Poppycock!

It’s simply a matter of where to go, when to go and how to prepare. Our summer hikes include morning and evening hikes to beat the heat, and a Weekend Summer Escape series that includes three memorable weekends of hiking on high country sections of the statewide Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

GetHiking! Summer Weekend Hiking Escapes on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail

June 10-12, July 22-24, Sept. 9-11

Spend the summer exploring North Carolina’s statewide Mountains-to-Sea Trail with our Summer on the MST Weekend Escape Series. On three weekends, we’ll establish basecamp and hike three of our favorite mountain sections of the statewide Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Each weekend escape includes

• Friday evening hike of 3-4 miles
• Saturday hike of around 10 miles
• Sunday hike of about 5 miles
• Camping for the weekend
• Meals, including 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches and dinner Saturday evening.
• An eguide for every hike, including important details about each hike (such as trailhead location), route description and custom map.

The summer’s three Weekend Escapes are listed below. Click the link for more info and to sign up.

• Summer on the MST Weekend Escape to Doughton Park, June 10-12, go here.
• Summer on the MST Weekend Escape to Mount Pisgah, July 22-24, go here.
• Summer on the MST Weekend Escape to Price Lake, Sept. 9-11, go here.

Make this the summer you get to know the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in the mountains!

GetHiking! Summer Hike Series

June – August

Keep hiking through the summer with our GetHiking! Summer Series. The 8 hikes in our series are carefully selected to beat the heat. Some hikes occur late, some early, all, for a variety of reasons are cool. It’s a great way to keep your hiking mojo through the summer months. The hikes are in the 4- to 5-mile range, and are on different trails each week.  The series begins June 7 and includes

• Tuesday evening hikes: June 7, 21; July 12, 26; Aug. 16
• Sunday morning hikes: June 19, July 17, Aug. 7
• Weekly eguide for each hike, including a map, route description, overview of the hike and key details (such as how to get to the trailhead!).
• GetHiking! Guide to Summer Hiking, to help you deal with the heat
• A post-hike frozen concoction

For individual hikers, learn more and sign up here, for couples and families go here.

GetHiking! Summer Wednesday Evening Hike Series

Make the most of your summer evenings with this 10-hike series of weekly Wednesday evening hikes on various trails throughout the Triangle. Hikes are 3-4 miles each, on different trails each week, each well suited for evening hikes. The series begins May 25. This session includes:

• 10 weekly hikes
• Weekly eguide for each hike, including a map, route description, overview of the hike and key details (such as how to get to the trailhead!).
• GetHiking! Guide to Summer Hiking, to help you deal with the heat
• A post-hike frozen concoction

For individual hikers, learn more and sign up here, for couples and families go here.

GetHiking! Summer Friday Morning Hike Series

Make the most of your Summer weekends by starting them Friday morning, with this 8-hike series of wake-up hikes on various trails throughout the Triangle. Hikes are 3-4 miles each, on different trails each week, each well suited for a morning hike, each geared to hikers age 50 and up. The series begins June 3. This session includes:

• 8 weekly hikes
• Weekly eguide for each hike, including a map, route description, overview of the hike and key details (such as how to get to the trailhead!).
• GetHiking! Guide to Summer Hiking, to help you deal with the heat.

Learn more and sign up here.

GetHiking! Summer Hike Series for Clubs/Organizations/Business

If you’ve got a minimum of 8 hikers, we can craft a weekly Spring hike series to suite your needs, from mid-day during the work week, to evenings to weekends. Same as our Sunday series, but set up around your availability.

• 10 hikes
• Built around your schedule 
• $165 for single hikers, $295 for couples and families.
• 8 hiker minimum

For more information, email info@getgoingnc.com 

GetHiking! Piedmont Explorer

Maybe you’re new to the area, or maybe you’ve been hiking in the Triangle for a while and are ready to expand your horizons. With the Piedmont Explorer we take you to nine destinations, each no more than two hours away. Some you may have heard of but haven’t had a chance to visit. Some you may not know at all. All offer great hiking not far from the Triangle.

• 9 hikes
• Second Saturday of every month; most hikes begin at 10 a.m.
• Each hike is $85 for an individual, $135 for couples/families, or sign up for all 9, for $540 ($895 for couples/families), and save 20 percent.
• 12 hiker limit
• The hikes:
  • Morrow Mountain State Park (April 9). For this hike only, sign up here
  • Raven Rock State Park (May 14). For this hike only, sign up here
  • White Pines Nature Preserve (June 11). Registration tba
  • Hanging Rock State Park (July 9). Registration tba
  • Medoc Mountain State Park (August 13). Registration tba
  • Birkhead Mountain Wilderness (September 10). Registration tba
  • Uwharrie National Forest: Uwharrie National Recreation Trail (October 8). Registration tba
  • Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve (November 12). Registration tba
  • Merchants Millpond State Park (December 10). Registration tbas

To learn more and sign up for a Single hiker subscription, go here, for a couple/family subscription go here.

