3 Parks — 2 States — 1 Hike, Saturday, 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Crowders Mountain State Park/Boulders Access, Kings Mountain. This 10-mile out-and-back, co-sponsored by the Friends of Crowders Mountain, takes the Ridgeline Trail south into South Carolina’s Kings Mountain State Park and Kings Mountain National Military Park. A long hike, but it flattens after crossing into the Palmetto State. The hike is limited to 30 (been a while since we’ve seen a hike that big), and drinks and snacks will be available through the Friends prior to the hike. Free, but a donation to support the work of the Friends would be appreciated. Register by calling 704.853.5375; learn more here.

Mount Craig Hike, 2 p.m., Saturday, Mount Mitchell State Park, Burnsville. Don’t be fooled: this hike may only be 2 miles out-and-back, but the passage from the trailhead to Most Craig (pictured above), at 6,647 feet the second highest peak east of South Dakota’s Black Hills (neighbor Mount Mitchell is the highest, at 6,684 feet), is challenging, climbing over boulders on its up-and-down passage on the Black Mountain Crest Trail. Arrive at noon and you can catch the Black Bears presentation. Learn more here.

Pott’s Branch Walk About, 10 a.m., Sunday, Umstead State Park, Raleigh. Those first two hikes — at Crowders Mountain and Mount Mitchell — are geared toward more experienced hikers looking to come out of hibernation. This hike, at 1.1 miles, is for less-experienced hikers looking to up their terrain game. This trail, on the Crabtree Creek side of the park, has rocky sections and terrain that will offer a mild challenge  and nice scenery. Learn more and sign up here.

A prime weekend to GetCamping!

Also: it’s not too late to be a camper this weekend, even if you have no camping gear! With daytime highs around 70 and overnight lows around 50, it is the ideal weekend to go camping — and our GetCamping! package, with all the key camping gear you need, can help make that happen. Learn more here. 

The post GetOut! This weekend: hike with a ranger, go camping appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

No you don’t, I’d say. Camp and stay the night!

Inevitably, a series of weak excuses would follow. I don’t want to carry all that gear. I don’t like sleeping on the ground and being uncomfortable. I don’t even have the gear.

The retorts were easy. You only have to carry the gear from your car to the tent pad — maybe 20 feet. Modern car camping is all about comfort, including sleeping on a thick air mattress that lets you blow better Zs that your thousand-dollar mattress at home. As for the gear … well, they had a point there. And shelling out big bucks for an endeavor you might not like, well, I couldn’t argue with that. At least, I couldn’t then. 

But I can now.

Now, you no longer have to make a big investment to see if camping is for you. Now, there’s GetCamping!

Rent before you buy

You can test drive a car, why not a tent? And sleeping pads, and rockin’ (literally) camp chairs, and a stove, and cooking utensils, and a hammock and — well, all the key pieces of camping equipment. Our new GetCamping! program, created in conjunction with our partners at Great Outdoor Provision Co., gives you all the camping specific gear you need. Here’s how the program works:

If you have some camping experience or simply are good at figuring things out, just rent the kit. We’ll make arrangements for pickup, typically between noon and 2 p.m. on the Friday preceding your weekend camping trip, and will include instructions on how everything works. As for the stuff you’ll need for camping that’s not in your kit, you probably already have it. Sign up and you’ll also receive a list of appropriate household substitutes for the other stuff you’ll need (bedding, for instance). Here’s what’s included in the GetCamping! kit:

• Tent. Shelter is key. Our kit includes the 6-person Kaiju 6 tent from The North Face. It provides plenty of room for sleeping, even hanging out. The tent includes a covered entryway and a rainfly to keep you protected from the occasional sprinkle. It’s also well-vented to make sure you sleep through the night with a pleasant supply of fresh air.
• Air mattress. The big complaint about camping: I don’t want to sleep on the ground. With the ExPed inflatable sleeping pad, you’ll sleep on a thick cushion of air. Nearly as restful as your designer mattress back home.
• Camp chairs. Face it, part of the appeal of camping is the opportunity to sit and relax — for extended periods. And that’s possible with the GCI Fireside Rocker, a camp chair that captures the magic of your favorite recliner, but that can be toted from the campsite to the lake to an overlook for sunset. Two GCI Fireside Rockers are included with each kit. 
• Hammock. Take your relaxation to the next step, the nap step, with a camp hammock from Eno.
• Tarp. A tarp provides an extra layer of insulation and protection for your tent floor.
• Lights. Just because the sun calls it a day doesn’t mean you have to. We supply you with a Black Diamond Spot headlamp to help you navigate the night, as well as a UST 30-Day Duro LED lantern to light your campsite.
• Kitchen. Even if you’re just warming up meals brought from home, you’ll need cooking gear. Our kit includes a Primus two-burner propane stove (including gas canister), and a Sea 2 Summit Alpha CookSet.

Still not sold? Worried about all the set-up and break-down, and simply how to make your camp hum? We also offer the kit with a concierge service: for an added fee, your camp will be set up and waiting for you when you arrive and will be broken down and put away after you leave. Plus, you’ll have access to a GetCamping! campground host should you have questions.

Your safety

We take every precaution to make sure the kit you receive is clean and safe. Here’s our protocol:

• When a kit is returned from being used, it’s kept in quarantine for three days.
• After three days, each piece of equipment is cleaned with a disinfectant approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for use against SARs-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID 19. We wear gloves when cleaning the gear and let each piece air dry. We then use gloves to repack the gear into the GetHiking! Camp Kit, for the next user. In the case of the Concierge Service, the gear is assembled by your glove-wearing GetCamping! host.

