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

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 policy is and see if it’s one you’re comfortable with.

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.

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Group options

Join a Meetup. Just about every community or region has a Meetup group that hikes. Just go to Meetup.com, and in the search bar type “hiking” into the keyword search box and the town where you live (you’ll have the option of calling up groups up to 100 miles away). Some groups are private and you may need to apply for admission.

Explore with Us! Our GetHiking! program has four winter hike series to keep you on the trail. Click the appropriate link for details:

• GetHiking! Winter 2022 Sunday Afternoon Hike Series. 10 weekly hikes beginning at 1 p.m., each on different trails throughout the Triangle. Jan. 9 – March 13. Learn more and sign up: Click the appropriate link: 10 a.m. Single; 10 a.m. Family; 1 p.m. Single; 1 p.m. Family.
• GetHiking! 2022 Tuesday Night Hike Series. 10 weekly Tuesday night hikes, beginning at 6:30 p.m. and finishing around 8 p.m. Each hike is about 3 miles. Learn more and register by going here for a single hiker, here for a couple/family.
• GetHiking! Winter 2022 Series for the Aspiring Hiker. Instruction and guide-led hikes 10 Sunday afternoons from Feb. 6 – April 10. Hikes start at 2 miles and increase to 5 miles. Learn more and sign up here.
• GetHiking! Winter Wild. An off-trail adventure every month, typically from 5-7 miles in length. Learn more and sign up here.

The post Better cold than SAD appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Here’s an exchange I find myself having surprisingly often.
Other Person: I’ve been trying to find a local hiking [slash-paddling-slash-cycling-slash-climbing-slash-other-favorite-activity-here] club but haven’t had any luck. Are there any?
Me: Have you tried Meetup?
OP: Meetup?
Yes, even today, after 12 years, 14.1 million members, 131,119 Meetup groups and 2.65 million monthly RSVPS (members indicating they plan to attend a Meetup activity) there are still people out there unfamiliar with Meetup.com. In short: Meetup is how people gather to play in the internet age. You want to go on a group hike in Charlotte, you join Outdoor Club South: Charlotte. You want to go kayaking in the Carolinas? Simply join Simply Kayaking. You want to do just about anything and you live in the Triangle? Become one of the 5,392 members of the Triangle Hiking & Outdoors Group: they’ve got 20 events currently scheduled and odds are at least one will tickle your adventure fancy.
Finding a group is easy. Go to Meetup.com, click “Find a Meetup Group,” click on your interest and how far you’re willing to drive, and options will appear. If they don’t, if there’s not a group that does what you want to do, start one.
To give you an idea of what’s out there, here’s a list of the 17 Meetup groups I belong to. Click, see what they do, where they go and who they are. Like what they’re about? Click one more time and become a member.
It’s that easy.

1. Outdoor Club South: Charlotte
2. Outdoor Club South: Greenville, S.C.
3. Outdoor Club South: Wilmington
4. The Charleston Sea Kayaking Meetup Group
5. Extreme Obstacle Course Runners
6. Hiking – Charlotte/Piedmont Areas
7. Kayak Flatwater Paddlers
8. Palmetto Adventure Club
9. Raleigh Recreational Hikers
10. Raleigh Rock Climbing Meetup
11. Raleigh Trail Runners
12. Raleigh Weekday Outdoor Activity Group
13. Simply Kayaking
14. Trailblazer Adventure Racing Club
15. Triad Hiking & Outdoors Group
16. Triangle Hiking & Outdoors Group
17. Triangle Off-Road Cyclists

The post Looking for company? Hook up with Meetup appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Last week, I wrote about finding enlightenment through a race report filed by fellow Uwharrie Mountain Runner Charles West. After doing the UMR’s 40-mile version (I did the 20), he shared 11 things he learned from the race. Most were about performance, about nutrition, gear, tactics. I was most struck by point No. 11:

“The Uwharrie National Forest on a cloudy, foggy, rainy, overcast day is a magical place that’ll remind you of why it’s so awesome to be alive and do something epic with incredible people who do things that amaze and inspire you.”

