• Wednesday, Feb. 4, REI in Cary, 7 p.m.
• Thursday, Feb. 5, REI in Durham, 7 p.m.

And if you’re thinking, “I’m not really much of a hiker, this probably isn’t for me,” then cease that line of thinking. This hike and the 12-week training program is exactly for you: that’s what the training is all about. If you’re curious about what hiking 28.3 miles in a day is like, here are some scenes from the first Ultimate Hike on the Foothills Trail, in 2011.

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Coast

If you live in the Greenville area and bemoan the lack of organized outings in the region, take note of a new Meetup in the region: GetExploring! Greenville. Just so we’re square here, GetExploring! Greenville is sponsored by Great Outdoor Provision Co. and was created as part of GetGoingNC’s Get! division, our effort to become more actively involved in getting you involved.

GetExploring! Greenville began in August with a couple of low-key paddles (lead by yours-truly). It gets going in earnest this Thursday evening with the launch of its Fall Into Adventure program. The launch, to be held at Great Outdoor Provision’s shop in Greenville, features live music, food and a rundown of the eight adventures GetExploring! Greenville has planned for the fall. We won’t spoil the fun, but we will say the adventures include paddling, hiking, cycling, yoga, fly fishing and tai chi.

If you’re in the area, swing by. We promise to make it worth your while.

Logistics: Thursday, Sept. 18, 7 p.m., Great Outdoor Provision Co., 530-D SE Greenville Blvd., 252.321.1308. Learn more about the event and RSVP here.

Thursday forecast: High of 77, mostly sunny.

Piedmont

Ellerbe Creek is one of those spots that a lot of folks in the Triangle have heard of, they just couldn’t tell you where it is. Saturday is your chance to find out exactly where it is.

The First Annual Ellerbe Creek Nature Tour visits four spots along the creek on its way from Durham to Jordan Lake: 17-acre wood, Pearl Mill Preserve, Beaver Marsh Preserve, Creek Smart House. Sponsored by the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association, the four-hour tour features short nature hikes that will intimately acquaint you with nature along the creek.

Logistics: Saturday, Sept. 20, 1-5 p.m., Ellerbe Creek, Durham. For details, go here.

Saturday forecast: High of 80, mostly sunny.

Mountains

It doesn’t have to be a long hike to be a worthwhile hike. Case in point: Friday’s Blue Ridge Parkway Hike of the Week on the Bridges Camp Gap Trail off the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is, in fact, the sponsor of the Blue Ridge Parkway Hike of the Week.

The hike commences from the Looking Glass Rock Overlook at Milepost 417 and drops about a mile and a quarter to the East Fork of the Pigeon River. A nice walk through a hardwood forest with plenty of nature to enjoy along the way.

Logistics: Friday, Sept. 19, 10 a.m., Milepost 417, Blue Ridge Parkway. More info by calling 828.298.5330, ext. 304.

Friday forecast: Mostly sunny, high of 72.

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The post This weekend: A learning experience appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Progress never comes fast enough.
That was evident at this morning’s Fourth Annual Triangle Bike and Pedestrian Workshop, where local transportation planners got together to talk about progress made in 2013 and share what’s on the drawing board for this year and beyond. Nothing like getting a look under the tree a year or more in advance.

Still, presents are presents. One of the less tangible gifts was the presence of NCDOT Secretary Tony Tata, who seems keen on the idea of an inclusive NCDOT.
“One of the reasons people move here at such a high rate is the standard of living issue,” he said, noting that greenways, sidewalks and safe roads for bikes — non-motorized transportation, that is — is a big part of that package.
In the progress department, there were the usual front-runners.

Cary
Cary Transportation Planning Engineer Todd Delk kicked off the morning workshop at The Cary, the newly renovated Cary theater on East Chatham Street, with the town’s bike/ped resume:

• 70-plus miles of greenway, more than 50 miles of which is paved
• 400-plus miles of sidewalk
• 25 miles of striped bike lanes or lanes with sharrows
• 89 miles of signed bike routes
• Most roads, and all new roads, have extra-wide outside lanes

All reasons Cary is an easy place to get around on foot or by bike. For the most part. And there was good news on that front as well. One of the town’s more ambitious projects for 2014: a $7 million program to make the Walnut Creek bridge over U.S. 64 pedestrian friendly. If you’re familiar with this bridge, you know that it is currently one of the least-friendly bridges for non-four wheel types on the planet: I live in the hood, and every time I see someone walking it — which is often — I say a little prayer for them. Good for Cary.
Delk said the city also has 43 greenway projects totaling 22.8 miles underway, three of which are especially intriguing:
Connecting the White Oak Creek Greenway from Bond Park to the American Tobacco Trail. Currently, the trail stops a couple miles shy, at Green Level Church Road. But the connection will soon be made. (Apex gets a nod on this project as well, since Cary must build part of the trail on land in Apex’s jurisdiction.)
Actually, there’s another missing link in the White Oak Trail, just east of Davis Drive. The town has been dealing with CSX, the railroad people, for years, and according to Delk, now has a solution. Delk noted the additional significance of the White Oak connections: together with Cary’s Black Creek Greenway, Umstead State Park’s bike ‘n’ bridle trail, and the nearing completion of Raleigh’s Crabtree Creek and Neuse River trails, the East Coast Greenway will be complete through the Triangle.

