Saturday at 9 a.m. we kick off our GetHiking! Winter Wild series of hikes designed to take advantage of a woefully under-appreciated season for being in the woods. Winter offers access, vulnerability, brilliant sunlight and best of all, few fellow hikers. That’s especially true on our Winter Wild hikes, which are largely off-trail. We take advantage of old roadbeds, of game trails, of the lack of undergrowth, to explore places inaccessible the rest of the year. Our first hike: the Eno Wilderness.

The Eno Wilderness is an 820-acre tract of land brought into the park in 2004 with the help of the Eno River Association. The beauty of this parcel: it remains an undeveloped part of the park — and it hides some wonderful treasures, including old homesteads, narrow valleys and the highest point in the park. Best of all, we still have four spots remaining for this hike. 

If you’re interested in joining us — the forecast for Saturday morning is for sun and temperatures in the 30s and 40s — you can learn more and sign up to join us here.

Also this weekend:

• 

  How to Build a Campfire, Saturday, 3 p.m., Pilot Mountain State Park, Pinnacle. You ever look around when you’re camping and notice everyone else has a raging bonfire going, an RBF that seems to occur with a snap of the fingers? How do they do that? you wonder. (You suspect lighter fluid, but you’re not sure.) Come and hike a trail or two at Pilot Mountain, then head to the Visitor Center at 3 p.m. where a ranger will share tips and tricks for building the campfire of your dreams. Learn more here.

• Occoneechee Mountain Geology Hike, Saturday 2 p.m., Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area, Hillsborough. This hike is done monthly; we recommend it for this weekend because the fall color at Occoneechee is still good, giving you a second reason to sign up. Learn more here, sign up by calling 919.383.1686.
• Freshwater Otters, Sunday, 11 a.m., Eno River State Park, Durham. I was hiking once in the Shenandoah and was about to cross a small creek when I noticed a dark rock flapping its fins. Either that’s one cute rock or an otter that seems really big for such a small creek. How does an otter live in such a small body of water? This and other otter-related questions will be answered in this 1-hour session at the Fews Ford Picnic Shelter. Learn more here. 

We’re heading into a busy time of year when you might not havemuch time to get out. Take advantage of the good weather while you can.

GetOut! And enjoy.

The post GetOut! Cool temps, sun and lingering color … appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Non-campers believe the purpose of the campfire is to keep warm, maybe cook food. But backpackers know otherwise. Yes, a good fire helps us stay awake past 6 o’clock on a winter trip. But it’s also the nexus of conversation, of talk about anything, and everything, and nothing.

This week on the GetHiking! Southeast Podcast we share snippets of conversation from ’round the campfire from a recent weekend trip to the Wilson Creek area of North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest. Even if you have no idea what’s being discussed, if you’re a camper, the conversation will sound familiar.

Check out the podcast here.

And while great campfire discussion can happen just about anywhere, here are the five sites we’ve found most conducive to a good fireside chat.

1. 

   Hunt-fish Falls 

Primitive site (1.4-mile hike in)

Wilson Creek area of the Pisgah National Forest

Mortimer, NC

The site where our podcast conversation took place, but the site of many great conversations before it. Located in a narrow valley along Little Lost Cove Creek, there’s an intimacy here that encourages folks to let their guard down.

More info here.

2. Standing Indian Group Campground

Drive-up, Site B

Standing Indian Recreation Area, Nantahala National Forest

Franklin, NC

At 3,000 feet, the nights are cool even in the dead of summer at this campsite along chatty Kimsey Creek. An ample stone fire ring accommodates a sizable fire with seasoned wood available at the campsite.

More info here.

3. Little Long Mountain

Primitive (0.8-mile hike in)

Uwharrie National Forest

Asheboro, NC

Who would guess that one of the best campfire sunsets (and sunrises, if you’re so inclined) to be had is in the Piedmont? Actually, in the Uwharrie Mountains, a relic mountain chain rising more than 1,000 feet in an area where elevations much above 400 feet are rare. The fire pit has a sweeping 180-degree view, from east to south to west (pictured at top).

