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!.

Last week, we extolled the virtues of basecamp backpacking : that is, hiking in a short distance with your camping gear to establish a basecamp, then doing day hikes from there. You get the advantage of backcountry camping minus the burden of hauling 35 pounds with you wherever you go. 

This week, we take you to 5 of our favorite Basecamp Backpack destinations, including their location, distance you hike in in full pack, day hike options and recommended stay.

Doughton Park

Blue Ridge Parkway near Laurel Springs NC: Longbottom Road Access

Hike in full pack: 1.5 miles

Day-hike options: 2 (with three options on one hike)

Recommended stay: hike in Friday afternoon/evening, hike out Sunday afternoon.

After a flat 1.5-mile hike on on the Grassy Gap Fire Road (natural surface, closed to traffic) from the Longbottom Road Access, set up basecamp in the spacious primitive camping area along Basin Creek. From there you have two day-hike options. If you’re hiking the recommended two days, spend the first hiking up 4.4-mile Cedar Ridge Trail, which gains nearly 2,000 vertical feet (about 90 percent of the climbing on this hike). From there, hang a left and hike the Bluff Mountain Trail (which doubles as the Mountains-to-Sea Trail) for 6.4 miles through meadows and pasture before returning down Grassy Gap Fire Road to camp. (Note: there’s a water crossing just before Grassy Gap returns to camp; scout it beforehand to make sure it’s passable; if it isn’t, from the Bluff Mountain Trail take either the Bluff Mountain Primitive Trail [shorter, steeper], or the Flat Rock Ridge Trail. Total distance: 17.6 miles. Hike No. 2: From camp take the 3.3-mile Basin Creek Trail to the old Caudill Cabin at the base of the Blue Ridge Escarpment. 

Rock Castle Gorge

Blue Ridge Parkway near Woolwine, VA: VA 805 Access

Hike in in full pack: about a quarter mile

Day-hike option: 1

Recommended trip stay: Hike in Friday afternoon/evening, hike out Sunday morning

There’s only one day-hike option out of camp, but it’s a doozy. Hike the 10.8-mile Rock Castle Gorge Trail counterclockwise and you’ll start through a gorgeous old-growth forest; the hiking is mellow at first, then the climbing and a little rock scrambling begin. At the 3-mile mark reach the Blue Ridge Parkway and go southwest, through high meadows and pasture with some nice views. At Grassy Knoll, the trail descends back into the gorge, a rollicking, rocky drop that goes for about a mile and a half. You’re exhausted when you hit bottom — and you’re also rewarded with a downhill-trending 2.8-mile hike on gravel roadbed paralleling Rock Castle Creek. So why stay a second night if there’s not a second hike option? You’ll discover why when you finally drag into camp at the end of the day.

Wilson Creek/Hunt-fish Falls

Wilson Creek Wild and Scenic Area, Pisgah National Forest near Mortimer

Hike in in full pack: 1.2 miles

Day-hike options: 2

Recommended trip stay: Hike in Friday afternoon, hike out Sunday mid-day.

Wilson Creek is at the base of Grandfather Mountain, and as such serves as the drainage for the massive massif’s southeast flank: creeks, waterfalls and cooling pools abound here. In fact, head up early enough and after packing in the 1.2 miles to camp (pictured at top) and getting set up, you can hike 0.4 miles back to Hunt-fish Falls for some stellar ogling and swimming. The long hike — about 8 miles — takes you up (and in) Lost Cove Creek for a mile before a 0.6-mile climb that gains 900 vertical feet. That’s the big climb of the day, though: after topping out at Bee Mountain it’s a gentle descent along Timber Ridge down to Gragg Prong and the return to camp. On Day 2, don your water shorts and grab a towel for the mile-and-a-half hike up Gragg Prong and the series of waterfalls and pools where, on a hot summer day, you will find unparalleled mountain bliss.

Birkhead Mountain Wilderness

Uwharrie Mountains southwest of Asheboro

Hike in in full pack: 3 miles

Recommended trip stay: hike in Friday afternoon, hike out Sunday morning

The 3-mile hike in is a bit longer and a bit more challenging than most Basecamp Backpack trips, but worth the extra effort. From the Tot Hill Access to the Birkheads on the north end of the Uwharries, hike a mile and three quarters on the Birkhead Mountain Trail, to the Camp 5 Trail. Here, you can either take that trail for a mile and a quarter to Camp 5 (which has water) or continue straight on the BMT to Camp 3, which has decent views (in the winter). Your day hike is about 9 and a half miles, on a loop consisting of the BMT, Robbins Branch and Hannah’s Creek trails. The Uwharries may not be as grand as the Southern Appalachians, but they’re also not a 3- to 5-hour drive for folks in the state’s three major population centers. It’s a good spur-of-the-moment destination for people in Charlotte, the Triangle and the Triad, and a great option for testing new gear. It’s also more accessible and hospitable in winter than a mountain hike.

