We get so much from our trails in a year. Is it too much to ask that we give a little back on just one day? That day being this Saturday, June 5?
For a few decades now, the first Saturday of June has been National Trails Day. It’s a day when we celebrate our trails, sometimes by doing maintenance, sometimes by simply taking a hike. In North Carolina this National Trails Day, 15 events have been registered with the American Hiking Society, which sponsors the annual event.
Note: This post was amended on Sept. 23, 2015, to reflect my more recent discoveries in great rainy day gear.
I awoke to gray skies, a steady rain and temperatures in the upper 50s.
Perfect day for an off-trail hike.
Alas, only nine other folks shared my feelings for Rod Broadbelt’s annual Wilderness Hike at Umstead State Park. The hike, 98 percent of which is advertised as being off-trail, has in the past attracted more than three times as many hikers. Through the Raleigh Recreational Hikers Meetup alone, at least 25 people were signed up. Yet the prospect of 10 miles in the rain off-trail apparently dampened the spirits of the masses. The weather only made me that much more excited. There’s something more intimate about the forest when it’s dripping wet, especially in winter. The season’s drab brown leaf-littered floor takes on a coppery glow, gray tree trunks take on a metallic sheen and the close, wet air adds an intimacy, a coziness if you will that makes hiking the woods a more personal affair.
Ward off the post Labor Day weekend blues with a little action this weekend.
Coast
Technically, the summer beach season ends Labor Day. At least that’s what the masses think. In fact, with the masses thinking that and the water temperature still summer-friendly (84.2 degrees as of this afternoon at Wrightsville Beach) it’s hard to imagine a better time to hit the coast: All you need is a reason. Saturday’s 9th Annual Longboard Classic, perhaps? You don’t actually need to compete on your Supertanker (12-feet plus in length), one of 11 categories of competition, you just come on out to the north end of Wrightsville Beach (Beach Access #4), wear your suit, wade in and enjoy the action. The action begins at 8:30 a.m.
