It wasn’t a long hike. But it was just enough. Just knowing the rain couldn’t stop me was enough. It couldn’t stop me, because I was prepared.

Hiking in the rain can be a delight — if you’re prepared. The following tips for hiking in the rain were taken from our GetHiking! Hiking in the Rain tip sheet. For the entire 3-page guide visit our website and enter code RAINTIPS at checkout to get the guide for free through this weekend (March 30).

• Take note of the sky. Before heading out, check to see which way the clouds are rolling. Then check periodically on the hike: if the clouds moving in grow darker and more foreboding, consider an about-face.
• Listen. If you hear anything that remotely sounds like thunder — a tree falling, your stomach growling, actual thunder — stop and listen to see if you hear it again, keeping your eyes on the sky for lightening.
• Creek crossings. Hopefully, you already have experience crossing bridge-less streams. Even if you do, be aware that those rocks you use to hop across are now wet and, likely, slippery. A few creek-crossing pointers (borrowed from our Water Crossings tip sheet: 
• Scout the route you plan to take before doing anything. If you can’t find a safe and doable route, do not cross. Tip: look for the widest spot in the river; it’s usually also the shallowest.
• Look for flat rocks to hop across.
• Avoid rocks that appear green (though a thick mat of moss can sometimes improve grip). 
• Cross the stream on a diagonal, angling upstream (walking slightly upstream keeps the force of the water from getting the best of you).
• DO NOT CROSS IF: the water is swift,  you can’t see the bottom,  it appears over its banks. You’ve had your time in the rain, now head back.
• Multiple crossings: Keep in mind that if you do cross a high creek, if you have to cross it again, especially downstream, it will be higher.
• Nix the notion of an aerobic workout in the rain. Some hikers seek a PR every time they punch their Garmin and speed down the trail. Speed is not your friend on a rain-slicked trail. Slow down and enjoy.  
• Don’t get cold. If you have proper rain gear, this shouldn’t be a problem. But it can be, even on a relatively warm day. Let a desert of heat build up under your rain gear and it can soak your clothes and, when you stop, send a chill. Hypothermia can happen even in warm weather.
• Remember to drink. Again, even if you’re pleased with your rain gear heat regulation, you will still sweat a little more; plan to drink more water than usual.
• Snack. You’ll burn more calories slogging down a wet trail, tensing up over creek crossings, hiking in cooler weather. Keep popping those Snickers Minis.

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More hiking tips

You’ll find our GetHiking! tips sheet for hiking in the rain plus tips on everything from layering, what to take, hiking with dogs and more in our “Let’s GetHiking! A Quick and Comprehensive Guide for the Aspiring Hiker,” a 109-page guide. Check it out here.

The post It’s raining? So hike! (Here’s how) appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

We hiked in in the cold (about 40 degrees), the rain (roughly two inches would fall over a 36-hour period), the dark. The one consolation? The frozen rain that had been in the forecast failed to materialize.

In the end, our trip to the Birkhead Mountain Wilderness was the best trip in a year full of pretty great trips.

Why? Because backpackers are a little different. They start out as regular day hikers. Short, hour-long hikes at first. Then half days that become full days. Then one day the sun is setting and they aren’t ready to leave the trail. So they take the next logical step and make it so they don’t have to. They become backpackers.

If you haven’t made it to backpacking yet, you may be wondering how cold and rain and dark translate to a great weekend. Here’s how:

The forecast

Backpack enough and you learn to take the forecast into consideration, but you don’t take it as gospel. The forecast for our trip started out with a good chance of freezing rain. Then the rain window became a moving target: maybe it would begin Thursday and end Friday night, maybe it would begin in the wee hours of Friday and run through mid afternoon Saturday. Rain looked like a given, cold likewise. Consider those two factors as givens and it shouldn’t matter when they might occur.

Get a plan

Set up dry and you should stay dry. Since it looked like rain was a good possibility upon arriving at our campsite, we took an extra tarp, an 18’ x 18’ piece of super light polycro — that two of us could take turns holding while a third camper pitched his tent underneath. The weight and space investment was minimal in light of the benefit of setting up dry. A good bet, it turned out, since it was indeed raining when we set up camp Friday night around 8:30.

The plan also included making sure everyone came equipped with rain gear, either an adequate poncho or rain jacket and pants. It was a little over 3 miles to camp, about an hour and fifteen minutes of hiking in, yes, a steady rain. Again, good planning, a good investment of weight.

The likelihood of rain also meant bringing extra clothes. Rain gear may keep out the rain, but even when the temperature’s a nippy 40, wearing it and hiking in full pack will build up some heat, and sweating is inevitable, even with the best rain gear. Layers that get even a little moist stay that way unless the weather turns dry and sunny.

Always look on the bright side of life

In our case, the forecast did suggest the rain would end, anywhere from mid-morning Saturday to late in the day. Cloudless skies were forecast for Sunday. It was a forecast that made any inconvenience, any discomfort on the front end worth the trip if there was a chance of hiking a stark, winter forest under bright sun.