Panthertown Valley

Panthertown Valley, Cashiers

Hike in full pack: 1 mile

Day-hike options: multiple

Recommended trip stay: Whatever works for your schedule; there are enough trails here to sustain you for 3-5 days.

We hate to be vague about options for hiking Panthertown Valley, but when you see the trail map, you’ll understand why. First things first: from the Salt Rock Access off SR 1121, hike the Salt Rock Trail 0.6 miles to Panther Creek Trail and go left for 0.3 miles, then right on Mac’s Gap: in less than 0.2 miles you’ll begin seeing multiple camp sites near Panthertown Creek. You’re smack dab in the middle of things, with great hikes out the front of your tent. Some things you’ll definitely want to check out: Granny Burrell and Schoolhouse falls, the Great Wall, Big Green and Little Green mountains, Blackroot Mountain, Panthertown Valley itself. You’ll definitely need a map. The best for exploring the area’s 30-plus miles of trail: “Burt Kornegay’s A Guide’s Guide to Panthertown, Bonas Defeat and Big Pisgah.”

* * *

Details, details

For more information on each adventure, click the link:

• Doughton Park
• Rock Castle Gorge
• Birkhead Mountain Wilderness
• Wilson Creek
• Panthertown Valley

Be a backpacker

Like the idea of basecamp backpacking, but you’re not a backpacker?  We can take care of that, with our GetBackpacking! Intro to Backpacking class. And the next class begins March 16. Here’s how it works:

Session 1: Getting to know you, getting to know your gear. In this Zoom session we’ll spend a few minutes getting to know one another and learning why you’re interested in backpacking. Then, we’ll go over the different types of gear, focusing on good options for beginners. 1 hour. Wednesday, March 15, 6 p.m.

Session 2: Training Day. In full gear, we will meet at Morrow Mountain State Park for a 5-hour training session that will go over: Evaluating a campsite, setting up camp, breaking camp, meal preparation (including the various food and cooking options on the trail), and more. Expect to hike about 4 miles in full pack, during which we will work on hiking technique (including the use of trekking poles); ensuring a good pack fit by adjusting your pack during the hike to make sure it continues to fit; and more. Saturday, March 18, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

* Graduation hike. Three-day, two-night trip to South Mountains State Park, a great place for your first trip. Friday, April 14, 2 p.m. thru Sunday, April 16, 1 p.m.

Learn more and register to join us here.

The post 5 of our Favorite Basecamp Backpack Trips appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

A simple misconception.

When you think of  backpacking, you likely think of hiking  with 40 pounds on your back all day. In fact, you don’t. If every backpack trip we took involved lugging a full pack for days on end, we wouldn’t backpack, either. 

That’s why we advocate a different approach to backpacking: Basecamp Backpacking. You hike in a short distance — typically under three miles, sometimes not even a mile — in full pack, set up camp, do day hikes — with a lightweight day pack — from there. Here are the two big advantages to basecamp backpacking:

• 

  Backcountry camping solitude at a fraction the cost of traditional backpacking. The physical cost, that is. You’d be surprised at how short a hike it can take to achieve camping solitude. For example, one of our favorite basecamp trips is to Doughton Park along the Blue Ridge Parkway. From the Longbottom Road Access it’s a flat, mile-and-a-half hike in full pack to basecamp, a spacious backcountry site served by two creeks. From here, you have access to about 30 miles of trail for day hikes. It’s an even shorter hike — maybe a quarter mile — to the primitive site at Rock Castle Gorge in Virginia (pictured at top), from which you can day hike the popular — and challenging — 10.8-mile Rock Castle Gorge loop. Short hikes in full pack, access to miles and miles of hiking in a day pack.

