Some folks, even avid hikers, have a knee-jerk reaction to backpacking. To the perceived discomfort, the perceived inconvenience, the perceived difficulty. Backpacking’s sometimes negative image is, in our opinion, a perception problem.

To put backcountry adventure in the proper perspective (meaning “our” perspective) we revisit a piece from 2019 that describes a trip some would, based on the start, view as a nightmare of a weekend. Or at lease a weekend filled with discomfort, inconvenience, difficulty. Stick with it though, and we think your perception might change. Or at least the way you view your fellow backpackers.

* * *

We hiked in three miles in the cold (about 40 degrees), the rain (roughly two inches would fall over a 36-hour period), the dark. The one consolation? The frozen rain that was forecast failed to materialize.

In the end, our trip to the Birkhead Mountain Wilderness was the best trip in a year full of pretty great trips.

Why? Because backpackers are a little different. They start out as regular day hikers. Short, hour-long hikes at first. Then half days that become full days. Then one day the sun is setting and they aren’t ready to leave the trail. So they take the next logical step and make it so they don’t have to. They become backpackers.

If you haven’t made it to backpacking yet, you may be wondering how cold and rain and dark translate to a great weekend. Here’s how:

The forecast

Backpack enough and you learn to take the forecast into consideration, but you don’t take it as gospel. The forecast for our trip started out with a good chance of freezing rain. Then the rain window became a moving target: maybe it would begin Thursday and end Friday night, maybe it would begin in the wee hours of Friday and run through mid afternoon Saturday. Rain looked like a given, cold likewise. Consider those two factors as givens and it shouldn’t matter when they might occur.

Get a plan

Set up dry and you should stay dry. Since it looked like rain was a good possibility upon arriving at our campsite, we took an extra tarp, an 18’ x 18’ piece of super light polycro — that two of us could take turns holding while a third camper pitched his tent underneath. The weight and space investment was minimal in light of the benefit of setting up dry. A good bet, it turned out, since it was indeed raining when we set up camp Friday night around 8:30.

The plan also included making sure everyone came equipped with rain gear, either an adequate poncho or rain jacket and pants. It was a little over 3 miles to camp, about an hour and fifteen minutes of hiking in, yes, a steady rain. Again, good planning, a good investment of weight, that polycro.

The likelihood of rain also meant bringing extra clothes. Rain gear may keep out the rain, but even when the temperature’s a nippy 40, wearing it and hiking in full pack will build up some heat making sweating is inevitable, even with the best rain gear. Layers that get even a little moist stay that way unless the weather turns dry and sunny.

Always look on the bright side of life

Another consequence of hiking in the rain: crossing rain-swollen creeks.

In our case, the forecast did suggest the rain would end, anywhere from mid-morning Saturday to late in the day. Cloudless skies were forecast for Sunday. It was a forecast that made any inconvenience, any discomfort on the front end worth the trip if there was a chance of hiking a stark, winter forest under a bright sun.

Saturday, we set out about 9:30 a.m. for a 10-mile day-hike in the Birkheads. It was moody when we hit the trail, but not raining. We had a very light spritz around lunch. Around 3, the sun made its first appearance, breaking out for good around sunset.

Saturday sunset

Here’s where putting up with a rain early on started to pay off. As we were sitting around the fire having dinner, Aaron stopped. “Look at the sunset!” We all stopped and looked west and south, where the late-day sun was peeking over a lingering bank of low-level clouds. We readjusted to take in the sunset, which lingered for a good hour, switching from yellow to pink to orange to crimson to deep crimson. Our camp was atop one of the wilderness area’s rounded peaks: devoid of its canopy, we had a good view of the glowing Uwharrie Mountains to the south and west. Sunset held our attention until it was dark, the fire and its warmth for about an hour after that. When our supply of both was exhausted and we started to feel the temperature plunge into the 30s, we retired for the night.

Sunday sunrise breakfast

As promised, the day dawned with nary a cloud. We packed up, hiked out, then drove about 20 minutes to a trail leading less than a mile to the lone unobstructed view on the Uwharrie Trail, atop 922-foot Little Long Mountain.

