We are so ready for fall — and the fall hiking season, which begins this weekend.

We know: the calendar says fall doesn’t start until September 22. But we have long associated Labor Day with the passing of the torch from summer to fall. Even in the wack-a-doodle year of 2020, when up is down and down is sideways, we can’t shake the holiday’s unofficial hand-off. 

Which is why we’re celebrating the advent of fall in two ways:

• Sunday Afternoon Hikes. On Sunday, with the start of our Fall GetHiking! Sunday Afternoon Hike Series. If you’re new to the area or are a pandemic convert to hiking, you might find this series of interest. Every Sunday afternoon at 1, we hike a different trail in the Triangle. We hike anywhere from 4 to 7 miles on a diversity of regional trails, from the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in Durham and Wake counties, to Raven Rock State Park south of Fuquay-Varina, to assorted trails in between. It’s good exposure to the Triangle hiking scene, with an emphasis on avoiding the fall hiking hordes by focusing on the trails less traveled. We begin this Sunday on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail along the Eno River. Learn more and sign up here if you’re a single hiker, here if you’re a couple or family.
• Tuesday Night Hikes. In years past, we’ve saved our Tuesday Night Hikes series for winter, evening/night being the only time many of us can get in a hike midweek. This year, we’ve added a fall session. For one, hiking midweek in the evening is a great way to avoid crowds. And two, hiking in the cool evening air is hard to beat, especially after being beat down by this summer’s heat. The majority of our 9 hikes in the series will begin in late daylight, all will end in the dark (save for the headlamp beam guiding our way). If you’ve never hiked at night, it’s a whole new way to experience the outdoors. Learn more about this program and sign up here if you’re a single hiker, here if you’re a couple or family.

Hike the MST in September

A third way to kick off the fall hiking season is by helping the Mountains-to-Sea Trail celebrate its 43rd birthday! To help celebrate the statewide trail’s 43 years, the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail offers three hiking challenges:

• Hike one or more of the 40 hikes in their new “Great Day Hikes on North Carolina’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail.”
• Hike one of three 43-kilometer stretches of the MST, at the coast, in the Piedmont, or in the mountains.
• Hike all three of the aforementioned 43-kilometer stretches of the MST.

You can find information about all three of these hiking challenges here.

And if you’re thinking, “Who in their right mind can think of fall hiking in this sweltering heat?” you won’t have to. The forecast for Labor Day weekend: sunny skies with temperatures in the low 80s.

GetOut! and enjoy!

Today’s video

To get you in the spirit for fall hiking, we share these scenes from last year’s MST 42nd birthday hike, a 42-mile weekend on the trail along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

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This weekend we enter the age of outdoor empowerment. It’s either that, or continuing to stay on your couch and watch movies that once may have been classic but now … . Suffice it to say that tastes change.

You need to empower yourself because if you’ve been relying on programs organized by others — guided hikes, nature programs, camping trips — to get out, those programs are all but suspended (more on the “all but” in a moment). So today, instead of providing a rundown of such events, we provide you with some resources to help you plan your own adventures this weekend;

Finding a trail. You’ve gone to Grandma’s house a hundred times, but someone else always drives: you don’t pay attention along the way and have no idea where Granny actually lives. Same with  group hikes: You plug the trailhead into your GPS device, arrive, then blindly follow the hike leader. What you need is a curated guide to hiking in your area. A guide that may not include every hike, but does include the ones especially worthy of your time. We’ve compiled such a guide, of more than 100 hikes, for our friends at Great Outdoor Provision Co. It’s divided by geographic region, making it easier to find a hike near you. Find the guide here.

Becoming a hiker. You look around, everything’s closed — except trails. You’ve never been a hiker, but suddenly it seems like a great idea. Over the past decade, we’ve helped a whole lot of people take their first step down the trail. That experience, of learning what new hikers need, helped us to create our fifth book, the just-released “Let’s GetHiking! A Quick and Comprehensive Guide for the Aspiring Hiker.” Learn more and order a copy here.

Finding more advanced trails. We’re working on a guide to some of our favorite hiking venues — places with multiple trail options and base camp opportunities. We hope to have it available the middle of next week. Until then, some options:

• HikingUpward.com. Covers North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland. Includes a map, overview and mileages.
• HikingProject.com. REI’s crowd-sourced site includes trail maps, an overview and reviews.
• AllTrails,com.  The free version includes a map, trail description, elevation profile and reviews; pony up for the pay version and you get such extras ad gps tracks and maps downloaded able to your phone with gps tracking.

Confirming trails are open. As of this post, the morning of Friday, March 20, trails are open. But that could change. Before heading out, check ahead to make sure your trail of interest is open. Some sources to turn to find out the status of your favorite hiking destinations:

• Blue Ridge Parkway
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park
• North Carolina State Parks (Croatan, Uwharrie, Pisgah, Nantahala)
• Shenandoah National Park
• Virginia National Forests (George Washington and Jefferson)
• Virginia State Parks

Small Batch Hiking

We mentioned above that guided hikes have “all but” been canceled. Our GetHiking! program is experimenting with Small Batch Hiking, or 10-10s: 10 hikers max hiking no closer than 10 feet apart. We held our first Small Batch Hike Thursday at Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area (see the video) and our hikers did an awesome job of keeping their distance and complying. And we still had a great time. Our next Small Batch Hike is Saturday morning. That hike is currently full, but as long as our hikers comply with the 10-10 rule, we will continue to hike. 