• More miles, more scenery (and less aching). Most of us hike a mile and a half, maybe two miles per hour in a full pack in the mountains. After six or seven hours, we’re done. In a day pack — bearing only the 10 essentials and weighing, what, five pounds tops? — you’ll cover closer to three miles in an hour. That’s close to twice the distance based on pace alone. Then factor in the likelihood you’ll be able to hike longer with a lesser load. Who wouldn’t rather hike 15 miles as opposed to 7?

Here are some other advantages to Basecamp Backpacking:

• One home, not several. Show of hands: whose favorite part of backpacking is setting up and breaking down camp? With Basecamp Backpacking you set up camp once, you break camp once. You get a chance to settle in, to make camp feel more like home.
• It’s cheaper. If your goal is to add up miles getting from point A to point B, then you’re going to quickly become obsessed with weight, and as every backpacker knows, to trim weight you have to spend more, way more. With Basecamp Backpacking, you can get away with, for instance, a $100, 5-pound tent. If you’re doing a section hike or thru hike, you’re looking at at least halving that weight, which means tripling or quadrupling the price. And that goes for every piece of equipment you have.
• Luxuries. Ask a thru-hiker what “luxury” he’s indulging and he’ll sheepishly admit to bringing a stove. This as opposed to saving the 2.6 ounces ounces his stove weights and — yech! — cold soaking. Ask me about my luxury and I’ll reply, without hesitation, it’s my Helinox Chair Zero, a camp chair that weighs in at just 17 ounces — more, likely, than the distance-hiker’s tarp tent. And frankly, I balk at referring to it as a “luxury” — it’s my dadgum right to sit comfortably around camp and I will not be denied!
• Campfire. One of the saddest things about distance hiking, in my book, is that after hiking  15 to 20 miles in one day these bedraggled distance hikers just want to eat their tepid porridge that’s been cold-soaking in a Talenti container since noon and fall asleep. I know, the campfire has been under a lot of criticism of late, but if there’s a better form of therapy out there, I’d love to hear about it. Sitting around a campfire in the evening with your people, talking about anything and everything that doesn’t have to do with work or politics or civilization is my favorite part of the backpacking experience. I love the hiking, I love nature, I’m even pretty good with inclement weather. But it’s those campfire conversations that keep me coming back.
• Don’t fret the wet. I like hiking in a light to moderate rain. What I don’t like is setting up and breaking down camp in the rain. If you’re section hiking for 10 days, that’s 20 times you need to hope it’s not raining. With a basecamp trip, it’s really only once, when you set up your one and only camp, that it needs to be dry. Set up dry and, barring an issue with your tent, you’ll stay dry.  
• In fact, embrace the wet. If it rains when you return from a day hike, you’ve got a dry place to hang out and read, nap, listen to music.
• Quick bug out, if need be. If something goes wrong on a basecamp trip, you’re likely just a short hike from your car.

Backpacking has long been romanticized as the one true way to escape into the wild — but at a price. With Basecamp Backpacking, that price has dropped considerably. 

* * *

Intro to Backpacking

Now that you know what backpacking can be, you’re likely wondering how you can get into it. With our GetBackpacking! Intro to Backpacking class. And the next class begins March 16. Here’s how it works:

Session 1: Getting to know you, getting to know your gear. In this Zoom session we’ll spend a few minutes getting to know one another and learning why you’re interested in backpacking. Then, we’ll go over the different types of gear, focusing on good options for beginners. 1 hour. Wednesday, March 15, 6 p.m.

Session 2: Training Day. In full gear, we will meet at Morrow Mountain State Park for a 5-hour training session that will go over: Evaluating a campsite, setting up camp, breaking camp, meal preparation (including the various food and cooking options on the trail), and more. Expect to hike about 4 miles in full pack, during which we will work on hiking technique (including the use of trekking poles); ensuring a good pack fit by adjusting your pack during the hike to make sure it continues to fit; and more. Saturday, March 18, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

* Graduation hike. Three-day, two-night trip to South Mountains State Park, a great place for your first trip. Friday, April 14, 2 p.m. thru Sunday, April 16, 1 p.m.

Learn more and register to join us here.

Next week

Next week we share some of our favorite spots to Basecamp Backpack.

The post Basecamp backpacking: The Best of Two Worlds appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

When it ends and it’s time to head home.

But what if the hike didn’t end and you didn’t have to go home?

That would be backpacking. 

Imagine, for instance, that instead of sadly piling into the car and heading home after 5 or 8 or 10 miles on the trail, you pitch camp, make dinner, then enjoy the quiet of the backcountry and the transition from day to dusk to dark. Then, awake the next morning and repeat.

