goals I’d set forth. I’m less interested in the goals met (hiking 12 new trails!), than in those not met. For example, I wanted to do at least one 10-mile hike a month. I wound up doing half that many. Why? Time? Injuries? Physical ability? In fact, I just wasn’t all that interested in hiking 10 miles in a day. That was a goal of a previous me. What drives me more now? I thought about this and realized what I’m really into now are shorter adventures, but more true adventures. 

In 2022, we moved to a small down north of Greensboro, near the Virginia line. A couple miles from our house is a recently (2017) designated game land. It’s only 1,705 acres, but man is it ever wild. Consisting mostly of farmland abandoned within the last 30 years, it’s a prime example of successional woodlands, a fecund forest ripe with bushwhacking opportunities. It also has still-discernible old farm roads that lend the occasional hand in way finding. In the past month I’ve had four one-hour adventures that were unique escapes worthy, for me at least, of the adventure crown.

So shorter, truer adventures will be high on my list for 2025 (at least in the cooler weather months; it’s a bit buggy and overgrown otherwise). Getting to know this game land better is a goal that excites me. And the goals that excite you are the ones you’re most likely to achieve. 

Sometimes those goals aren’t easy to identify right off. That’s the topic of a post I wrote last year: “Mulling a 2024 goal? Make it the right one.” If you need some guidance in your goal-finding path, check out that post here. 

If you’re fortunate enough to have a goal that excites you spring to the fore, one bit of advice: Don’t wait until January 1 to start on it. Get to it now.

The post Focus on the goals that excite you appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

I used to get lost. Now I just get turned around.

The difference?

I no longer panic when I discover I’m not where I thought I was — or should be. And the reason I no longer panic is because I learned how to use a map and compass.

Let’s get something straight up front: I’m no Meriwether Lewis. I’m more a Ponce de Leon: eager to go in search of one thing, only to be distracted by something else. That makes it especially important to figure out where you are and the way to get to where you want to be.

When I decided to start leading people into the woods on hikes, I realized I needed to stay more focused. With a bunch of hikers in tow, I quickly discovered how embarrassing it was to think you’re in one place but are actually some place totally different. Just ask Columbus. So I started carrying a topo map, learned to use a compass, and I worked hard at figuring out how the map related to the terrain I was traveling. I learned that the wavy lines are called contours, which depict the elevation at a given point; that the closer together the contours are, the steeper the terrain; that as they emanate away from water, that means the terrain is rising. Those simple basics made figuring out where I was and where I was headed so much easier. And, for the most part, made it so much easier to figure out where I was when I discovered I wasn’t where I thought I was.

Where the heck am I?

One day a few years ago, I decided to take a lunch break and hike Eno River State Park. The Cox Mountain Trail is one of my favorites, and at 3.75 miles, I can get it done in a little over an hour. Hiked clockwise, it has a nice climb at the beginning, a generous descent on the backside of the mountain, a long return along the river. Just before reaching the loop portion of this lollipop, however, I noticed a narrow clearing — maybe 15 feet wide — that headed into the woods for maybe 75 yards, then vanished around a bend. The path was relatively clear … . What the heck, I thought.

Another reason to become familiar with a map and compass is so that when you do come across an opportunity like this — an old roadbed, a fisherman’s trail that’s not on your map — you’re more apt to check it out. Eno River State Park, like many state parks, wasn’t always a place of escape. In the Piedmont, most state parkland was actually farmland until the early 1930s, when the federal government began buying up overworked land and selling it to the state, cheap, for parks. Even though it’s been nearly 90 years in some cases, remnants of the cultivated past remain: a rock foundation, a stone boundary marker, ancient oaks signaling an old homestead, these roadbeds. Take one of these long-abandoned paths, pay attention, and you’ll be treated to a decaying blast from the past.

Ponce gets distracted

Which I did — and was. As often happens, I got caught up in searching for the past while neglecting the present. After a half hour or so, I found myself headed down a rocky tributary that I was sure would deposit me down at the Eno. Then I noticed I was following the tributary upstream.

“This won’t work,” I mumbled aloud.

Out came my map and compass.

First, I took in the surrounding terrain: an intermittent creek (appearing as a broken blue line on the map), a healthy slope to my left (tight contours), a generous floodplain to my right (no countours) and a steep draw straight ahead (tight, converging contours). Where I thought I was on the map didn’t look anything like this. I began searching the map for contours that matched my location, slowly scanning upstream until — bingo! And holy cow! I was nearly a half mile west of where I thought I was.

