Post Labor Day blues got a hold? Chase ‘em away on a standup paddleboard, in a kayak or on a trail.
Coast
Volleyball used to be the thing to do at the beach. And people still play volleyball, it’s just been supplanted as the thing to do. The new the?
Let March know you’ve been waiting for it with a big outdoor welcome this weekend. Paddle the month in at the coast, greet it from on high in the Piedmont, or acknowledge its arrival with a classic hike on the Appalachian Trail near Hot Springs.
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.
They were, as my wife later pointed out, a dose of trail magic.
I had a narrow window o time — late Sunday afternoon thru Tuesday — and decided to squeeze in a long overdue backpack trip. I got out the maps, searched for the closest high country trail, and quickly determined I’d be heading to the Appalachian Trail just west of Lynchburg, Va., a little over three hours away.
Weirdly, a lot of us felt powerless as our elected federal officials shut down the U.S. government for 16 days. We elected them, but I’m pretty sure most of us didn’t elect them to do this.
You can stress this point when your local representatives come up for reelection. Unfortunately, that’s a ways off. If you prefer instant gratification, here’s a suggestion: This weekend, now that the government is again open for business, visit one of the federal parks, forests, refuges, trails, historic sites, military parks — whatever, that was closed during the recent … situation.
Our friends at the N.C. Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development have put together a list of federal sites you can visit statewide. Click on the site for information on planning a visit.
This weekend, let your elected officials know how much you appreciate these gems — and don’t appreciate them being capriciously closed. Take a day trip.