Sometimes you just need a little outdoor time. Not a full weekend of exploring. Not even a whole day — even a half day. Sometimes just an hour, hour and a half will do.
That well could be the case this weekend, when temperatures are again expected to reach 90, when afternoon storms are again a threat. Under such circumstances, a quick outing into a scenic spot can do the trick.
May Day! May Day!
You could take that two ways. But let’s go with the fact that it is May Day, the first of May, which means that both March and April of 2020 are in the rearview mirror. Yay.
So what does it mean, it being May in the age of coronavirus?
Before our GetBackpacking! trip last weekend on the 22-mile Neusiok Trail, we had a little hygiene talk: Share a little less on this hike, I advised. Handle your own water, resist the urge to sample a fellow hiker’s Cherry Cocoa Nib dehydrated breakfast. But I also said we would be spending the weekend in one of the safest places around: the wide-open spaces of the outdoors: few people, lots of room to breath in peace. Our typically worry-free playground seemed even more so in these uncertain times.
Today’s a good day to root around in your gear closet for your gloves, your heavy wool socks, your toboggan, because you’re gonna need ‘em this weekend. Saturday will dawn with temperatures in the 20s across much of the region and won’t get out of the 40s. Sunday will be a tad warmer, but not by much. All the while, the sun will be shining bright. So, with those conditions ahead, here’s what we recommend in terms of weekend adventure.
We’re finally in full leaf-out and had our first taste of summertime temperatures. Some thoughts on how you can get out and enjoy.
16th Annual Paddle for the Border, Saturday, 8 a.m., Dismal Swamp State Park, South Mills. Picture one of those races where they release hundreds of tiny rubber ducks into a stream. Now, instead of tiny ducks, picture hundreds of paddlers. Crazy, no? That’s the craziness you’ll find this weekend as hundreds of paddlers make their way from the park up the Dismal Swamp Canal to the Virginia border. About a 7.5-mile paddle. Check it out here.