Lost — and found

But now I knew exactly where I was and how to navigate my way down to the river (which actually involved hiking atop a bluff rising 60 feet above a sharp bend in the river).

Was I worried? Only that I’d be back from lunch a few minutes late.

Learning to use a compass and make sense of a map isn’t genetic, it’s not an ingrained skill that either you can do or you can’t (like pole vaulting). Most of the folks who go through our GetOriented! Finding Your Way in the Woods class show up saying they have zero sense of direction. And usually after we spend a half hour or so going over how to read a map and how to use a compass, they still haven’t a clue. But as we head down the trail (and off), as we stop every so often and ask them to figure out on the map where we are, they almost always have an “Aha!” moment. The map suddenly makes sense, the compass no longer carries the mystique of a devining rod. Suddenly, their love of being outdoors isn’t overshadowed by their fear of getting lost in it.

Knowing how to use a map and compass doesn’t guarantee that you’ll always know right where you are in the world. But it’s a good bet it’ll keep you from getting lost. Just turned around.

* * *

Find Your Way with us

Love the trail but uncertain about your wayfinding skills? This three-hour session goes over basic map and compass skills, then hits the trail to offer key tips on how to follow and stay on the trail, how to find it again if you stray, and how to explore off trail. We’ll start with a 30-minute map-and-compass introduction, then use that map and compass — and some Daniel Boone skills — to find our way in the woods. We’ll also do some off-trail exploring, with the goal of purposefully venturing off the trail, then rejoining it again. Our goal is to make you confident hiking alone or taking a novice friend on the trail. Our next class:

• GetOriented! Finding Your Way in the Woods: Wednesday, July 10, 6-9 p.m., Haw River State Park: Iron Ore Belt Access, Greensboro. Learn more and sign up here.

The post GetOriented: Finding Your Way in the Woods appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

For much of the winter, the sun set long before we had a chance to enjoy it after getting off work. Now, it stays out later and later, and so do we. Sometimes later than we anticipated.  

When we become drunk on sunlight and it leaves the party before we were expecting, it’s good to know a thing or two about navigating in the dark, and near dark. Today, we share some tips based on our experience of leading night hikes for the past 10 years.

Before heading out

• Pack a headlamp. This is a must. Flashlights, work, but you want to keep your hands free. You can get a decent headlamp for as little as $15; note that LEDs cast a more hike-friendly light.
• Pack extra batteries and a spare light. Batteries can fizzle without warning and a spare light is a must (if for no other reason than to help you see to change batteries in your primary torch).
• Pick short hikes to start. Hiking in the dark takes some getting used to. Your world is confined to the glow of your headlamp, and it takes some concentration to focus on a limited portion of trail. It can be a sensory overload, as your other senses tune in to the world beyond the scope of your light, so don’t overstay on your first outing.
• Hike trails you’ve hiked in daylight. Even though it’s dark, familiarity is a huge plus. You’ll be amazed at how things you didn’t think you noticed during the day will pop out as key markers of where you are on the trail.
• Take a map and compass. You should already have these in your daypack as part of your 10 Essentials, but make extra sure you have them at night. If you become … misplaced, finding a point of reference that matches with your map will go a long way toward getting you back to your car.
• Take water and snacks. Just because it’s dark and likely cool doesn’t mean you can’t get dehydrated. And hiking in the cool air will burn some calories; you’ll be glad to have the extra fuel.
• Be aware of posted hours. Trails on certain public lands are closed from dusk until dawn. That includes state parks and nearly all municipal and county trails. National forests typically don’t have hours, nor do lands managed by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. 
  • That said, March and the advent of Daylight Saving Time is when many parks begin staying open later. Eno River State Park’s main access, Fews Ford, which had been closing at 7 p.m. now closes at 9 p.m. Check hours before heading out.
    • And that said, just because a park is open late doesn’t affect actual sunset. While the Fews Ford Access above may now be open until 9 p.m., the sun today still sets at 6:17 p.m., nearly three hours before official sunset.

At the trailhead

• Bundle up. Nighttime is cooler than day, of course. Counter the chill with one more layer than you think you’ll need; you can always shed a layer later.
• Don’t hike alone. I do a lot of soloing, but not at night. Make sure you have a buddy with you.
• Take your phone. Another way to figure out where you are: call up your favorite map program, even one that focuses on roads. It may not show the trail you’re supposed to be on, but it will show the nearest road: Keep your blue dot headed toward it (which might require some timber-bashing).

