In today’s Lunch with GetHiking! session, we share tips for hiking with visiting friends and family. You can join that Zoom session at noon by clicking here. In today’s blog, which is suspiciously similar to a blog we ran this time last year, we share 10 hikes we think are especially well-suited for visitors who might not have their hiking legs under them, but might well enjoy a venture into the woods.
The holidays are upon us — and so, too, are our holiday visitors.
You’re eager to show your visiting friends and family why you love living in the region: the outdoor opportunities that make this such a wonderful place to explore. You also don’t want to alienate your guests — or worse, harm them! — by taking them on an outing beyond their capabilities. Fortunately, you can do the former while avoiding the latter with the 10 hikes below, hikes that offer considerable esthetic bang for minimal physical exertion.read more
A quick reminder that if you’ve got a house full of visitors, you’re probably wondering what to do with them. Well, take ‘em on a hike, of course.
Tuesday, we gave you 10 options across the state for hikes suitable for an outing with visiting friends and family that may not be regular hikers. Or regular anythings when it comes to exercise. Hikes that are generally short, are flat (or flatish), and that have some sort of esthetic payoff (a critical lure when trying to pry a recalcitrant participant off the couch). You can find that post — “10 Hikes for Holiday Visitors” — here. You can find additional hike options in our Hiking Guide library, here. And check out one visitor-friendly hike in the video above.read more
The family that crawls through mud together ... Dave Case and son Owen at last year's Big Muddy Challenge.
In today’s North Carolina Observers (Charlotte and Raleigh) I have a story about the Big Muddy Challenge, an obstacle race for families started last year by Adam Spisak of Raleigh. Spisak started the race after looking around for an obstacle race he could someday do with his newborn daughter — and finding there were none. You can read that story here.read more
This photo by Sara Cunningham was a finalist in last year's CampOut! Carolina photo contest in the Best Iconic Camping Photo category.
You’ve meant to go camping, and yet … .
And yet for a variety of reasons you haven’t made it happen. When I ask people what outdoor activity they’ve wanted to try but haven’t, the most common response is camping. There’s always an excuse, usually built on speculation: I’m not sure about sleeping on the hard ground I can’t imagine going to bed dirty It seems like a lot of work Raccoons! I worry about marauding raccoons!
Well, the time for speculative abstention is over. This weekend, EarthShare North Carolina sponsors CampOut! Carolina, a push to get you fence-sitters off the fence and into a tent.
You can participate in one of two ways. If part of camping’s appeal is the desire to survive on your own, to erect your own shelter (a roomy eight-person tent with separate living and sleeping quarters) and forage for your own food (or at least the firewood to fuel the fire to cook your straight-from-the-butcher steaks over), the CampOut! Carolina website has all kinds of helpful first-timer information.
If you have no illusions about your capacity to rough it, you can take part in one of seven organized events being held statewide. One such events is the Fourth Annual CampOut! Carolina Jamboree this Saturday and Sunday at West Point on the Eno city park in Durham. Sponsored by Durham Parks and Recreation and the Triangle area REI stores, the event will feature helpful information on camping, hikes, storytelling around a campfire, s’mores and more. A limited number of tents and sleeping bags are available free of charge. The event is free, but space is limited; register by calling 919.560.4405.
If you are interested in camping out on your own this weekend but aren’t sure where to go, our friends at Great Outdoor Provision Co. have you covered. Their website includes 35 prime campgrounds near seven of the state’s metropolitan areas (Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Greensboro, Greenville, Raleigh, Wilmington, Winston-Salem), plus another 15 campgrounds in the mountains that are open year-round. The descriptions include all the details you need to plan a great overnight in the wild.
Looks like you’re finally out of excuses, procasticampers. Enjoy your weekend under the stars.read more
Adam Spisak had an “ah ha!” moment when most of us would be having an “oy vey!” moment.
“It was last fall and I had run the Tough Mudder in South Carolina earlier in the day,” says Spisak, who lives in Raleigh. “It’s 2:30 in the morning and I’m up with my daughter, trying to get her to sleep.” The obstacle race is going through his head, he’s experiencing the joys of fatherhood, he’s reflecting on his active past — he played soccer through his freshman year at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia and has since evolved into a runner — and he’s contemplating the future.read more
