GetGoing NC! » Hiking

This weekend: surf, night hike give a Hoot

JoeMiller — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:30:14 +0000

We’re down to our last month of summer before the ceremonial start of fall come Labor Day. Get out and make the most of what’s left of the season.

Coast

Two weeks ago we suggested you check out the 6th Annual Reef/Sweetwater Pro-Am Surf Fest at Wrightsville Beach. If you did, we’re guessing you were intrigued by the thought of riding the waves on a long board. Intrigued, but perhaps at a loss as to how to take the first step toward participating in 7th Annual Reef/Sweetwater Pro-Am Surf Fest. Step 1: Enroll in surf camp, specifically the “Get Stoked Surf Camp” offered by Hot Wax Surf Shop in Emerald Isle. The 2-hour class begins at 8 a.m. and includes surfboard rental; all you need to bring are some cool surfing shorts (and water and sunscreen and a rash guard). $70.

Call 252.354.6466 or go here for more info.

Piedmont

It’s supposed to be cooler this weekend, but even in the low 90s you’re not inclined to head out into the mid-day heat. So don’t. Instead, wait until 8 p.m. and take a night hike with a ranger at Eno River State Park in Durham. The forest is a cool place after dark as a whole new contingent of surprisingly vocal wildlife emerges. Your ranger guide can help identify who’s who in this critter cacophony. The hike begins Saturday at 8 p.m. from the main park office. It’s free but participation is limited to 12; preregister by calling 919.383.1686.

Fall goals: Set ‘em now

JoeMiller — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:51:38 +0000

I was noodling around the internet a couple nights back when I came upon the the Second Empire Grand-Prix 2010 Fall Series. I started checking the races in the eight-part series, then thought, “What am I doing? I need to focus on my summer goals (a half marathon, a mountain century bike ride) before I can even start thinking about the fall.

Actually, Sage Rountree corrects, this may be the perfect time to start thinking about goals for the fall. Rountree lives in Chapel Hill and is perhaps best known for her yoga-for-athletes books and clinics, which she conducts internationally. She’s also a coach, working with both elite and beginner athletes, and a marathoner (3:43:00 at Boston 2008), Ironperson (13:08:17, Ironman Coeur d’Alene 2009), ultramarathoner ( 5:10:45 in this year’s Frosty 50K trail race). And she has two kids.

“Picking your next goal before your race is the perfect way to channel that extra energy during the taper,” says Rountree.

While I haven’t quite begun to taper — the Roan Moan is just a week out but the Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon isn’t until Sept. 5 — I knew what she meant. Two big goals I’ve yet to tackle, but they will soon pass. Then what? The last thing I want to do is let months of training fizzle while I ponder what’s next.

When I mentioned the Second Empire fall series, Rountree was on board.

Sage Rountree likely was thinking about her next race when she finished this one.

“Series are great,” she says. “They’re a way of sustaining a goal. In the triathlon series, for instance, it takes the pressure off any one single race. You approach it as part of a whole.”

And, she adds, you establish a sense of camaraderie. “You see the same competitors, you go up against the same people in your age group.”

I like a series for another reason. There were eight races in Second Empire’s Spring Series. In my age group (50-54), no one did every race and only two guys did seven. By my cyphering, if I had done all eight (I did one: the Second Empire 5K Classic), I might have cracked the top 10 finishers. (The No. 10 guy only did three races.) Persistence, in a series based on cumulative points, equals glory.

A series isn’t the only kind of sustained goal. Fall is when a number of 0-to-5K, walk-to-run training programs kick in. I’m a graduate of the Fit-tastic program offered through The Athlete’s Foot in Cameron Village. The 10-week program, which begins Aug. 18, takes non-runners and gradually introduces them to running. At first, you run a minute, then walk for two. Over time that ratio flips until you’ve weeded out the walking altogether and are capable of running the entire Monster Dash 5K (3.1 miles American) on Oct. 31. The program launched in fall 2008, has added a spring version, and has had 425 participants. (For more on beginner runner programs, check out this GGNC post from March 31.)