Almost everyone loves a view. Not everyone is willing to work for it. When you do, though, it’s all-the-more special. It wasn’t the eight-tenths-of-a-mile hike up to Little Long Mountain that made the view so stellar. If that were all it took, the view would have simply been “nice.” But for us, the view was a full-circle, 180-degree, zero-to-60 special viewing. We’d begun the weekend in a drenching rain, set up camp wet, spent Saturday hiking under a threatening sky. Saturday evening’s sunset marked the turning point, the start of being well-rewarded for our patience and perseverance. The forecast had promised a carrot and we were gnawing at it like Bugs Bunny. It got better with Sunday’s magnificent sunrise, with the dry hike out from camp, with the summit of Little Long Mountain.

To us, standing atop Little Long, taking in the sweeping view, soaking up the warming sun, basking in the quiet, the experience wasn’t just nice.

It was why we do this.

* * *

Intro to Backpacking

While we won’t announce our full first-half 2022 lineup until next week, we are announcing that registration is open for our first GetBackpacking! Intro to Backpacking class of the year. This three-part class includes a 1.5-hour Gear session via Zoom on Wednesday, Feb. 23; a 5-hour in-field training session at Morrow Mountain State Park on Saturday, March 5; and a weekend graduation trip to South Mountains State Park March 18-20. Some loaner gear is available. For a full rundown of the course and to register, go here.

The post Why we backpack appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Piedmont

1. Umstead State Park: Company Mill Trail with Sycamore Loop
10 miles
Raleigh
A figure-eight double lollipop loop that exposes you to the best of Umstead. Starting from the Harrison Avenue entrance to Umstead (a k a the Reedy Creek entrance) on the Company Mill Trail, top three small ridges on your way to Crabtree Creek. Cross the green metal bridge and go right. You’ll follow Crabtree for a spell, climb to the bike and bridle trail that bisects the park and continue across. Shortly, you’ll hit a kiosk indicating a short spur to the Sycamore Trail; follow it to another B&B trail, go left over the bridge, then pick up Sycamore just past the bridge, to the right. There’s a half-mile stretch along Sycamore Creek (quite lively just after or during a rain), then the trail climbs through the hardwood Piedmont forest prevalent throughout before crossing another B&B. Within a quarter mile, the trail Ts. To get in your full 10 miles, go right to yet another B&B crossing, then turn and complete the opposite side of the Sycamore-Company Mill figure-eight. Lots of up-and-down, but nothing sustained. No water along the way (don’t risk filtering these urban creeks), so pack plenty.
Trailhead: 2100 N. Harrison Ave,, Cary. 

More info, including a map, at the Umstead State Park website.

2. Uwharrie National Forest: Birkhead Mountain Wilderness lollipop loop
11.8 miles
Asheboro
Starting from the trailhead off Tot Hill Road, you’ll hike the Birkhead Mountain Trail south for two miles before hitting the popular loop that Boy Scouts, among others, have been using for years to cut their backpacking teeth. Where the Robbins Branch Trail enters from the right, continue straight on the Birkhead for two miles. Note along the way that despite the fact this is a designated wilderness, the trail is well blazed. After two miles, go right on the Hannahs Creek Trail, where, for the first time, you abandon ridgelines in favor of passages along holly-clogged creeks. After a mile and a half, go right on the Robbins Branch Trail, which climbs a rocky (for the Piedmont) ridgeline before dropping to its namesake creek and rejoining the Birkhead after 3.2 miles. Go left for the two-mile return to your car. You can filter water from Hannahs Creek and Robbins Branch, though both run low in summer and during dry weather.
Trailhead: 3091 Tot Hill Farm Road, Asheboro.
More info here.

