Sensible, at the time.

At the time, the sun was setting around 7:45, leaving plenty of time for an after-supper stroll. Today? The sun goes down around 7. That makes for one tight passeggiata. It also makes for a change in strategy: it’s time to take your evenings up a notch, with a night hike.

Hiking at night offers some special rewards not found during the day. This type of hiking calls for different levels of concentration, as you focus on a close world circumscribed by an orb of light as you scan for footing; this problem-solving aspect of hiking is one of the things that improves not only body but also mind. You can tune in to the sounds of night life, which is not the same as the sounds of daytime critters (more owls than warblers, more raccoons than squirrels). And if you pause and look up, you can see the glories of the night sky (pausing is key; we have tried to hike while looking up at the stars and it ended badly). It’s a special place, the night world, and it is one well worth exploring.

We get that night hiking isn’t for everyone. If you’re hopelessly scared of the dark or have very poor night vision, for instance, you might want to pass. But for the rest of you open to the concept, we have some tips for you.

• A headlamp ( a k a torch). This is a must. Flashlights, work, sure, but you really want to keep your hands free. You can get a decent one for as little as $15; note that LEDs cast a more hike-friendly light. Be sure to pack both extra batteries and a spare light (a little pen light will do, so you can see to change out your batteries).
• Pick short hikes to start. Night hiking takes some getting used to. Your world is confined to the glow of your headlamp, and it takes some concentration to focus on such a limited portion of the trail. Surprisingly, it can be a sensory overload, as your other senses tune in to the world beyond the scope of your light. So don’t overstay on your first outing.
• Hike trails you’ve hiked in daylight. Even though it’s dark, familiarity is a huge plus. You’ll be amazed at how things you didn’t think you noticed during the day will pop out as key markers of where you are on the trail.
• Hike by your feet. It takes a bit more effort to scout out the blazes at night rather than in the day. The best way to tell whether you’ve wandered off the beaten path is if your boots are suddenly sinking into soft, untrodden leaf litter. Backtrack and seek out firm footing.
• Bundle up. Nighttime is cooler than day, of course. Counter the chill with one more layer than you think you’ll need; you can always shed a layer later.
• Don’t hike alone. I do a lot of soloing, but not at night.
• Again, take extra batteries. If your light goes out, you’re really in the dark.
• Again, take a backup light. Even a $5 keychain light can be a lifesaver if your main torch goes out. (Ever try to change batteries in the dark?)
• Take a map and compass.* You should already have these in your daypack, but make extra sure you have them at night.
• Take water and snacks. Just because it’s dark doesn’t mean you can’t get dehydrated. And  hiking in the cool air while concentrating on the trail will burn some calories; you’ll be glad to have the extra fuel.
• Appreciate the night sky. Because that’s one reason you’re hiking at night!
• Take a cell phone, just in case. Besides, most phones have a flashlight function that could save you in a pinch.

Note that most trails on public lands are closed from dusk until dawn. That includes state parks and nearly all municipal and county trails. National forests typically don’t have hours, nor do lands managed by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. Do a little scouting and you shouldn’t have to trespass.

You’ve got more than four months of night hiking opportunity ahead of you. Embrace the dark.

The post Grab a torch, it’s time for a night hike appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

I start most days with an early 3-mile hike. The walk often spells the difference between a good day and a really good day. The walk is important any day of the week, but it’s especially critical on Mondays. This past Monday when I checked the weather, it was 17 degrees out. 

Deterred? 

Nope. In large part because it was also sunny. And with only 9 hours and 43 minutes of daylight on this, the third day of winter, it was critical to take advantage of every precious second of daylight. 

North Carolina has, on average, 28 clear days every winter; only seven states see more cloudless days, according to data compiled from two climate agencies. Virginia averages 25 clear days. In short, you could live in much worse places to avoid feeling SAD in winter.

SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder, is a type of depression that can set in when the days are short and the sun sets early in the day. Once this mood-altering disorder takes hold, according to the Mayo Clinic, it can be hard to shake; it’s best to fight it off before it has a chance to make itself at home, leaving you hibernating in a stupor of despair.

One way to combat SAD, says the Mayo Clinic, is to go outside and move—the more regularly, the better. Even when it’s cold, a brisk walk in outdoor light can help. Another way to lift your mood is to be with other people; socializing with a dose of laughter helps you connect with others, an opportunity in short supply these days. Hiking regularly also can reduce levels of stress, which can contribute to SAD symptoms. According to psychiatry.org, 5 percent of Americans experience SAD, with the most severe bouts occurring in January and February.

Frankly, all of us could stand to reduce our stress levels. So, even if SAD doesn’t get you down, brisk movement and being with others is a great way to keep stress at bay by releasing endorphins and elevating mood.

So while the benefits of being out in the sun are beneficial year round, they are even more so in the short days of winter. But because of the cold, you sometimes need a little extra motivation to drag yourself outside and make it happen. And the best motivation? you ask. 

Hike with a group. 

It’s one time when peer pressure is a good thing. You wake up, you see it’s 28 degrees, you pull the covers back over your head and reach blindly for the snooze button. But then you remember the group waiting for you at the trailhead. You remember that Sue was supposed to hear about that promotion this week, that Jack was on the verge of adopting a shelter dog, that last week when Elliot failed to show he was the topic of discussion. You also remember that, once you’re 5 minutes down the trail and starting to warm up, you really love hiking this time of year. 

The obvious current caveat about hiking in a group: while being outdoors is still considered safe, you want to make doubly sure the group you’re hiking with is safe. With any group you join, be it a hiking-related Meetup or a group from work, find out what their policies are — Are they no-drop? Are they good about posting how challenging a hike is? Do they embrace newcomers? — and see if you’re comfortable with them.

It may take a hike or two to find the group that’s right for you. That’s fine. Because once you do find a group that works, you’ll find yourself spending a lot more time on the trail at a time of year when it will do you the most good.

* * *

Our Meetups

GetHiking! has Meetup groups in XX locations. Click the appropriate link below for more information:

• Charlotte
• Charlottesville
• Greenville
• Triad
• Triangle
• Virginia Beach

Novice in the Triangle?

Looking for something more structured, something that caters more to the hiking novice? If you live in the Triangle, check out our GetHiking! Sunday program, which offers a mix of guided and self-guided (with experienced hikers) hikes from January through June. Learn more here.

The post Hike through the winter and keep your spirits up appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

It’s true that if you punch out at 5 this afternoon you’ll only have 3 minutes before sunset, and maybe 25 minutes of useable light total. It’s also true that the issue is less a matter of available sunlight, more a matter of not looking for it in the right place. 

Like, in the morning.

For instance, this morning sunrise was at 7:03, and we started seeing light at 6:36 a.m. If you had your act together and could be at the trailhead at 7, you could probably get in those same 3 miles and still be to work by 9. 

Why hike first thing? 

In addition to the obvious Why not?, here’s why:

• You get to see sunrise. It’s like sunset, only in reverse.
• You get to hear the day come to life. Even on a cold morning, there’s a good deal of woodland chatter as the natural world wakes up.
• Start cool, end less cool. There’s something about knowing you’ll likely get warmer as the hike progresses that makes heading out at dawn less daunting.
• It gets your motor revved for the day. You know how some mornings it can be 10:30, 11 by the time you’re fully engaged? A brisk hike in brisk weather will get your juices flowing pronto (and you can tell your boss that!).
• It sets an upbeat tone for your day. 

Tips for an early hike

A few quick things to keep in mind on an early hike.

