Winter Wild, to be exact.

For the last several years we’ve celebrated winter with a series of monthly hikes in a series called Winter Wild. In some instances, we head to places you’ve likely heard of, but explore parts of those places didn’t know were there. In other cases, we take you places you didn’t know were there, or if you did, never thought of exploring. Places such as:

Eno Wilderness, Eno River State Park, Durham. Eno River State Park holds a spot dear to many in the Triangle area; on fall weekends in particular, the trails from the Fews Ford Access are packed with hikers seeking fall color. The first half mile of our adventure experiences those crowds. Then, we head down a long abandoned and don’t see anyone for the next three hours as we pass old homesteads, walk along a rocky creek through a beech forest, climb a remote peak and basically lose ourselves in the 820-acre Eno Wilderness. 

Lower Haw River Natural Area, Bynum. Few people know there’s a a state natural area running along the Haw River between Bynum and US 64. Fewer still know there’s a 4-mile trail that runs its length. Though the land has been part of the N.C. State Parks system for 20 years, it remains undeveloped and a mystery. A mystery because there are only a couple months of the year when the overgrown banks die back enough to allow access to the surprisingly diverse — from bottomland forest to outcrops tumbling down to the Haw — terrain.

Birkhead Mountain Wilderness, Uwharrie National Forest, Asheboro. Yes, an actual federally designated wilderness area in the heart of the Piedmont. Through a mix of existing trail, old roadbeds and off-trail adventure, we explore the northern half of the wilderness, which includes ridgeline rambling and passage past remnants of the pre-wilderness past, including a gold mining operation dating to the 1800s.

Three Sisters, Hanging Rock State Park, Danbury. You know popular Hanging Rock, where everyone from the Triad and Triangle goes on a fall weekend. But very few know the park’s Three Sisters, a trio of peaks on the park’s east end, and marking the eastern extent of the ancient Sauratown  Mountains range. The same great views, plus some rock scrambling that will take you back to childhood. You won’t see another soul on this hike.

Caswell Game Lands, Yanceyville. Game lands? Aren’t those for hunting and fishing? Yup, and they’re also for hiking — if you know where to go. And a great place to go is the R. Wayne Bailey – Caswell Game Land area of Caswell County. With more than 18,000 acres, there’s plenty of room to explore here in the Piedmont plateau. On this hike, we’ll visit old farm ponds, walk along a rocky creek, and enjoy a rare adventure in the north-central part of the state.

We’re not looking past fall, no way. As we’ve said in this space over the past few weeks, it’s the best time of year to explore in the Southeast. But we also won’t be blue when it cedes to winter and that season’s own unique draw, the draw of the wild. 

Go Wild with us

Here’s the quick skinny on our 2021-22 Winter Wild Adventures. All hikes start at 9 a.m.

• Eno Wilderness, Eno River State Park, Durham. Saturday, November 20, 6-7 miles. 4 hours
• Caswell Game Lands, Yanceyville. Saturday, December 18, 7 miles. 3 hours. 
• Three Sisters, Hanging Rock State Park, Danbury. Saturday, January 8, 6-7 miles. 5 hours
• Lower Haw River Natural Area, Bynum. Saturday, February 5, 7 miles. 4 hours
• Birkhead Mountains Wilderness, Uwharrie National Forest, Asheboro. Saturday, March 12, 8 miles. 5 hours

We have only 10 spaces for each hike. If you sign up for the series, you are guaranteed a spot on each hike. In addition, if you sign up for the series, you get our GetOriented! Finding Your Way in the Woods class, a three-hour map and compass class that starts with a 30-minute introduction to using a map and compass, then spends two and a half hours putting those skills to work in the field. The series also includes tip sheets for water crossings, hiking in the rain, hiking off trail. Cost of the series is $195.

Any spaces remaining for a hike will be offered a week before the event, for $45.

For more information and to register, go here.

The post Winter Wild heeds the call of nature’s honest season appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Especially if you head off the beaten path. 

Now, there are good reasons why that path is beaten. Not everyone is interested in a more raw form of adventure, fewer still are equipped. Whatever innate navigational skills our species may have had have since been relegated to the recesses of our brains in favor of more modern survival skills. Touch typing with our thumbs, for instance.

Relegated, maybe, but not deleted. 

Every year around this time, because the woods become more open and welcoming, we rev up our GetOriented! Finding Your Way in the Woods program. We start with a basic introduction to map and compass and how to use the two in tandem. Then we head down the trail, and off, to match the imagery of wavy topo lines with the reality of a rolling landscape. At some point, those dormant navigational skills are retrieved from deep storage and our students experience an “Aha!” moment. Nothing makes sense, then — well, maybe not everything makes sense, but you can hear the tumblers fall into line. 

