Monday — never an easy time for the outdoors enthusiast. After a weekend of adventure, returning to the humdrum work-a-day world can make one melancholy. To help ease the transition, every Monday we feature a 90 Second Escape — essentially, a 90-second video or slide show of a place you’d probably rather be: a trail, a park, a greenway, a lake … anywhere as long as it’s not under a fluorescent bulb.
Today’s 90-Second Escape: Summer Hiking: Better When Wet
Tag Archives: Hiking
Hikes for June and July, anyone?
At our sister site, NCHikes.com, we make monthly (or somewhat monthly) recommendations for seasonally appropriate hikes. In summer, for instance, we try to suggest hikes that are either high and cool or ones that involve walking near, or at some point frolicking in, water.
Why hike? Here’s one reason
It wasn’t so much an “ah-ha!” moment. It was more of an “ah-ha!” day.
Saturday, our GetHiking! group spent the day exploring the Shining Rock Wilderness region along the Pisgah Ridge west of Asheville. The wilderness itself is 18,483 acres; the immediately adjoining Pisgah National Forest (including the Middle Prong Wilderness) is at least three times that. Shining Rock is known for its high elevations (our travels ranged from 5,000 to over 6,000 feet) and its never-ending supply of views. On a day like Saturday, mostly sunny with clouds scudding in the distance, it is a rare hiking experience in the Southeast. It’s also why we hike.
It’s Summer!
Summer, it officially begins bright and early (6:51 a.m.) Saturday morning.
To ensure that you’re prepared we’ve assembled a list of resources to help you figure out how to best capitalize on the solstice with the mostest.
Paddling
Rent a boat: Don’t have a canoe or kayak (or stand-up paddleboard)? No problem. We’ve found 52 places across North Carolina where you can rent a canoe, kayak or SUP — and for as little as a couple bucks an hour. A paddle is within reach! Info here.
Because it’s there
I’ve never climbed Mount Pisgah, the iconic, 5,721-foot peak on the Blue Ridge Parkway west of Asheville, because “it” is there — “it” being the 339-foot transmission tower that boosts Pisgah’s God-and-manmade elevation to 6,023 feet.
I’ve stopped at the Pisgah Inn, bought the obligatory Moon Pie at the Country Store, hiked the Mountains-to-Sea Trail which runs past Pisgah. Every time I’ve stopped, spent a moment staring at Pisgah and it’s monstrous metal topper and thought, “Nah.”