• Check not only sunrise, but also the start of twilight. As we mentioned earlier, sunrise today was at 7:03 p.m., but twilight — first light — began at 6:36 a.m. Use sunrise as your ultimate guide for being on the trail, but keep in mind it will start getting light about 25 minutes before that. Unless … 
• It’s cloudy. Thus, you’ll want to do the same thing you do for an evening hike: take a headlamp.
• Check the hours of the trail you’ll be hiking. Nearly all municipal and county parks have hours, ditto state parks and national parks, as well as land trust preserves. Some of them have nebulous “dawn-to-dusk” hours, most employ actual hours. Some have gates, some do not. National forests and game lands are about the only public lands that generally don’t have posted hours. Technically, you are trespassing if you are on a trail beyond its posted hours.
• Be content with a shorter hike. Odds are if you’re hitting the trail early it’s because you need to be somewhere in the morning — like work or school. Be realistic about your morning hike.
• Know your pace. Part of being realistic about how far you can hike is knowing how fast you hike. Let’s put that 8th grade algebra to the test: If it takes you 25 minutes to hike a mile and you need to be to be off the trail by 8 so you can get to work by 9, starting at sunrise, how far can you hike if you start at 6:50 a.m. (Answer: 3.)
• Eat breakfast first! It’s likely been at least 8 hours since you last ate. Even if you’re not a breakfast person, you need some fuel on board for the hike.

One last thought for those of you who still mope about not having sunlight after work. The winter solstice this year occurs on Dec. 21 (at 4:19 a.m. EST). That’s the day we have the least amount of sunlight (9 hours, 45 minutes, 39 seconds). However, through a quirk of astrosomething, the sun will actually start setting later beginning Dec. 6 (at 5:02:41 p.m. as opposed to 5:02:39 the day before). By Dec. 21 it will be setting 4 minutes and 11 seconds later, and come the last day of the year, sunset won’t be until 5:13:13 p.m. 

You’ll be hiking after work again before you know it.

The post This winter, hike at sunrise appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Winter’s skies are milky, indifferent. Its landscape monochromatic, a wash of grays and browns. Its weather harsh at times. And Lord knows the season is stingy with sunlight. The stuff of travel & tourism ad campaigns winter is not.

Perhaps that’s why winter succeeds with so many of us, those who ignore her gruff exterior and go out and play with her anyway.

Take those prevailing milky skies, a blur of clouds with murky intention. I’m not going to rain on you, they say. I’m not going to shine on you, either. Rather, winter’s skies provide a soft focus that belies threat. They are tolerant, if not welcoming, in a peculiar way. 

Those filtering skies highlight the bland terrain. Seemingly bland, rather. Brown isn’t typically a color known for nuance. Yet the run-out of leaves surrendered to the forest floor yields a carpet ranging from Desert Storm beige, to Crayola brown, to a sort of creamsicle orange. Nondescript colors on their own, they mix to offer a certain pop, a colorway that is distinctly winter.

There are lessons to be learned from the winter woods. The resilient beech leaf (we forgot to mention its coppery addition to the carpet pallet) that refuses to give up its post until its replacement arrives in spring. The cheerful holly and pines that retain their cheery green despite the cold. The occasional misplaced mountain laurel and rhododendron that assure us it’s ok to live outside our comfort zone.

In the bare winter woods, you can see so much more, so much farther. There are few secrets here, few places to hide: what you see is what you get. It’s stark, honest. A place of reassurance.

And there’s the quiet. So quiet you can hear a squirrel scratch its head the next ridge over as it puzzles over where it stashed its acorns just two months earlier. So quiet you hear a breeze rustle the distant tree tops minutes before it brushes your cheek. So quiet you can hear yourself think.

When we dream of our dream hike, we picture a mountain meadow dotted with wildflowers backdropped against the bluest of skies. We picture ourself laying in the midst of this idyll, head propped on our daypack, cap pulled over our eyes, arms crossed over our chest in the international prone display of contentment. It is, alas, a scene that rarely meets expectations.

Unlike a day in the winter woods, a day that rarely disappoints.

