Coast

So here’s a plan: Sunday, Dismal Swamp State Park will conduct two of its popular Wagon Rides, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. The ride lasts about an hour, covers a couple miles on the Canal Road, there are several educational stops along the way.

Go on the ride, get educated, then rent a kayak at the park for $5 for the first hour, paddle the canal and put your newfound knowledge to practical use. Exploring an area is all the better when you know a thing about it.

Logistics: Sunday, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Dismal Swamp State Park, South Mills. Wagon ride is free, kayak rental is $5 for the first hour, $3 each hour thereafter. 252.771.6593 to reserve a spot on the wagon.

Sunday forecast: High of 83, chance of thunderstorms.

Piedmont

This weekend, The LandTrust for Central North Carolina celebrates its Third Annual Naturalist Weekend at its 1,300-acre Low Water Bridge Nature Preserve on the Uwharrie River. Hikes both days at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. will be lead by John Gerwin, ornithologist at the N.C. Museum of Sciences in Raleigh, while the Sunday hikes will include local rattlesnake expert Zach Orr. There’s a canoe trip as well, at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

A gorgeous area, a great organization.

Logistics: Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., canoe trip Saturday at 2 p.m., Low Water Bridge Nature Preserve, Troy.

Weekend forecast: High of 86 both days, chance of thunderstorms both days.

Mountains

Love to explore new trail? Not all of Sunday’s hike by the Carolina Mountain Club is on fresh trail, but a fair amount is.

Hikers, lead by guidebook author Danny Bernstein, will start at Waterrock Knob and hike the Mountains-to-Sea Trail mostly downhill to Balsam Gap. The hike will pass through the Middle Prong Wilderness and stands of black balsam. Special guest hiker appearance by Kate Dixon, Executive Director of Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

Logistics: Sunday, May 10, 8:30 a.m. Waterrock Knob. Contact Bernstein at 828.450.0747 or danny@hikertohiker.com to sign up and for additional details.

Weather: High of 80, chance of thunderstorms.

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Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below.

The post This weekend: A swamp tour, a naturalist weekend, a hike on new trail in the Mountains appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

On a crisp afternoon in November 2009 I was hiking along Pretty Hollow Creek in the Great Smokies when I heard voices up ahead. I looked up to see three backpackers, two on the far side of the creek, a third, wearing a jester’s hat, tiptoeing her way over the creek atop a downed hemlock. The two who had successfully made the passage were offering their … encouragement to the one in transit. Then, one yelled about the last two words I was expecting to hear.

“Joe Miller!”
I squinted. It was fellow adventure guide writer Danny Bernstein.
Danny, it turned out, was just beginning her latest adventure: a section hike of the statewide Mountains-to-Sea Trail. She introduced me to her hiking mates, Carolyn Hoopes and Sharon “Smoky Scout” McCarthy, who was also attempting the entire MST. (Both would complete the trail in 2011, joining an elite group of hikers.)
We chatted for a few minutes, but they needed to get to camp four miles down the trail, I needed to get back to my car, another six miles down the line and we were rapidly losing Standard Time sunlight. We parted without my getting a chance to ask about her latest project.
She’s up to something, I was pretty sure.

What she was up to was “The Mountains-to-Sea Trail Across North Carolina: Walking a Thousand Miles through Wildness, Culture and History,” just released by Natural History Press.
Danny’s latest book is, as the subtitle suggests, a walk through the history, the culture and the wildness that you’ll find along the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, from it’s western end atop Clingman’s Dome on the Tennessee line to its sandy eastern conclusion at Jockey’s Ridge on the Atlantic. It’s an account of the 950-mile trail that is a little over half completed, and it makes a compelling case for why anyone might want to hike the part that isn’t, the part that follows a temporary route on mostly backroads, mostly in the eastern part of the state.
You have two options to learn more about Danny and her adventure. One, of course, is to buy the book. The other is to swing by Quail Ridge Books & Music in Raleigh this Friday evening at 7:30, where she’ll be telling her story and selling her book.
Danny gives us a tease of what to expect, with this RQ5QI (Really Quick Five Question Interview). Read more in her author Q&A at Natural History Press.

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Really Quick Five Question Interview

1. What section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail would you recommend someone hike to give them a true sense of what the trail is about?

Danny Bernstein: I would recommend the Sauratown TraIL, the 20-miles between Pilot Mountain and Hanging Rock. It’s the only section of private land on the MST. I would have hoped that this would be an example for other sections of the MST, but so far no go.

2. In your Natural History Press author Q&A, you note that the trail isn’t complete — “And I hope it never will be.” Why do you say that? What’s the allure of the trail as it is?

DB: I loved walking the road. I loved meeting people, seeing how they live, seeing the cotton and tobacco fields. The  roadside cemeteries puzzled me. Why bury your family on private land?

3. Did you have the idea for this particular book — to tell the story of the MST from a historical and cultural perspective — from the outset, or did the notion occur to you along the way?

DB: When I started the MST, I knew that I would finish it. I’ve done many hiking challenges but this is the first hiking challenge where I knew before I started that I would complete. [On the others like the AT, I decided to complete it after doing many miles just for vacations.] I decided to blog about every day on the MST and those were my starting notes. Then I researched where I was going, especially once I got out of the mountains. Of course, there was a lot of serendipity, as well. I certainly couldn’t predict all that I saw.