The post GetHiking! Summer 2022 appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

That’s what we’re about here at GetGoingNC.com: our guided hikes are intended to introduce you to new trails you can hike on your own, our classes give you the skills to confidently hike and backpack independently, and our trail guides, books and tutorials are likewise intended to activate and inform the explorer within. 

Typically, our GetOut! blog for the coming weekend deviates slightly from that mission by ferreting out for you upcoming hikes, trips and programs. Today, we deviate from that deviation. Today, we provide you with some of the resources we use to find out what’s happening in the weekend ahead. Find an area of interest, click the link, proceed to a calendar of events and plan away.

Regional land trusts

Land trusts offer some of the best programs around, from the Eno River Association’s Sunday Hike Series to the Triangle Land Conservancy’s Speed Hikes.

• Triangle Land Conservancy here
• Eno River Association here
• Piedmont Land Conservancy here
• Three Rivers Land Trust here
• NC Coastal Land Trust here
• Tar River Land Trust here

North Carolina State Parks

North Carolina’s state parks host a variety of activities throughout the week, in the evening, on weekends. Most have an educational focus, many are just intended to get you out in the wild. Activities include hiking, paddling and various nature programs. Most are free. Check out what’s going on this weekend at a state park near you, here.

N.C. Environmental Education Center

The state’s 200-plus environmental education centers have outdoor events of an educational nature going on throughout the week. Check ‘em out here.

Paddling

Up for a paddle trip? Several outfitters run trips in North Carolina, with most focused on a specific geographic area. Among them:

• Frog Hollow Outdoors (central Piedmont)
• Haw River Canoe & Kayak (central Piedmont)
• Headwaters Outfitters (western North Carolina mountains)
• Paddle NC (North Carolina coast)
• Zaloo’s Canoes, Kayaks & Tubes (northern North Carolina mountains, New River)

General adventure

Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine has an online calendar that includes a variety of activities throughout the region, from trail runs to paddle trips. Find it here.

At the coast

• CapeFearCoast.com. Comprehensive calendar for the Cape Fear/Wilmington/southern N.C. coast searchable by date and event name.
• Coastal Guide. Comprehensive calendar including nature programs from a variety of costal conservation and research agencies that offer nature programs. Covers the entire coast.

Finally, a reminder that it is supposed to a springlike weekend — highs in the upper 50s, lows in the mid 30s under skies that grow sunnier as the weekend progresses — and your favorite trails could be crowded. The answer? Find a new favorite that won’t be as crowded. We recommend 5 in our Wednesday blog, which you may find here.

GetOut! And enjoy! 

Know of a resource we should include in our list of outdoor calendars? Pass it along to joe@getgoingnc.com.

The post GetOut! Here’s how to find this weekend’s adventure appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

So we’ll focus on Saturday and Monday this week, with Monday being the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Our thoughts … .

Saturday

Waterfowl Hike, 9 a.m., Lake Norman State Park, Troutman. One of the many joys this time of year is the great waterfowl migration along the Atlantic Flyway. And on the long trip from Canada south, these migrating waterfowl need to stop to rest and refuel every once in a while. It’s a bit like stopping at South of the Border on your way to Florida. For migrating waterfowl, it turns out that Lake Norman’s Park Lake is the Pedro’s of the waterfowl migration. Join a ranger for a walkabout to see what who’s migrating. Learn more here.

Winter Bird Hike, 9:30 a.m., Pilot Mountain State Park, Pinnacle. Another program for the birds, this one primarily focused on the park’s permanent residents. Bring ‘em if you’ve got ‘em (binos, that is). Learn more here.

Oh, Deer! 2-3 p.m., Blue Jay Point County Park, Raleigh. In this installment of the park’s Family Wildlife Series you’ll learn about the neighbors we all have today — deer. Why are they everywhere? Come find out. Free, but registration is required. More info here.

Monday

George Washington Carver Memorial Hike, 10 a.m., Lake James State Park., Nebo. We love a hike with a little history, especially if it’s history we’re only vaguely familiar with. On this hike, for instance, you’ll learn about crop rotation and the scientist who pioneered the concept, George Washington Carver. Learn more here.

