Actually, it’s the Grand Opening for just one of the parks; the other is more of a sneak preview.

Officially opening for good is Bertie Beach, a 147-acre tract of wildness (pictured at top), also referred to as Tall Glass of Water, that sits on the Albemarle Sound in Bertie County. Bertie Beach gets its name from the 2,200-foot sand beach that eases into Albemarle Sound, the nearest beach for miles. But the tract has so much more:

• Hiking. There’s a 2-mile trail that weaves through the coastal woods and wetlands that dominate the tract. Flat hiking that exposes you to a land reclaiming its natural state after years of agricultural use. Eventually, there will be 7 miles of trail.
• Swimming. The beach marries the best of the natural world with modern convenience, including restrooms, outdoor showers, a water bottle refill station and a picnic pavilion.
• Primitive camping. A good cool-weather option at the coast.
• Canoe and kayak access. In addition to access, there’s also a kayak storage kiosk. 

Much of this will be open or partially open Saturday.

As if this weren’t enough of a draw, you can also get a sneak peek at the new Salmon Creek State Natural Area, which adjoins the Bertie County property. 

If you haven’t heard of Salmon Creek, it’s no surprise. In short succession, the original 1,000-acre tract, which surrounds its namesake creek, was purchased in 2017 by the N.C. Coastal Land Trust, which realized that the land’s natural beauty and archaeological attributes (native Algonkin artifacts have been found at the site) far outweighed in importance the threatened 2,800-unit development with a 212-slip marina planned for the site. The site was given to the State of North Carolina in December 2018, and in July 2020, the Coastal Land Trust threw in another 297 acres. Combined with the Bertie County site, that’s more than 1,400 continuous acres of exploring.

Saturday morning, N.C. State Parks is hauling its two Big Canoes — Hellbender and Loggerhead — to Salmon Creek for your exploring pleasure. Both canoes seat about 12 folks and will be able to navigate a ways upstream. Trips depart at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. 

Again, Salmon Creek has not officially opened, so this is a rare opportunity to explore without, technically, trespassing.

I should mention, too, that there will be paddling Friday afternoon on Bennetts Millpond, Friday evening on Pembroke Creek, and Saturday afternoon into evening on Edenton’s Queen Anne’s Creek. The latter coincides with Edenton’s Sounds of Summer Music Festival at the waterfront Colonial Park: enjoy live music from the water!

For more information on Edenton’s Year of the Trail Weekend Festival, go here.

It’s a great way to spend a sultry summer weekend.

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Of course, officially, summer doesn’t end until Sept. 22 (at 4:02 p.m. for you sticklers). Psychologically, though, this weekend is it.

You have until Tuesday to squeeze in all the things you meant to do this summer, but didn’t get around to. Here is a list of our top 10 things to do before you send your seersucker suit to the cleaners.

1. Go for a paddle. Most municipal and county lakes that rent boats either shutter those operations for the season after Labor Day or at least cut back their hours. But you can get in that longed-for paddle, often for very little moola. At Lake Johnson Park in Raleigh, for instance, you can take out a canoe or kayak for $5 an hour. Find our list of 57 places to rent a canoe or kayak, here.

2. Hit your neighborhood pool. Few pools stay open past Labor Day, so get your toes wet this weekend.

3. Swim in a lake. Several public and private lakes let you get in touch with your inner Tom Sawyer. Our favorite: the 12-acre lake at Hanging Rock State Park, which includes a beach, diving platform and cool, chlorine-free water. $5.

4. Swim in a throw-back pool. We love the pool at Morrow Mountain State Park, in part because of its throw-back nature, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s. We also love how much better the pool feels after hiking one of the park’s 11 trails (post-shower, of course).

5. Hike a high trail (Mountains). It may still be summer at lower elevations, but atop 6,684-foot Mount Mitchell, enveloped by a state park and several trails? On Tuesday afternoon, the temperature up top was 54.8 degrees after an overnight low of 44.6. Didn’t think you’d be breaking out the fleece quite this early, did you? Who knows, you may even get an early peek at fall color this weekend.

6. Hike a high trail (Piedmont). Don’t have time to drive to the mountains? Piedmont residents can hike a higher, and a little cooler, trail close to home at Pilot Mountain State Park (elevation  2,421 feet), Hanging Rock State Park (2,579 feet), or Crowders Mountain State Park (1,706 feet). Details at ncparks.gov.

7. Hike a mountain trail while it’s still inaccessible. We love the Shining Rock area: 18,500 acres of wilderness, more than twice that much surrounding non-wilderness in the Pisgah National Forest. The best way to access Shining Rock is via a mile-high section of Blue Ridge Parkway, a section of the parkway often closed by snow and ice come winter. It’s a great time to visit. More info here.

8. Explore Wilson Creek. A group of us were talking this past weekend about how the window for hiking/wading/swimming the Wilson Creek area was rapidly closing. Wilson Creek is the 49,000-acre drainage at the base of Grandfather Mountain, and rainfall off the mountain’s massive southeast flank drains every which way through these rugged foothills. The abundance of creeks, pools and waterfalls marks the perfect summer sendoff. More info here.

9. Go car camping in the mountains. Warm days, cool nights, access to great hiking, rafting, mountain biking, fishing — you’ll find it all from your base in a mountain campground that will likely close for the season soon. Check out some of our favorites here.

10. Go stand up paddleboarding. You’ve wanted to all summer and now’s the time to do it! At Jordan Lake in Apex, for instance, Lyfsup offers rentals and instruction. Details here.