3. Uwharrie National Forest: Uwharrie National Recreation Trail
25.3 miles
Troy/Asheboro
The Uwharrie National Recreation Trail has long been the default long hike for Boy Scouts in the Piedmont. In part, that was because it was the only game in town — and what a game it was, extending 50 miles at one point in the 1970s. The trail shrank in the 1980s and 1990s, but has since rebounded and is back up to about 40 miles. This stretch remains the classic Uwharrie Trail. Starting from the trailhead off NC 24/27, the trail heads north through what was once a mighty mountain range, with peaks topping 20,000 feet. Today, nothing along the trail reaches 1,000 feet, and while the climbs aren’t Appalachian, they’re more sustained than any you’ll find elsewhere in the Piedmont. It’s a good workout, and great training for backpackers prepping for a mountain trip. Several small waterways cross paths with the trail and can be filtered — when they’re running.
Trailheads: The southern trailhead is 9.3 miles west of Troy on NC 24/27; the northern trailhead is at 6871 High Pine Church Road, Asheboro.
More info: For information on hiking the Uwharries, consult the “Uwharrie Lakes Region Trail Guide,” by Don Childrey, here; find a detailed trip description of the 22.9-mile hike from NC 24/27 to the Jumpingoff Rock Trailhead in “Backpacking North Carolina” (UNC Press, 2011).

4. Hanging Rock State Park: Moore’s Knob and Indian Creek trails
5.5 / 11.5 miles
Danbury
Starting from the Visitor Center, the 4.3-mile Moore’s Knob Loop Trail makes a dandy warm-up. It starts innocently, passing the lake and bathouse, then probing a tunnel of holly. About a mile in, it’s time to get down to business, with a long ridge ascent to Moore’s Knob. It’s a bit relentless, this climb, getting rockier and ridgier the higher you get. The payoff: great 360 views from the observation tower atop Moore’s Knob. Continue the loop back to the Visitor Center for Round 2. The Indian Creek Trail descends, along with scores of hikers, to Hidden and Window falls. Return to the Visitor Center from here and it’s a 5.5-mile hike. Continue another three miles to the Dan River and back and you’re at 11.5.
Trailhead: Visitor Center, 1790 Hanging Rock Park Road, Danbury
More info here.

5. Crowders Mountain State Park/Kings Mountain State Park (S.C.): Ridgeline Trail
5.5, 9, 12 miles
Gastonia
The 6.2-mile Ridgeline Trail joins two state parks (Crowders Mountain and Kings Mountain) and the Kings Mountain National Military Park, plus it involves two states, which gives you added bragging rights. Starting from the Crowders Mountain Visitor Center, hike to the base of Kings Pinnacle and don’t pass the opportunity to take the short spur to the top for great views. Back on the Ridgeline Trail, continue south through rolling Piedmont countryside. Near the south end of Crowders Mountain State Park, you’ll see a sign for the Boulders Access area; turn around here for a 9-mile hike (for a 5.5-mile hike, turn around at NC 161). The Ridgeline Trail officially ends at South Carolina state line — but you can continue on into the Palmetto State, which is dead flat to Kings Mountain State Park. To avoid the crowds, start from the Boulders Access, 108 Van Dyke Road, Kings Mountain.
Trailhead: Sparrow Springs Access and Visitor Center, Crowders Mountain State Park, 522 Park Office Lane.
More info here.

6. Eno River: Mountains-to-Sea Trail
7.8 miles
Durham and Orange counties
Starting from the west, at the Pleasant Green Access, hike under Pleasant Green Road bridge, up a bluff overlooking the Eno, around an abandoned quarry, through surprising stretches of steep climbs and sharp drops. You’ll part ways with the Eno, then you’ll reunite. At one point, pass the impressive foundation of a lodge that once stood atop a bluff over the Eno. This is perhaps the most challenging stretch of trail along the Eno. Pass under Cole Mill Road and the trail mellows, heading through flood plain forest and occasionally taking a more upland route. Your turnaround is the old pump station, which a century ago supplied water to Durham. Poke around the remains, a brick foundation, have lunch, then hike back the way you came.
Trailhead: 4770 Pleasant Green Road, Durham.
More info: Find detailed descriptions of the two sections making up this stretch on the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail website.

7. Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Falls Lake
21.8 miles
Wake and Durham counties
The Mountains-to-Sea Trail runs 60 miles along the south shore of Falls Lake through the Triangle. With the trail broken down into 18 day-hike sections, ranging in length from just under a mile to nearly seven, there are plenty of 20-mile(ish) permutations. Here’s a favorite. Starting from the Falls Lake ranger station off NC 50, hike west. Immediately, you are in the most remote stretch of the MST along Falls Lake, a nearly seven-mile run where signs of your fellow humans are rare (save for the remains of an old tobacco barn and what appears to have been a commercial chicken coop). The trail ducks in and out of coves on the lake, loses sight of it occasionally, has some boardwalked, swampy passages. At Little Lick Creek there’s an impressive pedestrian footbridge followed by an impressively narrow and long boardwalk. From there, it’s more hiking typical of a Piedmont hardwood forest. This 21.8-mile stretch concludes at the Hickory Hill Boat Ramp: no facilities but lots of parking. There is no water along the way; be sure to pack in plenty.
Trailhead: 14700 Creedmoor Road, Wake Forest
More info: For more information on navigating this stretch and for scouting your own 20-mile hike on the MST at Falls Lake, go here.

8. Sauratown Trail
Between Pilot Mountain and Hanging Rock state parks
21.6 miles
Though part of the statewide hiking-centric Mountains-to-Sea Trail, the Sauratown Trail originally was built for equestrians. As a result, it often exhibits a slightly more rugged feel. For instance, instead of a footbridge over every wet spot, you have running creeks that are rock-hopped. Also, horses apparently have less of a problem with direct assaults on climbs, adding a vigorous ascent or two. All of which underscores the particular allure of this trail: its naturalness. The trail is never hard to find, but you’ll know you’re not on a finely groomed state park trail. Starting from Pilot Mountain, the trail heads east, tracing the north flank of Sauratown Mountain. There are some particularly scenic passages, including a waterfall or two that would seem more appropriate about 75 miles to the west, along the Blue Ridge escarpment. There’s a doozy of a climb when the trail reaches Hanging Rock State Park, but you’re rewarded with great views from atop Moore’s Knob. End your hike at the Hanging Rock Visitor Center. Note: Much of this trail is on private land, access generously granted from local landowners. Occasionally, land changes hands and the new land owner may not be as keen about a public trail. Thus, trail rerouting is common, and is well documented on the Sauratown Trails Association website.
Trailheads: Pilot Mountain State Park Visitor Center, 1792 Pilot Knob Park Road, Pinnacle, to the west, Hanging Rock Visitor Center, 1790 Hanging Rock Park Road, Danbury, to the east.
More info: Check out the aforementioned Sauartown Trails Association web site.

9. Pilot Creek Trail

Pilot Mountain State Park

6.6 miles (out and back). 

When this list first appeared we recommended the trails accessed at the summit of Pilot Mountain. But since 2012, those trails have been discovered: on nice weekends it can take a half hour or more just to score a parking spot up top. Now, our favorite Pilot Mountain trail is Pilot Creek, which starts from an access off Boyd Nelson Road north of the park and works its way along the north flank of the mountain to connect with the Grindstone Trail. Pilot Creek offers much of what hikers flock to Pilot Mountain for: rocky terrain and some moderately challenging climbs. You won’t get the views (it sticks to the base of the mountain), but you won’t get the crowds, either.

Trailhead: Pilot Creek Access, Pilot Mountain State Park, 382 Boyd Nelson Road, Pinnacle

More info here.

Blue Ridge Escarpment

10. Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Holloway Mountain Road

Blue Ridge Parkway

7.6 miles

Heading west on the MST from Holloway Mountain Road, the trail goes uphill into an open pasture, then spends a mile or so noodling through smaller pastures; the edge forests through here should be good for early color. Note: when you enter one of these clearings, the trail may not be obvious; if not, take a moment to survey across the way for the next visible white-dot MST blaze. These pasture pockets give way about midway to dense forest, where the evergreens should provide nice contrast to the emerging hardwood color. We suggest turning around just shy of the Boone Fork Parking Area, a popular access spot along the Parkway.

Trailhead: From Milepost 298.6 of the Blue Ridge Parkway, head west on Holloway Mountain

Road for about a mile, to where the MST crosses.