Backpacking has a reputation of being for the hardcore, for those up for totting 60-pound packs for 20 miles, of eating beans ’n’ weenies from a can, of sleeping (or trying to) in a damp tent. 

‘Roughing it’ the modern way

In fact, modern backpacking is about carrying as little weight as you like (for a price, of course); of dining on dehydrated gourmet meals; of sleeping in a cozy, dry nylon shelter; of hiking in less than a mile, if you like, to camp.

It’s that latter fact that we emphasize with our 10-year-old GetBackpacking! program. Though we try to keep it light, we also have a thing for comfort. That means eating well, having hot coffee first thing in the morning, having a comfy chair to sit in and enjoy a cup of tea at day’s end. That means having a pack that might way 30 pounds (as opposed to an ultralight pack weighing in at less than 10 pounds), but a pack you may carry only a mile or two, which we can do because we’re big fans of basecamp backpacking: Hike in a short distance to a primitive site, establish basecamp, do day hikes with a 5-pound daypack from there. The advantages of a primitive camp without the pain of getting there, plus getting to hike twice as far — and see twice as much — in a featherweight daypack. 

2023 is Year of the Trail in North Carolina and one of our goals is get you on the trail — and keep you there. There’s no better way to do that than backpacking.

5 of Our Favorite Trips

In one last push to get your attention, we’ll share video from five of our favorite backpack trips. And if you’re not a backpacker, stick around until the end. We’ll tell you how you can become one.

Virginia Triple Crown 

Appalachian Trail: Carvers Gap to US 19E

Shining Rock via Big East Fork

Wilson Creek area of the Pisgah National Forest 

Neusiok Trail, Croatan National Forest

* * *

GetBackpacking! Intro to Backpacking

We launched our GetBackpacking! program in 2014; since then, we’ve graduated more than 250 new backpackers. Here’s the plan for our Spring 2023 session:
* Getting to know you, getting to know your gear. In this Zoom session we’ll spend a little time getting to know one another and learning why you’re interested in backpacking. Then, we’ll go over the different types of gear, focusing on good options for beginners. 1.5 hours.
* Training Day. In full gear, we will meet at Morrow Mountain State Park for a 5-hour training session that will go over: Evaluating a campsite, setting up camp, breaking camp, meal preparation (including the various food and cooking options on the trail), and more. Expect to hike about 4 miles in full pack, during which we will work on hiking technique (including the use of trekking poles); ensuring a good pack fit by adjusting your pack during the hike to make sure it continues to fit; and more.
* Graduation hike. Three-day, two-night trip to South Mountains State Park, a great place for your first trip.
Cost of the program is $325 — $295 if you sign up by Jan. 15! The class includes:

• Instruction, including:
  • Zoom gear session
  • 5-hour in-field training session
  • Graduation weekend
• Info packet, including:
  • Gear lists
  • Tips sheets for:
    • Packing
    • Water crossings
    • Winter camping
    • GetBackpacking! Guide to 10 Great Places to Backpack in North Carolina once you’ve graduated
• eguide outlining the program and covering what you’ll learn
• 20 percent off coupon to Great Outdoor Provision Co.

Loaner gear. We have a limited number of backpacks and tents available on a first-requested, first-awarded basis, at no extra charge.’

Important Dates:
• Getting to know you, getting to know your gear, Zoom meeting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 15, 6 – 7 p.m.
• Training Day: Saturday, March 18, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Morrow Mountain State Park, Albemarle
• Graduation trip: Friday afternoon thru Sunday, April 14-16, South Mountains State Park, Morganton.

For more information and to sign up to join us, go here.

Basecamp backpacking

Curious about basecamp backpacking, where you hike in a short distance, establish basecamp, then day-hike from there? Learn more about it — and our 5 favorite basecamp destinations —at this post from 2021, “5 of Our Favorite Basecamp Backpack Trips.”

The post Backpacking: A Hike that Doesn’t End appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

You learn a lot while backpacking, especially about yourself. I’m pretty sure the nine backpackers I spent this past weekend with in Linville Gorge know a lot more about themselves today than they did before our trip.

The weekend trip was an Intermediate Skills trip, meaning participants needed some backcountry experience, though not necessarily in a wilderness. It was targeted to people eager to expand their skills and push their comfort level. And that they did.