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Today’s 90-Second Escape: Farewell to the Warm Waters of Summer

We always look forward to fall, possibly more so than any other season. The cool weather offers great incentive to do so many things: take a long hike, do a midday mountain bike ride, go rock climbing, go backpacking. But there’s one thing we’ll miss from summer: the warm water that accommodates so many of our recreational needs. (“Needs,” not “wants”? Absolutely.)

Today, on the first day of October, as those warm waters cool for the winter, we take a look back at water in its various recreational forms.

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“I have rheumatoid arthritis,” says the 59-year-old Raleigh resident.

She found a solution less than five minutes from her front door: at the Optimist Park Pool.

“I came over one day and asked to see the pool,” says Lackey. “They were real friendly.”  And she discovered that the walking she tried to do around her neighborhood was so much easier on her joints in three feet of water.

Today, Lackey walks in the pool for one hour, three times a week. She’s dropped a dress size, she’s more limber, her joint pain has diminished, she sleeps at night and she’s taken the next step in her water rehab: She’s learning to swim.

Lackey’s example is a reminder to the estimated 50 million U.S. adults who suffer from arthritis: exercise can help.

“People who have arthritis are often scared to exercise because they think they will hurt themselves, but the condition will only get worse if people don’t get moving,” Valerie Walkowiak, medical integration coordinator at the Loyola Center for Fitness in Maywood, Ill.

Walkowiak says all all arthritis sufferers can benefit from some form of exercise, be it osteoarthritis — the most common form, in which cartilage deteriorates, leaving joints with no cushion between bones — and rheumatoid arthritis, in which inflammation causes joints to lose shape and alignment.

Some quick tips:

• All types of arthritis can benefit from stretching, to increase range of movement.
• Lifting light weights is good for building muscle strength, which can take pressure off joints.
• Aerobic exercise, such as walking is good. Start slow, she advises, with 10 to 15 minutes of exercise a day. “As your body adapts to the new routine, gradually increase duration to 30 to 45 minutes.”
• Other good exercise options for the arthritic: water aerobics, stationary cycling, gardening, swimming, yoga and Tai-Chi.

Walkowiak says to consult your doctor before starting an exercise routine. To optimize your results, she advises working with a therapist or personal trainer.

Lackey is sold on her new exercise routine, a routine that keeps on giving. The lack of pain she experiences from her one-hour water walks lingers for a good day or two.

“Oh, I feel good,” she beams. “I feel wonderful.”

Photo: Pools are especially good workout venues for arthritis sufferers.

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In my youth — this would cover my first half century — I rarely stretched or warmed up. I’d show up for a bike ride with a minute to spare, hop on the bike and be off. I’d stand around kibitzing before a run while others stretched, then go from 0 to an 8-minute pace. Pickup basketball, tennis, whatever: Who had time to stretch? A young body and luck helped me pull it off.

Today, at 54, I stretch a lot. I have to.

I converted to stretching when I realized two things: It could, as I’d heard over the years, reduce my chances of getting injured. And investing as little as five minutes before a workout and 10 minutes after did improve my performance. On the latter count, stretching has proved invaluable in waking/warming/loosening up joints and muscles that become increasingly slow to come to life as the years pass. Stretching, as I discovered Saturday morning, also is invaluable in the recovery process. Let’s see, back’s stiff: a little downward-facing dog and warrior pose (classic yoga stretches) should clear that up. Calf and quad stretches helped counteract all the quick starts after fly balls. Shoulder stretches allowed me to simply move my arms after a day of believing I could still throw a runner out at the plate from right field. Twenty minutes or so of stretching and I wasn’t good as new, but I was able to function for the rest of the day.

Taking time to stretch is especially important as spring approaches, Daylight Savings Time knocks (it starts this Sunday, March 13), the days warm and your urge to emerge from winter hibernation kicks in. As I found Saturday, the stretches that helped me recover from playing softball with my daughter were different from the ones that help me prepare and wind down from a run or a ride. Knowing the right stretches for your activity of choice makes them all-the-more effective.

Here’s a look at activities you may be engaging in as the days warm, and Web sites where you can find appropriate stretches:

Basic stretching A jack-of-all-pursuits? The Mayo Clinic offers 10 basic stretches to cover a range of activities.

Cycling It’s not just the pedaling, it’s the time in the saddle and the toll it takes on your neck, your shoulders, your back. Deal with it here.

Gardening Laugh if you will at the prospect of warming up to weed — then spend the first 70-degree day of spring in the yard and see if you’re still in such a jolly mood the next morning. These 12 exercises from “Stretching,” by Bob and Jean Anderson should help your chances for working in the yard Saturday AND Sunday.

Golf Talk about a sport that can mess up an unprepared body quick! The Mayo Clinic offers a variety of stretches to prepare your body for the potentially torq-turous backlash of a 300-yard drive.

Paddling A good paddle stroke may be about technique over power, but it can still take its toll. Minimize the impact while maximizing your time on the water with these stretches from The Stretching Institute.

Softball This routine includes 20 stretches and takes 11 minutes, a reasonable investment in return for making it to work the next morning.

Swimming Even if you aren’t swimming competitively, it’s good to be limber before hitting the water.

Tennis The Stretching Institute offers three  exercises to “ improve your performance and do away with tennis injuries for good.

Walking Starting a walking program? This pamphlet of appropriate stretches from the American Heart Association should help.

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