It’s the last weekend of summer, but on the trail it’s beginning to feel like fall. And that means many of the trails we love year-round are getting lots of love from the seasonally infatuated.
Many trails — but not all.
Finding the trails less traveled was the focus of our first Lunch with GetHiking! gathering at noon today. If you missed it, you can catch it in reruns here.
The signs are subtle at first. You walk out in the morning and the light isn’t quite as bright; the sun seems a little … behind, like it forgot to set its alarm clock. And that after dinner walk in the evening? You’re getting closer and closer to finishing in the dark.
Some of our favorite North Carolina State Park hikes are this weekend, a weekend that will be on the cool side throughout the state. We start with two coastal favorites:
Carnivorous Plant Hike, Saturday, 10 a.m., Carolina Beach State Park, Carolina Beach. The perfect hike for someone you’d like to get more involved in the outdoors. The trail, the Flytrap Trail, is short, just a half mile. It’s flat and easy to navigate (it’s wheelchair accessible), and it features a natural wonder, the carnivorous plants — including the Venus flytrap — that are unique to the region. A ranger leads the way and shares the stories of these curious plants. Masks are required, space is limited: reserve a spot by calling 910.458.8206. More info here.
Face it: you miss your coworkers. Sure, Bob in the next cube could drive you nuts with his frequent “Got a minute?”s. The chronic tongue-clucker near the copy machine, the dude
overmedicating on Creed Aventus, the fantasy football guys, the never knowing when Ms. Dithers might drop by “just to say hello.”
We typically wait until the end of Daylight Saving Time to advocate hiking at night, for strapping on a headlamp and venturing down your favorite trails after dark. We’ve long been fans of hiking in night in winter because, for those of us in the workforce, it’s typically the only time we can work in a midweek hike. The sun sets at 5 p.m., before the whistle blows at the Widget Works, who cares? You’ve got a 300-lumen torch strapped to your forehead to light the way.