Late Friday afternoon, within 20 minutes of heading south on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail from Table Rock, the rain started. By the time we neared Chimney Gap, an electrical storm passed overhead. We hunkered down in this low spot for 15 minutes before the electrical portion of the storm moved on. We continued in a pretty good rain out of the gap. The rain had us focused on the fluid trail in front of us, as we picked our way around puddles and mini-torrents. While we were looking down, and not around, we missed a crucial turn and started heading downhill. It didn’t feel entirely wrong, based on previous trips, but it didn’t feel right, either. After 20 minutes of descending, the low clouds lifted just enough to reveal, to the south, the ridge we should have been on.

Forty minutes later we regained the MST and continued south. The rain was steady, and waves of unsteady air sparked and rumbled around us. It was 8:30 and almost dark.

We reached an area called Rock Peak, where the trail is especially hard to keep. We lost it, found it, lost it. When we found it again, we headed in the direction from which we had come, which was the wrong direction. The first campsites we came to, at about 10:45 p.m., were where we had taken the wrong turn more than 3 hours earlier (though we didn’t realize that until morning). The rain lightened, the backpackers quickly pitched camp, ate, crawled into their tents.

The next morning: unfazed

When morning come and I explained what had happened, that we’d basically done three hours of extra credit hiking in full pack in a storm, it was more of a “Huh!” moment, rather than a “Let’s-get-the-hike-leader!” pitchforks-and-torches moment.

“The gorge is the gorge,” Bruce said with a smile and a shrug.

There was more news to be delivered. Our plan going in was a 20-mile loop of the gorge that included two crossings of the Linville River. In backpacking circles, it’s a pretty big deal to loop Linville Gorge: most folks usually stick to either the east or west sides, avoiding a challenging river crossing. The crossings — the chance to pick up a new backcountry skill — was a big draw of the trip.

Before the group arrived, I’d hiked in and checked one of the crossings, at Spence Ridge Trail: the river was about six inches above where it needed to be for a safe crossing, and the six hours of rain overnight had added to that. It also ruled out the less-challenging crossing at the end of the gorge, where the river fans to 60 yards and is typically shin deep with a mellow current. Today, it would not be mellow.

“New plan,” I announced. “We’ll hike to Shortoff Mountain, set up camp, dry out, catch some sun, enjoy the view.” Our trip had gone from rollicking wilderness adventure to an afternoon of catching rays.

The group wasn’t fazed.

“Sounds good,” said Joe, who was backpacking with his two college-age sons.

“That’s backpacking,” Brandon added.

Lessons learned

At dinner that evening, Alison noted what a learning experience the hike had been.

“Maybe we didn’t do the river crossings,” said Alison, “but we got to hike at night, we got to hike in the rain, we got to navigate a wilderness area in the dark. That’s pretty good.”

“Maybe this should be an advanced skills trip,” suggested Sue.

Jason captured the essential lesson of the trip: “I learned not to panic.”

It would have been easy to lose it when we discovered we had descended nearly a mile on the wrong trail. It would have been easy to throw up our hands when the third electrical storm rolled overhead. And it would have been easy to yell “Why? Why!?” when, exhausted, we were three hours overdue at camp.

The most telling moment of the trip came at Rock Peak, at the peak of the storm, where the trail simply disappeared. Without needing a prompt, everyone began their own trail search. Everyone remained focused and calmly committed to finding a place to pitch camp for the night. No one panicked. No one came close. We had a problem to solve, and we were going to solve it.

Daily, we deal with situations that try our nerves and test our patience, from getting cut off in traffic to having technology fail us. We seem to spend some days doing nothing but solving one problem after another.

For the nine backpackers I took into the gorge this past weekend, those daily problems won’t seem quite as daunting.

* * *

GetBackpacking! Intro to Backpacking

Backpacking won’t solve all your problems, but it can help you become a better problem solver! If you’re interested in backpacking,  our next GetBackpacking! Intro to Backpacking class begins the end of August.  This three-part program includes a gear session (get to know the basic backpacking gear and how to pack a pack, via Zoom on Aug. 24); a six-hour training session at Morrow Mountain State Park that goes over setting up camp, tearing down camp, cooking and nutrition (Saturday, Aug. 27); and culminates with a weekend graduation backpack trip to South Mountains State Park (Sept. 23-25). Some loaner gear is available, on a first-come basis. Learn more and sign up here.

The post Lessons learned navigating Linville Gorge appeared first on GetGoing NC!.