The post Winter: a marvelous monochromatic meander appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

And the truth is, not matter how long the trail and how much time you have, even a long hike — a really long hike — can’t solve all your problems. But, as I discovered, a hike of even two hours can certainly take the edge off. And if you can invest an entire day on the trail? So much better.

We have a collection of long hikes that we draw from hen we have the time, the motivation, and the need, to spend the day divorced from the world. Here are nine favorites.

Company Mill Trail with Sycamore Loop

Umstead State Park, Raleigh

10 miles

A figure-eight double lollipop loop that exposes you to the best of Umstead. Starting from the Harrison Avenue entrance (a k a the Reedy Creek entrance), take the Company Mill Trail over three small ridges to Crabtree Creek. Cross the green metal bridge and go right. You’ll follow Crabtree for a spell, climb to the bike and bridle trail that bisects the park and continue. Shortly, you’ll hit a kiosk indicating a short spur to the Sycamore Trail; do the 4-mile loop portion of Sycamore, then return to the Company Mill Trail and hike the portion you haven’t. Lots of up and down on this hike, but nothing grueling. Be advised that the first mile of Company Mill, down to Crabtree Creek, can be crowded on a nice weekend; it becomes less popular from there.

More info here

Birkhead Mountain Wilderness lollipop loop

Uwharrie National Forest, Asheboro
11.8 miles

Starting from the trailhead off Tot Hill Road, hike the Birkhead Mountain Trail south for two miles before hitting the popular loop that Boy Scouts, among others, have been using for years to cut their backpacking teeth. Where the Robbins Branch Trail enters from the right, continue straight on the Birkhead for two miles. (Despite the fact this is a designated wilderness, the trail is well blazed.) After two miles, go right on the Hannahs Creek Trail, where, for the first time, you abandon ridgelines in favor of passage along holly-clogged creeks. After a mile and a half, go right on the Robbins Branch Trail, which climbs a ridge before dropping to its namesake creek and rejoining the Birkhead after 3.2 miles. A great hike year-round, but winter is the only time you’ll catch views from the ridge.

More info: For information on hiking the Uwharries, consult the “Uwharrie Lakes Region Trail Guide,” by Don Childrey, here; find a detailed trip description of the 22.9-mile hike from NC 24/27 to the Jumpingoff Rock Trailhead in “Backpacking North Carolina” (UNC Press, 2011).

Moore’s Knob and Indian Creek trails

Hanging Rock State Park, Danbury
11.5 miles

Starting from the Visitor Center, the 4.3-mile Moore’s Knob Loop Trail offers a dandy warm-up, passing the lake and bathhouse, then probing a tunnel of holly. About a mile in, it’s time to get down to business, with a long ridge ascent to Moore’s Knob. Continue the loop back to the Visitor Center for Round 2: the Indian Creek Trail descends to Hidden and Window falls, then drops its load of hikers before continuing another three miles to the Dan River. And back. Moore’s Knob offers the best views in the park and is considerably less crowded than the park’s namesake creek. Least crowded of all is Indian Creek Trail beyond the falls. An especially good option if you need to take a break midway — or you need to warm up.

More info here

Ridgeline Trail

Crowders Mountain State Park/Kings Mountain State Park (S.C.), Kings Mountain
12 miles
The 12-mile Ridgeline Trail joins two state parks — North Carolina’s Crowders Mountain and Kings Mountain in South Carolina, plus S.C.’s Kings Mountain National Military Park. Start from the North Carolina Visitor Center, hike to the base of Kings Pinnacle — don’t pass the opportunity to take the short spur to the top for great views— then continue south through rolling Piedmont countryside to the park’s Boulders Access, then on to the South Carolina state line (once the trail hits the Palmetto State, it is flat for the remainder). The ridgeline section may not seem sexy, but it’s the only trail in the park that’s not overrun; its quiet is amplified on a winter hike.

