“I love the morning,” Lisa said.

“Me, too,” agreed Karen.

The good news? With the end of Daylight Saving Time this Sunday, we’ll get to love the mornings an hour earlier. 

Sunday at 2 a.m., Eastern Standard Time kicks in. Traditionally, we bemoan the fact that we lose an hour of daylight in the afternoon. (Saturday, the sun will set at 6:15 p.m.; Sunday, it’s down at 5:14 p.m.)

This year, let’s instead celebrate that extra hour of morning sunlight. This morning, we had to wait until 7:41 a.m. for sunrise; Sunday, it will be light at 6:43 a.m. That means you can get in a nice adventure before your day begins. Even if it’s just a quick hour or half hour of hiking or poking around a local greenspace, there’s no better way to start your day.

Obviously, we think the best way to make that happen is on our GetHiking! Friday Morning hike  series. And it just so happens that our next session, our Holiday Friday Hiker session, starts next Friday, Nov. 12. Our Friday morning hikes start at 7:30, end around 9 and cover about 3 miles. You get to experience that early morning sunlight, and it’s a great way to launch your Friday. We hike a different trail every week, so you’ll likely learn some new terrain. We take a leisurely pace, with a no-drop policy. You can learn more about our Friday morning hike series here.

(And if you like the idea of a weekly morning hike and would like more options for hiking through the busy holiday season, check out our GetHiking! Hike Through the Holidays series, which includes 16 hikes, including the Friday morning hikes, plus hikes on Sunday afternoons, Tuesday evenings and two Wednesdays around Christmas and New Years. Check out that series here.)

This weekend

As for this weekend, here are three options:

• Guided Bird Walk, Sunday, 9 a.m., Carolina Beach State Park, Carolina Beach. 9 a.m. seem too early to rise, especially on a Sunday? With the time change it will feel more like 10 a.m., and that’s a perfectly civil time to follow a ranger for two miles checking out the coast’s arriving winter migrants. Learn more here.
• Alder Trail Hike, Sunday, 10 a.m., Lake Norman State Park, Troutman. Likewise, the start time for this hike will seem downright decadent while allowing you to be wide awake as you walk the banks of Norwood and Hicks creeks learning about the local flora and fauna. Learn more here.
• History of Holden Mill, Saturday, 9 a.m. to noon, Eno River State Park, Durham. Looking for a longer hike with some history? This 4.1-mile hike to the location of the old Holden Mill on the Eno River should be just the ticket. If you’ve hiked the Holden Mill Trail you’ve likely been curious about the stone wall that marks the old dam and spillway; now’s your chance to learn the story behind it. Learn more and sign up (it’s free, but space is limited) here.

Those are our thoughts on the weekend — and mornings —ahead. Make sure you GetOut! and enjoy.

The post GetOut! Time to Fall Back in Love with Morning appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

First, the weather: Nice, darn nice, especially for this time of year. 

In the Piedmont, temperatures will be in the upper 80s during the day, slipping below 70 at night. The best news, though, is that the Saharan dust cloud will keep humidity low (in addition to providing for some spectacular sunrises and sunsets). 

The news is even better in the mountains. 

In West Jefferson, at the base of Mount Jefferson State Natural Area and near Elk Knob State Park, it will only get into the low 70s this weekend, with overnight lows in the mid-60s. A chance of thunderstorms Sunday afternoon. In Waynesville, it will be a tad warmer, the upper 70s, again with the chance of thunderstorms Sunday afternoon. 

Consider, too, that the temperature drops, on average, about 3 degrees for every 1,000 feet of elevation gained, and some of our higher peaks could require fleece: it was 48 this morning atop Mount Mitchell with temperatures expected to rise only into the mid-50s this weekend.

That said, our advice for the weekend: Go West, y’all. Some recommendations:

Five Mountain Hikes with Altitude, Attitude. In this post from April 2019, we mentioned several high-altitude trails with more than just elevation to recommend them. We included three — Pond Mountain, Three-Top Mountain and China Creek-Thunderhole — that don’t get a lot of traffic. Find that post here.

