The one thing you probably don’t want to do this weekend?
Go to the mountains. At least to the Pisgah National Forest.
Fred’s devastating visit to the mountains earlier this week caused flooding and downed trees that initially closed the entire Pisgah Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest. As of today, these areas had reopened:
July 4th weekend — the first, really, in two years. There’s a lot of pressure to make the most of this three-day celebration.
A traditionally popular way to observe the weekend is to go camping, and before you say, “Wish I’d thought of that before: there won’t be any campsites left. Besides, I don’t have the key camping gear” be advised that neither are an issue. For starters, reserveamerica.com. reports that plenty of campsites remain available throughout the state. As for the requisite camping gear, look no further than the GetCamping! program we run with our partners at Great Outdoor Provision Co. Six-person tent, sleeping pads, hammock, two-burner camp stove, two rocking camp chairs, a hammock, lights — all the key camping gear. And what we don’t provide, you likely already have; we’ll include a list of suitable household substitutes, stuff you likely already have around the house that works well for camping.
Several mornings this week when we walked out the door, we could feel it: with temperatures in the low 60s — rising only into the low 80s — summer’s stranglehold was loosening. It may have a full month of residency left according to the calendar (fall doesn’t officially start until Sept. 22), but fall has begun elbowing its way in. Sure, we still have some hot days remaining. But the transition has begun.
In Wednesday’s post, we noted that the Texas Medical Association, among others, has deemed camping one of the lowest-risk things you can do in these coronavirusly challenging times. Only opening your mail offers a lower risk.
Wednesday, we explained why camping is low risk and that even if you think you don’t have any camping gear, you probably have most of what you need. Today, we promised to share five of our favorite campgrounds in the state, with a quick description of why.
Before our GetBackpacking! trip last weekend on the 22-mile Neusiok Trail, we had a little hygiene talk: Share a little less on this hike, I advised. Handle your own water, resist the urge to sample a fellow hiker’s Cherry Cocoa Nib dehydrated breakfast. But I also said we would be spending the weekend in one of the safest places around: the wide-open spaces of the outdoors: few people, lots of room to breath in peace. Our typically worry-free playground seemed even more so in these uncertain times.