For runners, in fact, fall is the time to ramp up. Cooler weather means more races, from 5Ks to marathons. Cyclists are more likely to suffer what Rountree refers to as the “post-partum blues,” as the onset of cooler weather and shorter days causes a significant drop in planned events. But they aren’t without options, either. A century ago, pro bike racers in Europe got antsy in the off-season. So they came up with cyclo-cross racing — basically racing modified road bikes off-road — which gave them reason to train between the warm weather road events. Today, cyclo-cross racing stands on its own, and the North Carolina Cyclo-Cross Series gives Tarheel cyclists reason to keep racing throughout the winter.

A long fall hike at Crowders Mountain is an admirable goal. (Photo courtesy North Carolina State Parks.)

Your fall goal can be whatever you make it. Races are good, so are classes, and chances are your municipal parks & recreation department has a wide offering for the fall. Here in Cary, for instance, there are various levels of Taekwondo (beginner, for families, for kids as young as 4), dance classes, cardio classes, aerobic classes and yoga classes (including chair yoga), as well as assorted team sports (basketball, volleyball, softball), a tennis ladder — pert near anything you’d want to do. You can even come up with your own goal: By Thanksgiving, be able to hike the 7.2-mile Sycamore Trail at Umstead State Park, or the 6.2-mile Ridgeline Trail linking Crowders Mountain State Park west of Charlotte with Kings Mountain State Park in South Carolina, or the 5-mile Moores Wall Loop Trail at Hanging Rock State Park.

The point: Fall needn’t be a wind-down time. Start planning now and you’ll find plenty of incentive to keep working. The season may be winding down, but you don’t have to.

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Celebrate the weekend at an N.C. State Park

JoeMiller — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 22:03:40 +0000

In honor of Celebrate North Carolina State Parks weekend, which is this weekend, we cull our recommendations from this weekend’s State Park offerings.

Coast

1. Ever see “Little Shop of Horrors” (either the 1960 Roger Korman original or the 1986 Frank Oz remake)? A man-eating plant! How outlandish, you likely thought.

Not really, it turns out.

OK, so sundews, bladderworts, butterworts, pitcher plants, and the Venus fly trap may not cause you much of a threat. But be glad you aren’t a fly, because these carnivorous plants would gobble up your pesky six-leggedness in a heartbeat. You can find out more about these curious plants, which tend to reside within a 60-mile radius of Wilmington, on the ranger-led Carnivorous Plant Hike Saturday at Carolina Beach State Park. Starts at 10, lasts an hour or so. Meets at the Nature Trail parking lot.

More info: Call 910.458.8206 or go here.

Lake Waccamaw (photo courtesy N.C. State Parks)

2. I won’t tell you what happened the last time I paddled a Carolina Bay, but the odds of winds that strong kicking up this time a year are small. Tiny, even. Though I do see that to participate in Saturday’s Evening Paddle/Canoe Trip at Lake Waccamaw State Park you, “Must be able to swim.” Still, you’ll be wearing a pfd. Anyway, the best way to enjoy Down East this time of year is on the water, in this case from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in a canoe. No charge, but pre-registration is required, by calling 910.646.4748.

For more info on the park, go here.

Mountains

New River (photo courtesy N.C. State Parks).

1. Paddling a flat water coastal lake, you do all the work. On a mountain river, the river does the heavy lifting. Once reason to sign up for Sunday’s ranger-led canoe trip down the New River. (The other reason being the stellar scenery, of course.) This 12:30 p.m. trip at New River State Park is free (save for a “minimal fee for shuttling,” but limited to 8 paddlers, so sign up now, by calling 336.982.2587.

More about the park located near Jefferson here.

Mount Mitchell

2. Or maybe you just want to beat this blasted heat! No place better than atop the East Coast, at Mount Mitchell State Park. Several programs are on tap this weekend, the one likely to get you closest to Mitchell’s 6,684-foot summit: Small Wonders on a Mighty Mountain. A naturalist ranger leads a one-hour hike along the Balsam Nature Trail looking for what survives in this often-harsh environment. Commences at 11 a.m.

More info by calling 828.675.4611 or visiting here.

