There were only two hours of sun on Sunday, but man, did our GetHiking! Sunday hikers ever take advantage. We hiked about 5 miles on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail upstream along the Eno River from Penny’s Bend Nature Preserve in Durham, taking in one of the best spring unveilings we’ve seen in years. We saw vast carpets of spring beauties, their little satellite petals of white and pink scanning the sky for sun. We saw the slightly larger rue-anenome, then their less-common cousin, the Dutchman’s breeches, a small hillside of them looking like clusters of pulled teeth (only stunning). There were violets, there were bluets, there were mayapples about to do their thing, there were trout lilies that already had.

They were busy about getting their business done because the canopy overhead was ripe with buds. The pastel greens of oak and hickory, a smattering of pinkish red buds. All against a sky, for duration of our hike at least, of sparkling blue. It was the sort of spring day a hiker dreams of. And there are more to come.

We share 84 seconds of Sunday’s hike in the accompanying video. You can accompany us on our upcoming spring outings by checking out our lineup, including our weekly Sunday hike series and our Tuesday evening hikes, at GetGoingNC.com /then click on Explore with Us.

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Coast

Hooch wants to get out more, you need to get out more: what better opportunity for mutt and master to bond and fulfill a mutual want/need than Saturday’s paws4people Run Walk on the UNC Wilmington campus. If you two have stayed active over the winter, you may be interested in the 10K race. If you haven’t but crave a challenge, consider the 5K. And if the two of you are on the couch looking at each other thinking, “We really should do this; it would be good for us,” but neither of you are making a move to register, there’s always the 1-mile fun run/walk.

The longer races are through the campus and on cross-city trails, the fun run is contained to campus. Proceeds benefit paws4people, which trains and certifies assistance dogs provided free of charge to kids, veterans and active-duty military with disabilities.

Logistics: Sunday, March 30, registration opens at 7 a.m., the races between 8:35 and 9:05 a.m.  $10-$30. More info here.

Sunday forecast: High of 73, 90 percent chance of being refreshed on the route.

Piedmont

In a typical year, the spring wildflower season begins around the first of March. This year, however, has been anything but typical. We’ve seen a few hearty trout lilies, the first responders of the  spring season, but otherwise, nada.

That should change this weekend, with temperatures warming considerably starting Friday. By Sunday, the trout lilies should have company. And if anyone knows where the trout lilies et al will be frolicking, it’s the folks who lead the weekly spring wildflower hikes for the Eno River Association.

The series, which includes hikes every Sunday at 2 p.m., explores a different stretch of the Eno River valley each week in search of the latest blooms. This week’s destination: the Eno in the Hillsboro Division of Duke Forest. The hike will be about two miles, some off-trail, and will take at least two hours.

Logistics: Sunday, March 30, 2 p.m. Duke Forest. Directions will be sent upon registering, either via email at hikes@enoriver.org or by calling the ERA at 919.620.9099, ext. 211.

Sunday forecast: High of 59, partly sunny.

Mountains

We love a good trail run, but finding one of a middle distance can be a challenge. You’ll find some 5Ks and you’ll find a lot of runs of 20 miles or more (a lot more). But for those of us who just like to get out and enjoy a moderately challenging run on the trail, the pickings are slim.

Which is part of the reason we like Saturday’s 14th Annual DuPont Forest 12K Trail Race in DuPont State Forest between Henderson and Asheville. 7.4 miles through one of the most gorgeous tracts of land around is challenging physically, rewarding esthetically. The other reason to endorse the race is that it’s in DuPont State Forest, a true gem. The race is partially on singletrack, partially on old forest roads. And if you get a sense of deja vu even though you’ve never been to DuPont, the race passes through forest where the first “The Hunger Games” was filmed.

Read more in the Asheville Citizen-Times.

Logistics: Saturday, March 29, 10 a.m. $30. More info by calling Jus’ Running at 828.252.7867, or email jusrunning@gmail.com.

Saturday forecast: High of 67, a pretty darn good chance of rain.

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

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