We tend to think of paddle trips as epic affairs: get out the maps, surf the internet, pick a spot, pack a lunch, load the boat and go. Whew! No wonder we don’t get out as often as we’d like: it takes a lot of work to get out on the water.
But it doesn’t have to.
Summer is in its waning days, the temperature is having trouble getting much past 80 during the day and is slipping below 60 at night. The air is dry, the sky clear, the bugs are being kept at bay.
It’s fall hiking season. But where to hike?
If you live in one of seven major North Carolina cities, GetGoingNC has solved your dilemma. Actually, GetGoingNC and Great Outdoor Provision Co. have joined forces to solve your dilemma.
This late summer weekend the great hiking is at the coast and the paddle festival is in the mountains. Crazy, eh?
Coast
Think fall hiking and you typically think of the coast. But Saturday at 10:30 one of the weekend’s best guided hikes will be at the Rachel Carson Reserve. Sponsored by the NC Maritime Museum in Beaufort, the hike is a rare opportunity to learn about life on this barrier island.
National Trails Day is non-denominational: you can celebrate on a paddle trail, a bike trail or a hiking trail. Come one, come all.
Coast
Most ranger-led paddle trips are quick one-hour affairs. This Saturday at Lake Waccamaw State Park you’ll have a full half day to explore this Carolina Bay in the wake of a knowledgeable lead. The paddle starts at 10 a.m.
North Carolina’s brilliant fall weather means all kinds of events and programs will be competing for your attention. This weekend, for instance, you can paddle a swamp, run 5 miles on a greenway that doesn’t yet exist or take a really, really (really) long ride in the mountains.