Piedmont

1. A personal favorite when it comes to state parks programs, Geology Hike at Occoneechee Mountain (pictured above; photo courtesy North Carolina State Parks). Occoneechee, near Hillsborough, tops 800 feet and is the highest point in the Triangle region. As the entry for this program proclaims, “Come to the mountain and see the geologic wonders and abandoned pyrophyllite quarry.” Sounds Barnumesque, but it is is pretty cool. Saturday at 10 a.m., only 15 hikers allowed, so pre-register before it’s booked, by calling 919.383.1686.

More on Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area here.

2. Another fave: The night hike. Walk on the wild side at night at Lumber River State Park. Look and listen for nocturnal critters by land, by sea by air. (The listening part is especially cool: What the heck was that!? Bring a flashlight (which you’ll probably use sparingly), starts at 8.

More info by calling 910-628-4564 or visiting here.

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Interested in what else is going on statewide? We’ve collected some calendars from around the state for your consideration.

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.

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.

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

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.

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Voice your thoughts on America’s Great Outdoors Initiative

JoeMiller — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:37:58 +0000

On April 16, President Obama signed a presidential memorandum “establishing the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative to promote and support innovative community-level efforts to conserve outdoor spaces and to reconnect Americans to the outdoors.” Like most things that involve a proclamation, speeches and four-page memorandums with subsections, it’s unclear what exactly America’s Great Outdoors Initiative actually is. And maybe at this point that’s not such a bad thing, because one of the first acts of the AGOI is to conduct a series of nine “Listening Sessions” across the country, one if which is Thursday in Asheville.

Representatives from the Department of Interior, the Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Council on Environmental Quality will be on hand to hear what you have to say, specifically in the areas of:

Working land, open space, and landscape conservation
Outdoor recreation
Youth engagement and environmental education.
General discussion

From these meetings, America’s Great Outdoors Initiative hopes to come up with “solutions for building a 21st century conservation and recreation agenda and reconnecting all Americans with the outdoors.” Again, sounds good — especially the “reconnecting all Americans with the outdoors” part — even if we aren’t entirely sure what it means. Thursday’s session in Asheville is your chance to provide some definition to the AGOI.

Here’s the skinny on that meeting.

When: Thursday, 1-4 p.m.
Where: Asheville-Buncombe County Technical Institute, Asheville Campus
340 Victoria Road, Asheville.
Registration: While the event is open, it wouldn’t hurt to pre-register to improve your chances of being heard. Do that by emailing Teresa Lovelace at Teresa_Lovelace@nps.gov.
More info: go here.

Can’t make it? You can share your thoughts here.

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A cool Fourth on the Eno

JoeMiller — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 11:05:43 +0000

Death, taxes, a hot-as-blazes Fourth of July — the givens of life here in the Piedmont.

Except this year the hot-as-blazes Fourth took a holiday. Or at least the humidity did: The temperature may have been 90, but the humidity was a dry 30 percent. Perfect weather for a summer hike, perfect weather for exploring the Eno River.

While the entire length of the 40-mile Eno is firmly within the Piedmont (its headwaters in northern Orange County, it’s conclusion in eastern Durham County before emptying into Falls Lake) there’s a dash of mountains throughout. This mix is highlighted on the trails of Eno River State Park, the majority of which are narrow loops, one side trailing the river, the other returning along a parallel ridgeline. A favorite excursion is the Buckquarter Creek/Holden Mill figure-8 loop: adjoining trails in the Fews Ford Access that offer a two-for-one deal.

We chose the upland portion of Buckquarter Creek first, heading up the ridgeline on an ancient roadbed that once connected Durham and Hillsborough. Very Piedmonty, this passage through a maturing southern hardwood forest, the thick canopy especially welcome on a summer’s day. After a mile or so, the trail comes off the ridge into a floodplain meadow before a bridge over Buckquarter Creek connects with the Holden Mill Trail. Here, we opted for the river portion first, taking the trail up a particularly rocky stretch of the Eno. At one point, with the Eno running low, we rock-hopped to some picnic-table boulders mid-river where we saw a turtle basking and a bass trolling. Continuing on, we passed a stone wall, the lone remnant of Holden Mill, one of three primary mills that thrived on the river in the 1800s. And we navigated a stretch where boulders cascade downhill into the river, creating narrow passages and scrambling opportunities.