Five of Our Favorite Mountain Hikes on the MST. In the high country, the Mountains-to-Sea Trail spends considerable time ghosting the Blue Ridge Parkway. The big advantage? Easy access to the trail. Plus, if you pull up to one trailhead and it’s packed with cars, drive a few miles until you hit one that isn’t. Find five of our MST faves in a post we wrote for our friends at Great Outdoor Provision Co. here. 

Five mountain hikes on the easy side. Worried that you aren’t in shape for mountain hiking? Earlier this month we wrote a blog for our friends at Blue Cross NC on five mountain hikes that provide the esthetics of mountain hiking without the physical demands. Find it here.

5 Must-do Summer Mountain Hikes in the Southern Appalachians. Certain trails are best explored at certain times of the year. In this post, also for Great Outdoor Provision Co., we look at five we feel are best hiked in summer (and we tell you why).

No matter where you choose to explore this weekend, expect the weather to cooperate: no excuses.

GetOut!

Today’s video

We won’t be heading to the mountains, but we will be heading to Eno River State Park Sunday morning for a 7-mile hike pieced together from 5 trails.  Here’s a peek at our hike. Learn more about Eno River State Park here.

The post GetOut! Your Friday Nudge for Weekend Adventure appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Some things to keep in mind:

North Carolina State Parks

While the parks have reopened, there are some targeted areas remain closed. For instance, at Eno River State Park in Durham/Orange counties, the Cabelands and Pleasant Green access remain closed, largely because they serve a popular gathering area: the Eno Quarry. And, the park is serious about keeping those spots closed: “Your vehicle will be subject to citation or towing,” states the park website.

Keep in mind, too, that even though a park may be open, it may not be by the time you get there. Many of the parks have enacted caps on occupancy; once they reach that point, the gates are closed. From there, a car is only able to enter the park when another car leaves. Keep in mind, too, that parks close for reasons other than a pandemic. Elk Knob State Park, for instance, has been closed off and on for treatment of a gypsy moth problem. If it’s not one thing … .

Advice: First, check the park website to see what is and isn’t open. And immediately before heading out, check the N.C. State Parks Facebook page, where they’ve been good about posting when a park reaches capacity. 

North Carolina’s National Forests

The Pisgah National Forest closed a significant number of trails, campgrounds and recreation areas at the beginning of the pandemic, but have gradually reopened a significant portion of the forest. Thursday, they announced another round of reopening, including the Black Mountain Campground, Looking Glass Falls, Pink Beds and more. Find the latest openings here. Check the status of other areas in our national forests here.

Other popular areas

Before heading out for any adventure, we recommend checking ahead to see what is and isn’t open. Here are the websites for some of the other popular adventure destinations in our midst.

• Blue Ridge Parkway
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park
• Shenandoah National Park
• Virginia National Forests (George Washington and Jefferson)
• Virginia State Parks 05.14.2020

Paddling

The rains of the past week mean water levels will be up this weekend — way up, in some areas, such as eastern North Carolina. If you like paddling flat water but don’t consider yourself a whitewater paddle, you definitely want to check conditions for your favorite run before putting the boats on the car and heading out. A lot of our normally placid creeks and streams will have undergone a personality change in the past week. You can find up-to-date stream level and flow information at this U.S. Geological Survey site. If you’re not sure what those numbers mean in relation to the stream you’d like to paddle, we recommend getting a copy of a reliable guidebook, such as “Paddling Eastern North Carolina,” by Paul Ferguson. Among other things, the book puts those numbers into context.

If you’re a lake paddler, the high water levels means that some normally accessible areas may be inaccessible, but access to others may be enhanced. Either way, expect a different experience on the water this weekend.

Enjoy the weekend!

Resources

If you’re hiking this weekend, be prepared for two challenges: heat and possibly high stream crossings, in light of the week’s persistent and sometimes heavy rains. We have two guides that offer concise advice for dealing with both situations:

• GetHiking! Guide to Summer Hiking offers tips for minimizing the heat while enjoying the best of summer hiking. Find it here.
• GetHiking! Guide to Water Crossings helps take the fear out of crossing a bridge-less stream, by providing strategies for successful crossings. Find it here.

