Why get out and confront the elements, sleep on hard ground, eat dehydrated food, drink water filtered from a pond, forgo fancy $5 coffee in the morning and not bathe for days on end?
Because of weekends like this past weekend spent by our GetBackpacking! group at Linville Gorge. Because of the rare chance to see half of North Carolina’s high country on a brilliantly clear day. Because of the whip-poor-will, whose enchanting (if, after a while, annoying) call serenades you throughout the night. Because of the abundance of perfectly drawn wildflowers. Because of the full moon that envelopes your campsite with just enough light. Because everything and anything tastes great after hiking 18 miles. Because it’s a weekend you won’t soon forget.read more
In the last two weeks, the forest floor has, finally, come alive with splashes of color: carpets of delicate white spring beauties, patches of starburst white chickweed, bursts of purple periwinkle, flashes of yellow green-and-gold.
The spring show is in its prime, but it won’t last forever. Here are five spots where you’re likely to find the season in full flower for at least the next couple of weeks (longer in the high country).read more
Atop Three Top Mountain (photo courtesy Appalachian State University)
Through March in the Piedmont we’d seen only scant evidence of spring: first-responder wildflowers including trout lilies (which can appear as early as late February), bluets and a sorrel or two. Spring was kept in the deep freeze in March, was good news if you were otherwise occupied during the month and couldn’t get out.read more
The forecast calls for record heat, in the Piedmont at least, this weekend. So … stock up on that dry ice they’re selling now at the Teeter.
Coast
Is there a more appropriate way to celebrate our nation’s 236th birthday than by running 3.1 miles? Probably. But it’s certainly a good way to celebrate our independence, which is no doubt what the people of Southport thought when they decided to include the Freedom Run as part of their North Carolina 4th of July Festival. And deciding to hold it five days before the Fourth of July was no doubt inspired by the desire to be able to walk again come Independence Day.read more
