The essay that tipped my decision was the Introduction, in which writer Ross Gay recounted some of his favorite trees, from “the chokecherry tree in Verndale, Minnesota, where my grandpa parked his hospital-green ’68 Chevy pickup,” to “the beech tree in Vermont I met on a night hike two summers back.” That night hike tree reminded me of the imposing white oak that once appeared out of nowhere on a favorite night hike of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. And that got me to thinking about some of my other favorite trees.

Cottonwood along Cherry Creek on the outskirts of Denver. Although I was just 7 or 8, this sprawling giant struck me first for its grandeur, then for its escape. Cottonwoods typically grow along water in the arid West; this one was along Cherry Creek as, at the time, it made its way northwest into Denver (the tree was later annexed and is now in Denver). It was no more than a half-mile from our house, yet it was an eternity away. It’s grandeur was heightened by the treehouse 10 feet up in its lowest branches: forbidden fruit for a chubby and fearful prepubescent. Eventually, though, I overcame the fear, if not the weight, to become a regular visitor. Initially, I was lured by the sweeping views from 10 feet up; soon, though, I discovered the real reason the treehouse was so popular: the stash of Playboys purloined by one Curt Bowen from his father’s collection.

White Oak atop Medoc Mountain. Typically, we associated summits with views. In the case of Medoc Mountain State Park, topping out on the 300-foot peak where the rolling Piedmont meets the flat coastal plain means an audience with a stately white oak. Part of its impressiveness is the surprise that a grand oak stands amid slowly maturing hardwoods. Age — losing a limb here and there — has diminished the oak’s presence. But to us old-timers in particular its sight still signifies the accomplishment of bagging the highest peak in Halifax County. 

The long-gone loblolly at Umsteadl. I must have hiked the Company Mill Trail at Umstead State Park 50 times between 1992 and 1996, yet every time the appearance of an abnormally large loblolly in a ravine about 5 miles in took me by surprise. Loblollies are revered by timber-types for their sprint to maturity, typically going from sampling to sawmill in about 40 years. I have no idea how old this one was, but its girth and height (I couldn’t even see where it topped out) were roughly twice that of its contemporaries. The last time I saw it was on September 3, 1996, two days before Hurricane Fran hit. I wanted to witness the before-and-after effect of a hurricane; it was substantial. It would be 9 months before that part of the park would reopen. When it did, I discovered that mighty loblolly, and most of its neighbors, were kindling.

The pin oak out back. A tree needn’t be a looker to hold a special place. I’m reminded of this every time I walk out the back door and see the giant pin oak standing guard over our backyard. A lone branch hangs too low, the next one up is dead and needs to come down. Smaller dead offshoots are scattered throughout. This tree has likely been here since the house was built nearly a century ago, and I can’t help but think it’s played a role in the structure’s survival. It blocks a brutal late day sun in the summer, serves as a windbreak from storms blowing in from the west, and likely protects us in ways unseen. And it does so without complaint, about the ivy growing up its trunk or the mass of brush crowding its base. The tree deserves more than just admiration; it deserves an arborist.

Doughton Park’s lone tree. The first time I saw Doughton Park’s lone tree I wasn’t sure what I was seeing. It was a good half mile off, lonesome atop the crest of a mountain meadow. A hiker — albeit a really big one? A camel (ditto)? A tree simply didn’t register. What kind of tree grows on its own in an otherwise well-forested part of the country? And why? I still don’t know, for the allure of this tree is from a distance. And even though you eventually pass this tree — the Mountains-to-Sea Trail runs within 20 feet — by the time you get there you’re distracted by another of Doughton’s beauties: more meadows, the endless sky, the isolated rock outcrops. Maybe next time I’ll remember to slow down and take the time to get to know this loaner. Or at least get its name.