On our return on Buckquarter Creek Trail, the Eno took on a western feel: dry, more exposed, the river even rockier. A class II rapid near the end that attracts whitewater boaters when the river is running today proved a popular swimming spot. After 4.2 miles on the trail — even on a non-steamy Fourth of July — we wished we’d brought out swim suits.

Enough words, the Eno is best enjoyed visually. Enjoy the slideshow.

(Photos by Marcy Smith and Joe Miller, music: “Pleasures of a Simple Life,” by Big Medicine.)

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Weekend plans? Three suggestions … or find your own

JoeMiller — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:41:26 +0000

A run, a hike and a sunset are three of the numerous ways you can get out and explore this weekend.

Coast

It can be hard to find a foot race once sweltering summer settles in — but it’s not surprising that if there’s a race to be found, it’ll be at the coast. A breeze (hopefully) coming off the water and a flat course help compensate for the heat. Two reasons you might consider the 28th Annual Tri Span 5K and 10K Saturday in Wilmington. Starts at the Wilmington Hilton on Water Street, goes through downtown, hangs a right across the Memorial Bridge to US 421, crosses back over the 3rd Street Bridge to Front Street and eventually back to the finish. $30 for either race. More details here.
Oh, and another reason to run: the 7:30 a.m. start time beats the heat.

Mountains

Looking to escape the heat? Or at least a little bit of it?
The Chargers and Rechargers hiking club will, in its own words, not be charging up Rich Mountain from Trout Lake near Blowing Rock on Saturday. “This will not be an ‘aerobic’ hike,” cautions hike leader Danielle Catoe, “if you wish to race up the mountain, please do not come on this hike. This 8-mile roundtrip hike is rated easy to moderate, gaining a little over 600 vertical feet on the way from scenic Trout Lake up to Rich Mountain.
Departs from the Trout Lake parking lot at 9:30 a.m. Contact Catoe at 828-898-3072 or dmcatoe@aol.com for more specifics. (For more about the club, go here.)

Piedmont

Years ago a group of ex-pat Aussies would gather every so often at Jordan Lake to watch the sun set. The reason? It was one of the few places in the region where you could savor a long sunset unobstructed by rolling hills covered with trees. Another place: Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area in Hillsborough, where long-abandoned quarry operations sliced away a west-facing portion of the mountain making for — long sunsets unobstructed by rolling hills covered with trees.
Saturday evening at 8, join a ranger for a short hike to this blight-turned-vista to watch “the big orange ball in the sky disappear behind Hillsborough.” Because the event is limited to 15, pre-registration is required, by calling the park office at (919) 383-1686.

* * *
Care to choose your own activity? Check these statewide calendars.

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 Coast 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.

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

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.

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Study: Trekking poles make a big difference

JoeMiller — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:45:46 +0000

Last year I was backpacking across Jane Bald on the Appalachian Trail when I came upon a 74-year-old gentleman from Atlanta. We talked for a few minutes, mostly about his extensive hiking experience in the region. “Of course,” he said after sharing his 10th favorite trail, “I wouldn’t be hiking any of them without these.” At that, he tapped the two hiking poles he’d been leaning against. “Wish I’d started hiking with ‘em seven years sooner,” he added. “Would have spared my knees some pain.”

I was a recent convert to trekking poles and I gave him a hearty amen. I’d been backpacking a lot in the past year, and after every trip I’d return home with knees the size of honeydews with the consistency of past-their-prime tomatoes. Grudgingly, I headed Marcy’s suggestion-turned-insistence that I get trekking poles. The transformation was immediate — and magical. Normal size knees after a trip, 53-year-old legs that ached like you’d expect them to ache after a 50-mile backpack trip, not like they’d been condemned to eternity on a Stairmaster. I was hooked.

And for good reason, according to a recently released study out of Northumbria University in Newcastle, England. The study is the first to show what those of us on poles have known: trekking poles help maintain muscle function while reducing soreness in the days following a hike.

Study: 37 physically active men and women were split into two groups. One group was issued trekking poles, given basic instruction and sent on a hike up and down 3,560-foot Snowdon, the highest peak in England. The other group marched up and down Snowdon sans poles. Heart rates and personal perceived exertion ratings were taken during the hike.Then, at 24-, 48- and 72-hour intervals after the hike, muscle damage and function were assessed.