Durham
Erik Landfried, chairman of the Durham Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Council, had these Bull City highlights:

• Currently 22 miles of bike lanes in the city
• 202 bikes were ridden to last year’s inaugural Durham Bulls Bike to the Ballpark event.
• 1.5 percent of Durhamites commute to work by bike
• According to a DBPAC survey, people are more inclined to ride their bike in Durham for fun and recreation than for utilitarian purposes (ride to work, to the store, to school, etc.)

Raleigh
Jennifer Baldwin, the city’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator, borrowed a page from Cary and also took a shock-and-awe approach:
60 miles of onroad bike lanes by 2015 (up from four in 2009)
107 miles of greenway (95 of which are paved)
A soon-to-be completed 27.5-mile Neuse River Trail
A soon-to-be-extended-by-4.1-miles Crabtree Creek Trail (14.3 miles total)
A just-completed 15.6-mile Walnut Creek Trail

Cool thing that just happened: Raleigh has installed two HAWK signals on the recently expanded Falls of Neuse Road. The signals are exclusively for pedestrian crosswalks.

Cool thing that will happen: Raleigh’s first “cycle track” — a segregated, two-way bike lanes that will be installed on Gorman Street between Sullivan Street and Hillsborough.

Wake Forest
Wake Forest made its first appearance at the annual workshop. Among other things, Senior Planner Candace Davis:

• Unveiled Wake Forest’s new “Bike Walk Run” map. (Nice to see running getting some love; the map shows both paved and more foot-friendly natural surface trails.)
• Caught up for not attending in 2012 by noting the WF pedestrian bridge over the Neuse River linking Raleigh’s Neuse River Trail with WF’s Smith Creek Greenway
• Observed that while the 0.3-mile extension of the Dunn Creek Greenway may sound small, it includes a tunnel under treacherous NC 98 and links the greenway with downtown.

The post Update: The Triangle’s evolving bicycle-pedestrian Scene appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

I’d just finished a gorgeous day on the groomed trails at the White Grass ski touring center in West Virginia and was returning my rental equipment.
“How was it?” asked the ski rental guy.
“Incredible!” I oozed. “I can’t wait to go again.”
“You know,” he said, “Our rental skis are for sale.” At a price, it turned out, that was more than I could afford but too good to refuse. I’ve used them a dozen times since; I’m hoping to make it a baker’s dozen tomorrow.
As Winter Storm Leon (sheesh) makes its way up the coast, the prospects are good for cross-country conditions, from the Triangle into the coastal plain. As of this morning, parts of the Triangle were expected to get up to six inches of snow — with points east forecast to get 10 inches or more.
On the right kind of trail, six inches is all it takes to make or decent cross-country conditions. Where might one find the right kind of trail?
Glad you asked.

Natural surface trails

Because of the rocks and roots found on most trails in the Triangle, you need a substantial amount of snow — 10 inches minimum — to ski. There are some exceptions, however:

Umstead State Park
Raleigh
The 13 miles of bike and bridle trail here offer the perfect base for six-inch conditions. A finely crushed gravel, the surface is devoid of the rocks and roots common on most trails hereabouts, thus, fewer imperfections to cover up. If you’re not comfortable with downhills, pick up the trail via the neighborhood entrance off Old Reedy Creek Road from Lake Crabtree. There, you’ll find more than two miles of flat trail before the rollers begin.
More info here.

Duke Forest
Durham, Orange and Alamance counties.
The fire roads here aren’t quite as surface-friendly as at Umstead, but they’re close. And there are lots of ‘em: the seven individual tracts making up the forest contain 7,020 acres and are accessed via 45 entrances. Learn more about the forest and where you can find helpful maps, by going here.

Al Buehler Cross Country Trail
Durham.
The 3.1-mile Al Buehler Trail has a foot-friendly natural surface similar to that at Umstead. It’s also got some rollers, making for some nice downhill action and some heart-pumping climbs.
More info here.