Next weekend

The forecast for next weekend is winter perfect for being out in the woods. Good to hear, since we’ll be holding our first GetHiking! Weekend Escape of the year, at Jones Lake State Park southeast of Fayetteville. Two days of hiking around Jones Lake, two nights of stargazing under one of the least light-polluted skies in the state. Learn more and sign up to join us here.

Parting thought

Another possibility for Saturday: chopping firewood and stocking up on provisions. The forecast appears to be trending away from powder, more toward power outage.

The post GetOut! A moving target of a weekend appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

GetHiking! Fall Sunday Morning Hike Series

• 11 hikes
• Sundays at 10 a.m., Sept. 5 – Nov. 21
• $125 for single hikers, $225 for couples and families
• 15 hiker limit

Make the most of the fall hiking season — the peak hiking season in the Piedmont — with our Sunday morning hike series! Eleven hikes on different trails each week, trails picked both for their esthetics and for their ability to escape crowds. Explore a different trail each week!

Learn more and sign up to join us here for single hikers or here for couples and families.

GetHiking! Fall Sunday Afternoon Hike Series

• 11 hikes
• Sundays at 1 p.m., Sept. 5 – Nov. 21
• $125 for single hikers, $225 for couples and families
• 15 hiker limit

The same hikes as in our Fall Sunday Morning series, but in the afternoon. Eleven hikes on different trails each week, trails picked both for their esthetics and for their ability to escape crowds. Explore a different trail each week!

Learn more and sign up to join us here for single hikers or here for couples and families.

GetHiking! Fall Friday Morning Hike Series

• 

  8 hikes

• Fridays at 7:30 a.m.
• $95
• 15 hiker limit

Fall weekends on the trail — who can wait for Saturday? With our GetHiking! Fall Friday Morning Hike Series you don’t have to. Our 8-hike series takes advantage of the early light, hitting the trail at 7:30 and finishing up around 9. Our hikes are on trails throughout the Triangle, a different trail each week!

Learn more and sign up to join us here.

GetHiking! Tuesday Evening Hike Series

• 10 hikes
• Tuesday evenings at 6:30 p.m.
• $125 / $225 for couples/families
• 15 hiker limit

The onset of cool fall weather and bright autumn color brings with it the hordes of fair-weather hikers who will soon be crowding our favorite trails — on weekends. Hike on a Tuesday — better still, a Tuesday after dark — and the trail is pretty much yours. In our Fall Tuesday Evening Hike Series, we hit the trail at 6:30 p.m. and hike into the night (literally)  Each hike lasts about an hour and a half; at the midpoint, we take a minute to savor the sounds of the night and the sights of the dark sky. 

Learn more and sign up for a single hiker here, a couple or family here.

GetOriented! Finding Your Way in the Woods

• 3-hour hands-on, in-field map and compass training session
• $65
• Three sessions

Love the trail but uncertain about your wayfinding skills? This three-hour session goes over basic map and compass skills, then hits the trail to offer key tips on how to follow and stay on the trail, how to find it again if you stray, and how to explore off trail. We’ll start with a 30-minute map-and-compass introduction, then use that map and compass — and some Daniel Boone skills — to find our way in the woods. We’ll also do some off-trail exploring, with the goal of purposefully venturing off trail, then figuring out how to rejoin the trail. Our goal is to make you confident hiking alone or taking a novice friend on the trail — and a little bit off!

For more information and to sign up, check the appropriate link below:

• Sunday, Aug. 22, Umstead State Park
• Saturday, Sept. 18, Eno River State Park
• Saturday, Oct. 9, Umstead State Park

GetHiking! Fall Weekend Escape: Black Mountain Crest Trail

The mystery of the northern end of the Black Mountain Crest Trail is one we will unravel on this hike starting from the Bowlen Creek Trailhead and climbing just over 3,000 vertical feet in 4.5 miles to Celo Knob. There, we’ll take the Woody Ridge Trail down the east flank of the mountain for just over 2 miles. It’s a hike that begins in a lush, mature hardwood forest; traverses an exposed ridge with incredible views to the east and west; and finishes on a 2-mile descent through rugged terrain. We’ll do two shorter hikes as part of the weekend as well, catching the peak of fall color in the high country. Breakfasts and campfire smores included. Oct. 22-24.

Learn more and sign up here.