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3 Parks — 2 States — 1 Hike, Saturday, 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Crowders Mountain State Park/Boulders Access, Kings Mountain. This 10-mile out-and-back, co-sponsored by the Friends of Crowders Mountain, takes the Ridgeline Trail south into South Carolina’s Kings Mountain State Park and Kings Mountain National Military Park. A long hike, but it flattens after crossing into the Palmetto State. The hike is limited to 30 (been a while since we’ve seen a hike that big), and drinks and snacks will be available through the Friends prior to the hike. Free, but a donation to support the work of the Friends would be appreciated. Register by calling 704.853.5375; learn more here.

Mount Craig Hike, 2 p.m., Saturday, Mount Mitchell State Park, Burnsville. Don’t be fooled: this hike may only be 2 miles out-and-back, but the passage from the trailhead to Most Craig (pictured above), at 6,647 feet the second highest peak east of South Dakota’s Black Hills (neighbor Mount Mitchell is the highest, at 6,684 feet), is challenging, climbing over boulders on its up-and-down passage on the Black Mountain Crest Trail. Arrive at noon and you can catch the Black Bears presentation. Learn more here.

Pott’s Branch Walk About, 10 a.m., Sunday, Umstead State Park, Raleigh. Those first two hikes — at Crowders Mountain and Mount Mitchell — are geared toward more experienced hikers looking to come out of hibernation. This hike, at 1.1 miles, is for less-experienced hikers looking to up their terrain game. This trail, on the Crabtree Creek side of the park, has rocky sections and terrain that will offer a mild challenge  and nice scenery. Learn more and sign up here.

A prime weekend to GetCamping!

Also: it’s not too late to be a camper this weekend, even if you have no camping gear! With daytime highs around 70 and overnight lows around 50, it is the ideal weekend to go camping — and our GetCamping! package, with all the key camping gear you need, can help make that happen. Learn more here. 

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Today, I use a different standard to count down to spring: the appearance of the first trout lily.

Spring wildflowers are on a tight time schedule. Nestled on the forest floor, they must quickly take advantage of the warming sunlight to bloom and set in motion their reproductive cycle. They’re on a deadline because that warmth and sunlight will soon trigger surrounding trees to leaf out and block that precious sunlight. While you may see some blooms as early as January—the perky daffodil and crocus come to mind—they aren’t official harbingers of spring: they’re not native to the region and thus play by a different set of rules. The true sentinels of the season are trout lilies and spring beauties.

In bottomland woods

Typically, the first trout lily appears the third week of February, according to Dave Cook in his “Piedmont Almanac.” But really, with the weather anymore, what’s typical? I watch for a more tangible sign: the first 70-degree day of the year. Which was Tuesday.

This week I’ve been taking lunch breaks where these blooms usually occur first: in floodplain hardwood forests where the rich soils and threat of an imminent canopy blackout prompts an early bloom. Two areas where early blooms are particularly common hereabouts:

• Poet’s Walk at Ayr Mount, Hillsborough. Where this mile-long trail drops down to the Eno, trout lilies and spring beauties shyly pop through here and there. Then, within a day, the spring beauties especially are everywhere.
• Pump Station Access, Eno River State Park, Durham. This 2-mile trail starts off Rivermont Road and drops over a bluff to the Eno. There, the trail has the Eno to the north and a wide floodplain forest to the south, butting up to the bluff. For about a week after the bloom begins, the area is carpeted with spring beauties.

On south- and west- facing hillsides

Another good place to look: hardwood-forested hillsides with a southern or western exposure. The sun, still lower on the southern horizon, hits here first, stays here longer, and offers the extended warming sun these first responders crave. A couple good examples:

• Sycamore Trail, Umstead State Park, Raleigh. We’ve found the spring wildflower viewing spotty at Umstead, but one place where we’re never disappointed is on the Sycamore Trail at it rises above Sycamore Creek west of the Graylyn Multiuse Trail. Climbing up from the creek, the rocks along the trail harbor a robust community of wildflowers.
• Mountain Trail, Pilot Mountain State Park, Pinnacle. Roughly two-thirds of this 4.3-mile trail at the base of Pilot Mountain is on the mountain’s south or west flank, and much of it passes through mature hardwood forest. To avoid the park’s spring crowds, access this trail from the parking area off Pinnacle Hotel Road and enjoy the show by your lonesome.