Results: The hikers who used trekking poles reported significantly less muscle soreness, their loss of strength was less and they recovered from the hike faster than their pole-less counterparts. While both groups reported some soreness 24 hours after the hike, the trekking pole users were complaining much less after 48 hours than were the poleless hikers. Also: There’s an enzyme called creatine kinase, which is indicative of muscle damage. The people without poles registered much higher levels of creatine kinase 24 hours after the hike.

“The results present strong evidence that trekking poles reduce, almost to the point of complete disappearance, the extent of muscle damage during a day’s mountain trek,” said Dr. Glyn Howatson, who conducted the study. “These finding have particularly strong application for exercisers wishing to engage in consecutive days activity in mountainous terrain.”

If still dubious of trekking poles for vanity reasons, get over it. One other advantage to using them: Because they relieve the pressure on your muscles and joints and because they reduce the lingering negative effects of hiking, you can go faster and farther.

Look younger (mostly in your own mind) and suffer or go faster and farther with less lingering soreness. Your choice.

Read more on the study here.

Photo: Note the man in green leaning on the hiking poles? He’s the hike leader.

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14 hours, 35 minutes, 14 seconds: Use it all

JoeMiller — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:33:07 +0000

Today is the longest day of the year.

OK, so technically, at 14 hours, 35 minutes and 14 seconds of daylight there’s only one second of daylight more than there was yesterday and three more than there will be tomorrow. And we won’t be seeing appreciable changes in the length of day until late August. But spiritually, emotionally, physically, it’s important to know that today you have 14 hours, 35 minutes and 14 seconds of daylight (or 15 hours, 35 minutes and 14 seconds if you count civil twilight) to work with. Taking full advantage of that 14 hours, 35 minutes and 14 seconds, you could, conceivably:

Take a 217-mile bike ride (basically from Durham to Winston-Salem and back) at a 15 mph pace without stopping
Run 88 miles (three and third marathons) and a 10-minute-per-mile pace.
Take a 58-mile hike (nearly 3 laps on Umstead State Park’s 20 miles of hiking trails) at 15-minute-per-mile pace.
Or do whatever you love that gets your blood pumping in the 3 hours, 34 minutes and 14 seconds you’ll have this afternoon after the whistle blows at 5.

It’s the longest day of the year. Use it all.

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Lower Haw River: A walk on the wild side

JoeMiller — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 13:02:42 +0000

Usually when you think of taking an escape into the wild, you assume a long drive to an obscure trail that navigates rugged terrain, frequently loses its way through dense undergrowth, involves waist-deep stream crossings and surprises you with wild critters at every opportunity. With the Lower Haw River Trail, located on the outskirts of the booming Triangle, you get all of that without the long drive.

Despite its urban location — its southern trailhead is about 12 miles west of Apex, its northern 8 miles south of Chapel Hill — and despite the fact the river was once heavily polluted by the textile mills that dotted its banks, the lower Haw is the wildest escape in the Triangle. Hugging the Haw’s east bank, the Lower Haw River Trail squeezes through tight passages of spicebush, elderberry, honeysuckle, fetterbush and a cornocopia of additional shrubs, vines and herbacious plants; passes under a canopy of blackgums, sourwoods, tulip poplars and beech, passes through the occasional flood plain swamp, and scrambles over a rock outcrop or two. On a summer’s day you’re likely to see the fattest water snakes (non-poisonous northern bandeds, for the most part) you’ve ever seen sunning on river rocks. Hawks and the occasional bald eagle lazily swoop across the river. Deer and riparian rodents (beaver, nutria) are omnipresent. While this might describe the wildlife of much of the Piedmont, for whatever reason, your chances of an encounter increase exponentially on the Haw.

Don’t be deceived by the fact that this 5.1-mile trail is under the jurisdiction of the N.C. Division of Parks & Recreation, which has a reputation for making its trails as accessible as possible. First, in the accessibility pecking order of state parks, priority is given to recreation areas (Falls Lake and Jordan Lake, for example), then state parks (Umstead, Eno River, Crowders Mountain to name three). Preservation is emphasized at the state’s natural areas, not recreation. That explains the sometimes sketchy trail (when in doubt, stay close to the river) and the bridgeless creek crossings, only one of which (Pokeberry, the northernmost) requires some upstream hiking to find a shallow rock crossing. And ever since the 1,000-plus-acre tract, now known as the Lower Haw River Natural Area, came into the state’s hands in 2003, State Parks has been occupied with working other, higher-profile parks (most notably Grandfather Mountain and Chimney Rock) into the system. Fortunately for aficionados of the wild, little attention has been paid the Lower Haw.