GetHiking! Fall Weekend Escape: the Appalachian Trail at Hot Springs

Late Fall is a magical time: autumnal color lingers, the hordes who come to see it do not. There’s a special quiet you won’t find at any other time of year. And one of the best places for a hiker to enjoy this quiet — and catch some great late fall color — is on the Appalachian Trail at Hot Springs, N.C. The weekend of Nov. 12-14 we will gather in Hot Springs for a weekend of hiking and enjoying the ambience of downtown Hot Springs (through which the Appalachian Trail passes). Saturday, we shuttle to Garenflo Gap and hike 7 miles on the AT back to town; Sunday, we start at Tanyard Gap and hike 6.5 miles on the AT back to town. Five meals and trail snacks provided.

Learn more and sign up here.

The post GetHiking! Fall 2021 appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Without dwelling, cold weather historically drives people indoors, and, this year, indoors is where you have a significantly greater chance of contracting the coronavirus. The advance of fall is already seeing a significant increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in North Carolina and nationwide. In response, on Tuesday North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper dialed back the cap on indoor group gatherings to 10 people. Staying indoors is trouble, especially if you like people.

Thus, it’s more important than it has been since the pandemic began in March to:

1. Wear a mask in public
2. Stay at least 6 feet from people outside your bubble
3. Spend time outside

The first two are in your court: pretty simple requirements that involve no hardship or sacrifice. As for No. 3 — spend as much time as possible outdoors — that’s where we can help.

Yesterday, we announced our most aggressive lineup of winter programs ever. We’ve got weekly hikes for experienced hikers, we’ve got weekly hikes for novices who don’t know why there’s a tree with a splotch of paint every hundred feet or so on the trail. We’ve got hikes in the daylight, we have hikes in the dark. We have hikes where there’s no trail, we have hikes where you didn’t know there were trails (the coastal plain). And we have more overnight trips than in any winter past.

If you’re willing to learn to deal with the cold — another focus of our winter programs — then we can assure a plethora of outdoor options over the next four months.

Here’s a quick rundown:

GetHiking! Winter Series for the Aspiring Hiker

Dec. 13 through Feb. 28

Every Sunday afternoon at 1 we hike a local trail, starting with a 1.5-mile hike and building to 4 miles to help the aspiring hiker evolve into a competent, confident hiker. The hikes are at a mellow pace, and we start with less-challenging terrain and build to intermediate-level trails. Learn more and sign up here.

GetHiking! Sunday Winter Hike Series

Dec. 13 through Feb. 28 (with an additional Dec. 30 hike)

This 12-hike series is for more experienced hikers accustomed to going longer distances on more challenging terrain. Hikes are from 4 to 8 miles long, with most around 6. We have two Sunday sessions, one at 10 a.m. and a second at 1 p.m.

Learn more and sign up for: Sunday morning, single hiker here, family/couple here; Sunday afternoon, single hiker here, family here.

GetHiking! with Friends and Co-Workers

Hikes are according to your schedule

Got a group of friends or co-workers you’d like to hike with but aren’t sure where to start? Start with us. Based on your group’s location, size and interest level, we’ll craft an 8-hike series that meets your needs. Then, once a week, we’ll send you a guide with all the information you need to do a hike that’s right for your group. Learn more and sign up here.

Tuesday Night Hikes

Every other Tuesday night at 6:30, from Dec. 1 through Feb. 23

Don’t let the fact the sun sets before you get off work keep you from taking a midweek hike. We don headlamps and hike for an hour and a half through the dark of night. Learn more and sign up here for a single hiker, here for a family.

Winter Wild

Six weekend hikes, beginning in November and running into early March. 

Winter brings with it the chance to go off-trail and explore deeper into the woods. With this 6-hike series, we take advantage of the season’s stark landscape to explore some places you thought you knew as well places you had no idea existed. The hikes are from 5 to 8 miles long.

Learn more and sign up for the series here. Openings for individual hikes, if any remain, go on sale two weeks before the event.

Winter Coastal Escapes

November through February

Five events at the coast and coastal plain, including three camping trips, one backpack trip, one day hike and one paddle trip. Destinations include Jones Lake State Park, the Croatan National Forest, Carolina Beach State Park, and Goose Creek State Park. Learn more and sign up here.

Most events have a limit of 10 participants to more easily accommodate social distancing. We require masks be worn at trailheads and at other times when maintaining social distancing is difficult. We also ask that participants keep their masks handy should we encounter others and social distancing is difficult.

I’ve always loved exploring in winter, for reasons that defy easy explanation. So instead of trying to explain what’s attractive about the season, I’ll go one better by giving you a little extra incentive to see for yourself. From now through Sunday (Nov. 15), when you click on one of the above links and see an event (or events) you’d like to try, enter code 3VDXSS5S at checkout and get 10 percent off. 

Winter adventure: this year, it makes more sense than ever. 

The post There’s never been a better time to be outdoors appeared first on GetGoing NC!.