“In the coming weeks and months, we will be surveying the trail and assessing damage, but trail restoration is a very low priority in light of the ongoing humanitarian crisis facing western North Carolina … it is likely that sections of the trail will remain closed for a significant length of time.”

Trails are a low priority in the recovery scheme of things. An incredible amount of work needs to be done to get the communities of WNC back up and running. But when the time comes for trail restoration, we need to be ready to tackle a big job.

How big? Consider the case of the statewide MST. “As a result of the storm,” Laurenz wrote, “the entire North Carolina section of the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed. The MST from Kuwohi [formerly Clingman’s Dome] through Stone Mountain State Park should be considered closed and highly dangerous. This is roughly a third of the entire route of the trail.”

A third of the entire 1,125-mile MST.

When the time comes, the land managers responsible for our trails will need your help. The MST has already set up a form for volunteers who wish to be part of the effort; you can fill it out here. “There will be a need for sawyers,” Laurenz wrote, “those who can clear trail and rebuild it, those who can oversee work crews, but also for those who can help support the volunteers.”

Other land managers will be in a similar position.

Take the Appalachian Trail, for instance, which is overseen by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. The ATC is “part of a unique cooperative-management system, working with numbers of local, state and federal partners to ensure greater protections for the Trail.” Key to the AT’s health are the hiking clubs that help maintain it. In Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia, there are a dozen hiking clubs that each maintain a section of the AT. These clubs also maintain other trails in their regions; their impact on reviving not just the AT but many other mountain trails is will be huge. 

Below are links to these 12 clubs; click on the link(s) you’re interested in to learn more about the clubs and their volunteer activities. Note: Join the club and you’ll be the first to know when these opportunities arise.

• Old Dominion Appalachian Trail Club
• Tidewater Appalachian Trail Club
• Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail Club
• Outdoor Club at Virginia Tech
• Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club
• Piedmont Appalachian Trail Hikers
• Mount Rogers Appalachian Trail Club
• Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club
• Carolina Mountain Club
• Smoky Mountains Hiking Club
• Nantahala Hiking Club
• Georgia Appalachian Trail Club

You might be surprised by the number of trails you hike that are owned/managed by land conservancies. They, too, will need your help both in repairing their damaged trails. Click the link(s) below for more information.

• Conservation Trust for North Carolina
• Blue Ridge Conservancy
• Conserving Carolina 
• Catawba Lands Conservancy
• Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina
• Mainspring Conservation Trust
• New River Conservancy

North Carolina’s State Parks will also need a hand. Volunteers for State Park restoration will be coordinated through the Friends group for that park. Those groups include:

• Friends of Chimney Rock State Park
• Friends of Crowders Mountain State Park
• Friends of the Fonta Flora State Trail
• Friends of Gorges State Park
• Friends of High Country State Parks (Elk Knob, Grandfather Mountain, Mount Jefferson, New River state parks)
• Friends of Lake James State Park
• NC High Peaks Trail Association (Mount Mitchell)
• Friends of South Mountains State Park
• Friends of Stone Mountain State Park
• Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail
• As we become aware of specific volunteer opportunities, we will post them here on the GetGoingNC website and on our Facebook page.

The opportunities to help rebuild our trails will come, but as the MST’s Laurenz notes, that’s “a very low priority at this point.”

Be patient. The time to rebuild will come.

The post How (and when) to help rebuild our mountain trails appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Coast

It’s the last trip this season, a leisurely cruise through the marshes adjacent to Hammocks Beach State Park, that is. What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than on the water? There’s an undeniable serenity when on the water and if that’s something you haven’t experienced in a while, this Saturday is your chance.

As if an experience on the water needed more, your captain on this trip is there to talk as little or as much as you want about the ecosystems, wildlife and the cultural history of the North Carolina coast.

Logistics: Marsh Cruises for a Cause, Saturday, Nov.19, 1-3 p.m in the evening, Hammocks Beach State Park, $10. Find out more and register here.

Saturday forecast: Sunny skies, high of 72.

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Looking ahead: Biological Wonderland Hike, Nov. 26, at 2 p.m., Carolina Beach State Park. More info here. 

Piedmont 

Bare with me, I read this the other day: “Your deepest roots are in nature. No matter who you are, where you live, or what kind of life you lead, you remain irrevocably linked with the rest of creation.” Charles Cook eloquently depicts the perspective nature’s beauty brings one when surrounded by it.

Keeping in touch with those roots can be as simple as trekking around Pilot Mountain. Saturday afternoon is the perfect time to be reminded of how much beauty fall brings, while hiking 6 miles and learning about the park’s history. That’s right, along the way your friendly park ranger fills you in on the uniqueness and history of the area and might even be able to give you the names to the trees in for your Facebook/ Instagram photo.

And we all know, people love to give “Likes” for pictures in nature!

Logistics: 100 Mile Challenge- Mountain Trail Hike, Saturday, Nov.19, 1-4 p.m., Pilot Mountain State Park, Pinnacle. More info here. 

Saturday forecast: Partly cloudy, high of 65.

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Looking ahead: Gratitude Hike, Nov. 23, 10:00 a.m., Charlotte. More info here. 

Mountains 

As of midweek, 10 forest forest were burning throughout western North Carolina, consuming more than 44,000 acres. South Mountains and Chimney Rock state parks were both battling fires, while nearly all of the other state parks in the western part of the state are also closed, their personnel dispatched to help battle the South Mountains and Chimney Rock fires. And what isn’t being consumed by fire in the western part of the state is enveloped in smoke, a dangerous smoke that makes breathing a challenge for some.

All of which is to say if you are planning a mountain excursion this weekend, be very cautious about where you go and what you do. Your best bet is to head for the northern mountains, basically Grandfather Mountain (which is open) and north. We suggest you check the calendars listed under the “Mountains” section below to see what activities are still on, and what areas are open.

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Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below. 

Coast

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