On the trail

• Be vigilant about blazes. If you don’t see a blaze ahead of you, turn and check to see if you can spot one from the direction you came. .
• Hike by your feet. It takes a bit more effort to scout out the blazes at night. The best way to tell whether you’ve wandered off the beaten path is if your boots suddenly sink into soft, untrod leaf litter. Backtrack and seek out the firm footing of the trail.
• Stop, look, listen. Night hiking is a much different experience. Take the time to savor it.
• Appreciate the night sky. Because that’s one of the reasons you’re out there!
• Beware the gloaming. There’s a roughly 10-minute period before the end of twilight when there’s not enough light to see on your own, yet your headlamp is no help, either. This is a good time to stop, look and listen.
• Resist the urge to turn on your lamp prematurely. Especially if you are in a group, because once you light up, your light will cast shadows making it hard for the unlit to see.
• Stay within earshot of fellow hikers. It’s much easier to lose people in your group at night; make sure you can at least hear their footsteps.

Daylight Saving Time is nigh. Now’s the time to make the most of midweek adventure.

* * *

Weekend Escape in the Croatan

Looking to come out of hibernation? We’ve got just the trip the weekend of March 15-16  with two hikes in the coastal Croatan National Forest. 

• Friday evening. We start with a Friday evening sunset hike on the 1.6-mile Cedar Point Tideland Trail, which takes advantage of multiple boardwalk stretches to navigate a tidal wetland. An awesome spot to catch the sunset.
• Saturday, it’s our favorite hike at the coast, the 11-mile Weetock Trail. The first 6 miles of the Weetock is a rolling hike on easy-to-follow blazed trail through scenic coastal woods. The last 5 miles is a wild romp through coastal forest that will test your navigational skills.

It’s the ideal time to hike at the coast, before it warms up and brings out the bugs, and a great way to kick off your 2024 hiking season. Learn more and sign up here.

The post Tips for Afterwork Exploring Thanks to DST appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

We generally refrain from hiking at the coast from late March through October. But once Halloween has passed and the flitting and slithering things that give us pause re subdued, our thoughts turn to the coast and some of our favorite hikes in the state. To hikers, this is the region’s real peak season. Pack a camera, a notebook, a handful of nature guidebooks. Camp, stay in cheap motels. Cook dinner over a camp stove, linger over breakfast, eat lunch on the go. And listen.

November especially is the time to listen to the outdoors. The seemingly constant breeze lets the trees, the grass, the plants tell their stories. Stories that began with a colorful birth in March, that celebrated the lazy days of summer, that grew melancholy come early fall and that ended, much like they began, in an explosion of color. The circle of life lived in just eight months. But what a story to be told at season’s end.

It’s a story told in one of three ways.

Long trails

If you’ve got the time, two coastal trails would love you stay a spell and listen.

• 

  Neusiok Trail, 22 miles, Croatan National Forest, Havelock. The Neusiok runs from the Pine Cliffs Recreation Area southeast to Oyster Point Landing. No need to rush: there are three shelters/camping areas along the way where you can camp and take the time necessary to experience the pine savannah, the bay woods, the bluff overlooking the mile-wide Neuse River, the boggy areas traveled (mostly) by boardwalk. It can also be hiked in sections, the most diverse of which is the northernmost 6.8 miles, from Pine Cliffs south and east to NC 306. Read more here.

• Weetock Trail, 11 miles, Croatan National Forest, Maysville. Such a tease, the Weetock. From its northern trailhead of N.C. 58 south of Maysville, it’s an open book for the first 6 miles. Maybe there’s a time or two where it plays coy and becomes discrete. But for the most part, no secrets. Then, right when you think you’ve got it understood, it crosses the gravel Jones Landing Road and spends the rest of its way trying to ditch you. This part of the Croatan has been ravaged by numerous hurricanes, the downfall covering large swaths of trail. Seemingly important swaths, because the only clues the trail shares from here on out are the unique metal-strip blazes (old newspaper printing plates) that catch the sun here and there. A challenge, but hey, who doesn’t love a good mystery? Read more here.

Easy beach hikes

Just as we love a good novel to read at the beach, so, too, do we love an easy winter hike — easy in the sense that it’s simple to follow but has a compelling plot. Some of our favorites:

• 

  Carolina Beach State Park, 9 trails, 9 miles, Carolina Beach. Carolina Beach is the Reader’s Digest condensed version of exploring the coast: in just 761 acres nestled between the Cape Fear River and Atlantic Ocean you’ll hike over forested dunes, through forests of turkey oak and live oak, around pocosins, past cypress swamps and through a carpet of carnivorous plants. The ecological sampling here is not to be matched. Learn more here.