More info here, at the Mountains-to-Sea Trail online trail guide for this section.

11. Rock Castle Gorge

Rocky Knob Recreation Area, Blue Ridge Parkway (Virginia)

10.4 miles

This is one gorgeous hike that the masses aren’t likely to undertake. And they certainly aren’t going to pick it up from this hidden trailhead at the bottom of the gorge. Pick up the trail and hike counterclockwise, hiking up Little Rock Castle Creek through a spectacular hardwood forest. Mellow at first, the trail has a steep climb requiring some scrambling, before entering another mature hardwood forest and, shortly, reaching the Parkway. From there, it’s about 3.5 miles along the ridge, through several open meadows, before descending back into the gorge. The last 2.5 miles is a relaxing downhill along Rock Castle Creek.

Trailhead: Primitive camping trailhead at the base of the gorge, off VA 8. From the Blue Ridge Parkway near the Rocky Knob Campground, take VA 8 headed south. After 3.6 miles, go right on Rock Castle Road, which will terminate shortly at the trailhead. Hike in about 200 feet to pick up the trail.

More info here.

* * *

Cool off-trail hikes

Another thing we like to do when the weather cools: hike off trail. On old roadbeds, on game trail, through areas choked with vegetation in warmer months. We do 5 such hikes in this series of monthly hikes, which begin in November and end in March. Learn more here.

The post Long hikes for cool fall days appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Or this, from a more contemporary purveyor of percipient thought:

“It’s the first day of autumn! A time of hot chocolatey mornings, and toasty marshmallow evenings, and, best of all, leaping into leaves!”

— W. Pooh

But it’s writer Nathaniel Hawthorne, inspired by his New England home, that we think best captures the sentiment of the season: “I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house. So I have spent almost all the daylight hours in the open air.”

That’s pretty much how we approach fall, and why we, too, endeavor to spend so much of it “in the open air” — by backpacking. Warm days, cool nights, cloudless skies and lots of autumnal color make this the season to not just to explore the backcountry, but to live in it. And while that autumnal sunshine is indeed intoxicating, the shoulder periods of dawn and dusk, not to mention those brisk, brilliant night skies, make fall the true season of backpacking.

How are we planning to spend as much of this fall as possible outdoors? In a variety of ways. And ways that nearly every one of you can be a part of, regardless of your backpacking experience — if any.

For the more experienced

Got a bit of backpacking experience under your belt? We have two four-day trips on tap.

• Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock/Citico Creek Wilderness, Sept. 16-19. On this basecamp backpack trip we hike in 1.5 miles and establish camp, then spend three days day hiking these adjoining wilderness areas. $195. Learn more and sign up here.
• Appalachian Trail at Standing Indian, Oct. 28-31. We spend Thursday evening at the Standing Indian campground, then head out Friday morning for three days on the trail, mostly the AT as it follows a horseshoe-shaped ridge over Albert Mountain and Standing Indian Mountain. $195. Learn more and sign up here.

For those short on time

Fall rolls around, you’re out of vacation time. With our Weekend Quick Escapes, you don’t need any PTO; these trips are designed to let you work a full day, then, when the whistle blows at 5, hop into your loaded car and drive to a trailhead requiring a short hike in to basecamp and two days of hiking in daypacks. Our three destinations for fall:

• Doughton Park, Oct. 22-24.  $105. Learn more and sign up here.
• Rock Castle Gorge, Nov. 19-21. $105. Learn more and sign up here.
• Birkhead Mountain Wilderness in the Uwharrie National Forest, Dec. 10-1. $105. Learn more and sign up here.

Backpacking for Non Backpackers

You’re an avid hiker but, for whatever reason, have yet to try backpacking. With our Basecamp Backpack option you can enjoy the best of both worlds: the solitude of a backcountry campsite plus the ability to hike miles on end without 40 pounds on your back. We supply the basic backpacking gear — backpack, tent, sleeping pad, cook stove and cookset, plus guidance on how to use it all and be a backpacker. This option is available on our Basecamp Backpack trips that require a short hike — between a quarter mile and 3 miles — to camp in full pack. We provide a list of everything you’ll need to bring.

• Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock/Citico Creek Wilderness, Sept. 16-19. $295. Learn more and sign up here
• Weekend Quick Escape: Doughton Park, Oct. 22-24. $195. Learn more and sign up here
• Weekend Quick Escape: Rock Castle Gorge, Nov. 19-21. $195. Learn more and sign up here.
• Weekend Quick Escape: Birkhead Mountain Wilderness in the Uwharrie National Forest, Dec. 10-12. $195. Learn more and sign up here.

Backpacking for backpackers-to-be

Not a backpacker — yet? In just three sessions you can become a bonafide backpacker in time for the prime fall hiking season. We start with a gear session via Zoom, then meet for a 5-hour, in-field training session before our weekend graduation trip to South Mountains State Park. Some loaner gear is available on a first-requested basis. We have four sessions scheduled for the fall. Click the appropriate link for details and to sign up. $225.

• Intro to Backpacking: Charlotte. Sept. 8, 11, 24-26
• Intro to Backpacking: Triangle. Sept. 8, 11, 24-26
• Intro to Backpacking: Triad. Sept. 8, 11; Oct. 1-3
• Intro to Backpacking: Greenville. Sept. 23; Oct. 9, 22-24

Of all the seasons, fall is the last you can afford to waste. As noted horticulture writer Elizabeth Lawrence — the first woman, in 1932, to graduate with a degree in landscape architecture from N.C. State — put it, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”

The post Backpacking squeezes the most out of fall appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

There was a peppiness about them, a lightness fueled by the realization that having gone this far and only having 3 miles to go, they were going to finish. They knew what 3 miles felt like, they knew they had it in ‘em. 

What they didn’t know was another 7 miles felt like, and 7 miles, I just realized, was the actual distance we had left. Their leader had advertised a 7.2-mile hike, but their leader had made a slight miscalculation.

 * * *

I started leading hikes a dozen years ago, first as part of a fundraising effort, later as a way to simply get new people on the trail. After years of writing about ways for newbies to get out and explore, now, I was going to take them myself. In August of 2013 we held an introductory meeting for the new GetHiking! program at the Great Outdoor Provision Co. store in Raleigh; that gathering drew nearly 90 people. The following Saturday we held our first hike, on the Company Mill Trail at Umstead State Park. Fifty-five people signed up. 

Part of the program’s appeal was that we catered to beginners: start hiking with us now and come November we’ll have you ready to do complete a 7-mile hike.

That fall we hiked every other weekend, we did midweek, after-work hikes in the early fall that turned into night hikes come November. We hiked the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, along the Eno River, at Hanging Rock, at Harris Lake. By mid-November, the hikers were ready for their test in the Uwharries. Forty-six hikers signed up to hike the Birkhead Wilderness of the Uwharrie National Forest west of Asheboro on Nov. 16, a hike advertised as 7.2 miles long.

The route was one I had done numerous times. It was Hike No. 36 in my 2007 guidebook, “100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina,” which came out in 2007, it was Trip No. 35 in my “Backpacking North Carolina” guidebook that came out four years later. I’d hiked the route at least twice with a GPS, the distance coming out at a little more than 7 miles both times. It was, I knew, a 7-mile hike — if you started from the Robbins Branch trailhead.

About a week before the hike I was driving back from Charlotte on N.C. 49 when I remembered hearing about a new trailhead opening on the north end of the Birkhead Mountain Trail, off Tot Hill Road. If that was true, it would shave a good 20 minutes off the drive for hikers coming from the Triangle: Tot Hill was just west of Asheboro off 49 — on paved road. Getting to Robbins Branch was trickier, requiring a counterintuitive turn off 49, finding a dusty two-lane called Lassiter Mill, then keeping an eye peeled for the gravel road that quietly came in from the left and lead, over rocky terrain, to the Robbins Branch Trailhead. If the Tot Hill Trailhead and parking were open, that would make the hike so much easier to get to. So I watched for Tot Hill Road, turned, and in less than 2 miles came to a gleaming new trailhead complete with gravel parking lot. It was a good find. It would have been better if I’d parked and taken a minute to hike even a short distance down the trail.