4. Did you have a favorite day on the trail, one of those days you say to yourself, “I can’t believe I’m doing this”?

DB: Not easy. But if I had to choose, I loved walking into Eno River State Park. After miles of road walking into Durham, I slip into the park and start seeing white circles again. I wondered how many people knew what the white circles were for.

5. Again, in your Natural History Press author’s Q&A you said you hiked the entire MST, save for two bridges which you thought were too dangerous. Which bridges were they? (I’ll guess on one: Oregon Inlet.)

DB: The bridge over the Neuse River as I came out of New Bern. Six-lane divided highway and cars were zipping at 70 MPH. And yes, the Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet. There, my hiking partner (Sharon) and I talked to the wildlife refuge guys and they really discouraged us.

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Danny Bernstein
What: Reading from her latest book, “The Mountains-to-Sea Trail Across North Carolina: Walking a thousand Miles through Wilderness, Culture & History,” Natural History Press, 2013.
When: Friday, April 5, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Quail Ridge Books & Music, 3522 Wade Ave., Raleigh. 919.828.7912
Co-sponsored by Friends of the Mountain-to-Sea Trail and Great Outdoor Provision Co.

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Coast

There should be a law that during the first legitimate week of fall weather — which would be this week — you get to take a day off from work. What the heck, let’s just assume there is such a law and you have elected to start the weekend early and take Friday off. Good move, for that means you can head to the coast and take the Alligator River Canoe Tour conducted by the Coastal Wildlife Refuge Society. The three-hour tour (9 a.m. to noon) explores blackwater canals and Milltail Creek, touching on the history of the area and searching for the refuge’s abundant wildlife (which includes Alligator River Wildlife Refuge’s namesake critter). It’s an exceptionally scenic area, an exceptionally rewarding paddle. All gear is provided: $35 for adults, $20 for kids 12 and under.

Reservations are required, by calling 252.475.4180. For more on the refuge, go here.

Piedmont

Up for a family adventure? Make that a family adventure race? Sunday, it’s the 8th Annual Kids In Training Youth/Family Adventure Race at Lake Crabtree County Park in Morrisville. Could there be a more active way to spend a Sunday afternoon than running, biking and canoeing with your kid? Competition is in the 5-7 age group, 8-10 and 11-17 (sorry mom and dad; it doesn’t matter how old you are. Event distances vary by age group. $60 per team to compete; canoes provided.

More info, go here.

Mountains

Cool, fall weather means one thing to us in the high country: hiking. Sunday, join the Carolina Mountain Club for an 8-mile hike in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that takes in the 60-foot Ramsey Cascades. An extra bonus: the hike leader is Danny Bernstein, author of “Hiking the Carolina Mountains” and “Hiking North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Heritage.” She not only knows the trail, she’s fun to hike with as well.

More on the hike here.

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Those are GGNC’s thoughts for an active weekend. Find out other ways you can get out this weekend by browsing our super calendar, a collection of events calendars from throughout the state, below.

Know of a good outdoors calendar we should include? Pass it along and we’ll plug it in.

Photo: Author Danny Bernstein on a bakcpack trip in the Smokies last November.

Coast

CapeFearCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar for the Cape Fear/Wilmington/southern N.C. coast searchable by date and event name.

Coastal Guide
Comprehensive calendar including nature programs from a variety of costal conservation and research agencies that offer nature programs. Covers the entire coast.

Crystal Cost Tourism Authority
Comprehensive calendar focusing on the Crystal Coast. Good source for programs offered by N.C. Coastal Federation, Cape Lookout National Park, N.C. National Estuarine Research Reserve and other costal conservation and research agencies that offer nature programs.

NCCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar including programs for the Outer Banks and Crystal Coast.

North Carolina Coast Host
Comprehensive calendar for the entire coast that lets you search for events by day, by region, by county, by city or by event (based on key word).

This Week Magazine
Primary focus is the Crystal Coast (North Carolina’s coastal midsection).

Mountains

Asheville Citizen-Times
From the main page, click on “Outdoors,” then WNC Outdoors calendar.

Blue Ridge Outdoors
Searchable calendar lets you extend your reach to events throughout the mid-Atlantic and Southeast (or you can just limit it to North Carolina). Also lets you search a boatload of categories, ranging from Hiking, Mountain Biking and Climbing to Trail Running, Triathlon and Road Walking.

The Mountain Times
From the main page, click on “Calendars,” then Main Events.

Piedmont

Charlotte

Charlotte Observer events calendar
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including Nature, Recreation, Recreation & Wellness, Running

Charlotte Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triad

GoTriad.com
Comprehensive calendar includes a Sports & Recreation category.

Piedmont Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triangle

Triangle.com
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including: Birding, Boating, Cycling, Nature, Rec & Wellness, Recreation, Running, Swimming, Tennis, Yoga.

Carolina Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Statewide

Office of Environmental Education
One calendar for the numerous Environmental Education Centers statewide.

North Carolina State Parks
Lets you search for programs at the state’s parks, recreation areas and natural areas by location, by month, by topic. To reach the calendar from the home page, click on “Education,” then “Fun & Free Programs at Parks.”

National Forests in North Carolina
From the home page, click on Carolina Connections for news updates on the state’s four national forests as well as hints on recreational opportunities and a detailed rundown of recreation areas and the amenities at each.

The post Weekend plans? Cure your fall fever appeared first on GetGoing NC!.