So far, we’ve yet to see even a hint of bloom. When we do, we’ll let you know when and where on our Facebook page and Instagram, where we’ll continue to update you with wildflower sightings throughout the spring.

Happy Trails,

Joe

Join us in search of spring wildflowers

GetHiking! Pilot Creek Trail, Pilot Mountain State Park, Saturday, 9 a.m. GetHiking! explores a new trail at Pilot Mountain State Park, one that seems well situated for early spring wildflower blooms. The Pilot Creek Trail starts from an access off Boyd Nelson Road on the north side of the park, heads through lowland woods, then traces the base of Pilot Mountain. Learn more and sign up here.

Follow the spring wildflower show and get other trail news by joining our GetGoingNC Facebook page and following us on Instagram. 

For more on the spring wildflower venues mentioned:

Ayr Mount https://classicalamericanhomes.org/ayr-mount/

Eno River State Park https://www.ncparks.gov/eno-river-state-park 

Umstead State Park https://www.ncparks.gov/william-b-umstead-state-park

Pilot Mountain State Park https://www.ncparks.gov/pilot-mountain-state-park

Learn more

For a more in-depth explanation of what’s happening to make spring wildflowers bloom, check this story, “How Do Flowers Know When to Bloom” from Live Science.

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Especially if you head off the beaten path. 

Now, there are good reasons why that path is beaten. Not everyone is interested in a more raw form of adventure, fewer still are equipped. Whatever innate navigational skills our species may have had have since been relegated to the recesses of our brains in favor of more modern survival skills. Touch typing with our thumbs, for instance.

Relegated, maybe, but not deleted. 

Every year around this time, because the woods become more open and welcoming, we rev up our GetOriented! Finding Your Way in the Woods program. We start with a basic introduction to map and compass and how to use the two in tandem. Then we head down the trail, and off, to match the imagery of wavy topo lines with the reality of a rolling landscape. At some point, those dormant navigational skills are retrieved from deep storage and our students experience an “Aha!” moment. Nothing makes sense, then — well, maybe not everything makes sense, but you can hear the tumblers fall into line. 

Why is this skill important? 

Think about a trail you hike on a regular. Your hike may vary by season, it may vary by time of day and by the weather. But you’re still walking along the same stream, climbing the same long hill, passing the same dilapidated tobacco barn and seeing the same view of the lake. Nothing wrong with this familiarity. But haven’t you ever wondered what lies beyond?

At Eno River State Park in Durham, for instance, the Cox Mountain Trail is a popular hike. It involves crossing a swinging bridge, it follows a rocky stretch of the Eno, and it has some good elevation through a maturing hardwood forest. It all makes for a good hike. Yet when you reach the summit of Cox Mountain, you notice that, to the south, the mountain plateaus for a third of a mile or so before dropping off on three sides. From your park-issued trail map you notice what lies beyond — about 600 acres — is in the park. Since it’s parkland, you figure it’s probably pretty wild (in fact, the tract is known as the Eno Wilderness). The unknown beckons: What’s over there? 

At Umstead State Park in Raleigh you stand on the bridge spanning Crabtree Creek and look downstream. According to the park map there’s a sizable area that, again, isn’t served by trail but must harbor some hidden treasure, right? (Right: a stand of ancient beech trees, a former Civilian Conservation Corps camp, a short-lived Boy Scout camp.)

At Hanging Rock State Park you hear tale of a Cessna that crashed on the mountain more than a half century ago. Where? you wonder. And, Would anything be left after more than 50 years?

Sometimes you need these basic navigation skills just to find the trail. At the coast, in the Croatan National Forest near Maysville you’ll find the Weetock Trail. Well, you’ll find the northern and southern trailheads, both off NC 58, but sometimes finding the 11 miles in between can be a challenge. When blazes abandon you, a map, a compass and a basic understanding of topography can be the difference between a fund day of navigating the woods or an unplanned overnight.

