Running a little behind this week, so, as we do on occasion, we proclaim this a DIY weekend: We provide the resources, you find your weekend adventure.
Enjoy!
Land trusts offer some of the best programs around, from the Eno River Association’s Sunday Hike Series to the Triangle Land Conservancy’s Speed Hikes.
The good news for the weekend: the heat — excessive heat — will move out. It will, however, be replaced with a little rain. So keep a close eye on the forecast, the radar and the sky before heading out. And when you do head out, here are 5 of our favorite options for the weekend.
The three-day Fourth of July weekend is upon us, and boy do we have some great — and patriotically appropriate — options!
Cannon Day, Monday, July 4, five demonstrations from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Fort Macon State Park, Atlantic Beach. What says the 4th more than the firing of one of the biggest fireworks around — a cannon! Learn about the various cannons at this installation that dates back to 1747 and efforts to protect English settlers from Spanish raiders. At the end of each demonstration, they fire a cannon1 (It’s a blank, but still … .) Work in an ocean walk during your visit. More info here.
We’re about hiking. Mostly.
This summer, though, in deference to the heat, we’re mixing in some paddling trips. Beginner-oriented, on lakes and otherwise still water, one in an area where we hike (the Three-Rivers area of Falls Lake, which abuts Day-Hike Section S of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail), one where we don’t (Saxapahaw Lake).
OK, it’s been hotter than a cup of lawsuit coffee the past week; no surprise that of the 24 North Carolina State Park events scheduled for Saturday, seven are water related. We’ll get to those. But first in this week’s 5 weekend activities:
Whack Attack! Invasive Species Removal Workday, Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to noon, Lower Haw River State Natural Area, Pittsboro. Periodically, the Friends of the Lower Haw River State Natural Area (pictured) hold workdays to remove the profusion of invasive plants that grow along this linear Natural Area lining the Haw River between Bynum and U.S. 64. It’s a great opportunity to learn about invasive species and to work out some aggression by yanking ‘em out of the ground. BYO — loppers or hand pruners, work gloves, insect repellent and water, that is. Preregistration is required, by emailing ncmlynch@gmail.com with “Invasives” in the subject line. Learn more here.
