• The Origin of the Sandhills, Sunday, 2 p.m., Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, Southern Pines. Join a geologist to get the true lay of the land, from topography to plant ecology. Learn more here.
• Jones Island Eco Tour, Saturday, 9:30 a.m., Hammocks Beach State Park, Swansboro. Boat over to nearby Jones Island, located in the White Oak River, to learn about the various ecosystems on this wild spit of land. Free, but registration is required, by calling 910.326.4881. Learn more here.
• Snakes of Southeastern North Carolina, 10 a.m., Jones Lake State Park, Elizabethtown. Get to know the snakes of the coastal plain at this program in the Visitor Center. Learn more here.

Also this weekend:

• Outdoor Adventurers of Color: Increase Your Activity Through Geocaching, Sunday, 2:30 p.m., Kathleen Clay Edwards Library, Greensboro. We love that this is promoted as a way to get outside and enjoy winter, a time when we’re typically content to stay indoors. But who can stay put when there’s cool stuff to be found in the woods? An especially good family activity. Learn more here.

Searching for spring

You can also tell spring is nigh based on the appearance of the first spring wildflowers. Near our basecamp here in the central Piedmont, the first responder of spring is typically the trout lily. It’s mottled green leaves — resembling the skin of a trout — appear with the first warm, sunny days of the year. A couple days latter, if the weather holds, out pops its delicate fingerling blooms of yellow striped with maroon. A more appropriate harbinger of the season you could not create.

I’ve seen the bloom as early as the last week of January; typically, it appears no later than the second week of February. This year, due to a long run of wintry weather, it’s been shy. 

This morning, however, there was hope: in a floodplain along the Eno, my check-in point for the first signs of spring, I spotted the trout lily (above), on the cusp of bloom. All it needed was a little more warmth and a ray of sunshine — who knows, it might have bloomed a half hour after I passed. More importantly, though, with temperatures this weekend forecast for the low 60s under cloudless, sunny skies, your chances of seeing the first wildflowers of the season are darn good. A couple suggestions to enhance your sighting opportunities:

1. Wait to go out in search until the temperature has warmed. Your best bet is likely between noon and 4 p.m.
2. Locationwise, a floodplain hardwood forest is your best bet right now. The trout lily, like other spring wildflowers, needs to get its business down before the trees leaf out and hog all the sunlight. 

A gorgeous weekend is in store. GetOut! And Enjoy!

* * *

Guide to 3 Daffodil hikes

Another key harbinger of spring, one that is definitely in bloom: the daffodil. The daffodil is an ornamental and not technically a wildflower. But they are easy to spot (see photo) and typically mark another treasure in the woods: an old homestead. Find a daffodil off the trail, look around and you’ll likely see signs of the human past: a crumbled rock foundation, a bathtub-size (or larger) depression indicating an old root cellar, stately oaks that once sheltered a homestead.

If you’d rather avoid the uncertainty of stumbling across a daffodil in bloom, we can help, with our GetHiking! Guide to 3 Daffodil Hikes. Each guide includes a detailed route description, map, and information key to executing the hike, starting with how to find the trailhead. Learn more and download a copy here. 

The post GetOut! Spring is in the air this weekend appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Stars and Planets, Saturday, 9 p.m., Mayo River State Park, Mayodan. The Greensboro Astronomy Club lets you take a peek through their lenses to see what’s up in the sky above. More info here.

Nature at Night, Saturday, 9 p.m., Pilot Mountain State Park, Pinnacle. The first time you here the cacophony on a summer’s night in the South can be disarming. Where is all that noise coming from — and what’s it coming from? There’s serenity and sanity in knowledge, as someone probably said: come out and get informed by a ranger who IDs what’s what and who’s who. Flashlights encouraged, dogs are not. More info here.

Sunday, State Parks explores both low and high on a pair of hikes.

Soundside Nature Trail Hike, 9 a.m., Jockey’s Ridge State Park, Nags Head. This 1-mile hike occurs a foot, maybe two, above sea level, and explores the park’s dense maritime shrub thicket. Learn more here.

Wildflower Hike, 2 p.m., Mount Mitchell State Park, Burnsville. Later Sunday and about 6,600 feet higher and probably 20 degrees cooler, check out the wildflower situation on this 1-mile hike on one of the highest trails in the East, the Commissary Trail. Learn more here.

Interested in learning a thing or two? We still have a couple openings for Sunday’s GetOriented! Finding Your Way in the Woods class at Eno River State Park. We spend a short time explaining how a compass and a topo map work, then head down trail and off to put those newfound skills to the test. Learn more about that program and sign up here.

As for the weather, the forecasts has recommendations for both Saturday and Sunday. If you seek cooler temperatures and don’t mind the prospect of rain, Saturday, with a high in the upper 70s and a chance of scattered rain, will be your day. More of a sunshine and heat type, are you? Sunday will be about 10 degrees warmer, but dry and mostly sunny.

And if you are itchin’ to go camping but haven’t got the gear, we do! And, we’re willing to exchange it for a few dollars this weekend. Learn more about our GetCamping! program and reserve a camping kit here.

The weekend ahead is a worthy one! GetOut! and enjoy!

* * *

Big adventure in unlikely places

On this week’s GetHiking! Southeast Podcast we discuss finding big adventures in unlikely places. Check it out here.