Why is this skill important? 

Think about a trail you hike on a regular. Your hike may vary by season, it may vary by time of day and by the weather. But you’re still walking along the same stream, climbing the same long hill, passing the same dilapidated tobacco barn and seeing the same view of the lake. Nothing wrong with this familiarity. But haven’t you ever wondered what lies beyond?

At Eno River State Park in Durham, for instance, the Cox Mountain Trail is a popular hike. It involves crossing a swinging bridge, it follows a rocky stretch of the Eno, and it has some good elevation through a maturing hardwood forest. It all makes for a good hike. Yet when you reach the summit of Cox Mountain, you notice that, to the south, the mountain plateaus for a third of a mile or so before dropping off on three sides. From your park-issued trail map you notice what lies beyond — about 600 acres — is in the park. Since it’s parkland, you figure it’s probably pretty wild (in fact, the tract is known as the Eno Wilderness). The unknown beckons: What’s over there? 

At Umstead State Park in Raleigh you stand on the bridge spanning Crabtree Creek and look downstream. According to the park map there’s a sizable area that, again, isn’t served by trail but must harbor some hidden treasure, right? (Right: a stand of ancient beech trees, a former Civilian Conservation Corps camp, a short-lived Boy Scout camp.)

At Hanging Rock State Park you hear tale of a Cessna that crashed on the mountain more than a half century ago. Where? you wonder. And, Would anything be left after more than 50 years?

Sometimes you need these basic navigation skills just to find the trail. At the coast, in the Croatan National Forest near Maysville you’ll find the Weetock Trail. Well, you’ll find the northern and southern trailheads, both off NC 58, but sometimes finding the 11 miles in between can be a challenge. When blazes abandon you, a map, a compass and a basic understanding of topography can be the difference between a fund day of navigating the woods or an unplanned overnight.

Most people who take our Finding Your Way in the Woods class do so because they simply don’t like the feeling of getting discombobulated in the outdoors. Almost all leave the class with this goal accomplished. But they also leave intrigued by what lies beyond the confines of the blazed trail, by the treasures, natural and cultural, waiting to be found. They may not be inclined to abandon the trail entirely, but they know that if something does beckon from beyond that they can venture a little ways off the trail and find their way back. Navigational skills come in especially handy in this part of the country, where our state parks and our national forests in particular are criss-crossed with long-abandoned wagon roads and cart paths. Crossing one such path in the woods it’s impossible not to wonder where it leads — and where it once led. 

Winter’s the ideal time to find out.

Happy Trails

Joe

GetOriented! Finding Your Way in the Woods

Our basic intro to map and compass course 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 will offer it at least four times in December. Click on the following for more information and to sign up.

• Saturday, Dec. 1, 1 p.m. Umstead State Park, Raleigh. Go here.
• Sunday, Dec. 2, 1 p.m. Haw River State Park: Iron Ore Belt Access, Greensboro. Go here.
• Thursday, Dec. 27, 1 p.m. Umstead State Park, Raleigh. Go here.
• Friday, Dec. 28, 1 p.m. Haw River State Park: Iron Ore Belt Access, Greensboro. Go here.

GetOriented! Intermediate Skills: Finding Your Way on the Weetock Trail

The northern and southern trailheads of this coastal trail are easy to find; it’s the 11 miles in-between that can be a challenge. Armed with maps of the area and our compasses (provided if you don’t have one) on this day-long trek to solve the mystery of the coastal Croatan National Forest’s second longest trail.

Learn more and sign up here.

GetOriented! Winter Wild hike series

We’re especially excited about this new series of winter hikes that will take you off trail to give you a new appreciation of some of the places you most love to hike. Basic map and compass skills will make these hikes more enjoyable, but are not required. Our destinations:

• Umstead State Park, Raleigh, Saturday, Dec. 29, 10 a.m. Objectives: a mature beech grove, the park’s CCC camp, a short-lived Boy Scout camp. 6-8 miles.
• Hanging Rock State Park, Danbury. Saturday Jan. 5, 10 a.m. Objectives: Backside of Hanging Rock, a 1963 plane crash. 7-9 miles
• Eno River State Park, Durham. Saturday, Jan. 26, 10 a.m. Objective: Eno Wilderness. 6-7 miles
• Uwharrie National Forest, Asheboro. Saturday, Feb. 16, 10 a.m. Objective: Birkhead Wilderness. 7-9 miles
• Raven Rock State Park, Lillington. Saturday, March 2, 10 a.m. Objective: The North Side of the River. 8 miles 

To learn more about this series and sign up, go here.

For more information and advice on exploring off trail, check out this blog from 2015.

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