Brent Laurenz, executive director of the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, pretty much summed up the situation in Western North Carolina in an email sent to the Friends group earlier this week:
“In the coming weeks and months, we will be surveying the trail and assessing damage, but trail restoration is a very low priority in light of the ongoing humanitarian crisis facing western North Carolina … it is likely that sections of the trail will remain closed for a significant length of time.”
Summer officially cedes to fall on Saturday (at 2:50 a.m.). So where’s a good place to take your first fall hike? We have 10 thoughts on the subject, based on two things:
Based on those two criteria, most of our recommendations are all in the mountains. Enjoy!
Winter hikes in the mountains intimidate us. Not so much the hiking itself — who doesn’t love tromping through a forest carpeted with snow? Rather, it’s simply getting to the trailhead. The prospect of icy mountain roads, of road closures, of other drivers who don’t know how to drive on icy roads. Why run the risk?
As soon as Labor Day passes, we’re eager for Fall hiking: for great color, cool temps, that special Fall feel.
Trouble is, it doesn’t happen immediately — in fact, Summer doesn’t officially pass the torch to Fall until Sept. 23. But there are a handful of places where you can get a feel for fall hiking early on. Today, we share some of our favorites. Most make the list because they’re along water, where Fall color tends to first become evident. Some make the list because they have plenty of edge forest, where color also tends to pop early. All but one is in the piedmont — and the one that isn’t is pretty darn close.
If you’re not doing anything a week from Saturday … it’s nobody’s fault but your own.
A week from Saturday, June 4, the first Saturday in June, is National Trails Day. As it’s been since its inception in 1993, it’s a day set side for us to celebrate our nation’s trails at NTD-designated events, of which there are 368 nationwide.
