The natural world presents many questions in winter. This weekend, you have a chance to learn many answers.
Coast
When you head to the coast, hiking often isn’t atop your list of things to do. It should be, especially this time of year. The bugs are at bay (or at least at a minimum), the temperatures aren’t stifling, and, perhaps most significantly, it is serene, the calm before the summer crowds descend.
There’s a run for everyone this weekend in North Carolina: for the novice, the mountain distance runner, the hash harrier — even the runner who doesn’t like to run.
Coast | Coastal Plain
Since the advent of hashing in the ’90s (yes, the concept originated with bored British offers and expats in Kuala Lumpur in the late 1930s), we’ve been intrigued by how it works to mix running with beer. We’re even more intrigued when the mix is part of a race conducted in temperatures approaching 90.
It’ll be toasty this coming July weekend, a weekend that just makes sense to be on the water
Coast / Coastal Plain
It is perhaps the most rewarding type of paddling — and the easiest: paddling the tidal flats and meandering backwaters of the coast. The ill-defined wetlands along the sounds, the narrow tidal creeks enveloped in lush maritime woods that feed into the sounds. So much to see just a paddle-length away.
We’ve got another hot summer weekend on tap. Some options: spend it on a barrier island checking out the horse scene; take a run through the cool(er) night; paddle a mountain river.
Coast / coastal plain
One of the reasons you love to head into the wild is the opportunity to see wildlife. For a lot of us, the bigger the wildlife the better. Swimmers at the coast love the opportunity to be near dolphins, scuba divers savor a shark encounter, hikers live for a bear sighting. And when it comes to exploring the Cape Lookout National Seashore, it’s the wild horses that inhabit the island that draw our attention.
A variety of options await the weekend explorer in North Carolina this weekend. Take note of seasonal changes in a nature journaling class at Weymouth Woods, check out the overwintering bird population on Greensboro’s Lake Townsend, or take advantage of the recent cold snap and Ski North Carolina!