The snow and bitter cold are gone. Time to get back out and explore!
Coast | Coastal Plain
There’s something extra special about the Coastal Plain in winter. The still air, the open views, the absence of flying biting things. All of which makes it a great time for a hike, to learn, perhaps about the phenomenon known as Carolina Bays.
Highs in the low 80s, sunny skies. Sounds like a great weekend for a hike, no? And as luck would have it, this weekend is the kick off for Hike NC, a statewide hiking initiative by BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, North Carolina State Parks, GetGoingNC and others. We’ll talk more about Hike NC in the coming days, but in a nutshell, it’s an effort to expose more North Carolinians to their state’s remarkable hiking resource, a resource they can frequently find right in their own backyard. We’ve got more than 60 hikes scheduled statewide over the next two months; today, we highlight the three that launch the program this weekend.
When I first started writing about fitness and the outdoors back in the early 1990s, there were a handful of ways you could welcome the New Year in most communities. There was usually a 5K run, a bike shop sponsored a casual ride, canoe clubs held members-only paddles, there was a hike or two, and some oddball group was jumping into a local lake (and jumping right back out again). You had options for welcoming the new year, but not a lot.
Yikes! Do the kids really start back to school in a little over a week? Summer 2012 is drawing to a close, my friends. You can’t afford to fritter away another weekend.
Coast
It’s been a long week, so we’re going to invoke playlay — sorta like the pirate’s parlay — which allows us to begin the weekend a little early, say, Friday afternoon at 3 p.m.? Which is convenient because that’s when a ranger will be leading a guided canoe trip on the coastal plain’s Jones Lake at the state park of the same name. You have to be able to swim; otherwise, no experience necessary. Canoes and equipment provided.
It’s one of the cheapest recreation deals going: for as little as $5 an hour you can captain your own ship on any number of waterways throughout North Carolina. These bargain basement deals are offered at various county, municipal and state parks throughout the state.