Like it, buy it!

If you love camping and the gear you’ve rented, you can buy the same package new from Great Outdoor Provision Co., with your rental fee applying toward the purchase price!

Fall is the perfect time to camp. Warm (but not hot) days are great for exploring or just lolling around camp, the cool evenings are great for sleeping. And right now, being outdoors is about the safest place you can be. If you’ve been hankering to travel but hesitant because of the risk, camping is the perfect escape.

Best of all, if you’re a hiker, there’s likely a trail just outside your tent door. When you return from your hike, you’re already home.

GetCamping! Learn More

Ready to camp? Visit our GetCamping! page here and learn more about both our kit rentals and concierge service.

The post Let GetCamping! Introduce you to the camping life appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Today’s 90-Second Escape: Hit the lake

Looking for a fun, cheap adventure close to home this Memorial Day? Hit your local lake and rent a boat. Our list of 51 Places to Rent a Canoe, Kayak or Standup Paddleboard in North Carolina is your first step toward a watery, memorable Memorial Day.

For inspiration, check out this 90 Second Escape from a couple year back on Raleigh’s Lake Wheeler.

* * *

Like us on Facebook and get health, fitness and outdoors news throughout the day.

GetGoingNC.com

Promote Your Page Too

The post 90 Second Escape: Hit the lake! appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

We know, it’s only Monday. But it’s never too early to start planning for the weekend, so allow us to plant a seed. As the weather and local waters warm, the opportunities to rent a canoe or kayak start to blossom. At Lake Crabtree County Park in Morrisville, for instance, the boat rental season begins this Saturday. In salute, we re-offer this 90 Seconds of escape on Crabtree’s placid waters.

And to help you take advantage of the various rental opportunities around the state, we direct you to our online guide to 51 Places to Rent a Canoe, Kayak or Standup Paddleboard in North Carolina.

It could be the best five bucks you spend all summer.

* * *

Like us on Facebook and get health, fitness and outdoors news throughout the day.

GetGoingNC.com

Promote Your Page Too

The post 90 Second Escape: Let the boat rental season begin appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

We’re finally catching up with the mail bag — and just in time for what appears to be the first warm weekend in a while.

You write to us for a variety of reasons. To find out where to take visiting kin hiking. To see if we know what the latest bear situation is in the Smokies. To ask if you can optimize our visibility on the Web, for a modest fee. You also write to point out certain … deficiencies in GetGoingNC’s content. Your latest batch of constructive comments comes in time to help others make the most of a weekend that will see sun and temperatures climbing into the mid 60s.

Paddling.  The Dan River Company writes to note that they had been omitted for our list of 41 Places (now 42) to rent a canoe or kayak in North Carolina. An especially bad oversight on our behalf because: a) the paddling in the northern Piedmont — on the Dan and Mayo in particular — is stellar, b) the Dan River Co. has been around for a while, and c) we’ve used their service. In addition to canoe and kayak rentals and providing shuttle service, the Dan River Co.’s base camp has a new neighbor, the Green Heron Club, which sounds like a nice apres paddle spot for a drink and live music.
Our apologies, DRC. Your listing has been added to our now list of 42 Places to Rent a Canoe or Kayak in North Carolina. It looks like this:

Dan River Company, 336.593.2628
Boats: Canoes, kayaks, shuttle service
Rates: Kayak trips, including being put on and taken off the river, start at $35 per person for a 3-hour trip on the Dan River; canoe trips start at $55. Shuttle rates are $12 to $22

Camping. Mary D. writes to point out a bad link in our Local Campground, Local Escape listings.  The listings, which can be found here, are done in our collaboration with the Great Outdoor Provision Co. and include five local campgrounds in seven major North Carolina markets: Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Greensboro, Greenville, Raleigh, Wilmington and Winston-Salem. Mary noted that our link for camping in fact took you to Lake Norman. (You bloggers know how tedious doing links can be, that to stem the mind-numbing boredom you find yourself dreaming about the weekend or checking out the latest cat video? If memory serves, the day we did those links we got hooked on cat-in-cardboard-box videos. But we digress … .)
Anyway, thanks to Mary if you want information on camping at McDowell Nature Preserve, you will now get information on camping at McDowell Nature Preserve, here. For information on camping options near the state’s metro areas, go here.

Hiking. David Gardner writes: “Please add the Uwharrie Trail as a good hiking location. It is 22.5 miles from the trailhead on NC 24/27 west of Troy to Jump Off Rock Trail Head on Flint Hill Road. Can also hike a new section north from Jump Off Rock. Contact me if you want a neat medal to remember this hike.”
A medal? Groovy.
In fact, David, in addition to our guide to great hikes near seven major North Carolina cities (yes, another collaboration with our friends at the Great Outdoor Provision Co.) we are about to unveil a list of 25 great hikes in North Carolina. That list, to be posted March 20, the first day of spring, will indeed include the Uwharrie National Recreation Trail, a fave of GetGoingNC. (Until then, you can find information on the Uwharrie National Recreation Trail here — and pardon the self-promotion in advance.)

So there you have it, in time for a springlike weather, updated and accurate info to help you plan an active weekend. In addition to Paddling, Camping and Hiking, you can also find direction in the areas of Climbing, Cross-Country Skiing, Greenway travel, Mountain Biking and Trail Running.

Have a swell weekend.

* * *
Like us on Facebook and get health, fitness and outdoors news throughout the day.

GetGoingNC.com

Promote Your Page Too

The post It’s warming up, let us help you have a hot time appeared first on GetGoing NC!.