Keep an eye out for more GetHiking! Small Batch Hikes here.

The post GetOut! Your Friday Nudge for Weekend Adventure appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Our intent isn’t to add to the pressure of the holidays. Rather, to distract from it, with one of these options for getting out on a weekend that promises to be perfect for adventure, with temperatures in the 50s and hardly a cloud in the sky. Under such glorious conditions you could …

GetHiking! at Crowders Mountain (Boulders Access), Saturday, 9 a.m, Crowders Mountain State Park, Kings Mountains. Hike leader David Brantley hosts Hike Your Own Hike Day: you could hike 12 miles, you could hike 10; you could hike 8, you could hike 6. That’s the beauty of the Ridgeline Trail, connecting the Boulders Access with the Kings Pinnancle. A great way to avoid the crowds at Crowders’ main entrance. Learn more and sign up here. 

Lake Hike at Hanging Rock, Saturday, 2 p.m., Hanging Rock State Park, Danbury. Maybe you love the idea of hiking at Hanging Rock, but are intimidated by the distances, the rocky train, the elevation changes. On Saturday’s Lake Hike, there’s none of that. The hike is a mile long, it goes around the park’s 12-acre lake, and it’s pretty tame. You’ll learn a thing or two about the park as well on this ranger-lead hike. Learn more and sign up here.

Silent Hike, Sunday, 10 a.m., Eno River State Park: Pump Station Access, Durham. It’s the  camaraderie of a group hike minus the chatter. Learn more and sign up here.

As always, you can find more opportunities this weekend here:

• North Carolina State Parks have a variety of adventures planned for the weekend. Check those options here.
• North Carolina Environmental Education Centers has an extensive calendar of what’s happening at its affiliates; check it out here.
• You can also find more adventures right here, at GetGoingNC.com

Live the video

If you’re inspired by today’s video, learn more about exploring Eno River State Park here.  The video was shot during a scouting trip this week for the first outing in our Winter Wild series of off-trail hikes. Learn more about Winter Wild and sign up here.

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This weekend could go either way. One the one hand, there’s a chance the temperature could hit 70 in some of our region, a welcome relief after a lot of 40s. On the other, there’s a chance of rain. 

Chance of rain. What exactly does that mean?

It means you could miss out on a whole lot of outdoor fun if you let a little forecast for run bully you around. Outdoor fun, such as:

Winter Plant Hike, Saturday, 1 p.m., Lake James State Park, Nebo. It’s always about spring wildflowers, or fall leaves. Life exists at other times of year, you know. And Park Ranger Kevin Bischof would love to tell you about it on this three-quarter-mile hike on the Holly Discovery Trail. More info and sign up here.

GetOriented! Finding Your Way in the Woods, Saturday at 1 p.m. in Raleigh and again Sunday at 1 p.m. in Greensboro. There’s hiking on trail, and there’s hiking off trail. Kinda like the difference between the kid that always toes the line and the one who strays every once in a while. Come and let us show you how to stray this weekend, with our GetOriented! class. We spend about 45 minutes going over basic map and compass skills, then head down the trail and off to let you test your newfound abilities. For details on Saturday’s class at Umstead State Park in Raleigh, go here, for details on Sunday’s class at Haw River State Park in Greensboro, go here.

The Long Upland Hike, Sunday, 9:30 a.m., Eno River State Park, Durham. Even if you’re a regular at Eno River State Park, it’s a good bet you haven’t heard of the Ridge, the Knight and the Shakori trails. An even better bet you don’t know about the Fieldstone connector, since it barely just opened. But Saturday, you’ll get a chance to hike these lesser-appreciated trails on the north side of the park’s Fews Ford Access. Six miles, rated “moderately strenuous,” and suggested for ages 14 and up. More info here.

As always, you can find more opportunities this weekend here:

• North Carolina State Parks have a variety of adventures planned for the weekend. Check those options here.
• North Carolina Environmental Education Centers has an extensive calendar of what’s happening at its affiliates; check it out here.
• You can also find more adventures right here, at GetGoingNC.com.

Learn more about where we visited this past week, the places featured in the video above, by checking out:

• Hagen Stone Park
• Brumley Forest Nature Preserve
• Ayr Mount’s Poet’s Walk

The post GetOut! Your Nudge for Weekend Adventure appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

There is still good fall color to be had, and based on the forecast, it’s to be had against a backdrop of crisp baby blue skies. That said, some thoughts on the weekend ahead.

• Fall Foliage Hike, Saturday, 1:30 p.m. Haw River State Park, Browns Summit. What we said above about the forecast should make the colors pop even more. Learn more here.
• Fall Tree ID Hike, Saturday, 10:30 a.m., Stone Mountain State Park, Roaring Gap. When was the last time you slow down enough on the trail to learn a thing? Can’t recall? Then this could be the most informative half mile you’ll come across this year. Learn more here.
• Weymouth Goes to the Dogs!, Sunday, 3 p.m., Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, Southern Pines. Learn more here.

As always, you can find more opportunities this weekend here:

• North Carolina State Parks have a variety of adventures planned for the weekend. Check those options here.
• North Carolina Environmental Education Centers has an extensive calendar of what’s happening at its affiliates; check it out here.
• You can also find more adventures right here, at GetGoingNC.com.

Learn more about where we spent last weekend, featured in the video, by visiting Umstead State Park and the Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Falls Lake.

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