More info here.

4. Dogwood Camp

Primitive (0.75-mile hike in from NC 101)

Neusiok Trail, Croatan National Forest

Havelock, NC

There’s something bewitching about bering gathered around a campfire in a dense coastal forest. Who knows what lurks beyond the glow cast by your fire, the only clues offered by the chatter of a diverse (and unseen) animal world.

More info here.

5. Naked Ground

Primitive (4.4-mile hike in)

Joyce Kilmer/Slickrock Wilderness, Nantahala National Forest

Robbinsville, NC

A campfire in a wilderness, especially at a campsite you had to work like the dickens to reach, holds a special allure. And in this wilderness, home to some of the oldest trees on the East Coast, the allure is downright primal. The farther from civilization, it seems, the more revealing the conversations.

More info here.

The post The Campfire (and 5 great places to have one) appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

We love a good campfire after a long day on the trail. We love it for the light, which extends the day into night (especially welcome when the sun sets at 5 p.m.). We love it for the heat, without which we would be forced into our bags all the earlier. We love it for its s’more-making potential.

Mostly, though, we love it for the stimulating conversation staring at flames tends to inspire. Around the water cooler at work it’s small talk about the day-to-day: cleaning the attic, taking the kids to practice, the leftovers you brought for lunch. Around the campfire, it gets downright philosophical, as these snippets from a backpack trip a couple weekends ago reveal:

* * *

“You can drink in a National Park.”

You can’t drink in a National Park.

“You can drink here.”

This isn’t a National Park. It’s a National Forest. You can do anything in a National Forest.

“No, you can drink in a National Park, but you can’t carry a gun. But you can carry a gun in a State Park, but you can’t drink.”

* * *

“It’s called ‘Beanboozled.’ You get two jelly beans. One’s, like, tutti fruitti. The other’s barf.”

And you have to guess which one you’ve got?

“No. You know.”

Then why would you eat it if you knew beforehand that it was barf?

“It’s a middle school thing. It’s funny. They think it’s funny.”

Does it mean I’m old if I don’t think it’s funny?

Does it?

* * *

“I teach sixth grade science. So, I teach matter, geology, earth science. I’d really like to teach apes.”

Apes?

“Sorry, teacher jargon: Advance Placement Environmental Science.”

* * *

“My husband teaches, too. He teaches Latin.”

Latin?

“It’s making a resurgence.”

* * *

“Ramen noodles and packaged chicken: 30 cents and two eighty-nine!”

* * *

“I also dehydrated some, well, what would you call it? It was, I guess … well, I guess it was chili.”

That was a lot of thought and deliberation to come up with “chili”.

“Oh, and I dehydrated some hot and sour sauce, too. It came out like fruit leather.”

* * *

“My undergraduate degree? It was in partying. No, was it social work? I can’t remember. It wasn’t doing me any good. I had to move back home with my parents. After a while I had to do something to get out of the house, so I decided to get my RN.”

How old were you then?

“35.”

The post The campfire: the Algonquin Round Table of the Outdoors appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Today’s 90-Second Escape: Fire Good

There’s more than one way to start a backcountry campfire, as Marty taught us on this weekend’s GetBackpacking! Intro to Backpacking graduation trip to South Mountains State Park …

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Today’s 90-Second Escape: The Campfire

When contemplating the many joys of camping, it’s hard to know where to start. We’ve been reminded of this the past few days as we prepare for an Intro to Car Camping clinic we’re putting on Wednesday evening at the Great Outdoor Provision Co. in Raleigh’s Cameron Village shopping center.

The clean air, the cool nights, the camaraderie. And, of course, The Campfire. Today, we celebrate the calming, mesmerizing, primal effects of watching sitting around a mound of fire in the dark.

And if you’re curious about camping and our clinic, go here for more information.

* * *

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