Here are some resources that will hopefully help you find the adventure you want:

Take a hike, close to home. Looking for a place to hike near home? Here are our recommendations for:

• 25 Top Hikes in Charlotte
• 25 Top Hikes in the Triad
• Mountains-to-Sea Trail hikes near urban areas. Check this post for where to pick up North Carolina’s statewide trail near you.

Hike with a group. Find out what your local GetHiking! chapter (as well as GetExploring! Greenville)  is up to over the holidays starting here.

Take a hike, farther afield. If you’re willing to commit and day (including driving), check out these worthy options:

• Five Great Hikes at the Coast and Coastal Plains. Heading to the beach for the holidays? Work in one of these hikes.
• Five mountain hikes on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail

Take a hike on New Year’s Day. The nationwide First Day Hikes program features New Year’s Day hikes at state parks across the land, including:

• North Carolina State Parks First Day Hikes, here.
• Virginia State Parks First Day Hikes, here.

Check road conditions. You likely check the weather forecast before heading out on an adventure, but do you check road conditions? A few quick resources:

• Blue Ridge Parkway road conditions
• North Carolina road conditions
• Virginia road conditions (and more)

GetOriented! Finding Your Way in the Woods. This is our 3-hour off-trail romp that also teaches basic map and compass skills and how to navigate comfortably in the woods. It’s a great family activity, and fun to do with friends, too. Our holiday sessions are:

• Thursday, Dec. 27, 1 p.m., Umstead State Park, Raleigh. Find details and sign up here.
• Friday, Dec. 28, 1 p.m., Haw River State Park, Greensboro. Find details and sign up here.

Go skiing. Check current conditions, the forecast, lift ticket prices, lodging, rentals and more starting at SkiSoutheast.com.

The post Happy Holidays! (And where to enjoy them!) appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

More seasonal temps descend this weekend. It will still be nice for a hike at the coast, and you’ll be able to hit the slopes in the mountains. Meanwhile, in the Piedmont, you can take it inside for a chance to try a cool sport associated with the cold.

Coast

You stand on shore, you look out to any number of islands and think, “I wonder what’s out there?”

Saturday is your chance to find out, when a park ranger from Hammocks Beach State Park takes a boatload of folks from the mainland over to Huggins Island for a couple hours of exploring. “You will get a chance to see and explore one of the Atlantic coast’s better-preserved earthwork fortifications and how it played a role in the American Civil War. We will look at the different groups of people that have utilized the island over the years- including the Native Americans and early European colonists- and talk about their role in shaping the island.”

Sounds like a hike worth driving a spell for.

Logistics: Huggins Island History Hike, Saturday, Jan. 28, 10 a.m., Hammocks Beach State Park, Swansboro. Free, but space is limited and reservations are required, by calling 910.326.4881. More info here.

Saturday forecast: Sunny, high of 54.

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Looking ahead: Polar Plunge, 5K and 1-mile Fun Run, Kure Beach Pier, Kure Beach, Feb. 11. More info here.

Piedmont

Directions on how to dress for an event sometimes seem bizarre and silly. Sadly, they are typically based on experience. With that in mind, here’s how the folks at Triangle Curling suggest you dress for their two-hour Try Curling session:

• “No raised heels or flip flops.
• “Pants that offer easy movement are important as you will be required to stretch and get into positions that tight pants and jeans are not necessarily appropriate for.”

All of which will help you enjoy the sport of really cold places that much more when you give it a try Saturday morning at their Durham Curling Center.

Logistics: Try Curling, Saturday, Jan. 28, 10 a.m., Triangle Curling Center, 2310 So Hi Dr., Durham. $25. More info here.

Saturday forecast: It’s inside.

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Looking ahead: Astronomy Program at Pilot Mountain State Park, Pinnacle, Feb. 18, 6-10 p.m. More info here.

Mountains

According to he Asheville Citizen-Times Outdoors section, “WNC ski areas that closed for an extended time due to some of the highest average January temperatures on record are set to reopen Jan. 27.”

That’s Friday, btw.

Figure out which lift line you’ll be in when the ropes drop by checking out the latest Southeast ski conditions at SkiSoutheast.com.

Weekend forecast: Overnight lows in the low 20s (perfect for snowmaking), daytime highs in the mid-30s (perfect for skiing), with snow moving in Sunday afternoon.

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Looking ahead: Underground Railroad Hike, Feb. 5, Mount Jefferson State Natural Area, West Jefferson. More info here.

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Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below. 

Coast

The post This weekend: Winter returns  appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

With the weather officially dipping into Brrrr territory, to help you stay warm and moving we suggest you do the following:

Coast

Isn’t some of what makes the weather getting colder so sweet, the appreciation we have for a nice, hot meal?

