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Reminder: Saturday is National Trails Day
I’m back to remind you that Saturday is National Trails Day, a day when we celebrate the more than 200,000 miles of trail that help us escape the oppressive monotony of day-to-day existence and recoup our souls.
OK, maybe that’s a little strong.
But trails do play a vital role in our physical and mental well being. [...]
Support your local trail this National Trails Day
27. May 2010
If you’ve ever hiked at Crowders Mountain State Park, you may have encountered a challenge or two — tripped over a tree root or scrambled over a rock face. But it’s a good bet you haven’t come across trash or lost your way because the trail wasn’t well maintained. To a large extent, you have [...]
Continue reading...Taking the mystery out of a snake sighting
7. May 2010
Wednesday, I was hiking along the North Prong of Shining Rock Creek, a lively mountain stream that plunges 2,200 feet in just three miles through a narrow, overgrown canyon. I was in a reveric trance, lulled in part by the rugged vegetation here in the Shining Rock Wilderness, in part by the cloudless, 70-degree spring [...]
Continue reading...Let Mother Earth move you this weekend
16. April 2010
While fitness and health experts would like you to get an hour’s exercise a day, they’ll tell you that, above all, the key thing is to just move. With that in mind, here are a number of Earth Day “just move” events this weekend. (Yes, technically Earth Day isn’t until Thursday. But Thursday doesn’t fall [...]
Continue reading...On the AT: Hiking through the thru-hikers
8. April 2010
The backpacker looked up from his reverie, saw me and jumped. “Whoa! Didn’t see you there,” he said.
Our paths converged a little after 9 Tuesday morning, on Section 9 of the Appalachian Trail midway between Rock Gap and Albert Mountain in western North Carolina. “Country,” as he soon identified himself, was why I was on [...]
Check the weather (and sunset, too)
6. April 2010
It’s a no-brainer, yet one we sometimes forget: Check the weather before going on an outdoor adventure. And, again it probably needn’t be said but I’ll say it anyway, check the weather for where you’re going, not where you are. There can be a huge difference between the two, especially during the transitional season of [...]
Continue reading...It’s Easter weekend — must we egg you on?
2. April 2010
Things I might be doing this Easter weekend if my nose wasn’t running like a Delta Tau Chi keg from spring allergies.
1. Paddle at Merchant’s Millpond
Merchant’s Millpond may be man made, but after 190 years the millpond has shed most signs of its civilized past. Today, the 760-acre millpond is much more coastal swamp than [...]
Let wildflowers put some spring in your step
26. March 2010
Looking to jump-start — or simply start — a hiking program? There’s no better time than now, the start of spring. Temperatures are on the rise, there’s more daylight and choose your trails wisely and there can be a whole lot to see. After a brief delay thanks to an unusually cold winter, the spring [...]
Continue reading...Play nice on the trail this weekend
19. March 2010
Sunday, I was running the bike and bridle trail at Umstead when I came upon a sizable obstacle: a phalanx of hikers bearing backpacks spanned the width of the trail, spilling over onto the shoulders. The trail is quiet generous, a converted fire road that should be capable of handling boatloads of trail users without [...]
Continue reading...A winter’s climb up Clingman’s Dome
15. March 2010
Up for a little escape? How about a climb to the top of Clingman’s Dome?
From the beginning of December to the end of March, the road to the top of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is closed. Just like that, one of the most popular attractions in the country’s most popular national park is [...]
3. June 2010
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