Saturday, we set out about 9:30 a.m. for a 10-mile day-hike in the Birkheads. It was moody when we hit the trail, but not raining. We had a very light spritz around lunch. Around 3, the sun made its first appearance, breaking out for good around sunset.

Sunset

Here’s where putting up with a rain early on started to pay off. As we were sitting around the fire having dinner, Aaron stopped. “Look at the sunset!” We all stopped and looked west and south, where the late-day sun was peeking over a lingering bank of low-level clouds. We readjusted to take in the sunset, which lingered for a good hour, switching from yellow to pink to orange to crimson to deep crimson. Our camp was atop one of the wilderness area’s rounded peaks: devoid of its canopy, we had a good view of the glowing Uwharrie Mountains to the south and west. Sunset held our attention until it was dark, the fire and its warmth for about an hour after that. When we’d our supply of both was exhausted, when we started to feel the temperature plunge into the 30s, we retired for the night.

Sunrise

As promised, the day dawned with nary a cloud. We packed up, hiked out, then drove about 20 minutes to the trail leading less than a mile to the lone unobstructed view on the Uwharrie Trail, atop 922-foot Little Long Mountain.

Almost everyone loves a view. Not everyone is willing to work for it. When you do, though, it’s all-the-more special. It wasn’t the eight-tenths-of-a-mile hike up to Little Long Mountain that made the view so stellar. If that were all it took, the view would have simply been “nice.” But for us, the view was a full-circle, 180-degree, zero-to-60 special viewing. We’d begun the weekend in a drenching rain, set up camp wet, spent Saturday hiking under a threatening sky. Saturday evening’s sunset marked the turning point, the start of being well-rewarded for our patience and perseverance. The forecast had promised a carrot and we were gnawing at it like Bugs Bunny. It got better with Sunday’s magnificent sunrise, with the dry hike out from camp, with the summit of Little Long Mountain.

To us, standing atop Little Long, taking in the sweeping view, soaking up the warming sun, basking in the quiet, the experience wasn’t just nice.

It was why we do this.

The post Why we do this appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

From the N.C. State Parks and Recreation Facebook page on Sunday:

• Occoneechee State Natural Area full as of 11 a.m.
• Eno River State Park’s Cole Mill and Fews Ford accesses closed as of 1 p.m.
• Raven Rock State Park is full as of 10:00 a.m.
• Hanging Rock State Park is full as of 10:40 a.m. Main restrooms are closed due to sewer failure; restrooms are open at the lake parking lot. There were 1,000 more visitors at Hanging Rock yesterday than ever recorded before.
• Pilot Mountain State Park is full as of 10:40 a.m.

A thousand more visitors at Hanging Rock State Park “than ever recorded before.” That is a stunning statement if you’ve ever been at Hanging Rock on a gorgeous spring or fall afternoon. A thousand! Where on earth would an extra thousand fit?

With fewer entertainment options available, more people are continuing to discover trails. And the trails they’re discovering tend to be the more obvious ones. In State Parks, for instance.

On May 8, we wrote about how to avoid the crowds. Friday, we’ll elaborate on the topic in the hopes that: a) we can avoid the overcrowding that threatens to close trails, and b) you, the dedicated hiker, can find solace on the trail.

In the meantime, we revisit another way you can make that happen: by hiking in the rain. You’ll find some tips on wet-weather exploring in a post from April 13, and you’ll find incentive in this brief video shot this afternoon. The good news: the rain continues at least for the the next three days! 

Get out and enjoy some liquid solitude.

The post On fair weather crowds, foul weather solitude appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Throughout most of GetGoingNC land, there’s a chance of rain this weekend. A real good chance.

Normally, that discourages folks from heading out into the wild. Instead, it should encourage you. OK, maybe not if the weather people are talking Noah-type rain, or rain accompanied by lightening bolts zapping down from above. But hiking in a light rain, if you’re equipped, can be exceptionally rewarding.

Since we’ve written of our love of a good rainy day ramble in the past, we’ll resist the urge to wax more and simply direct you to our past posts:

• Trails for walking in the rain (September 2017)
• More Rainy Day Options (August 2014)
• Gear up for walkin’ in the rain (March 2012, updated September 2015)
• A short video — 90 seconds, in fact — on The virtues of walking in the rain (November 2016)

Usually in this space we recommend three outdoor events going on throughout the state. But since many may likely be canceled, we’ll just direct you to some of our calendars, where you can see what’s scheduled, and what’s still happening:

• Several hikes are on tap this weekend with Hike NC, the BlueCross Blue Shield of North Carolina hiking program. Check out those mostly beginner-oriented hikes at gohikenc.com. 
• North Carolina State Parks has a variety of adventures planned for the weekend. Check those options here.
• Our GetHiking! program has hikes planned, including a a hike in Panthertown Valley on Aruesy. Learn more and sign up here.
• You can also find more adventures right here, at GetGoingNC.com.

The post Get Out! Your Nudge for Weekend Adventure appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Today’s 90-Second Escape: The Virtues of Walking in the Rain

It started to sprinkle the other day. We grabbed our hiking boots and were out the door.
What’s the attraction of hiking in the rain?

Some thoughts — and a bit or two of advice — on the subject, in today’s 90 Second Escape.

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