• Fort Fisher Hermit Trail (a k a Basin Trail), 2 miles, Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, Kure Beach. Just down the road from Carolina Beach is a trail that exposes you to one of the more unique views in the state: water in nearly every direction. At the midpoint, the trail passes a World War II bunker, a sturdy concrete structure that, after housing ordnance in WW II, housed Robert E. Harrill, the Fort Fisher hermit who fled here in 1956 and stayed until his unexplained death in 1972. More info here.

• 

  Cedar Point Tideland Trail, Croatan National Forest, Cedar Point, 1.3 miles. No need to get your shoes mucky—an elevated boardwalk traverses much of the 1.3-mile Cedar Point Tideland Trail, in the wetlands where Dibbling and Boathouse creeks dissolve into the White Oak River (then, shortly, into Bogue Sound). In addition to keeping you dry, the boardwalk gives you get a bird’s-eye view of the fiddler crabs and other marsh life below. It is also an especially good spot for birding. More info here.

• Nags Head Woods Ecological Preserve, 4 miles, Kill Devil Hills. At 1,100 acres, Nags Head Woods wrote the book on maritime forests. It’s one of the best examples of such along the East Coast, hence the reason The Nature Conservancy elected to save it beginning in the 1970s. Nearly four miles of trail take you through densely vegetated terrain that includes 11 separate species of oak alone. Also calling the preserve home are 5 species of salamander, 14  species of frogs and toads, at least 50 nesting birds, assorted turtles, lizards and snakes. More info here.
• Patsy Pond Nature Trail, 4.5 miles, Newport. Before the European invasion, about 90 million acres of the Southeast were covered with longleaf pines. Today, that number is closer to 3.3 million. Which makes walking the Patsy Pond Nature Trail like diving into a good history book. A good history in that the forest isn’t just about the longleaf, but also about its supporting characters, including the red-cockaded woodpecker, Carolina gopher frog, bladderwort, sundew and a cast, literally, of thousands. Learn more here.

Coastal plain

There’s nothing plain about these hikes, other than their coastal plain setting.

• 

  Jones Lake State Park, 4 miles, Elizabethtown. Every time I’ve hiked here it’s been: 1) in winter, 2) 40 degrees, 3) under cloudless skies. In short, perfect. Such a great experience has hiking the 4-mile Bay Trail been that I go back every couple of years to experience the open pine forest on the west side of Jones Lake, the dense bay forest on the east side. A Jekyll and Hyde hike with a total elevation gain of 3 feet. And if I’m hungry for more I can hop across the road (N.C. 242) and continue hiking at Turnbull State Educational Forest. Learn more here.

• 

  Merchants Millpond State Park, 9 miles, Gatesville. Every time I visit I think of the 1950s schlock sci-fi flick, “Creature from the Black Lagoon.” Although there might be alligators here, there have been no confirmed Gill-Man sightings at Merchants Millpond, despite the eerie similarity in swampy surroundings. The park may be known for canoeing on its 760-acre millpond, but the hiking here exposes you to some of the same treats, including bay woods and cypress and tupelo gum swamps. A great day trip. Learn more here.

• Pettrigrew State Park, 4.2 miles. Creswell,. When it comes to hiking you can go for distance or you can go to be awed. At Pettigrew State Park on the shores of Lake Phelps, the Morotoc Trail will certainly awe you with a collection of some of the oldest and largest trees of their kind in the state. Among the ancient oddities are various bay trees, sweet gums, persimmons, and pawpaws; the trunks of some bald cypress trees measure up to 10 feet in diameter; and, poplar trunks exceed six feet. “Vines as wide as human thighs wind their ways up trees as tall as 130 feet.” You’ll also see Atlantic white cedars that reach heights of 100 feet. Prepare for the slowest 2.8 miles of hiking in your life. Learn more here.

*  * *

Explore with us!

We’re ending 2022 with a hike that embodies the best hiking has to offer: carefree passage through peaceful terrain and bushwhack-driven way-finding through lush woods … .

GetHiking! Exploring the coastal Weetock Trail, Friday, Dec. 30, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. This trip includes:

• Zoom planning session to make sure you’re prepared for the hike
• 7-page eguide for the hike including custom map, route description, what you’ll need and general information about the hike and the forest.
• Lunch
• Trail snacks
• The hike

Read the trail description above; then go here to learn more and to sign up.

The post Coastal hikes beckon, with cooler weather appeared first on GetGoing NC!.