* * *

The beauty of the Robbins Branch Trailhead was that once you finally found it, it was right on the Birkhead Wilderness Loop. Park, pick up either Hannah’s Creek Trail headed east, or Robbins Branch Trail headed north. Both connected to the Birkhead Mountain Trail to complete the 7.2-mile loop. 

When hike day arrived, we gathered in the new Tot Hill lot, discussed the hike, then started hiking south on the Birkhead Mountain Trail. I quickly became engaged in conversation, the time and scenery passed. How much time I wasn’t quite sure when we reached the junction with Robbins Branch, though it did seem like we’ve been hiking for a while. In fact, we’d been on the trail for a good 45 minutes — or 2 miles — and we were just now getting to the route.

But it was a gorgeous fall day and the distraction of crystal blue skies, waning fall color and the bonhomie of my new hiking friends distracted me from facing the truth. It wasn’t until around Mile 4, just past Camp 5, that I began to emerge from full denial; it was another 15 minutes, now on the Hannah’s Creek Trail, that I was forced to come clean.

“Hey, my watch says we’re at mile 7 — we must be near the end,” someone behind me announced. Several hikers whooped in response.

“Well, here’s a funny thing,” I began, then proceeded to explain that I’d failed to take into account the two miles of trail just to get to the actual route.

“So … that means in addition to the extra 2-mile hike in, we have another extra 2 miles headed out?”

“That’s 11 miles,” someone else chimed in.

“More than 11 miles,” added added a third, the “more” delivered in an ominous tone.

* * *

Revenge, as the French saying goes, is a dish best served cold. 

A couple weeks later we were hiking the New Hope Overlook trails at Jordan Lake, a surprisingly hilly 5.4-mile route. We were on the Blue portion of the hike, trudging up a long climb when someone asked, “How much farther?”

“Maybe a mile and a half,” I said.

“Is that in real miles,” asked one of the hikers from the Birkhead hike, “or ‘Joe miles’?”

“Ha ha!” I said. OK, fair enough.

But two weeks later at White Pines, my mileage estimate drew the same response: “Are those actual miles … or Joe miles?” And again the following week at Little River Regional Park, the week after that on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail … . More than 7 years later, 7 years after that one slight miscalculation, I still get that response: Are those real miles? Or Joe miles? 

For the longest time, I tried to keep close track of where we were on the trail and not give an answer unless I knew exactly where we were and how much farther we had to go. Made no difference: the more I tried to defend my estimate, then more Joe miles I got in return. Now when they ask? 

I turn, give a sly grin and answer, “Joe miles, of course.”

* * *

GetHiking! Southeast Podcast: the Uwharries

Intrigued by today’s mention of the Uwharrie Mountains in the Uwharrie National Forest west and south of Asheboro? On this week’s GetHiking! Southeast Podcast we talk with Don Childrey, author of the “Uwharrie Lakes Region Trail Guide.” First published in 1996, it was updated in 2014 and today includes 113 named trails covering more than 215 miles of trail. Better still, it includes 95 multi-day trips. Listen to our conservation with Don here.

GetHiking! Guide to Exploring the Birkhead Wilderness

Check out our 7-page guide to exploring the Birkhead Wilderness, including some off-trail adventure, here.

The post Joe Miles in the Uwharries appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

In fact, long ago — 300 million to 500 million years — the Piedmont was the mountains. They bubbled out of the ground via volcanic activity, thrust as high as 20,000 feet by the crunching and colliding and folding of tectonic plates.

Alas, the effects of aging have a way of reducing one’s stature; like Great Grandpa Irving, their once towering presence has diminished. But they haven’t disappeared altogether.

Throughout the Piedmont, you’ll find relict mounds of Piedmont monadnocks, erosion-resistant rock that’s not going down without a fight. Some—Medoc Mountain in North Carolina, Smith Mountain and White Oak Mountain in Virginia—are recognized as outdoor playgrounds: Medoc Mountain and Smith Mountain as state parks, White Oak Mountain as a Wildlife Management area. Both offer hiking. Others — such as Thoroughfare Mountain, Mount Pony and Piney Mountain, all in Virginia — are in private hands. These are isolated remains, their neighbors long since worn to rolling hills.