Saturday, you’ll get the chance to experience just that. Help wrap up North Carolina State Parks’ 100 Year Anniversary with Goose Creek State Park’s campfire cooking program. Some of the most essential skills to survival are building a fire and using that fire to cook food, which is the aim of the program.

Logistics: Campfire Cooking, Saturday, 4 p.m.,Goose Creek State Park, Washington. Find out more, here.

Saturday Forecast: Rain early in the day, high of 69.

***

Looking ahead: Winter Birding, Dec. 23, 11 a.m., Hammocks Beach State Park, Swansboro. More info, here.

Piedmont 

Tis’ the season for giving! Giving back gives a sense of gratitude, a feeling of being a part of something, of having purpose.

Feeling a little stressed? Let the pressures of this season fall to the Earth with every step, and take a breath. Join our GetHiking! Triad group for for a Gratitude Walk at Hagan Stone Park near Greensboro, and finish feeling refreshed with a positive outlook. Come out feeling taller than the trees!

Hagan Stone has a reputation for being all things to all people. You’ll get to see so much of what this park has to offer – from playgrounds and camping to fishing and general natural beauty on this hike that piggybacks on one of the most popular high school and college cross-country courses in the region.

Logistics: GetHiking! Triad Gratitude Hike at Hagan-Stone Park, Pleasant Garden. Sunday, 1:30 p.m., 3 miles. More info, here.

Sunday forecast: Bright skies and a high of 56.

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Looking ahead: Forrest Bathing/ Nature Hike, Dec. 28, 2 p.m., Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area, Hillsborough. Find out more, here.

Mountains 

With temperatures dropping we finally get some exercise in one of our favorite ways, skiing the slopes.

With the most slopes open and almost all of their lifts running we recommend you find your way to Appalachian Ski Mountain! App has nine of 11 slopes open. Current conditions are nice with the weekend getting a little bit more sludgy but still skiable none-the-less.

For a sense of how winter magically happens in the Southeast, check out this video of 24 hours of snowmaking at Wisp Resort in Maryland.

Logistics: Appalachian Ski Mountain, Blowing Rock. Open 9 a.m. to Midnight. Find out more, here. Learn what other slopes are open in the region at SkiSoutheast.com.

Weekend forecast: Cloudy with a chance of rain Saturday and Sunday, with highs near 50.

***

Looking ahead: Christmas Day Photo Scavenger Hunt, Grandfather Mountain State Park, Banner Elk. Dec. 25, 3 p.m. More info, here.

***

Coast

The post Your weekend: Embrace the cold appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Today’s 90-Second Escape: Closing down the mountain

Last week, a Colorado friend posted that he and his crew were shutting down A-Basin, which sits on the Continental Divide and, topping out at 13,050 feet, is Colorado’s highest ski area. Many moons ago (many, many moons ago), I skied A-Basin during its waning days; it’s a day that continues to linger in memory and will likely make my EOL highlight reel.

A bit nostalgic, I set out to see if anyone had chronicled the last day of A-Basin’s 2015-2016 season and, of course, at least one — Snuma Wm — had. It’s a simple video of a woman in pink effortlessly executing a mogul field. The pink, the white of the snow, the backdrop of blue sky at 13,000 feet all make for a nice escape — even if you’ve never strapped on a pair of skis.

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Monday — never an easy time for the outdoors enthusiast. After a weekend of adventure, returning to the humdrum work-a-day world can make one melancholy. To help ease the transition, every Monday we feature a 90 Second Escape — essentially, a 90-second video or slide show of a place you’d probably rather be: a trail, a park, a greenway, a lake … anywhere as long as it’s not under a fluorescent bulb.
Today’s 90-Second Escape: Closing down the mountain

Last week, a Colorado friend posted that he and his crew were shutting down A-Basin, which sits on the Continental Divide and, topping out at 13,050 feet, is Colorado’s highest ski area. Many moons ago (many, many moons ago), I skied A-Basin during its waning days; it’s a day that continues to linger in memory and will likely make my EOL highlight reel.
A bit nostalgic, I set out to see if anyone had chronicled the last day of A-Basin’s 2015-2016 season and, of course, at least one — Snuma Wm — had. It’s a simple video of a woman in pink effortlessly executing a mogul field. The pink, the white of the snow, the backdrop of blue sky at 13,000 feet all make for a nice escape — even if you’ve never strapped on a pair of skis.
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Today’s 90-Second Escape: The Peak, of Pow

Every pursuit has it peak experience. For local hikers, it was a day such yesterday: a 70-degree day with relentless blue skies in the dead of winter. The stark winter landscape minus the stark winter cold. A once-in-a-while opportunity that’s not to be missed.

For skiers, the peak is a foot and a half of fresh powder. First tracks through fluff so forgiving that even when you do succumb to gravity, the fall to earth is bliss.

In a departure from our Monday feature, we share 97 seconds of fresh pow courtesy skier Jake Cohn and Outside Television. Enjoy the escape.

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