The post GetOut! Explore the night, hike high and low appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

A run with romance! A walk/run/bike for a cause, a wild hike for wildflowers highlight the action in North Carolina this weekend.

Coast

Did you know that before Nicholas Sparks was making women and girls misty-eyed with his tales of romance he ran track at Notre Dame? Surprised by that plot twist? That being the case, though, it shouldn’t surprise you that a 5K and 1-mile Fun Run are part of his Nicholas Sparks Celebrity Family Weekend starting Friday in New Bern? The 5K travels through roadkill-flat New Bern and ends on the state-of-the art track Sparks donated to New Bern High School. The 1-mile Fun Run is entirely on the track.

Logistics: $40 for the 5K, $30 for the fun run (procrastinators are dinged a $10 late-filing fee). Race day registration is from 7:30-8:30 a.m. at the Nicholas Sparks Track at the New Bern High School located at 4200 Academic Drive in New Bern. 5K is at 9 a.m., fun run at 10:15. More info here.

Weather forecast: High of 77, 60 percent chance of rain.

Piedmont

Imagine being able to walk or run or bike as a way to support your favorite park or forest. Imagine this Saturday’s Walk/Run/Bike for Umstead. This annual fund raiser for Umstead State Park in Raleigh includes a run/walk component on four miles of park trail and two bike tours, both lead by the Triangle Off-Road Cyclists, one four miles for beginners, the other 12 miles for more experienced riders. Rides begin at 9:30 a.m., the runs at 9:45. Trail is finely crushed, foot and tire friendly gravel roadbed.

Logistics: $15 for kids 12 and under, $35 for adults. Online registration through Thursday, April 19 at noon, in person registration at certain locations which you can learn more about here.

Weather forecast: High of 79 with a chance of thunderstorms.

Mountains

The wildflowers are blooming in the high country — you just need to know where to look for them. That’s why you should follow the folks who’ve been following them for years; in the case of Sunday’s Hawkbill Flower Hike, that would be the Carolina Mountain Club. They know, for instance, that the vivid display of wildflowers peaks in this nook of the Craggy Mountains in late April. They also want you to know that the 8.4-mile route they’ll be taking is not for everyone: “This great wildflower hike follows a rough trail up alongside Hawkbill Creek to the top of the cove, then a very steep 400 ft bushwhack up to Hawkbill Rock. …” They also want you to know that it’s worth it: ““The wildflowers and ramps have been spectacular every time CMC has done this hike.”

Logistics: Sunday at 8 a.m. is when the hike will gather. For info on where they’ll gather and to sign up, contact Carroll Koepplinger at 828-667-0723 or CarrolKoepp@bellsouth.net. You can find a description of the hike here.

Weather forecast: High of 65, 70 percent chance of rain (at nearby Mount Mitchell).

* * *

Those are GGNC’s thoughts for an active weekend. Find out other ways you can get out this weekend by browsing our super calendar, a collection of events calendars from throughout the state, below.

Coast

CapeFearCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar for the Cape Fear/Wilmington/southern N.C. coast searchable by date and event name.

Coastal Guide
Comprehensive calendar including nature programs from a variety of costal conservation and research agencies that offer nature programs. Covers the entire coast.

Crystal Cost Tourism Authority
Comprehensive calendar focusing on the Crystal Coast. Good source for programs offered by N.C. Coastal Federation, Cape Lookout National Park, N.C. National Estuarine Research Reserve and other costal conservation and research agencies that offer nature programs.

NCCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar including programs for the Outer Banks and Crystal Coast.

North Carolina Coast Host
Comprehensive calendar for the entire coast that lets you search for events by day, by region, by county, by city or by event (based on key word).

This Week Magazine
Primary focus is the Crystal Coast (North Carolina’s coastal midsection).

Mountains

Asheville Citizen-Times
From the main page, click on “Outdoors,” then WNC Outdoors calendar.

Blue Ridge Outdoors
Searchable calendar lets you extend your reach to events throughout the mid-Atlantic and Southeast (or you can just limit it to North Carolina). Also lets you search a boatload of categories, ranging from Hiking, Mountain Biking and Climbing to Trail Running, Triathlon and Road Walking.

The Mountain Times
From the main page, click on “Calendars,” then Main Events.

Todd’s Calendar

Piedmont

Charlotte

Charlotte Observer events calendar
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including Nature, Recreation, Recreation & Wellness, Running

Charlotte Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triad

GoTriad.com
Comprehensive calendar includes a Sports & Recreation category.

Piedmont Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triangle

Triangle.com
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including: Birding, Boating, Cycling, Nature, Rec & Wellness, Recreation, Running, Swimming, Tennis, Yoga.

Carolina Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Statewide

Office of Environmental Education
One calendar for the numerous Environmental Education Centers statewide.

North Carolina State Parks
Lets you search for programs at the state’s parks, recreation areas and natural areas by location, by month, by topic. To reach the calendar from the home page, click on “Education,” then “Fun & Free Programs at Parks.”

National Forests in North Carolina
From the home page, click on Carolina Connections for news updates on the state’s four national forests as well as hints on recreational opportunities and a detailed rundown of recreation areas and the amenities at each.

* * *

 
Like us on Facebook and get health, fitness and outdoors news throughout the day.

GetGoingNC.com

Promote Your Page Too

The post This weekend: run, hike, walk/run/bike appeared first on GetGoing NC!.