More info here

Mountains-to-Sea Trail: Eno River

Durham and Orange counties

10.2 miles

Starting upstream on the Eno at the Pleasant Green Access, hike up a bluff overlooking the Eno, around an abandoned quarry, through surprising stretches of steep climbs and sharp drops. Pass under Cole Mill Road and the trail mellows, heading through flood plain forest and occasionally taking a more upland route. At Guess Road you hike up to the bridge, stay on your side of the road, cross the bridge, then curl under the bridge to continue downstream. The beauty of this hike is that on parts of it, you’ll feel like you’re on a mountain hike, with quick ups and downs through narrow coves. And the rocky Eno does a good job of mimicking a mountain  stream, especially after a nice rain.

More info here

Mountains-to-Sea Trail: Falls Lake

Wake and Durham counties

21.8 miles (out of 60 total)

The Mountains-to-Sea Trail runs 60 miles along the south shore of Falls Lake through the Triangle. With the trail broken down into 18 day-hike sections, ranging in length from just under a mile to nearly seven, there are plenty of long-hike permutations. Here’s a favorite. Starting from the Falls Lake ranger station off NC 50, hike west. Immediately, you are in the most remote stretch of the MST along Falls Lake, a nearly seven-mile run where signs of your fellow humans are rare (save for the remains of an old tobacco barn and what appears to have been a commercial chicken coop). The trail ducks in and out of coves on the lake, loses sight of it occasionally, has some boardwalked, swampy passages. At Little Lick Creek there’s an impressive pedestrian footbridge followed by an impressively narrow and long boardwalk. From there, it’s more hiking typical of a Piedmont hardwood forest. This 21.8-mile stretch concludes at the Hickory Hill Boat Ramp: no facilities but lots of parking. There is no water along the way; be sure to pack in plenty, even in winter.
More info: For more information on navigating this stretch and for scouting your own 20-mile hike on the MST at Falls Lake, go here.

Pilot Creek Trail

Pilot Mountain State Park, Pinnacle

6.6 miles (out and back)

Quiet and solitude are not qualities generally associated with Pilot Mountain. Over the last three years in particular, the summit of this park anchoring the west end of the Sauratown Mountain Range has become so popular that on weekends you can’t drive to the top, you must take a shuttle. Not the case when you hike from the Boyd Nelson Road access on the north side of the park. Here, catch the Pilot Creek Trail for a 3.3-mile hike that may not have the views the summit can offer, but is rich in rocky terrain and good winter vibes. At the 3.3-mile mark, if you’re hankering for those views, take the Grindstone Trail for a vigorous climb to the top. Or, do an about face for the 3.3-mile hike back.

More info here.

Great Dismal Swamp NWR

Chesapeake, Suffolk, VA 

40+ miles

One of the most memorable days of hiking I’ve had in the last 20 years was on a bitter cold, stunningly sunny day at the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge outside Suffolk. I headed out early and just started walking — and walking and walking. The refuge, like many of its fellow NWRs in the region, us designed for the long saunter. More than 40 miles of natural surface roads, closed to traffic, penetrate this 113,000-acre preserve (the Great Dismal once covered more than a million acres). Though there are some shorter trails, the four “ditch trail” systems cover from 11 to 16 miles each. Flat, quiet hiking on level surface penetrating a vast swamp, hiking that accommodates miles of thought-free wandering, especially on a cold winter’s day.

More info here.

High Bridge Trail

High Bridge Trail State Park, Green Bay, VA

31.2 miles

You can’t discuss long winter hikes and not include a rail-trail in the mix. The High Bridge Trail follows the old Southside Railroad (and later, Norfolk Southern) line, which once linked Petersburg and Lynchburg. Since 2012, it’s been a recreational trail open to hiking, biking and horseback riding, and takes travelers through several towns, including Morgan, Rice, FarmVille, Tuggle, Prospect, Elam and Pamplin. Shuttles are easily set up (the trail parallels, at different points, VA 406, VA 600 and Prince Edward Highway. An especially good option for folks new to long hiking.

More info here.

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