Alas, loathe as I am to admit it, words fall short in describing a trip along the Haw. For a better appreciation of the hike, check it out through the camera lens of my wife, Marcy Smith, in this short slideshow.

For more on the natural and cultural history of the Haw, visit the Haw River Assembly.

To get to the Lower Haw River Trail trailhead: Northern trailhead: Take US 15/501 south from Chapel Hill to Bynum. Go left on Durham Eubanks Road and stay on it as it becomes Bynum Church Road. There’s parking just below the trailhead. Southern trailhead: Go west from Apex on US 64. Cross over the Haw River, then do a U-turn at the first left. Cross back over the Haw and park at the turnout just beyond the bridge. Walk down the hill to the trailhead.

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Short hikes on a long road

JoeMiller — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:53:22 +0000

Marcy and I weren’t looking for a marathon hike (we’d done that a couple weeks earlier, to mixed reviews) and that made the Blue Ridge Parkway a perfect destination. This linear National Park that links the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park straddling the North Carolina/Tennessee line, is best known for the 469-mile two-lane road that takes motorists through some of the Southern Appalachians most stellar scenery. But you’ll find more than 100 hiking trails along the way, the vast majority of which do not fall into the marathon category.

Which isn’t to say they’re all easy.

The parkway rides the Blue Ridge Escarpment, a geologic upheaval that separates the rugged Appalachians to the west from the rolling Piedmont to the east. The delineation isn’t subtle; The Blue Ridge Escarpment includes Wilson Creek, Linville Gorge and several other of the Southern Appalachians wildest, most vertically challenging areas. Granted, not all the trails are a challenge. The 2.5-mile trail around Price Lake, Milepost 297.2, for example, is as flat and pleasant a walk as you’ll find at the coast.

But at Cumberland Knob, Milepost 217.7 in North Carolina near the Virginia border, when you pull up to a trailhead and there’s a sign with a lengthy warning including words such as “strenuous” and phrases the likes of “do not over-estimate your abilities,” take it seriously. Likewise, if the estimated hiking time of 2 hours for a 2.5-mile trail seems ridiculously long, pay it some heed: It could have something to do with the 800-foot vertical drop — and subsequent climb — on this relatively short trail.

Small waterfalls and pools offer plenty of reasons to stop along Gully Creek.

If you happen to run into a hiker familiar with the trail, heed her, too.

“It’s easier if you hike it counterclockwise,” a teacher scouting the trail for a school field trip told us at the trailhead. Counterclockwise it was.

The 2.5-mile Gully Creek Trail began with a gentle climb through a meadow, at the crest of which was the trailhead for the only other trail in the Cumberland Knob Recreation Area, a 0.2 connector up to 2,885-foot Cumberland Knob. From here, the trail began a long and mostly gradual descent to its namesake creek. The trail traveled a half mile or so up Gully Creek, a rocky creek with small waterfalls and numerous crossings accommodated by mostly dry rock crossings (wet tread at worst, though the crossings in this narrow drainage could be a challenge after a decent rain. The return to the trailhead was up a series of switchbacks.

We finished the hike in an hour and a half, with a fair number of stops. But I found the estimated 2 hour hiking time reasonable for the novice hikers likely to be taking a short stroll along the parkway. Ditto the warnings: The typical sedentary parkway traveler would find Cumberland Knob’s Gully Creek Trail challenging yet rewarding — both from the standpoint of scenery and physical accomplishment. And certainly enough to whet the appetite for the next short backcountry excursion down the road.

Learn about 33 of the parkway’s easier day hikes in the just-released second edition of “Best Easy Day Hikes Blue Ridge Parkway,” by Randy Johnson ($9.95, Falcon). You can find a list of Blue Ridge Parkway hiking trails here.

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