It was the part about doing epic things with others that had particular resonance. When it comes to exploring the outdoors, I’m a bit of a loner. In part, that’s by professional necessity: As an outdoors writer, my workweek — my time to scout and explore — tends to be Monday through Friday, a time when my usual playmates are otherwise occupied. But it doesn’t always need to be that way; with a little planning and negotiating on the home front, I can get out on the weekends. That and Charles’ No. 11 lead me to a new goal for the year, one guaranteed to get me out with others: Do at least three Meetup events every month.

My first under this new commitment was Sunday, and even though it was on trail I’ve done more than a hundred times — Umstead State Park’s Company Mill Trail with the Sycamore Loop tacked on — this trips was perhaps the most illuminating, thanks to my fellow hikers. For instance:

From Holt I got the lowdown on Danville, Va., a town of mystery based on recent visits. Holt lived in Danville for a dozen years, during which time he saw the town shrink from a population of 58,000 to 43,000. He saw the Dan River Mills, which once employed 18,000, disappear after being purchased and dismantled by an Indian company in 2006. When he and his family moved to Danville from Richmond, you could buy a 4,000-square-foot 1890s Victorian mansion in good shape for far less than a 2,400-square-foot split-level in Cary.

From Chuck I learned a lesson in semantics. When he mentioned having lived in South Carolina, I asked about the wild places he’d been. Without hesitating, he launched into a detailed account of party life in Columbia. Much wilder than I bargained for.

From Pam, a fellow baby boomer, I learned that for her, our nine-mile trek was more of an exercise appetizer. “I teach exercise classes,” she told me at the trailhead. “Sometimes three a day.” Sometimes three a day in three different locations. And I thought I had stamina.

From Phyllis I learned that the years leading up to retirement can actually be more of a warm-up. “I’ve been taking classes at Tremont,” she said near the end of the hike. That would be the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, where she’s working toward her certification as a naturalist/educator. She plans to retire, sorta, in a year and a half, then volunteer to lead nature programs.

From Sean I learned anew what a great area this is if you’re into exploring the outdoors. Sean and his family moved to the Triangle a year and a half ago and he’s only starting to renew his affair with the outdoors, an affair that began growing up in the wilds of California. Despite having been weaned in the Sierra Nevada, he was smitten with Umstead.

From hike leader Brian I learned what it takes to be a good hike leader. Well, yes, constantly yo-yoing from the front of the pack to the back, making sure everyone’s doing well, making sure no one has dropped off the back. For me, though, his credentials were verified when, seven miles in, he suddenly announced, “Hey, I almost forgot — I’ve got chocolate!” That never happens when I hike alone.

When I got home late Sunday afternoon I checked my Meetup groups for upcoming outings. A Wednesday paddle on the Eno with Simply Kayaking looked good (if I can get out of a root canal), there’s a chance to check out the new Clayton/Neuse River Greenway with the Raleigh Weekday Outdoor Activity Group on Friday, and the Triangle Rock Club’s Climbing Meetup has an after-hours event Sunday at the climbing gym from which it gets its name, which I’m already signed up for.

Doing three Meetup events a month looks like it won’t be so hard. The hard part could be doing no more than three a week.

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How to Meetup

In less than a decade, Meetup groups have replaced traditional outing clubs as the way people get together to get out. Take hiking. A decade ago, there was maybe one true hiking club in the Triangle (and that one was limited to people with IQs over 150.). A quick search of hiking Meetups in the area came up with 37 currently in existence, from the behemoth Triangle Hiking and Outdoors Group, with 4,441 members, to the 68-member Johnston County Hiking & Outing Group.  To find a local Meetup that meets your needs, go to the Meetup Web site, and plug in your passion and ZIP Code; you should find a Meetup that meets your needs. And if you don’t, start one.

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It’s hard to paddle this time of year if you don’t have a boat. Only a handful of boat rentals are open year-round (Lake Johnson and Lake Wheeler in Raleigh come to mind), and most of those only open when the 100-degree rule applies (when the combined air and water temperature top 100). Thus, the joys of winter paddling go unappreciated by the masses.

Isabelle, an assistant organizer with the Raleigh Weekday Outdoor Activity Group, has her own boat, but appreciates the plight of the boatless from mid-September into spring, what many of us consider prime paddling season. So every once in a while, she sponsors an outing where the haves (those with boats) and the have nots come together for a day on the water.

I tagged along on the group’s November outing. Check out this little video of how the day went.

The post Kayaking for the kayakless appeared first on GetGoing NC!.