American Tobacco Trail
Wake, Chatham and Durham counties
At 22 miles, the ATT offers the prospect of long, contemplative escapes. It’s surface is finely crushed stone and because it follows an abandoned rail line, the trail is great for beginners or folks who haven’t been on skis in a while.
More info here.

Greenways

They’re relatively flat, their surface is smooth and because they snake throughout the region, they are generally accessible without a lot of time spent on icy roads. Here are some of the larger greenway networks in the area, which a quick snapshot and where you can go for more information, including how to find the greenway nearest you. You can also find maps, directions and detailed information about local greenways on GetGoingNC’s Greenway Guide.

Cary. The Cary greenway system has more than 70 miles down, anchored by the Black Creek Greenway running from Bond Park to Lake Crabtree and the White Oak Greenway, running from Bond Park nearly to the American Tobacco Trail. More info here.

Chapel Hill. Seven greenways are sprinkled throughout town, perhaps the most popular is the 1.5-mile Bolin Creek Trail, which runs from the Chapel Hill Community Center west to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
More info here.

Durham. In addition to the northern end of the American Tobacco Trail, Durham has several other greenways suitable for skiing, including the Third Fork Greenway.
More info here.

Raleigh. The capital city’s Capital Area Greenway System now has more than 100 miles of greenway, the spine of which is the 28-mile Neuse River Greenway. Lots of good opportunity for Raleigh residents.
More info here.

Farther east

Howell Woods Environmental Learning Center, Four Oaks. Located just east of I-95, Howell Woods is in Leon’s sweetspot, with snowfall totals in the double digits possible. With 15 interconnected trails (the longest of which is just under a mile) navigating a variety of ecosystems, Howell Woods could be the nordic center of North Carolina in a few hours.
More info here.

Jones Lake State Park, Elizabethtown. Also in the storm’s sweetspot is Jones Lake State Park, which features a foot-and-ski-friendly 5-mile loop trail around its namesake lake. Gorgeous by foot, the trail should be especially fetching on skis.
More info here.

Smithfield. The 3.3-mile Buffalo Creek Greenway runs from downtown to the Smithfield Recreation & Aquatics Center. A good bet, with snowfall totals in Smithfield expected to eclipse the six-inch mark.
More info here.

Alas, if you’re intrigued but don’t have skis and wonder where you can rent them, the closest place — and only place in North Carolina — is the Pineloa Inn and Ski Shop in the mountains.

The post Leon willing, here’s where you can cross-country ski appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

This weekend you can race early through the streets of Asheville or late through downtown Durham. Not a city person? Fret not: there’s a marsh paddle near Wilmington that goes nowhere near concrete or traffic lights.

Coast

There are lots of paddling options at the coast. My favorite: riverine and salt marsh habitats. That’s the destination Saturday of a trip sponsored by New Hanover County Parks & Gardens and Hook, Line & Paddle at Riverside Park in Castle Hayne. The 2.5-hour guided trip will explore the flora and fauna of this rich habitat.

Logistics: Saturday, July 27, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. $25 to $50 (depending upon whether you need a boat). More info at 910.798-7707 or mcollogan@nhcgov.com.

Saturday forecast: High of 88, 40 percent chance of rain.

Piedmont

I don’t know about you, but my motivation to run or ride diminishes greatly when the temperature is on its way to the mid-90s. But when it’s on it’s way down that’s another matter. Even if in both instances it’s 85 degrees, it just seems cooler if you know the temperature is on its way down.

Such will be the case Saturday night for the 7th annual Habitat Bull Moon Ride & Run in Downtown Durham. There’s a 5K run and a 12-mile bike ride, both originating at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and both taking in the sights of downtown Durham. The ride starts at 8:15, the run at 8:30. Running or riding through downtown Durham after dark: how cool is that!?

Logistics: Saturday, July 27, 8-11:30 p.m. Register by close of business Thursday and it’s $32 for adults, $22 for youngsters; register Friday or race day and its $40/$30. For more info or to register, go here.

Saturday forecast: High of 82 (and that’s during the day), 40 percent chance of rain.

Mountains

This race isn’t at night; in fact, it’s pretty dang early with the starting gun firing at 7:30 Saturday morning. But it is in a downtown, Asheville’s, and has a reputation as being a top-flight 5K. It’s the Bele Chere 5K, and if you need additional incentive, this is your last chance at this event: Saturday’s running is the 34th and final version of the race.

There’s a lot going on with this race, too much to mention here so we’ll refer you to the website.

Logistics: Saturday, July 27, 7:30 a.m. Register through Friday and it’s $30, $35 on race day (registration opens at 6 a.m.). More info here.

Saturday forecast: High of 79, 50 percent chance of rain.

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