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Stormy weather sticks around, for much of the region, though Saturday: Sunday, it’s low 70s and sunny. Perfect weather for getting outside.

But will everyone be thinking along the same lines?

Today, we direct you back to some of our strategies for avoiding the crowds that have caused some state parks in North Carolina to close their gates.

• Hike Where the Horses Do. In this post from yesterday, we tout the virtues of hiking trails developed with horses in mind — but open to hikers as well. North Carolina State Parks, for instance, have 118 miles of horse trails in 11 parks, while hundreds of additional miles of equestrian trail can be found in the state’s four national forests. Read that post here.
• Hike the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. The state’s best known trail also, curiously, offers your best bet for a quiet ramble. We offer tips on how to identify some of the statewide trail’s less trod treat, in a post you may read here.
• Finding the right time and place. A few tips in this post about the best time of day to hike and how to find trails that may not be as populated.
• Hike in the rain. Perhaps your best bet at solitude is to hike Saturday, in the rain. Unless there’s also thunder and lightening in the forecast, we’re big fans of hiking in a light to moderate rain. It’s a much different experience, and one in which you’re unlikely to encounter any fellow hikers. Read that post here.
• Embrace the heat. Most people hang up their hiking shoes and boots when the hot, humid weather rolls in. And that’s the perfect time to enjoy a little me-and-only-me time on the trail, Read our post about embracing a hot-weather hike here.

Also, because the number of trails open and closed is constantly changing, we suggest checking ahead to make sure the trail you’d like to hike is actually open. Below are the websites of some of the region’s largest public land managers where you can find the latest trail status:

• Blue Ridge Parkway
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park
• North Carolina State Parks
• North Carolina National Forests (Croatan, Pisgah, Nantahala, Uwharrie)
• Shenandoah National Park
• Virginia National Forests (George Washington and Jefferson)
• Virginia State Parks

Enjoy your weekend; make sure you GetOut!

Today’s video

Today, we take you back to last summer and our GetBackpacking! trip to Wilson Creek. Why Wilson Creek? Because it’s likely one of the first spots we will backpack this summer, on a trip that will focus on the developing the skills and confidence to backpack solo. For more information on the class, drop us a line expressing your interest, to info@getgoingnc.com.

The post GetOut! Your Friday Nudge for Weekend Adventure appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Depending upon where you venture for adventure this weekend, you may run into lingering snow. If a state park is your destination, we recommend checking ahead to see: 1) if the park is open, and 2) what the conditions are like. Also: the forecast suggests Sunday may be better for exploring than a possibly rainy Saturday. Plan accordingly.

Myths About Snow, Saturday, Dec. 15, 1:30 p.m., Stone Mountain State Park, Roaring Gap. Stone Mountain State Park at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains good oodles of snow out of the recent storm, some of which will still be around Saturday. Our suggestion: come for a hike, then hang around for Myths About Snow, which will explore some of “the myths and legends surrounding snowfall and snow accumulation.” (Presumably, the entire park will reopen  by Saturday, but best to double check, here, before heading out.) Learn more and sign up here.

Winter Bird Hike, Sunday, Dec. 16, 9 a.m., Lake James State Park, Nebo. Winter birds in a wintry habitat — can’t beat that. Expect to see as many as 30 different birds during the hour-long program. Learn more and sign up here.

Basics of Wilderness Survival, Sunday, Dec. 16, 10 a.m., Grandfather Mountain State Park, Linville. Spots in the North Carolina mountains got upwards of three feet of snow out of The Storm, leading one to wonder how one would survive such an ordeal of caught unawares. While winter survival isn’t the focus of Sunday’s program, we’re guessing the topic will be touched on, especially considering Grandfather Mountain experiences some of the wildest weather in the East. Learn more and sign up here. (Note: this program is at the park’s low-elevation Profile Trailhead off NC 105; still, we suggest checking ahead to make sure the park — at least this part of it — has reopened. )

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.

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