Most people who take our Finding Your Way in the Woods class do so because they simply don’t like the feeling of getting discombobulated in the outdoors. Almost all leave the class with this goal accomplished. But they also leave intrigued by what lies beyond the confines of the blazed trail, by the treasures, natural and cultural, waiting to be found. They may not be inclined to abandon the trail entirely, but they know that if something does beckon from beyond that they can venture a little ways off the trail and find their way back. Navigational skills come in especially handy in this part of the country, where our state parks and our national forests in particular are criss-crossed with long-abandoned wagon roads and cart paths. Crossing one such path in the woods it’s impossible not to wonder where it leads — and where it once led. 

Winter’s the ideal time to find out.

Happy Trails

Joe

GetOriented! Finding Your Way in the Woods

Our basic intro to map and compass course goes over basic map and compass skills, then hits the trail to offer key tips on how to follow and stay on the trail, how to find it again if you stray, and how to explore off trail. We will offer it at least four times in December. Click on the following for more information and to sign up.

• Saturday, Dec. 1, 1 p.m. Umstead State Park, Raleigh. Go here.
• Sunday, Dec. 2, 1 p.m. Haw River State Park: Iron Ore Belt Access, Greensboro. Go here.
• Thursday, Dec. 27, 1 p.m. Umstead State Park, Raleigh. Go here.
• Friday, Dec. 28, 1 p.m. Haw River State Park: Iron Ore Belt Access, Greensboro. Go here.

GetOriented! Intermediate Skills: Finding Your Way on the Weetock Trail

The northern and southern trailheads of this coastal trail are easy to find; it’s the 11 miles in-between that can be a challenge. Armed with maps of the area and our compasses (provided if you don’t have one) on this day-long trek to solve the mystery of the coastal Croatan National Forest’s second longest trail.

Learn more and sign up here.

GetOriented! Winter Wild hike series

We’re especially excited about this new series of winter hikes that will take you off trail to give you a new appreciation of some of the places you most love to hike. Basic map and compass skills will make these hikes more enjoyable, but are not required. Our destinations:

• Umstead State Park, Raleigh, Saturday, Dec. 29, 10 a.m. Objectives: a mature beech grove, the park’s CCC camp, a short-lived Boy Scout camp. 6-8 miles.
• Hanging Rock State Park, Danbury. Saturday Jan. 5, 10 a.m. Objectives: Backside of Hanging Rock, a 1963 plane crash. 7-9 miles
• Eno River State Park, Durham. Saturday, Jan. 26, 10 a.m. Objective: Eno Wilderness. 6-7 miles
• Uwharrie National Forest, Asheboro. Saturday, Feb. 16, 10 a.m. Objective: Birkhead Wilderness. 7-9 miles
• Raven Rock State Park, Lillington. Saturday, March 2, 10 a.m. Objective: The North Side of the River. 8 miles 

To learn more about this series and sign up, go here.

For more information and advice on exploring off trail, check out this blog from 2015.

The post Winter: a great time to stray off trail appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

There is still good fall color to be had, and based on the forecast, it’s to be had against a backdrop of crisp baby blue skies. That said, some thoughts on the weekend ahead.

• Fall Foliage Hike, Saturday, 1:30 p.m. Haw River State Park, Browns Summit. What we said above about the forecast should make the colors pop even more. Learn more here.
• Fall Tree ID Hike, Saturday, 10:30 a.m., Stone Mountain State Park, Roaring Gap. When was the last time you slow down enough on the trail to learn a thing? Can’t recall? Then this could be the most informative half mile you’ll come across this year. Learn more here.
• Weymouth Goes to the Dogs!, Sunday, 3 p.m., Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, Southern Pines. Learn more here.

As always, you can find more opportunities this weekend here:

• North Carolina State Parks have a variety of adventures planned for the weekend. Check those options here.
• North Carolina Environmental Education Centers has an extensive calendar of what’s happening at its affiliates; check it out here.
• You can also find more adventures right here, at GetGoingNC.com.

Learn more about where we spent last weekend, featured in the video, by visiting Umstead State Park and the Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Falls Lake.

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