But there remain several mountain ranges in the Piedmont where recreation is alive and well.

Uwharrie Mountains

Probably the best-known mountains outside The Mountains are the Uwharries, which occupy a good portion of Randolph, Montgomery, Stanly and Davidson counties southwest of Asheboro, in the center of the Piedmont. The range tops out at just under 1,200 feet (1,188-foot High Rock Mountain in southwestern Davidson County), but there’s considerable relief in these hills, which are surrounded by rolling farmland a little over 300 feet above sea level. In the 50,000-acre Uwharrie National Forest, there are more than 215 miles of trail, according to Don Childrey in his “Uwharrie Lakes Region Trail Guide.” The backbone of hiking in the Uwharries is the roughly 40-mile (and growing) Uwharrie Trail, which runs from Troy on the south to near NC 49 on the north, and even includes a wilderness area. If you’re looking for long training hikes in preparation for hitting the Appalachians or heading out West, it’s hard to beat these trails, which are within an hour and a half of Charlotte, the Triad and the Triangle.

Sauratown Mountains

Also popular from a hiker’s standpoint are the Sauratown Mountains, a range north of the Triad that’s defined by Hanging Rock State Park to the east and Pilot Mountain State Park to the west (in between is Sauratown Mountain, which has no public lands). Pilot Mountain with 25 miles of trail and Hanging Rock with more than 20 miles of trail offer the highest hiking in the Piedmont, reaching nearly 2,500 feet in elevation. And both offer the kinds of mountain-top views you long for in a summit, and waterfalls to boot. And the nearly 25-mile-long Sauratown Trail links the two.

Crowders Mountain

We’re hard-pressed to find a name for the mountain range that runs from Crowders Mountain State Park outside Gastonia to Kings Mountain State Park in South Carolina, but what’s in a name, anyway? Crowders Mountain, at 1,635 feet, and its neighbor, The Pinnacle, at 1,705 feet, offer an alpine experience for Charlotte hikers (and Charlotte mountain climbers as well). Crowders Mountain has 20 miles of trail, including the 6.2-mile Ridgeline Trail, which hooks up with an additional 40 miles of trail across the state line in South Carolina’s Kings Mountain State Park and Kings Mountain National Military Park.

Cane Creek Mountains

This lesser-known range in portions of Alamance, Guilford, Randolph, and Chatham counties was lesser known because it was short on public access to recreation. That’s about to change. In 2014, the Piedmont Land Conservancy acquired a 101-acre tract in southern Alamance County. PLC subsequently turned the land over to Alamance County Parks & Rec., which is developing trails on the property, part of the Cane Creek range. We’ll be back with more information about the preserve and it’s anticipated opening.

We’ve got several trips planned to the Piedmont mountains over the next two months. Join us and explore these mountains in our midst.

Happy trails,

Joe

Explore with us!

Our GetHiking! program frequently explores the Piedmont’s mountains. Coming up:

• Friday Crowders Mountain Extreme Hike, GetHiking! Charlotte. Details here.
• March 24 GetHiking! Classic Hikes: Pilot Mountain. Details here.
• April 14 Piedmont Explorer: Hanging Rock State Park. Details here.

Resources

For more information on the mountains mentioned today:

• Uwharrie Mountains “Uwharrie Lakes Region Trail Guide,” by Don Childrey (2014, Earthbound Sports. More info at donchildrey.com.
• Sauratown Mountains For hiking in Pilot Mountain State Park, go here, for Hanging Rock State Park, go here. For information on hiking the Sauratown Trail, which is part of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, go to this trail guide from the Friends of the MST.
• Crowders Mountain Check the Crowders Mountain State Park website for info on hiking in the park, including the Ridgeline Trail, which heads southwest into South Carolina. For hiking on the South Carolina side, visit the Kings Mountain State Park website.
• Cane Creek Mountains For information on Alamance County’s Cane Creek Mountains Natural Area and when it will open, go here.

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