This morning I awoke to a temperature of 63 degrees. I couldn’t remember that last time it wasn’t in the mid-70s when I got up — weeks, at least — let alone in the low 60s.
It was a sign, a sign I always look forward to come August: that fall is on the way.
Usually it’s mid-June before we’re forced to address the issue of summer heat. Before, that is, we’re forced to issue our annual plea to stay on the trail during the summer months ahead.
In some parts of the U.S. — the Northeast, the Pacific Coast, the mountain states — hikers live for the summer and its warm days. Not here, where Summer is equated with still air, sticky clothes and sweat-stung eyes.
Back in January I got to thinking about where I haven’t been in too long and thus, where I would love to explore this summer.
I didn’t have to think long: the mountain portion of the statewide Mountains-to-Sea Trail.
Now, I hike the MST nearly every day, since I can pick it up a couple blocks from my front door in Hillsborough. And while I never tire of this stretch, nor of the other 120 miles I hike with some frequency through the Triangle, there’s something about the MST’s nearly 350-mile run through the mountains that’s especially enchanting — and diverse, capturing both the rugged beauty of the Southern Appalachians and its moments of intimate calm. Here’s a look at three favorite sections, all along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
You’ve been working most of your life, and maybe you’ve devoted what free time you did have to raising a family. Now, the kids are grown, and you can see an end to the 9-to-5. The point: you now have the time to do the things your’ve been wanting to do for years. The things you haven’t had time for that’ll make you feel like a kid again — and which will help you in all sorts of ways.
Already, it is August — mid-August, to be accurate — and the days of summer are waning. If you’re not a friend of hot weather, this comes as good news. But if you like the heat and feel you haven’t taken full advantage of the season, this realization could bum you out. Don’t let it.
