It’s summer, it’s time to hit the water.
Coast
High on the list of many reasons we enjoy the adventure life in North Carolina is the opportunity to paddle a swamp. Does any location scream adventure more than a swamp? Slowly making your way through the tupelo gum and cypress weeping Spanish moss, paddle in hand, wary eye cast into the jungle beyond … throw in a bottle of gin and a dame and it’s “The African Queen” in our own backyard.
Saturday is National Trails Day, a time when we pay homage to the more than 200,000 miles of recreational pathways across the land that deliver us from the challenges of day-to-day life. Be it a foot path, a bike path, a canoe trail or a horse trail, events nationwide will give us a chance to either celebrate our trails by using them, or honor them by sprucing ’em up.
Learn a thing or two about a swamp at the coast, ditto a riparian corridor in the Piedmont. Meanwhile, the Carolina Mountain Club hikes a new and emerging stretch of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail originating at Waterrock Knob. Another great weekend to be in North Carolina.
Friday kicks off a 10-day celebration of cycling in Raleigh, while Saturday’s Paddle for the Border marks the annual spring migration of paddlers on the Dismal Swamp Canal. Meanwhile, in the mountains, check out the high season for high mountain wildflowers with the High Peaks Association.
Don’t let a lack of daylight (Sunday is the winter solstice, fyi) keep you from venturing out. In fact, a lack of daylight is the reason for getting out Sunday at DuPont State Recreational Forest.
Coast
Sometimes we head into the wild to free our minds, sometimes our goal is to fill it. Sometimes, you end up doing both.