Tag Archives: Appalachian Trail

90 Second Escape: GetBackpacking! in winter on the Appalachian Trail

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. read more

This weekend: Curl up with a smooth stone

Runners, on your mark ...
Runners, on your mark …

Curling is one option this weekend. So are running and hiking.

Coast

If you need a reason to run, you won’t find a much better one than Saturday’s Run, Roll & Stroll 5K, 10K and 1-mile fun run in downtown Wilmington. The reason? The race benefits Purple Heart Homes, whose goal is to “help reintegrate veterans into the community, and to proudly acknowledge the sacrifice they have made on our country’s behalf. Whether it is adapting an already owned home, building a home from the ground up, or adapting and modifying a foreclosed home, Purple Heart Homes is committed to guiding the veteran through the entire process.” read more

90 Second Escape: Backpacking the AT in Virginia

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. read more

Finding your way, when your way is buried in snow

Friday around 11 a.m.: Snow begins falling high in the Mount Rogers area.
Friday around 11 a.m.: Snow begins falling

Trail blazes painted on rocks are a necessity where there are no trees.
And that’s fine — until those blazes are buried beneath a foot of snow.
A freak early-season winter storm the first weekend in November that dumped up to 22 inches in the high country may have gotten the 2014-15 Southeast ski season off to a great start, but it presented a challenge to backpackers surprised by the intensity of the storm, especially those making their way on the Appalachian Trail through the Mount Rogers/Grayson Highlands area of southwest Virginia, known for its vast exposure.
“We got lost twice,” says Greg Carpenter, 50, of Greensboro, “the first time for 30 minutes, the second for about 15.” As seasoned AT section read more